Sunday, October 09, 2016

Guest columnist Nick Vaughn: We must stand together and renounce Donald Trump.

Editor's note: Owing to Nick's topical subject matter, I thought it best to publish these thoughts immediately and not as part of his periodic Friday column slot.

Initially, this article was going to be an update on what I had been up to regarding my college life, my studies, and other exciting ventures I am a part of. Unfortunately, that article will have to wait. Something much more important has happened in the last 24-48 hours that deserves the utmost attention.

Donald Trump yet again confirmed to everyone willing to listen (without Trump shades on) that he is categorically unfit to be President of the United States. Some of my friends and fellow Republicans will be questioning why I am not writing this same article about Hillary Clinton’s email scandal or even Bill Clinton’s alleged extramarital affairs (Lewinksy is confirmed). Shouldn’t that disqualify her too? Maybe, however, the bottom line is that no woman should be talked to, talked about, or acted upon in the way that Donald Trump has displayed.

There have been several high ranking Republican lawmakers who have rescinded their endorsements and/or asked Donald Trump to withdraw from the race and I have the utmost respect for those who have and I encourage more to do the same. Even Governor Pence seems to be dramatically recoiling from Donald Trump’s disturbing comments. Of course, the alt-right, Trump-or-go-home supporters are going to call those officials and probably even myself traitors, RINOS (Republican In Name Only), blind, sensitive, in some cases maybe even “beta males.”

I don’t have any obscene insults for those who have hijacked my party with down right insane and unfeasible plans and ideas. I have no fancy acronyms for the Tea Party leaches (is that too mean?) who have created a disgusting political environment and who have thrown my party into dismay.

You see, those who still, after all of this straight-up garbage, downright racist, completely irrational 100 days of Donald Trump’s nominee status have the worst case of confirmation bias I have ever encountered in my entire life. These people look at news sites like “Breitbart,” “Free Republic,” “The Volokh Conspiracy,” and “Campaign for Liberty” as well as listen to Ann Coulter and other right-wing conspiracy theorists like they are preaching the gospel.

I know that any Trump-or-go-home supporters still reading this have already written me off as a liberal media hack so what I am going to say next won’t be heeded by those it is directed at but: these news sites with clickbait titles are taking advantage of you. These sites spew whatever they can chalk up so that they can make money off of you. What these “news” sites “report” are conspiracy theories, straw man arguments, and do nothing but confirm your biases.

Donald Trump is a parasite that the Republican Party has put up with for much too long. It is time we all stand together and renounce Trump and force him to step down from the race. There are many other good alternatives we can pick from and while I already voted I know there are millions of others who want a better option in this election. So please, get off of your alt-right horse. Stop with the racist “build a wall” and stop and frisk banter. Stop with the conspiracy theories of Clinton murders and extramarital affairs that have no basis in reality. Stop and just think for yourself. Ask yourself what you would do if Trump was talking about your wife, your mother, your sister, your daughter. What then? Yes, people make mistakes, however, this type of regard for women has no place in the Oval Office.

In your heart, you know he’s wrong.

I leave you with this, the quote of the day: “The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking " -- AA. Milne.

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