I get this comment sometimes on my Facebook page, so let’s address it. Are we really better off with Donald Trump than we would have been with Hillary Clinton? It’s not a matter of re-fighting the election but of taking a good, hard look at what (if anything) has actually been accomplished by the election of a third-rate celebrity con man with no governing experience to the highest office in the land. I will be including links at various places to articles I’ve already posted as support for my ideas.
1. Neil Gorsuch is at best a qualified win.
Conservatives can point to the nomination and confirmation of Neil Gorsuch as a clear win. At least, that’s the party line. And there’s no question that Gorsuch is a brilliant conservative justice who is already making his mark on the Supreme Court. So what’s not to like?
I will quote from the frighteningly, startlingly, eerily accurate article by Erick Erickon that I posted back in May:
Trump’s evangelical Christian supporters often told me that whether we liked Trump or not, we needed him to save the Supreme Court. My response remains that four years of Clinton appointing judges, while awful, would be nothing compared with a generational wipeout of the GOP. (Read the entire article here.)
In addition to the above idea, I will also point out that the only reason Gorsuch is now on the SCOTUS is that the “nuclear option” was exercised by the GOP-majority Senate. Now it’s only necessary to have 51 votes to confirm SC justices. That action will come back to bite conservative Republicans when they are no longer in the majority.
Clinton would probably have nominated Merrick Garland to fill the Scalia vacancy. He’s sort of middle of the road and would have gotten confirmed, I think, with no problem. And we’d still have the 60% majority requirement in place. Now, however, we’re stuck. Don’t say you weren’t warned!
2. The GOP attempt at healthcare reform has been laughable, at best, and has nothing directly to do with Donald Trump anyway.
He has demonstrated repeatedly that he doesn’t even understand what’s in the House or the Senate versions. He just wants a “win.”
Conservatives can say that a GOP healthcare bill will defund Panned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the US, and that language is indeed in the Senate’s version which has yet to be voted on. The AHCA passed by the House had, I think, a one-year defunding. There’s been so much backing and forthing that it’s hard to keep track. I don’t want my tax dollars going to fund abortions, as I’m sure is also true of 99% of the people reading this post. But folks, surely the way something is done counts. The total ineptitude of the President and his (?) party have been in view for all to see.
Clinton would have wanted to leave Obamacare in place, of course, but since she’d have been saddled with a Republican-majority Congress she’d have had to do some horse-trading. It may be that the “repair Obamacare” option would have been exercised, with perhaps some real reforms. As it is, all that’s being accomplished right now is that the GOP looks ridiculous. What have they been doing for the past seven years? Nothing much, it seems.
3. The idea that the President is pro-life and will push for “reversing Roe v. Wade” has been shown to be a lot of empty air.
I wrote about his statements in his first post-election interview here. I’ve also posted excellent material showing the utter folly of thinking he can be a pro-life spokesman here.
Donald Trump has lived his entire adult life until about 2015 as a liberal, pro-choice Democrat. Just like Hillary Clinton, who is a liberal, pro-choice Democrat. At least she’s honest about it.
4. America’s standing in the world has taken a huge hit.
Hillary Clinton would never have participated in that whole nauseating Saudi Arabian let’s-treat-the-President-like-a-potentate song-and-dance routine. She would never have hinted at less-than-enthusiastic support for NATO. She would never, ever have done any of the laughable things that Donald Trump has done in his dealings with the world at large.
Who do you want dealing with North Korea, hmmm? Someone who thinks pro wrestling is a good analogy for governance? Or someone who has a little experience in real fights, not take ones?
5. HILLARY CLINTON WOULD NOT SEND STUPID TWEETS.
“Put Down the Phone, Mr. President.”
More to come later, maybe, but this is a good start.
Hillary Clinton was a complete disaster as Secretary of State, all she did was line up deals for her and her husbands pockets (FOUNDATION). They need to be investigated and tried for their crimes. The Clintons dont care how they get what they want,even if it risks the security of the country. Private Server and deleting emails. Selling 20% of our uranium to Russia, why?Her husband received extremely large speaking fees by Russia and their so called Foundation mysteriously received millions of dollars. They are crooks and liars! Almost anyone would be better. Would you want a sexual predator in the White House, Bill? I could go on and on how wicked they are and should of been in prison along time ago!
Guest response from Rhetorician for the Day:
The point is not, would she have been bad, but is he even worse? Let’s consider your points.
1) disaster as SoS – Yes, buffaloed by Russia, outfoxed by Syria, little progress with China but compare that to: besotted with Russian strongman, dropped a strike on Syria, gets rare copyright privileges for his family from China, and leaves NK happily building more and better bombs (just like with President Obama), destabilizes NATO, berates allies, praises dictators.
2) line up deals – Yes, the Clinton rehabilitation efforts and money for favors deals are always in high gear, but they spend the foundation money on (mostly) good causes. Compare to a Trump foundation that goes directly to benefit Mr. Trump and the ignoring of the Constitution’s emoluments requirements.
3) need to be tried for their crimes – Yes, since people guilty of mishandling classified are routinely punished (unless they are a high level politico). Unfortunately, Mr. Trump believes Mrs. Clinton to be a good person and we should be grateful for her public service. He’s standing in the way of justice.
4) don’t care how they get what they want – See emoluments clause, hostility to the Constitution, potential “winning” legitimizes any behavior, and the focus of every Presidential tweet, (“me, me, me”).
5) email server – already covered, but invitation to a hostile foreign power to interfere in our country is, at very best, unwise. If HC had called for that wouldn’t you be demanding she be tried for treason?
6) 20% of uranium – this is ownership and profit, not the ability to remove it from this country. Still a bad idea, we should have more sanctions on Russia, not be praising them and inviting their investment. Still, hardly anyone else is dumb enough to loan Mr. Trump any more money. How are those tax return releases coming along?
7) extremely large speaking fees – bad, already covered. Will Mr. Trump be ensuring businesses looking for favors and foreign governments don’t drop money in his pocket by staying at his hotels? Too late. How about not overcharging the Secret Service? That’s at least been fixed, but by the Secret Service.
8) crooks and liars – Horrible track record, but surely not worse than bankruptcy as a strategy, illegal loans from Daddy Trump, and the highest “pants on fire” rating ever by a candidate/president.
9) sexual predator in the White House – This is probably not your strongest point. Please see Donald Trump on the subject of whether being a sexual predator is good.
Bottom line: given two threats to the nation, to our Constitution, and to our peace and prosperity, the manageable, known threat could have been contained.