This is a guest post from a loyal fan and listener, Dr. Robot Nick. (He occasionally gives us money!)
I thought long and hard about how I feel about the two candidates for president. It is important to mention I dislike both of them with a fervor. I think that Donald Trump is a narcissistic, egocentric misogynist, and that Hillary Clinton is a dishonest, avaricious transgressor.
So, for me, choosing a candidate came down to the looking at the facts. When I say facts, I will leave out conspiracy theories like The Clinton Body Count (sorry John Stall) or Trump being controlled by Vladimir Putin. I will focus on how each candidate directly impacts me.
Economy
I feel that neither Trump nor Clinton represent middle-class America well. Trump’s policies are skewed towards the uber-rich, and Clinton’s policies are biased towards lower-income groups. That being said, I stand to consistently lose money year over year in the Clinton tax plan, while I stand to gain several thousand dollars with the Trump tax plan.
Trump is for smaller government with a focus on defense and economic growth. Clinton’s plan is focused on green initiatives, bigger government, and a smaller defense budget.
Like it or not, America is a capitalist society. Trump understands this and his policies represent a capitalist point of view. Socialism does not work. Look at the European Union or Canada if you need examples. In order for America to remain a world power, we need to remain capitalists.
If you would like to see some comparisons of the Clinton, Trump tax plans I used the following resources:
Tax Foundation: Details and Analysis of Hillary Clinton’s Tax Proposals
Tax Foundation: Details and Analysis of Donald Trump Tax Reform Plan
Forbes: [UPDATED] It’s Clinton Versus Trump: A Comparison Of The Final Two Tax Plans
I am not going to claim they are unbiased, because I don’t think unbiased opinions exist on either candidate, but they are more fact-based than the candidates’ own opinions towards their tax plans.
International policies and terrorism
This was an easy one.
Islamic extremism is responsible for almost all terrorism in the world. Hillary Clinton refuses to acknowledge that the Islamic religion is responsible for this trend. If you read the Koran, or look at the policies of Islamic-controlled nations, it is very clear that it is not a “religion of peace”.
Also, let’s be clear: this is not racism. Arab is a race, Islam is a religion. The majority of Arabs are Muslims, however there are also Arabic Christians, as there are white Muslims.
Donald Trump is willing to recognize there is an issue with how Islam views the rest of the world. He is also willing to put safeguards in place to prevent Islamic extremists from coming into the country. Muslim refugees in France and Belgium have increased terror attacks in those countries.
This is not mere correlation, it is causation. The European people have begun to recognize that their loose immigration policies have made their countries worse, not better.
Pew Research Center: European opinions of the refugee crisis in 5 charts
It is time that Americans recognize that not all “refugees” are actually innocents fleeing an oppressive government.
Race relations
I am tired of apologizing for being white. I am not willing to pay reparations for slavery that occurred over one hundred and fifty years ago. My ancestors were not even in this country at that point.
I am also tired of hearing the one-sided domestic terrorist group Black Lives Matter point of view that cops hate black people. The majority of blacks in America are killed by other blacks. The amount of crime committed by blacks is disproportionate to their population. These are facts, not racism:
Infogram: US Crime in Black and White
Infowars: Black Crime Facts That The White Liberal Media Daren’t Talk About
Black people make up 13% of the population and commit more than 50% of the homicides in the country. You will hear this number quoted by the liberal media ad nauseum: “Black men are 21 times more likely to be killed by the police.”
But you will seldom hear: “Blacks are 39 times more likely to commit violent crimes against whites.”
You can argue the disproportional social-economic reasons for this disparity until you are blue in the face. Facts are facts.
I am being told by President Obama and democratic incumbent Hillary Clinton that it is my fault. I can’t abide by that illogical conclusion.
Morality and ethics
Both candidates are morally bankrupt to say the least. Hillary Clinton has stayed with an accused rapist to further her own career and Donald Trump has used bankruptcy laws to avoid paying hundreds of hard working Americans. So arguing morality is pointless.
Ethically, however, Donald Trump uses the laws of this country to his advantage as a businessman. He has had failed businesses, Trump University being one of the most publicly vilified.
In contrast, Hillary Clinton has been indicted for leaking classified information, she has been investigated for the deaths in Benghazi, and she has lied for and covered up her husband’s transgressions for over thirty years.
There are so many legal transgressions to pick I will focus on the most publicized: the mishandling of classified emails.
The Head of the FBI (James Comey) called Hillary Clinton “grossly negligent” in her handling of her private email server.
FBI Director James Comey FULL STATEMENT on Hillary Clinton Email Investigation (C-SPAN)
He cites lack of mens rea as the reason for not proceeding with a criminal case against Clinton. Let’s examine that reasoning:
Mens rea means “guilty mind”. It is basically a rule to protect against ignorance of the law. I am not sure how you could argue that Clinton was ignorant of the fact that moving classified e-mails to a personal server and then deleting those emails was against the law.
He also stated that in another circumstance he may seek criminal charges, but not in this case. Is that a way of saying that normal American’s have one set of rules and the Clintons have another?
This is just one instance of shady or downright illegal Clinton activities. The Clinton Foundation is a veritable cornucopia of wrongdoing, from accepting donations from criminals to extorting money from impoverished nations.
Conclusion
It all comes down to trust, and as strange as this sounds, I trust Donald Trump more than Hillary Clinton. Trump really has nothing to gain by becoming president, while Hillary has everything to gain.
To that end, I believe Trump wants to help improve this country as well as stopping the milquetoast view other countries have towards America in recent years. While I am, by no means, thrilled with my choice, he is by far the lesser of two evils.