I have been following this year's presidential campaign fairly closely and have come to the following conclusion: I cannot in good conscience vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton for president. As far as I can tell, there is no lesser of two evils with these two candidates. I believe Hillary will move the country farther to the left, which would be a disaster; and I think Trump is simply not suited to hold the highest public office in the land.
Some of Hillary's views on the government's role in everyday citizens' lives concern me. Also, I am not at all excited about the prospect of Hillary making several Supreme Court appointments during her time in office. I believe the High Court is at a historically significant juncture where it could turn leftward for the foreseeable future. This could be calamitous for individual freedoms. Mrs. Clinton has made it clear that she would appoint justices that would vote to overturn Yoder vs. Wisconsin. This 1974 Supreme Court ruling allows parents to take their children out of high school for religious purposes. I think this would have a major impact on a number of religious groups, including Amish and Mennonites, as well as the many families that homeschool their children.
I have always had a difficult time squaring what liberal elites routinely do by sending their own children to exclusive private schools while voting to suppress the rights of everyday parents to send their children to the public school of their choice. And that does not even include the option of a private school, which would be out of the question for the average working American family to be able to afford. So I would support the voucher system and would allow as much freedom to choose a school as possible. And, of course, I support the rights of parents to raise their children in a religious environment.
With Mr. Trump what you see might not be what you get. But then, what you see isn't all that great. He is proud, a boaster, bombastic, ill-informed on many subjects and crass to an astonishing degree. In almost any way you slice him, he comes up deficient in the areas that matter the most when looking for the attributes of a good president or leader. Mr. Trump is openly pandering to the religious community. He knows next to nothing about Christianity or spirituality or any number of issues relating to religious freedom in this country. His thin skin will almost certainly cause some major problems for, not only him if he gets elected, but for this nation and for the world. Do we really want someone who has been involved in over 3,500 lawsuits to lead this country? I think not.
So what can concerned citizens do when faced with two such choices for president? Some voters are taking a closer look at the Libertarian Party candidate, Gary Johnson. While I harbor some libertarian leanings, I am in no way ready to support the Libertarian Party platform. And Mr. Johnson would be something of an open-borders guy. He is also all about abortion rights for women, which for me is a deal breaker.
On the other side of the aisle is Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. She seems to be picking up the Bernie Sanders supporters who cannot support Hillary. So for them it is "Jill not Hill." I hope they switch over to her in droves.
I guess when it comes right down to it, I would literally hate to see Hillary Clinton get elected to the White House. At least Donald Trump is saying some of the right things. No one really knows what he will do or just who he would appoint to the Supreme Court, but he has promised to choose strict Constitutionalists, which, if true, would be a good thing in my opinion. Nevertheless, I cannot, in good conscience, vote for the man.
So here is what I may do: I may vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party, not because I agree with the Green Party platform, but because I think it is a vote that will hurt Hillary's chances of getting elected. And besides, I like Ms. Stein's gray hair -- I think it looks good. I know that is silly and emotional instead of being fact-based, but you can't prove to me that it isn't a better reason than anyone can give me for supporting either Trump or Hillary. So there's that.
Sam Byrnes is a Gentry-area resident and weekly contributor to the Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 08/03/2016