The 2020 Election: Donald Trump VS the Status Quo VS Bernie Sanders

By

Ian Tripp

02/20/2019

                It has recently been reported that President Donald Trump intends to arm Saudi Arabia with nuclear weapons technology. The home of 15 out of the 19 hijackers on 9-11 will now also be home to nuclear bombs; now this Wahhabist and anti-democratic monarchy will have the most powerful weapons on Earth. Trump is not only a sycophant to this totalitarian regime, but also to Neo-Tzar Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Dictator Kim Jong Un of North Korea. Our president, whose responsibilities include the defense of the nation, has pulled the United States out of nuclear disarmament treaties and has even said that more nations should be armed with nuclear weapons. The United States greatest existential threat is its own president.

                Most polls indicate that president Trump has a consistent 30%-35% support base or roughly one-third of the total population. Hitler also only ever had about a third of the German people blindly following him. The silent majority will have a chance to get the oldest continuous constitutional democracy back on track in 2020, or, slip further down the path towards totalitarianism.

                Based solely on the polls assessments, Trump winning a second term seems unlikely. However, the silent majority cannot underestimate the unwavering fanaticism of his support base. Donald Trump’s supporters will turn out, en masse, to vote. They will show up to his rallies yell adulations such as “Nobel! Nobel!” Crying out for the man who intends to arm Saudi Arabia with hydrogen bombs, disband nuclear armistice agreements and appease the North Korean dictator, that he, Donald Trump, should receive a Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts. There is no logic, no science, no pleas for the sake of humanity that can convince Trump supporters otherwise. We can only pray for them, and we can only vote for someone else to be our president.

                There is an ever-growing field of Democratic Party contenders. How do we choose? Do we choose someone simply because we feel confident that (s)he can win? Yes and no. If you believe in the merit of democracy, if you value the rule of law, then you inevitably must come to the conclusion that Trump has to go. Who will be the standard bearer to bring this fight for justice to ahead?

                Trump will eventually be out of office in either 2020, or God help us, 2024. A rebuke on Trump and a return to status quo politics isn’t good enough. Don’t forget Hillary Clinton lost, in part, as a rebuke to her moderate status quo politics. The status quo is only working for the well-off, everyone else is still struggling to get into the groove of “the American Dream.” More Americans have two or more jobs and are working harder than ever before in this nation’s history, and the goal posts keep getting pulled further and further away despite these efforts.

                The majority of Americans want free health care. The majority of Americans want free college. There is a sinister manipulation of the English language, an Orwellian “double-speak,” that twist words beyond recognition. People get visceral, knee-jerk reactions to words like progressive, socialism, and liberal, without even understanding the etymological origins of these words. Let’s examine these words succinctly.

Liberal as in liberty. Let’s not forget that the constitution is a liberal document; it codifies our freedoms in a radical way that the King of England vehemently tried to squash because it undermined the rule of the monarch and empowered the people.

Progressive, as in progress. Since when is progress a bad thing? By the vitriol of anti-progressive assertions, trains, cars, airplanes, spaceships, medical advances, and the internet, should all be deemed wrong and repulsive. Progress isn’t just good nor isn’t just necessary. Progress is the American way. Social Security, the National Highway system, and Civil Rights are just some of the progressive endeavors our country can rightly be proud of. Are these bad things?

Socialism, as it pertains to society. We are a society. Are we not? What kind of society has disdain for its own existence? Do anti-socialist hate society? I watched as elected officials stand up and yell “USA! USA!” during president Trump’s State of the Union Address, when he declared “we will never be socialist.” The hypocrisy is beyond sickening. They care enough, allegedly, to chant with jingoist fervor like it’s a call to arms, yet they begrudge their own constituents by undermining any efforts to lift the people out of vicious cycles of crime, poverty-inducing debt, lack of health care, and inaccessibility to higher education. This lack of consideration, lack of respect for the struggling U.S. citizenry, is not just heartbreaking, it is the route to tyranny by oligarchy.

Moderate Democratic Party members have entered the race and have denounced progressive ideals because they think progress can’t be achieved. They anticipate the perfunctory compromising that will take place, and deem the struggle not worthy to bother with. You don’t compromise your integrity, you don’t squash your own dreams because it’s impractical. You shoot for the stars anyway. These politicians, individually, are achieving their dreams by running for president. Why can’t the rest of us achieve a piece of our dreams by having free health care and free higher education? Do you want to live crushed by the weight of people telling you can’t? Or do you want to fight for your ideals not knowing the outcome, but knowing full well you gave it your all and stayed true to your heart and soul?

How will you reflect upon your life in years to come? How will you feel when a moderate is elected and they deliver exactly what they promised? Nothing. Nothing that rocks the boat. Nothing that could possibly offend the Republican Party. Nothing but a rebuke to Donald Trump. Is this the tepid, placating Democratic Party that you want? Or do you want representation to be true to your ideals defiant of all opposition? I believe in liberty. I believe in progress. And, I believe in the greater good of society. I know I’m not alone in these beliefs.

If you believe in these things, as I do, then Bernie Sanders is the only viable choice for us. Politics will give us a rude reality check no matter who gets elected. I’d rather have someone who unapologetically strives for the best possibilities, without any guarantee, than someone who throws their own objectives by the waste side because they view their own principles as impractical. The moderate Democratic Party members will face resistance regardless. Do you want someone who’s already making compromises within their own internal dialogue? These moderates are two years away from the election and already they are backing down and caving in from themselves. How do you expect they will behave when they have actual resistance from Trump in the debates, or in the halls of Congress? They will roll over, just as they have already strongly implied.

Do you want someone who is already compromised and lacks the stomach to fight? Or, do you want someone who will never give up their integrity, defend liberty, push for progress, and strive for society? I know who I’m voting for. Bernie Sanders is more than a politician, he is an ideology and this ideology will never die for those that believe in liberty, progress, and the greater good of society. I wrote in Bernie Sanders for the 2016 election. I’ll do it again if I have to, but hopefully, I will be marking a box next to his name for the Democratic Party presidential nominee.