Character Counts
I contend that character counts in our consideration of a candidate for the President of the United States. It is not the only issue, but it is just one of many issues for a voter to consider in making up his or her mind about the leader of the nation. You may be a committed conservative or liberal, and the only thing that matters to you is your candidate’s positions on the issues.
Often, the political opposition resorts to character assassination on flimsy grounds. We should all disregard these.
Sometimes, the conduct strikes to the very heart of the reasons why a nominee should or should not be elected President of the United States. The President has to deal with Congress, the Cabinet, assorted officials, elected and unelected. The President has to deal with foreign leaders, with business and labor leaders and most importantly with you and me, our children and our grandchildren. The President is a role model for the nation and must be able to act like one.
The two Presidential candidates are polar opposites in terms of character and integrity. I don’t mean do you like and support them. I do mean do they regularly tell the truth.
Donald Trump’s fatal flaw is that he lies -- a lot and very regularly. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-20000-false-or-misleading-claims/
This is not your garden-variety political puffery about the issues and the candidate or his opposition. This is a string of lies every day, every speech, every tweet from morning to night. His supporters (at least some of them) believe these lies and act accordingly – e.g. not wearing masks, not social distancing, strapping on their guns and invading the Michigan statehouse, shooting protesters in Wisconsin.
His lies endanger lives – the lives of his supporters and the lives of his opponents. They open the way to armed civil strife. They endanger people of color, going about their lives (like taking a jog) and encountering civilians who simply shoot them. They sow angry and hate-filled divisions in the nation, which is what our enemies (Putin and Russia) want.
I certainly do not mean to say that Joe Biden is a steady teller of eternal truths; he certainly mangles facts and exaggerates. But he does not make up facts out of whole cloth and sell them to the American public (e.g. there is widespread election fraud).
Just think for the moment about how Joe Biden has conducted his life in the face of terrible family losses and tragedies. Now reflect on what we know about Donald Trump’s conduct – does not pay his taxes, his contractors, his employees, his debtors, defrauds people left and right, bullies and make false claims. Forget about whether he is true to his wife/wives and think about how he conducts himself outside his marriages.
If you are on the fence in this election, and I think very few are, consider the character of the two candidates.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
11/1/20.