Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Today's Political Developments Demand Rational Response, Not Knee-Jerk Rancor (UPDATED)

First, a little legal-talk to stave off the salivating lawyers..  Faithful Catholics of MD/DC Inc is not - repeat, NOT - a "c3" corporation,  In fact, we're not a "501c" anything!  That means we can make all the political statements we want!  Now that this is out of the way, let's continue.

As most of you know, I was hoping that Ted Cruz would be the GOP nominee for US President.  I voted for him in the MD primary.  However, I just got the news that after the Indiana primary, Cruz has decided to drop out of the race.  That means that Donald Trump is the nominee, assuming that all RINO attempts to submarine his campaign come to naught.  On the Democrat side, we see that Hillary is beating Bernie quite handily.  So barring very unusual occurrences, we'll be seeing a Trump vs Clinton race this coming November.

Quite honestly, I find Trump to be an enigma.  Some of his policy statements have been rather contradictory.  Some of his conduct has, in my opinion, not been worthy of one aspiring to be the Chief Executive Officer of the United States of America.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has not been enigmatic in the least.  Her pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage stances are out there for everyone to see.  We know for a fact what kind of Supreme Court justices she'll nominate if she wins the White House.  We know what kind of mess her foreign policy will be, just by the debacle that was her performance as Secretary of State.  Need I remind one and all of the four Americans that she knowingly let die in Benghazi on her watch?  Need we reminders of the security breaches posed by her reckless handing of servers and emails?

I recite all this because I'm seeing signs of irrational rage and anger against Trump's nomination from good Christians and pro-life activists.  Their common mantra seems to be "anyone but Trump", as they threaten to stay home on election day or to write in some other person on their presidential ballot.  That is the kind of thinking and acting that garnered for this country eight years of the worst presidency to date; disdaining both McCain and Romney, good Christians (acting on emotion versus reason) simply abdicated their civic duties and let Obama waltz into the White House.

One meme captured the lack of logic perfectly.  I wished I saved it; if I see it again, I'll post it. (UPDATE - See below!)  Anyway, it said (paraphrased), "if Trump wins the nomination, Hillary wins the White House so I won't vote in November".  This statement is an example of a logical fallacy known as a self-fulfilling prophesy, for if good people do indeed not effectively vote against Hillary, she will indeed win the White House.  Note carefully.  In that case, she'd win not because Trump was the nominee but because otherwise-rational people used that as an excuse not to vote for the one candidate who could deny her the White House.

If we're serious about at least slowing down the oncoming train wreck of our cultural degradation, we will have to vote for Trump, for that is the only effective way to vote against Hillary.  And please - none of this write-in crap.  You might feel better while you're doing it, but elections are not about how we feel.  We need to turn our emotions off and force our intellect and reason to have dominance over our feelings and "gut reactions".

I've written before quite extensively on voting and the Catholic Principle of Double Effect; I need not rehash it here, but instead link to the anthology of posts.  Yes, the act of voting for Trump needs to be subject to this scrutiny, but so do the acts of: not voting at all, or, the act of voting "third-party" or "write-in" must be subject to the same scrutiny.

Let us ask Our Lord's blessing and direction for us.

UPDATE - I knew it would crop up like kudzu!

I'm sure the creator of that can't - or won't - see their own logical fallacy!  LOL, they can't even figure out the proper spelling for "principles"!

10 comments:

  1. Trump, I do believe, barring a contested convention and the Republicans pulling some crazy thing out of the hat, is the only choice we have. No I didn't vote for him either, I voted Rubio, but even Trump would be better than Hillary!! ANYONE would be better than Hillary!! For crying out loud, Hillary is ok with 'sex selection abortion'? Abortion on demand for ANY REASON AND AT ANY TIME??!! Hillary is a female Obama!! This is not to speak of her 'open border policy', health care madness, and turning the U.S. into a complete 'Nanny State'. God save us from Hillary!!!

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  2. Sad to say, there is no perfection when it comes to secular governance. A people that have no idea on who they are or where they came from, will tolerate aimless thinking and voting with no notion of right reason, morality, correcting deviant behavior or self sacrifice, each new generation now becoming less rational than the previous. The best we can do is to teach the truth, live lives of good example and hope for conversions.

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  3. If you truly believe what you say, don't stop repeating it. I was for Rubio and did not find Cruz an adequate substitute, but voted for him anyway in the primary. Even if Trump wins the primary, I would not be opposed to the Republican National Convention giving the nomination to Cruz, Rubio or Kasich. As for Hillary, some people think she is more stable than Trump when it comes to 'being in the same room with the International ballistic missile button".As for myself, I will recall the advice I heard in a sermon when Reagan was running for president and I did not like Reagan so much, and that was that other policy decisions can be debated but abortion cannot, and if we do not vote pro-life, God will not continue to bless our Country."

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  4. ...Not so sure I share the level of optimism expressed here but for me it is a 'ray of hope'
    that is worth pondering:
    https://someonehastosaythetruth.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/a-toast-for-donald-j-trump-the-2016-road-to-the-white-house-seen-by-a-survivor-of-communism/?mc_cid=fd4d1cb44b&mc_eid=ee082267b4

    Surely we must increase our prayers for Trump's complete conversion as suggested.

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  5. Nope, two authoritarians met in a Wood and I refuse to vote for either of them, Trump is not a enigma, like Hillary he is a liberal from NY like Hillary he is thoroughly corrupt, immoral and a left-wing authoritarian.
    I think this article sums up Trump well (generally being a accurate summary of his actions since becoming a candidate)

    http://www.mediaite.com/online/donald-trump-is-the-greatest-thing-to-happen-to-conservatism/

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    Replies
    1. He doesn't have the track record that Hillary does (and hers includes a dead-person count). They are not equivalent.

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  6. Thanks for this very helpful post. Thanks JMJT for the above link. We need more of this because we are hearing a lot of the 'do not vote for anyone' propaganda by many we have much in common with but whom are now going to 'sit it out' because of erroneous 'purist' principles.
    I am reminded of a comment posted here on this topic a short while back by Father VF. He pointed out that choosing the 'Not Voting' option or the 'Write-In-A-Name' option as one's choice for president actually ends up as giving the opposition (read Hillary Clinton) a half-vote for the opposition, mathematically speaking.
    Review the facts on Hillary here. And remember this video does not even mention Hillary Clinton's major role in the promotion of the culture of death by abortion, reproductive rights, etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWTTzfKKER8#t=34.243878



    Either way

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  7. Saw this commentary too on Catholic American Thinker http://www.catholicamericanthinker.com/Trump-is-The-Man.html-- and reposting it here:
    "Trump may be devoid of ideology; he may be no conservative, and no liberal, and no Christian; but then he is also no Marxist, and no Moslem, and no completely dependent slave of The Establishment Club, either.
    He is their enemy, and he knows it. He is in their gun-sights.
    But that puts them in his gun-sights, too.
    If we cannot count on a President Donald Trump to get us back under the Constitution, perhaps we can hope that he will get us out from under The Washington Establishment.
    That would be a major improvement.
    Vote for Trump.
    Or see Constitutional America end. That's your choice."

    Couldn't agree more.

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  8. The most recent Rasmussen poll now has Trump leading Hillary. Let me remind you, right after he was nominated in 1980, Ronald Reagan was running 30 percentage points behind Carter in the polls and liberals were calling Reagan a whacko just like they are calling Trump the same today. Reagan won in a landslide.

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  9. I am in much the same frame of mind whenever I think of Pope Francis (which I do very frequently). While I don't criticize, or judge, your decision in any way, my response is different. I believe our duty, as baptized Catholics, is to uphold truth and oppose error. It is very hard, as you know, to spend time opposing the pope, but oppose I must.

    Your way is likely the better way, I admit, but we must do what we must do. The emerging collapse is picking up steam. I fear a schism will be the result.

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