This year’s election have been an anxiety roller coaster for me. What I’m referring to specifically is Trump. Thoughts of a Trump presidency keep me awake at night (quite literally), and reading the comments from his cult followers disturb me greatly. “What’s wrong with the U.S?” I ask myself. Inevitably, when I voice my utter and complete disgust of Trump, people will reply “You think Clinton is any better, you libtard? She’s a crook and part of the establishment etc..” As a matter of fact, I do think Clinton is better, but this is not a post about Clinton. It’s a post about me voting for anyone except Trump. I’d vote for Romney, heck I’d even vote for Ted Cruz because when I hear Ted Cruz talk I hear a guy who talks intelligibly. I don’t agree with what he says at all, but when Ted Cruz talks I think to myself “He sounds like a relatively sane adult person” which I think tells you how utterly insane I find Trump.
Take this news conference where Trump attacks the press for asking him what happened to the money he raised for veterans. It would be hilarious if it weren’t for the fact that this is the actual Republican nominee. To paraphrase what he says in the video “I raised 6 million dollars. 5.6 million right now, but more will come that will make the total over 6 million. I raised a lot of money. I wanted to do something nice for the vets and I can’t believe the press can’t just focus on that. I raised so much money. The reason I didn’t tell you where the money went was because I didn’t want to take credit for it, you media scum. “…But by far my favorite quote from this event was, when asked why Trump insults other people from the Republican party, he replies “I’m just honest” because in Trump’s world, being an asshole is being honest. Trump’s complete lack of class, or lack of attempt to disguise his psychiatric condition (It’s Narcissistic Personality Disorder) worries me. I tend to prefer the crazy people who try to hide their crazy because that means they realize something is wrong with them and that they need to control themselves to fit in…that implies their theory of mind is somewhat complex: there’s what they think, and what other people think and that sometimes you have to take into account what other people think. Trump lacks that sort of sophisticated thinking. He attacks the press then wonders why the press won’t give him positive coverage. Seriously Trump, what the heck is wrong with you?
Even more tragic than the existence of Trump are the fact that he has followers. Sadly, I know a couple of them personally (it was like a stab in the heart). As I said previously, Trump’s narcissism is so obvious it’s like a guy writing his name in huge gold letters in every building he builds and I’m shocked that a guy so far up his own ass as managed to attract a following. Throughout Trump’s history, you see a pattern: the only person Trump cares about, is Trump. Here’s an article that explains how Trump cut his brother and nephews out of his father’s will to prove my point. If the man can be so cruel to his own family, why do people think he’ll take care of them when President ? And here’s my theory: it’s not so much that his followers are uneducated or racist, it’s that they’re TERRIBLE judges of character . Thinking about the people I know who will vote for Trump, their common trait is that they have a lack of empathy and are selfish. Not that they’re sociopaths or anything, but they don’t seem to really pay into account what other people feel sometimes. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen them remorseful. So I think par of the appeal of Trump is that he has the same personality as his constituent base. But I think many people who lack empathy are not just assholes for the sake of being assholes, I think they literally have a hard time “reading” other people’s emotions. So when Trump is screaming from the rooftop “I am the best. I have the biggest dick. I have the best brain. I use the biggest words”, they don’t hear the inflated ego of the man, they just hear statements and accept it at face value. So that’s my theory on the existence of Trump followers.
The last thing that annoys me about the Trump candidacy are the Republicans who are endorsing / supporting him. I understand what game they’re doing: they absolutely don’t want to lose to Clinton and want to get back in power, and Trump won the primaries so they’re stuck with him. But as demonstrated over and over again, Trump is a racist, a mysoginist, and a fascist. At what point do the Republicans say “I value my conscience / my country more than my party”? You can’t tell me, with a straight face, that the Trump presidency wouldn’t be a disaster. Republicans, here’s something you need to know about me: every election since 2004 I’ve voted Democrat, but I’m not actually aDemocrat. I tend to be Socialist, but I could be convinced to vote Republican under the right circumstances. But ever since 2004, you’ve made it harder and harder for an independent like me to vote for you. I’m atheist, a woman, and middle class, three populations which you party takes great pain to alienate by always pushing God into the public sphere, making abortions difficult to obtain, and deregularizing the financial sector. I don’t want to vote for one party my whole life, but you’re making it SO HARD for me to vote for you. And now you’re endorsing a guy who is better suited to be a war lord in a 3rd world country. Republicans, you need to get your shit together: Ditch the social and religious agenda, and actually look at reality when crafting economic proposals and maybe I’ll vote for you in the future.