Authoritarian Donald Trump, in the lead for the Republican nomination for
president, continues to show how dangerous he is, and how much more dangerous
he would be if given governmental power.
He has just called for riots at the convention if he shows up with the
most delegate votes but isn’t nominated.
This shows
his ignorance, of course. The delegates
are to vote for who won their allegiance during the primaries – on the first
ballot and the first ballot only. If there
is no majority winner on the first ballot then the delegates are free to vote as they
see fit. There have been many
conventions in U.S. history where it took many votes for the political party to
choose a nominee.
Why? Why is that the way American democracy is
conducted? I think it is important to remember
that the United States is not a direct democracy – thank goodness. The United States is an elected Republic. The political parties nominate their
candidates. The use of primary elections
to assist the parties in the nomination of their respective candidates is
relatively new – JFK used a couple of primary victories to make his case – at the
convention – and was nominated. But the
real election of the nominee is on the convention floor. For about the last half century, the
conventions have been just rubber stamps of the primaries - the winner of the majority of delegate votes during the primaries won on the first ballot at the convention.
OK, so
what? If no one wins the majority of the delegates on the first
ballot, they have to win the actual election – the election of the convention
floor delegates.
The parties
have every right to do their best to nominate a candidate that they think can
win the election, and an even greater duty to nominate a candidate that they
think will not destroy their party, and a moral duty to nominate one that they think will not destroy
the country. Donald Trump is not that
candidate. Donald Trump is rightly perceived
by many as a candidate that will destroy the Republican Party if nominated, and
God Forbid, would destroy the country and perhaps the world if elected president.
If Trump
wins on the first ballot and gets the Republican nomination, we can only pray –
and VOTE – that he does not become president.
If Trump
fails on the first ballot, we can only pray that he is defeated on the
convention floor.
If he
creates riots to force his nomination I would expect that would permanently
dismember and destroy the Republican Party.
If he wins
the nomination, especially if he does so by riotous force, I would expect a
third party Conservative Candidate to run for president so as to give conservatives
someone to vote for. That may happen
even if he wins on the first ballot. He
is rightly despised by conservatives (and liberals too, of course)
Donald Trump
is on a mission of destruction in the service of his astonishingly grandiose
ego. The question is - how far does his destruction reach? The best answer is that he manages to destroy
himself, with a humiliating loss of the nomination, or failing that with a
humiliating loss of the election. The
next target of his bile is the Republican Party. The next level out is the United States. Then the world.
He must be
stopped. The ugliness is only getting
uglier, and will become ever more so the further he advances in his quest for
fame and power. He is a pathetic man, needing adoration of supporters and fear of all who oppose him. He promises nothing except bullying violent
despotism. Why does anyone think that is
going to benefit them?
Very
ugly.
