…there IS no debate, at least for people who want to keep their gun rights.

It was sad that neither candidate could give a straight answer to simple questions.

They say the devil you know beats the devil you don’t. This is the first time I can remember where I’ve had to choose the devil I don’t know, because the devil I do know so blatantly hates my kind and everything I stand for.

I am one of the five million plus NRA members Hillary Clinton has declared to be her enemy. She has publicly praised the Australian “gun control” scheme in which the government confiscates firearms legally purchased and responsibly owned by law abiding citizens. Her deep contempt for law enforcement, including her own Arkansas State Police bodyguards in the past and Secret Service agents since, is widely known.  More recently, without hearing from the police defense side, she called police shootings “intolerable” – a poor showing of ethics or fairness by a woman who was once an attorney, after she finally passed the bar exam.  I’m a cop; I’m a law-abiding gun owner; and I am not inclined to vote for people who hate and demonize me and Americans like me.

On this litmus test issue, Donald Trump has come out for our side. Yes, at one time he supported the “assault weapons ban,” but he has since foresworn that publicly.  Hillary Clinton has been implacably anti-gun and anti-police for her entire career. The devil I don’t know can’t possibly be worse than the devil who has made herself clearly known.

I understand why many people I respect are voting for third party candidates. But it’s clear that those candidates can’t win.  The “statement” made by voting for them gives only an empty, self-righteous “feel-good” moment to that particular voter, and does not serve the common good.  It appears that third party votes will draw mostly from the Trump side, not the Clinton side, and equal a vote for Clinton…not a good thing for those to whom either justice or the right to self-protection is important. If you look at the polls, predicted Trump votes plus predicted third party votes will be enough to defeat Clinton, but predicted Trump votes alone will not.

We remember when Ross Perot was the spoiler whose third party votes gave us eight years of a Bill Clinton presidency, and the ten onerous years of the Assault Weapons Ban.

Which is why I for one am inclined to hold my nose and vote for Donald Trump.

 

59 COMMENTS

  1. When Mae West was asked to choose between two evils, she said she always picked the one she hadn’t tried yet. We’ve tried the the democrats lately so maybe we should try the republicans.

  2. Mas,

    I would side with you, hold my nose and vote for Trump (as deplorable as I find him) IF he actually could win as the lesser of two evils, but the truth is, he simply cannot. The moment he became the republican nominee, the presidency went to Clinton. The outcome of this race is a forgone conclusion, it has already been decided by the electorate.

    I don’t buy conspiracy theory about Trump being a carefully positioned plant by the DNC and MSM to allow Clinton to win. The GOP did all of this to themselves by sticking to their Religious Right conservatism as a cornerstone of their platform in an increasingly (and majority) secular country, which has in turn slowly killed the relevancy of the republican party over the last two decades. With the nomination of Trump, that loss of relevancy is complete, the republican party as we have known it is dead at any level other than rural local.

    Americans are tired of being told they are sinful for wanting to be in control of what they want to do with their own body, and with other consenting adults. The DEMs saw the writing on the wall, the GOP did not, and now it is too late. Trump is not the deliverer of the GOP, he is the harbinger of its end.

    Record numbers of Americans now identify themselves as Independent, in fact a majority now do to include the most important upcoming voting block, Millennials. (I myself am a gen-Xer to be clear)

    Fiscally responsible, socially liberal and inclusive, this neither describes democrats or republicans at the extreme left and right that those parties currently have settled to. The future instead will be controlled by the Independents, the Libertarian party being the most closely representative of those ideals if one wishes to assign a coherent party label.

    The tide is turning, and 2nd Amendment’s future going forward will be decided by the Independents of this country, and the party that ultimately claims them.

    In contrast to what many want to believe, a vote for Trump is in fact the true protest vote, a last stand for a dying party that the nominee does not represent, and that has lost touch with America.

    Nothing short of something very bad befalling Clinton will change the outcome of this election now. But our votes don’t have to be cast in vain, as a last grasp to maintain some semblance of freedom from the creeping tyranny that the democratic party represents.

    The sooner we realize and adapt to the massive shift this country has just gone through, the better off we will be. By making a statement, by casting a vote and establishing the legitimacy for the party that will likely be the refuge of freedom and liberty going into the future, and more importantly, the only refuge for the survival of the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Amendments, the sooner we can begin to guide those undecided Independents to the only path that will make sure the American way of life continues, because it sure as shit wont survive in the democrats hands.

    For that reason, not as a protest, but as an acknowledgment of where the future has to go for freedom to survive, my vote will be for the Libertarian party, and the only decent human being in this contest, Gary Johnson.

  3. @ Dave (the liberal, non-uncle one):

    I respectfully disagree with your view that the Republican Party has suffered severe, long-term damage from the campaign of Donald Trump. I think that there is a good deal of “wishful thinking” included in that view.

    Certainly, that is a common view among Democrats and even by some Republicans who are prone to self-recrimination. Nevertheless, that view is will be mistaken if the Republicans will just wake up.

    The fact is that Donald Trump was never truly the choice of Republicans. Instead, as I noted in my post above, he is a choice that was fostered upon the Republicans by the underhanded manipulations of the DNC and their allies in the Mainstream Media (MSM).

    What is going on with the press, in America today, is a strange situation. We are all familiar with “State-Run Media” in other countries. Countries like China, North Korea or Cuba where the press is forced to toe the “Party Line” under threats of violence or imprisonment. The Founding Fathers also recognized this threat and, to combat it, included “Freedom of the Press” in the 1st Amendment. They apparently assumed that the bias of the press would “even out” over a broad range of sources.

    This is proving wrong in the America of today. The current press has such a strong, left-wing bias that it, effectively, has become the propaganda arm of the current Leftist Administration. In the same manner whereby Adolf Hitler had “true believers” like Joseph Goebbels and Leni Riefenstahl to enthusiastically peddle his propaganda, the current Leftist State, in America, has similar “true believers” on the staffs of CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, the Huffington Post, etc. to enthusiastically peddle theirs.

    Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not accusing CNN of being Nazis. Clearly, the current American Leftist ideology is markedly different from that of the old-style fascists. What I am saying is that the fanaticism and use of propaganda is the same even if the ideologies are wildly different.

    This trend really came to the forefront with the 2008 Presidential Election. We saw there that the leftist press was really starting to use the tools of character assassination (Sarah Palin), disinformation, selective reporting, etc. to directly interfere with the Presidential Election. It has gotten worse with each subsequent election with the 2016 one being the most egregious of all. The Leftist Press is aggressively suppressing the strongest Republican Candidates while aggressively supporting the ones who would prove most disastrous for the Republican Party.

    So, you are right to this extent. If the Republican Party fails to recognize the propaganda war being waged against it and fails to adjust their strategy, then they are doomed to future failures.

    However, if the Republicans wake up and take action to counter the tactics being used by the DNC and the Leftist Press, then they can come back in four years with a real chance to retake the Presidency.

    So, what does the Republican Party need to do? I am certain that no one cares about my suggestions but here they are anyway:

    First, they need to overhaul their Presidential nomination process. The current “Laissez-Faire” approach whereby any “Tom, Donald or Harry” can toss his or her hat into the ring has got to go. This approach generated 17 major candidates for the 2016 Election. This broad field gave the Leftist MSM plenty of scope to search out the most disastrous candidate possible (Donald Trump) and elevate him (using their propaganda tactics) to the forefront. In the future, the field needs to be pre-trimmed so that only strong and viable candidates get “certified” to run in the Republican Primary.

    I would suggest that the Republicans establish a deadline whereby all candidates must submit their names to the RNC 90 days before the first primary election. The resulting list of candidates will then be ranked (in terms of top ten) by about 500 of the top republican leaders around the U.S. (i.e. republican members of congress, republican governors, leaders of State houses, etc.). The rankings will determine the top half dozen candidates who have substantial support within the Republican Party. These “certified” candidates are then allowed to run in the primary races. The others, with little or no support, are “de-certified” and cut out before the first vote is cast. In this manner, the weak candidates are cut before the MSM even gets a chance to puff them up with free air-time and manipulate them to the head of a losing ticket. If this had been done for the 2016 Presidential Election, Donald Trump (along with several others) would have been cut before even reaching the starting gate. There would have been no need to try to cut him at the last minute at the Convention. He would have been dead at the start.

    That is a defensive measure. The Republicans also need to go on the offensive against those in the media who are actually DNC operatives masquerading as journalists. The Republicans need to assemble dossiers on the known leftist media operatives. Their previous work needs to be analyzed (in detail) to clearly establish their left-wing bias.

    Their personal lives also need to be investigated to look for ethical or criminal misconduct. Then, when these leftist media operatives launch future attacks (disguised as journalism – like the NY Times recent “October Surprise” character assassination attack on Trump), the republicans will already have the media “ammo” to launch a personal “counterattack” directly against the leftist operative. With the best of luck, the counterattack will destroy the career of the operative and completely take him or her down. A few such successful “counterattacks” will end the “free-ride” that these Leftist media operatives currently enjoy.

    I know! It is a shame that the Republicans have to adopt such tactics. However, these tactics have been used by the DNC and their media allies for a decade now and it is destroying the Republican Party. If the Republicans don’t learn to “fight fire with fire”, then Liberal Dave is correct. The Republican Party is doomed and it is time to start thinking about the formation of a new party to counter-balance the Leftists.

  4. Since we in this country are, at least for the present, not electing an all powerful overlord, maybe we should go to the trouble of reading the platforms of the party the candidates represent.

    Republican—– https://prod-static-ngop-pbl.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_FINAL%5B1%5D-ben_1468872234.pdf

    Democrat—-https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Democratic-Party-Platform-7.21.16-no-lines.pdf

    Green—-http://www.gp.org/platform

    Libertarian—-http://www.lp.org/platform

    I suggest everyone read the plans and promised actions of each party and then decide which one disgusts you most, then cast your vote accordingly. Yes the text is long and boring, but the rest of your life is at stake.

  6. @ Jason C:

    I can see that you fall into the group of people who are insisting that the nomination of Donald Trump was a self-inflicted wound to the Republican Party. For all those who think this way, I would just like to point out the following facts:

    1) Trump never had much support among the Republican leadership. Paul Ryan hates his guts and there is a long list of other republican leaders who feel the same. There was a “Never Trump” movement that tried to stop him right up to, and including, at the Convention.

    2) Trump never had the support of the majority of republicans who voted in the primary. As you can easily check via sources on the web, in the final tally for the 2016 Republican Primary, Trump got about 38% of the primary vote. That means that 62% of republicans (including myself) voted for someone other than Trump during the primary. Unfortunately, given the fractured field, 38% was enough to get Trump the nomination under the existing rules.

    Therefore, it is disingenuous (to say the least) to proclaim Trump as the Poster Child for the Republican Party or to proclaim that Trump was the enthusiastic choice of Republicans.

    So, how did Trump come out on top anyway? Perhaps this story can provide a clue:

    http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/15/media/trump-free-media-coverage/index.html

    Oh, how about that? The leftist news media gave Trump $2 Billion (that is billion with a “B”) dollars’ worth of free media coverage. Hmmm, wonder if that could have been a factor?

    So, you can dismiss that idea that the leftist mainstream media has been interfering in Presidential politics (to the discomfort of the republican side) as a “Conspiracy Theory” if you want. However, I am a member of the old “Baby Boomer” generation. This means that I have been watching the workings of American politics for a lot longer than any Gen Xer or millennium and I can tell you that this old nose of mine is smelling a Rat!

  7. For anyone who hates the idea of voting for the “lesser of two evils” and is planning on not voting because of this, remember, if we end up with the greater of two evils you only have yourself to blame. The reality is that we are going to get Hillary or Trump. Don’t help get Hillary elected because of your principles. Your principles won’t help you when the Supreme Court bans everything but single-shot shotguns and .22 rifles. It’s never been more important to win regardless of your “principles.” Dammit, we need EVERY vote to put down the Wicked Witch of the East and only Trump has a chance to do that.

  8. @ TN_Man

    While I agree that Trump has gotten tons of free press (mostly negative) this is because he is a controversial media personality, and controversy sells print, and print sells advertising, and it’s as simple as that, no conspiracy required. The media focus on Trump comes from two simple economic dynamics, supply and demand. The excess supply of tabloid worthy controversy, and the demand by the public to hear it.

    Clinton has her own controversy mind you, but most of that is yesterdays news, old stories, covered infinitum, and you don’t sell new advertising by printing the same thing over and over. Again, not conspiracy, just economics.

    Of course, It doesn’t help that Trump can’t seem to get out of his own way, he is eminently unlikable, and because hes not a politician, he doesn’t understand the rules of this game he’s playing and doesn’t know how to play off the negative press or use it to his advantage most the time. Most of his business experience to this point is working against him since he’s used to being able to leverage his money and influence to get what he wants, to bully the little guy, and all of that counts for squat in this theater, but the man is too much of a narcissist to realize any of it.

    The MSM certainly leans left, if we define “left” as anything not the Religious Right. The MSM is largely a reflection of American society as a whole, because the truth is that most of America is now pro choice, pro gay marriage, pro diversity and immigration, religiously secular, and MOST of all, tired of the hate and ignorance that spews from “Conservative” talking heads like Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Beck and O’Reilly, as well as a host of evangelical doomsayers like Pat Robertson. I can’t imagine why the GOP has an image problem of intolerance. (sarcasm)

    Your right in the assertion that the GOP core didn’t nominate Trump, but the talking heads did after the fall of the status quo candidates. While the religious right may be the core of the GOP, it’s no longer represents its majority. Instead the republican party is now an amalgamation of tea party conservatives, pro-business libertarians, religious right wingers, disenfranchised RINOs and wayward constitutionalists. I think many of which disagree with the core religious bent of the GOP, but can’t abide what the democrats would do to our Constitution if given half the chance. So, in our estranged two party monopoly, they seek any seemingly stable port in the political storm, but rarely get along in any organized fashion enough to save themselves. The ideological split in the House is a perfect example of this.

    Again your right, Trump most certainly is NOT the poster child of the republican party, he is a side effect of its fractured state, the symptom of its confused membership, its increasing irrelevancy, and it’s inevitable death.

    I predict a landslide for the Democrats, so much so, that I will say the totality of votes for Trump and ALL third parties combined will not equal what Clinton nets, either for the electoral or the popular vote.

    For the sake of this election, and more importantly, our Constitution, I wish it were otherwise, but it can be truly said that the happiest day at the DNC was the day Trump became the Republican nominee, and the dems have been having a celebration ever since. They are so confident of carrying this election in fact, they are now buying advertising in republican entrenched states that they could never hope to win (such as Texas) just to rub it in.

  9. @ Jason C:

    You make a lot of good points. The Republican side is fractured but, if it comes down to it, one can easily also find divisions on the Democratic side. Some of the reasons that you give for the Republican divisions are a reflection of your personal political viewpoint. They are not ones that I necessarily share.

    It is also a valid point that Trump is a “Media Personality” who is bound to attract attention. I disagree with your viewpoint that this is the main reason that Trump got that $2 Billion dollars worth of free media. The proportion is too big. Trump simply IS NOT that big of a media celebrity.

    If you read the story to which I linked, you will see that Trump got more media attention than all other Republicans combined! He got 6 TIMES more free media than his closest Republican competitor Ted Cruz. He got 2.5 TIMES more free media than Hillary! Sorry, Trump was never that BIG of a story.

    Furthermore, the coverage was not uniformly negative. That is what especially smells. The coverage PRIOR to the Republican Convention was mostly POSITIVE. I won’t say it was 100% positive but it was probably 70% positive.

    However, once the Republican Convention was over and Trump was firmly seated as the Republican choice, THEN it really went NEGATIVE.

    The closer one gets to the actual election, the more negative it has become. At this point in time (Mid Oct. – 3 weeks prior to the election) it is at least 90% negative.

    In other words, Trump’s Media coverage was not uniform as would be expected if it was simply due to his celebrity status. It has followed a pattern whereby Trump was “set up” so that he could be later “knocked down”. Just like one would set up a steel target on the range to then knock it over with pistol fire.

    It is not my view that the Mainstream Media is simply doing its due diligence in reporting the news. They have clearly favored Clinton and (in my opinion) have done their utmost to give her a favorable opponent to run against.Trump is the one candidate, on the Republican side, that Hillary has the best chance to beat. I don’t think that it is mere coincidence or fate that he happened to be the opponent she got.

    I am also doubtful of your assertion that the Mainstream Media is just a reflection of present day America. If this were true, they would be a lot more beloved than they are. My impression is that the Mainstream Media is very much to the LEFT of Mainstream America.

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