Above is the first book that I remember being given me by my parents. It is a 1944 biography of Dwight Eisenhower written before World War Two had even ended. The final sentence reads: "We leave the last chapter to be written by future historians." Ha! There was more than a chapter left for Dwight David Eisenhower. In 1956 I was a fourth-grader in Miss Matilda Brown's class at Fourth Ward Elementary School in Griffin, Georgia and my hero was running for a second term as president. I was his unofficial fourth grade campaign manager. When the votes were counted I was not "alone on a limb"; there was one other kid who cast his vote for Ike. Everyone else in Miss Brown's class voted for Adlai Stevenson.
Sometime in the early sixties I switched parties and became a Democrat. My siblings and parents pretty much stuck with the Republicans even as the GOP adopted a "Southern Strategy". And I found myself "Alone On a Limb" politically-speaking, among the seven siblings. We have often joked about it, sometimes discussed it dispassionately, sometimes even argued angrily. Still I have admired and loved my beloved political opponents.
2016 was different. It is a difficult line to draw. I try to love unconditionally. It is a basic life principle of mine that love is a commitment not simply an emotion.
2016 was different. It is a difficult line to draw. I try to love unconditionally. It is a basic life principle of mine that love is a commitment not simply an emotion.
Since my childhood fascination with American biography and history, I have promised that same sacred fealty to the Declaration's inspiring statement of natural rights and the Preamble's clear statement of the purposes of a people's government.
There are some I love who vote for, actively support, cheer for, praise what I truly abhor and consider unAmerican and unequivocally evil. How do I maintain my integrity lovingly?
It is just tough.
- after #gtbtp
- after #separationofchildren
- after #charlottesville
- after #betrayalofkurds
- after #206000coviddeaths
- during #TrumpRecession
- after #MartinGugino
- after #TantrumInCleveland
Etc. Etc. Etc.
My love is no less. But while I honor everyone's right to choose I cannot in good conscience honor every choice. My opposition to Mr. Trump is primarily, in my mind, a matter of morals and ethics and Americanism.
My love is no less. But while I honor everyone's right to choose I cannot in good conscience honor every choice. My opposition to Mr. Trump is primarily, in my mind, a matter of morals and ethics and Americanism.
In other words, I primarily oppose him "ad hominem" --- I oppose him because of who he is. Ad hominem arguments are usually fallacious arguments, of course, but not always. An extreme example would be opposing an Adolph Hitler despite his supposed skill at developing his country's infrastructure and "keeping the trains on time". In 2020 Mr. Trump, while not yet a "Hitler" is such an odious person that, even if he were managing Covid, or the economy, or border protection, or relations with allies, or confrontations with adversaries [He is doing none of those things well] --- regardless of any specific policies he espouses --- he should be removed from our unitary executive as surely as a fecal stain should be removed from the Oval Office carpet. It is repulsive that such an ignorant, narcissistic, cruel, unprincipled, mendacious, and unAmerican life-long conman should succeed George Washington and the other flawed but patriotic men who have previously served as president.
My love is no less for those who make a choice I cannot respect. I will still respect many things about each of them. I will certainly defend their freedom to believe what they will and their right to make even this choice. But I can not pretend to respect the choice of a plainly damaged and unAmerican man to be our president.
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