Donald Trump's Unpatriotic Campaign

This was an article I found on a Conservative website - Vox

Source article

Nice country you got here. Shame if something should happen to it.

“Make America great again.” Donald Trump’s campaign slogan implies its critique. Isn’t America great already?

Apparently not. In recent days, though, Trump’s distaste for America has come clearer. His frontal assault on the basic legitimacy of the country’s presidential election is more than a rationalization — it’s a tell, a revealed preference, a window into how little regard Trump has for the country he seeks to lead.

The direction this article takes is that as a democracy we do have a respect for the rules, even when they don't play out to our advantage. We have a long tradition of peaceful turnover of power (nobody executes all the former generals and staff, ala Kim Jung Il) and the change is not marked by wholesale jailing and execution or ostracization of the ones leaving office.

The tradition is so strong that in 2000, Al Gore conceded the presidency, even though he won more votes than the victor and only lost Florida, if he lost Florida, because of a confusing butterfly ballot. The end of his campaign came through a Supreme Court decision, not a full and fair recount. He could have contested the outcome. But he didn’t.

Gore loved America. He believed it great, and thus worth protecting. “Let there be no doubt,” he said, “while I strongly disagree with the court's decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College. And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.”

And yeah, a bunch of us were pretty bitter after that one but we lived with it. That's how a democracy works. We don't always get what we want and change comes in small steps.

This article focuses on Trump's statement that the election is being rigged which came up shortly after his numbers began to slide. The lower his numbers slide, the more loudly he proclaims that the system is rigged AND the more loudly he suggests a full-scale revolt if he loses. (personal opinion: he's so used to intimidating people in order to win that he can't understand how he could possibly lose.)

Trump is pouring gasoline atop the foundation of America’s democracy and playing with a match. His promise to make America great again is backed by a threat to burn it down. There’s much to be said about that, but the simplest point is that it’s fundamentally unpatriotic. It shows how little Trump understands, or values, what America has built.

Our country is NOT built on paying people off (if you think it is, then you should try doing business in a country where it really is the practice to pay bribes for access and services. You'll quickly see the difference between America and those places.) Our country is also NOT built on threatening war on those who win an electoral issue by the ones who lost.

... Scott Alexander touches on Trump’s disinterest in America’s political institutions. “If your goal is to replace the current systems with better ones, then destroying the current system is 1 percent of the work, and building the better ones is 99 percent of it,” he writes. “Throughout history, dozens of movements have doomed entire civilizations by focusing on the ‘destroying the current system’ step and expecting the ‘build a better one’ step to happen on its own. That never works.”

So the grim downside to this is a culture of disenfranchisement: If your guys win the election, beware because the losers are going to come back and do everything they can to wreck your plans. We're treading dangerously close now with the extreme partisanship seen in Congress... what it means is that everyone's so busy holding to a party line that they can't even compromise for the good of the nation.

And that kind of hard line hurts all of us.

The article in Vox suggests that Trump won't actually heal any partisan politics; he will make it worse, win or lose.

a reply to: Byrd

but Hilary and the Saudis...

it doesnt matter who wins. dont expect to see America go spread 'democracy' in a 3rd world country without opposition anymore. this election cycle is on a world stage, and we're not performing too well.

a reply to: Byrd

I recommend you take time to study what our country was actually, factually built on.

a reply to: Byrd

It's my interpretation of US history that the Founding Fathers wished for all citizens to exercise the common-value philosophies of ethics, personal growth, tolerance, education, diversity, philanthropy, family & community. Todays global Rotary organizations, such as the Lions Club, whose main enterprise is community service, have their roots in these same values.

It is also my opinion that those values are the fundamental building blocks of the US Constitution.

When I look at the choices that Americans (& the planet) have for POTUS in 2016 and beyond, I find both candidates lacking when it comes to emulating some of these same core-values.

The DNC shafting Bernie Sanders reigns supreme as the mother of all unpatriotic campaigns I've ever witnessed.

a reply to: Byrd

Patriotism is irrelevant to those who operate at the level of Trump and Hilary or above.

We HAVE to stop thinking of the election cycle your nation is going through, as being a way to pick the leader of, and therefore the direction in which, your nation heads. It is not. You want to change the way your nation is run? You want to change the way your foreign affairs policy is created and enacted? You want to change the rules so that big business pays its way, rather than avoiding, evading, or being given a break from taxes it SHOULD be paying? Then you need to get rid of the owners of the Federal Reserve, you need to disconnect all businesses of more than a certain size from the teat of the government, you need to get your public services, like hospitals, jails, all law court services whether judicial, defensive, or for the prosecution into public ownership, and you need to get people who are slaves to the will of the people into office, not people who are slaves to the dollar of the powerful move makers who operate the current mob like puppets.

Nothing will change as long as you keep just electing batch after batch of money loving, scheming psychopaths. Stop electing leaders, get your Federal Reserve back from its current owners, disband it and go back to the pre-1913 method of running an economy, which, by the way, was the last time the people, by way of the government, owned the gold that backed the currency.

I agree with the article you cited, but I'd still pick Trump over Hillary. She is that evil.
I don't like to resort to hysterics (much), but I'm not the only one who believes America as we know it is literally hanging in the balance here.

The old days are gone. America's democracy has been taken over by globalists and they do not play by the same rules that America was founded on. They are already doing exactly what you don't want to happen by controlling the media and killing their opposition (Scalia and so many others).

To get back to the true American ways, a new revolt is in order. If anyone thinks this is about party loyalty you are gravely mistaken. It is about the globalist oligarchy vs. American freedom.

There is one option for a peaceful revolt. Everyone needs to register as Independent! If we all did that then the two party system would die and poeple would have to choose candidates based on issues rather than rooting for their lifelong 'team'.

Those in power today, Soros and his puppets Obama; Hillary; the DOJ; the FBI; the IRS; etc.etc. do not represent We the People.

originally posted by: Sublimecraft
a reply to: Byrd

It's my interpretation of US history that the Founding Fathers wished for all citizens to exercise the common-value philosophies of ethics, personal growth, tolerance, education, diversity, philanthropy, family & community. Todays global Rotary organizations, such as the Lions Club, whose main enterprise is community service, have their roots in these same values.

It is also my opinion that those values are the fundamental building blocks of the US Constitution.

When I look at the choices that Americans (& the planet) have for POTUS in 2016 and beyond, I find both candidates lacking when it comes to emulating some of these same core-values.

The DNC shafting Bernie Sanders reigns supreme as the mother of all unpatriotic campaigns I've ever witnessed.

Sometimes one star is not enough for such a brilliant post…
*applause*

-Chris

a reply to: Sublimecraft

The DNC shafting Bernie Sanders reigns supreme as the mother of all unpatriotic campaigns I've ever witnessed.

Have you forgotten how the RNC shafted Ron Paul?

Chaos on the Convention Floor as RNC Blocks Ron Paul Delegates, Alters Seating Rules

I think the accusation of "unpatriotic" is pure hypocrisy coming from the globalist/socialist left.

How about Hillary's coronation at the Democratic National Convention? Not a single flag of the United States in the entire arena!

So, Trump can never say that something is unfair? Is it unpatriotic to point out criminality, when you believe it exists? There is evidence of massive vote fraud (1000s of votes) in both virginia and texas. Is it unpatriotic to post what some people claim is evidence?

Speaking only for myself ... I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you're not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.


And you can quote me.

a reply to: redempsh

How about Hillary's coronation at the Democratic National Convention? Not a single flag of the United States in the entire arena!

What? Can you watch videos? Because there are too many American flags to count in this video!

originally posted by: Byrd

The direction this article takes is that as a democracy we do have a respect for the rules, even when they don't play out to our advantage. We have a long tradition of peaceful turnover of power (nobody executes all the former generals and staff, ala Kim Jung Il) and the change is not marked by wholesale jailing and execution or ostracization of the ones leaving office.

that is until you find that the opposition wasn't playing by the rules at all, and in fact, wrote the rules and controls the outcome.

a reply to: Byrd

Is it patriotic the surrendering US autonomy & sovereignty & wealth over to globalist banksters, corporations and related forces?

a reply to: windword

That video is from Thursday night; you can tell because Hillary is wearing white. That video you posted is from the finale on Thursday night, after they rushed out and bought tons of flags; after the public was asking why there wasnt a flag on opening night.

I should have been more specific. They didn't have any flags on opening night. After Trump twitttered about it, they seem to have passed out flags to the crowd. Especially for the finally when hillary made her entrance. The total absence during the first night was bizarre. I wondered if Bernie didn't want them on stage while he spoke.

Red White and ---Where?

a reply to: Byrd

"The article in Vox suggests that Trump won't actually heal any partisan politics; he will make it worse, win or lose. "

I completely agree with that statement.......even if he loses the damage he's done in widening and deepening the divide is spectacular. When HRC takes POTUS, its going to get really vile in many places in the US.

I know one thing........any "traveling" I do after this election WILL NOT be in the US.

a reply to: redempsh

Oh, I guess I misunderstood, when you said there were no American flags at Hillary Clinton's "coronation, I figured that would be the day that she accepted the nomination.

I would imagine that the lack of American flags on day one of DNC was a clumsy oversight and not a sign of patriotic rebellion or disrespect, especially the likes of disrespect that we've seen coming from Trump himself and his followers.

There are plenty of flags and overwhelming patriotism at Hillary's "coronation".

Eta: not worth and a big off topic.

originally posted by: redempsh
I think the accusation of "unpatriotic" is pure hypocrisy coming from the globalist/socialist left.

How about Hillary's coronation at the Democratic National Convention? Not a single flag of the United States in the entire arena!

So, Trump can never say that something is unfair? Is it unpatriotic to point out criminality, when you believe it exists? There is evidence of massive vote fraud (1000s of votes) in both virginia and texas. Is it unpatriotic to post what some people claim is evidence?

Speaking only for myself ... I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you're not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.


And you can quote me.

some people!.....hey, I heard "some people" say Donnie trump likes boys....."I've heard" that he has a penthouse in trump tower for underaged sex parties......there have been "people", who I've heard from "others" that there was devil worship going on inside trump tower....but, I don't know, you know, it's a rumor I overheard from "someone"

a reply to: windword

Yes there certainly was. And to some, (me), it seemed somewhat hollow after their absence had been previously pointed out by the Trumptator.

But I can honestly imagine them keeping the flag back for after her nomination. Inneffective staging in my opinion. I could also see her people not wanting Bernie to appear with the flag--save that for the nominee. Again, I wouldn't have recommended that action; but I can imagine a spin-doctor coming up with it.

The charge (and that's all it can be, really) that they "forgot the flag" is so stinging that I really expected them to use it up front.

But then, I'm old. I hail from a time when you had an American flag present at ANY public meeting, to show that you weren't holding a secret or subversive conclave. Old Glory used to imply public space. That's why nobody had a permanent flagpole in his own front yard; it wasn't the public realm.

But you had a flag in church. One at the school board meeting. One at the Volunteer Firefighters meeting. Even in the Masonic Lodge Hall. It showed that those meetings were conducive of the public good.

NOT having one would have implied some sinister purpose. But like I said, I'm impossibly old, and I grew up out in the sticks.

a reply to: Byrd

Excellent. Exactly to the point.

And that kind of hard line hurts all of us.

The article in Vox suggests that Trump won't actually heal any partisan politics; he will make it worse, win or lose.

Can the Republican Party put back into the bottle the genie that they released? It is doubtful now, considering Trump's routing of the GOP. Trump himself is the Trojan Horse. The end of Trump will not be the end of the Trump-Bannon battle for American hearts and minds.