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My Thoughts on the 2020 US Election
Nov. 3rd, 2020 07:41 amBack in 2016, I made the brash, arrogant statement that there was no way Donald Trump would ever become president of the United States. I stated this not as a gut feeling, not as a hunch, not even as a prediction, I stated it as some sort of indisputable fact. I spent election night wiping the proverbial egg off my face. I learned an extremely valuable lesson that day, viz., don't stupidly think you understand people. So what follows are hunches, gut feelings, and completely uneducated predictions. I don't know any more than you do on the subject, quite possibly a lot less, in fact. I just happen to have a big mouth.
The bottom line is that I will not be happy no matter who gets elected. On the one hand, I do not like the Biden-Harris campaign. I am staunchly, with every fiber of my being, pro-life, and I do not believe that any person's right to choose anything supersedes a child's right to exist. Frankly I'm very disappointed that we are part of a civilization that doesn't make the right to exist the most basic, inalienable, and fundamental of human rights. This is one issue on which I can not and will not compromise. We have the same issue here in Canada. You are not allowed to run as a Liberal member of Parliament unless you are pro-choice, Trudeau has made that very clear. So much for being the party of inclusiveness. So that's my biggest, though by no means only, grievance against the Biden campaign. Some people tell me that I hold this stance because I am a Christian, and while I agree that the right to exist is among the basic tenets of Christianity, I don't believe my opinion would be any different if I were not a Christian (a condition I can not imagine myself being in).
So what of Trump? I could also never vote for him, again for a number of reasons. Most importantly, I believe that Trump is using Christians, and particularly Evangelical Christians, as pawns for political gain, and in so doing, he is mocking God. If Trump is indeed a Christian, I can not see it in his conduct, his words, or his actions. While he has made the claim that he has done more for Evangelical Christians than any other president in history, I believe that what he has really done is enabled Evangelical Christianity to exist in a vacuum, which does not do Evangelical Christians any good whatsoever. My thoughts on that particular issue are spelled out in this blog entry. I believe that Trump is Machiavellian in the extreme, and I deeply, deeply resent anyone playing politics with my God as his game piece. Trump also dislikes my country, he thumbs his nose at the countries he should be working together with, and I strongly believe that the only person he cares about is Donald J. Trump.
So, again, the bottom line is that I won't be happy no matter who wins. At least in Canada we have the Rhino Party as an outlet for our expression of dissatisfaction. Should I run?
That said, how do I think it'll all turn out? Here's where the completely uneducated personal opining happens. Don't ask me to back this up, don't take this as anything more than one guy's thoughts.
I think what we'll see is a strong win by Trump of not only the electoral college, but also the popular vote. If you factor out Covid-19, there's no denying that the US economy has done extremely well under Trump. The number of Americans who seem to value the Second Amendment above everything else also really works in Trump's favor. And anyone who can show a complete disregard for women, yet gain the worship of so many women - something which never fails to astound me - is a political force to be reckoned with.
Whoever wins the election, whenever we happen to find that out, I think that the United States is in grave danger of what Paul Harvey would have called an Uncivil War. I have never known America, a country I love dearly, to be so incredibly polarized as it is right now. Both the left and the right have shown themselves capable of violence, of disregard for the property or even the lives of others, and a penchant for destruction and worse when they do not get what they want.
My prayers for today and the days, weeks and months ahead, are with the great American nation, for peace, for justice, for the prevalence of cooler heads, and for the respect of, if not agreement with, all people. God bless America.
The bottom line is that I will not be happy no matter who gets elected. On the one hand, I do not like the Biden-Harris campaign. I am staunchly, with every fiber of my being, pro-life, and I do not believe that any person's right to choose anything supersedes a child's right to exist. Frankly I'm very disappointed that we are part of a civilization that doesn't make the right to exist the most basic, inalienable, and fundamental of human rights. This is one issue on which I can not and will not compromise. We have the same issue here in Canada. You are not allowed to run as a Liberal member of Parliament unless you are pro-choice, Trudeau has made that very clear. So much for being the party of inclusiveness. So that's my biggest, though by no means only, grievance against the Biden campaign. Some people tell me that I hold this stance because I am a Christian, and while I agree that the right to exist is among the basic tenets of Christianity, I don't believe my opinion would be any different if I were not a Christian (a condition I can not imagine myself being in).
So what of Trump? I could also never vote for him, again for a number of reasons. Most importantly, I believe that Trump is using Christians, and particularly Evangelical Christians, as pawns for political gain, and in so doing, he is mocking God. If Trump is indeed a Christian, I can not see it in his conduct, his words, or his actions. While he has made the claim that he has done more for Evangelical Christians than any other president in history, I believe that what he has really done is enabled Evangelical Christianity to exist in a vacuum, which does not do Evangelical Christians any good whatsoever. My thoughts on that particular issue are spelled out in this blog entry. I believe that Trump is Machiavellian in the extreme, and I deeply, deeply resent anyone playing politics with my God as his game piece. Trump also dislikes my country, he thumbs his nose at the countries he should be working together with, and I strongly believe that the only person he cares about is Donald J. Trump.
So, again, the bottom line is that I won't be happy no matter who wins. At least in Canada we have the Rhino Party as an outlet for our expression of dissatisfaction. Should I run?
That said, how do I think it'll all turn out? Here's where the completely uneducated personal opining happens. Don't ask me to back this up, don't take this as anything more than one guy's thoughts.
I think what we'll see is a strong win by Trump of not only the electoral college, but also the popular vote. If you factor out Covid-19, there's no denying that the US economy has done extremely well under Trump. The number of Americans who seem to value the Second Amendment above everything else also really works in Trump's favor. And anyone who can show a complete disregard for women, yet gain the worship of so many women - something which never fails to astound me - is a political force to be reckoned with.
Whoever wins the election, whenever we happen to find that out, I think that the United States is in grave danger of what Paul Harvey would have called an Uncivil War. I have never known America, a country I love dearly, to be so incredibly polarized as it is right now. Both the left and the right have shown themselves capable of violence, of disregard for the property or even the lives of others, and a penchant for destruction and worse when they do not get what they want.
My prayers for today and the days, weeks and months ahead, are with the great American nation, for peace, for justice, for the prevalence of cooler heads, and for the respect of, if not agreement with, all people. God bless America.
