Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Trumpacalypse, or Why Ivanka Might Just Vote for Hillary.

Anyone who saw Madame Clinton's opponent huffing and puffing and threatening to blow everyone's house down--at one point he actually said, "I'm not being braggadocious!"--knows he's not fit for the presidency. Or business. But we'll stick to the immediate danger. If Ivanka's anything like her Dad, she sizes people up. She has an opportunity. She'll be all alone in that voting booth. There's no need to tell Dad which lever she pulled. I bet she can vote by mail, or maybe that's only folks like me, who live outside the USA. I just got my absentee ballot today, and cannot wait to fill in the oval next to Hillary Clinton's name and send back my ballot. 
No matter where you stand--and I write for those who haven't liked Clinton in the past and might be voting for Trump--if you saw her today speaking about her mother, about children, about struggle, about poverty, you know that she has a heart--that she really cares, that she wants to help people succeed in their lives, that she values kindness and knows how to unite people in a common effort. Her goals are modest, and therefore much more achievable: she wants to make America good again. The idea of making America "great" is a false one--the Republican candidate's definition of "great" is never trotted out without a"better than," "bigger than," "stronger than"--we never hear it without a threat to get rid of some cardboard cutout who in his imagination is undermining some mythic "real" America. He's good at naming those who cannot defend themselves because they need help: refugees, poor people, people of color. 
Ivanka, the man who grabs your body in that revoltingly un-fatherly, inappropriate way is not the man you really want to run our country--is it? You don't have to say a word. Feel free to lie to "dad"--he's never really been a dad, has he? If you actually like, even love him, ask yourself what his reign of terror would do to the world, not just America. When you're alone in that voting booth, focus on the candidate who offers love and who offers a realistic plan--not the "braggadocious" businessman spouting hatred. 

5 comments:

  1. I couldn't stand to watch it, but got a report from the guys. I keep thinking about that saying, "People get the leaders they deserve." This country is about capitalism of the unsharing sort (unlike France and Germany, countries that plow lots of their profits into social programs). We are also the country in love with screen narratives, big and little. First we had b-grade film actor Ronald Reagan become president (an a-grade capitalist, trickle down theory my ass!), now we have Donald Trump, a b-grade reality TV star (the small screen at its most craven). I fear we are getting what we deserve with a vengeance and there are not enough idealists to power Bernie Sanders. I will vote for HTC, but it's not a happy vote -- she's a hawk. Trump might yell, "North Korea, you're fired!" but I can see Hillary quietly sending out the drones without telling anyone. Perilous times.

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  2. Well, I'm more sanguine about Madame Clinton--and believe me, if she were to send out the drones, she'd be doing so far less than the Republican candidate--he'd be "bombs away! Bombs here, bombs here." I loved the way she first-named him, treated him like the little boy he is. But a dangerous little boy. I wish some smart journalist would really expose his mafia connections.

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  3. The guy who ghost-wrote The Art of the Deal had much to reveal about him in the New Yorker. Asked what he'd title the book now, the writer said, "The Sociopath"!

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  4. The guy who ghost-wrote The Art of the Deal had much to reveal about him in the New Yorker. Asked what he'd title the book now, the writer said, "The Sociopath"!

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  5. Indeed . . . you could also call it "The Malicious Narcissist."

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