The four horsemen of the political apocalypse are upon us
Yes, this is an opinion page. No, I don’t normally write about politics, which is what you normally find on an opinion page.
This week is different. I am going to talk about politics. Presidential politics are especially nasty this year. They’re nasty every time we have a presidential election, but this year is off-the-charts weird. I honestly think we are seeing signs of the four horsemen of the political apocalypse. Please allow me to explain.
The first horseman rides a blue donkey. Astride the beast of burden are Hillary Clinton (a.k.a. Hillary) and Bernie Sanders (a.k.a. the Socialist, or simply, Bernie). Of all the major candidates for president, Hillary is probably the most qualified (note, I didn’t say the best choice, just the most qualified). She has been a senator and secretary of state. She has also been president once before. (I say this tongue in cheek because we know who wore the pants during the first Clinton administration. Heck, Bill couldn’t even keep his on!)
Bernie is not a viable candidate. No one who is an avowed socialist is a viable candidate to lead the free world. That being said, we are on the tail end of an abominable socialist presidency that is tearing this county apart and bowing us at the feet of our enemies. Just last week President Obama was cavorting with Raul Castro at a baseball game in Cuba while terrorists were ripping Brussels, Belgium, apart. There’s leadership for you.
The second horseman rides a red elephant. This warrior comes in the form of two men – Donald J. Trump (a.k.a. The Donald) and Ted Cruz (a.k.a. the only candidate not actually born in this country).
Let’s start with Cruz. Although he most closely represents me politically, he scares me. First of all, I still question his qualifications for president. There are very few requirements for the job and one of them is to be a natural born citizen. He was born in Canada, and at best he just barely qualifies because he had an American mother. Secondly, he is a freshman senator. That’s not much experience. I had the same qualm eight years ago with Obama.
What gets me the most, however, is his bombastic attitude. He believes he is always right and leaves no room for discourse and fence mending. That’s the same problem The Donald has, but Trump has it infinitely worse.
I have never liked Trump. He is morally and ethically in extreme opposition to everything I hold dear. I stand for honesty, integrity, faith in God and service to others. Trump is all about Trump. He isn’t in this for America. He is in it for The Donald. He is all about building personal wealth and power and saying and doing anything to accomplish his goals.
There isn’t a philanthropic bone in his body. We’re talking about a guy whose catch phrase is “You’re fired!” He builds himself up by tearing others down. I fail to understand how anyone can vote for him in good conscience.
That leads me to the third horseman – the American voter. This is the most misinformed and misunderstood creature in game. These are the masses that put the first two horsemen in the leads of their respective parties. These are the ones who ignored worthy, legitimate and experienced candidates in favor of the extremists.
People, snap out of it. This isn’t reality TV. The person we pick will be ruining the country for the next four years. We’ve suffered enough for the last eight-plus years. Under Obama and Bush, our taxes have never been higher, our debt deeper and our standing in the world so weak than at any other time in history. Race relations are worse now than they’ve been since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. We have lost more of our rights and freedoms under the last two administrations than we have gained in the last two centuries.
Show me a candidate who will restore religious and personal freedoms, attack the debt and deficit, uphold Constitutional rights and seek unity across both parties for the betterment of the country and I’ll show you a candidate who just might be worthy of the White House.
By now you’re probably saying that’s just three horsemen. What’s the fourth? The fourth is akin to the third. It’s social media. It’s where honesty and integrity go to die. It’s the place where outright lies, half-truths, fact distortions and political spins pose as reality. The only place worse are the halls of Congress.
Social media is where most of us seem to form our opinions about the candidates. Whole philosophies are pared down to 140 characters or re-posted pictures with political statements on them. I don’t mind some political humor in my Facebook feed, but when postings get nasty and friends start believing and sharing outright lies and distortions, it no longer surprises me that the misinformed are on target to put the misguided into the highest seat of power on the planet.
You can take that as my political opinion. You can share it if you want, but do me a favor and fact-check it first. If I’m wrong, I don’t want this to go any further than between us. If I’m right, maybe we can spread the word far enough to wake the remaining voters up and get them to see what we are really about to do to ourselves at the ballot box.
This week is different. I am going to talk about politics. Presidential politics are especially nasty this year. They’re nasty every time we have a presidential election, but this year is off-the-charts weird. I honestly think we are seeing signs of the four horsemen of the political apocalypse. Please allow me to explain.
The first horseman rides a blue donkey. Astride the beast of burden are Hillary Clinton (a.k.a. Hillary) and Bernie Sanders (a.k.a. the Socialist, or simply, Bernie). Of all the major candidates for president, Hillary is probably the most qualified (note, I didn’t say the best choice, just the most qualified). She has been a senator and secretary of state. She has also been president once before. (I say this tongue in cheek because we know who wore the pants during the first Clinton administration. Heck, Bill couldn’t even keep his on!)
Bernie is not a viable candidate. No one who is an avowed socialist is a viable candidate to lead the free world. That being said, we are on the tail end of an abominable socialist presidency that is tearing this county apart and bowing us at the feet of our enemies. Just last week President Obama was cavorting with Raul Castro at a baseball game in Cuba while terrorists were ripping Brussels, Belgium, apart. There’s leadership for you.
The second horseman rides a red elephant. This warrior comes in the form of two men – Donald J. Trump (a.k.a. The Donald) and Ted Cruz (a.k.a. the only candidate not actually born in this country).
Let’s start with Cruz. Although he most closely represents me politically, he scares me. First of all, I still question his qualifications for president. There are very few requirements for the job and one of them is to be a natural born citizen. He was born in Canada, and at best he just barely qualifies because he had an American mother. Secondly, he is a freshman senator. That’s not much experience. I had the same qualm eight years ago with Obama.
What gets me the most, however, is his bombastic attitude. He believes he is always right and leaves no room for discourse and fence mending. That’s the same problem The Donald has, but Trump has it infinitely worse.
I have never liked Trump. He is morally and ethically in extreme opposition to everything I hold dear. I stand for honesty, integrity, faith in God and service to others. Trump is all about Trump. He isn’t in this for America. He is in it for The Donald. He is all about building personal wealth and power and saying and doing anything to accomplish his goals.
There isn’t a philanthropic bone in his body. We’re talking about a guy whose catch phrase is “You’re fired!” He builds himself up by tearing others down. I fail to understand how anyone can vote for him in good conscience.
That leads me to the third horseman – the American voter. This is the most misinformed and misunderstood creature in game. These are the masses that put the first two horsemen in the leads of their respective parties. These are the ones who ignored worthy, legitimate and experienced candidates in favor of the extremists.
People, snap out of it. This isn’t reality TV. The person we pick will be ruining the country for the next four years. We’ve suffered enough for the last eight-plus years. Under Obama and Bush, our taxes have never been higher, our debt deeper and our standing in the world so weak than at any other time in history. Race relations are worse now than they’ve been since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. We have lost more of our rights and freedoms under the last two administrations than we have gained in the last two centuries.
Show me a candidate who will restore religious and personal freedoms, attack the debt and deficit, uphold Constitutional rights and seek unity across both parties for the betterment of the country and I’ll show you a candidate who just might be worthy of the White House.
By now you’re probably saying that’s just three horsemen. What’s the fourth? The fourth is akin to the third. It’s social media. It’s where honesty and integrity go to die. It’s the place where outright lies, half-truths, fact distortions and political spins pose as reality. The only place worse are the halls of Congress.
Social media is where most of us seem to form our opinions about the candidates. Whole philosophies are pared down to 140 characters or re-posted pictures with political statements on them. I don’t mind some political humor in my Facebook feed, but when postings get nasty and friends start believing and sharing outright lies and distortions, it no longer surprises me that the misinformed are on target to put the misguided into the highest seat of power on the planet.
You can take that as my political opinion. You can share it if you want, but do me a favor and fact-check it first. If I’m wrong, I don’t want this to go any further than between us. If I’m right, maybe we can spread the word far enough to wake the remaining voters up and get them to see what we are really about to do to ourselves at the ballot box.
posted by Joe Southern | 10:32 AM
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