A Sad Day for America

Donald Trump is one scary person.

I'm not talking about his orange skin and fake blond hair. I'm talking about his lack of compassion and his lack of common sense, as well as his alleged close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his total lack of understanding of world affairs.

He, unlike presidential candidates in the past, has refused to release his federal income tax returns. Why? What is he hiding? Is it, as reported, his close ties to Russia?

He has verbally attacked a disabled reporter, women, Mexican immigrants, Muslims and the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed fighting for his country. He asked a woman and her crying baby to leave one of his rallies. He is so thin-skinned that he responds forcefully to every perceived slight. He makes an off-the-wall comment, then he immediately says he never said that and that his words were 'twisted' or 'misstated' by the news media. He refuses to accept responsibility for his words. Everything is always somebody else's fault. He makes up things he never saw and that don't exist, such as video of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the attacks on the World Trade Center. He is fond of saying that "lots of people" have told him something, but he can never identify who those people are.

He knows nothing about international affairs, insisting that Russia won't invade Ukraine, when in fact Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine's Crimea two years ago. 

I am no fan of Hillary Clinton, but do we really want a president who is so quick to anger and lash out at anybody he thinks has treated him unfairly or 'attacked' him? Do we want a president who is clueless about military and foreign affairs? Do we want a president whose wife plagiarized parts of her convention speech from Michelle Obama and who lied about her university studies?  Do we want a president so thin-skinned that he feels he must attack anybody who disagrees with him? Do we want a president who said that women should be 'treated like sh**'? Do we want a president who publicly makes fun of a disabled reporter and who mocks the looks of women? Is this the kind of president we want leading our nation's diplomacy and who will have access to our nuclear codes? A president who openly lies, who refuses to apologize when wrong and who refuses to back down? And do we want a president so pompous and arrogant that he claims to know more about the Middle East than anybody, and who when asked who advises him on foreign affairs, states that he advises himself? In short, do we want a president who is clueless about foreign affairs, mean-spirited and erratic?

I get that Americans are fed up with our government, and they are looking for a change. I, too, am tired of the partisan politics that are paralyzing our government. I am tired of being ignored by politicians who respond only to what their big donors want. But Trump is not the answer. He is not going to care about average Americans. Just look at how he treated tenants in his New York apartment complexes. Look at his history of refusing to pay contractors who did work for him. And why are news media ignoring the charges of his alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl? True or not, don't these charges deserve to be investigated?

I agree with the many Americans who don't trust Hillary Clinton. She has too many questionable actions. But she does at least have experience on the world stage, as a former first lady, as a senator and as secretary of state. But beyond his lack of experience, lack of knowledge and lack of compassion, as well as his inability to compromise, Trump's erratic words and shoot-from-the-hip behavior are truly frightening.

This is an election in which I would like to vote for 'none of the above.' But that isn't an option. Either Clinton or Trump will be elected to lead our country for the next four years. I will hold my nose and vote either for Clinton or for Libertarian Gary Johnson. Someone with Trump's thin skin and explosive temperament and need to always be right is not suited to assume the office of the most powerful person in the world. I do not trust a person who repeatedly asks "Why can't we use nukes?" to hold the codes to launch nuclear weapons. 

It's a sad, sad day for America when the best we can find to lead our nation are two people with no integrity.