ESE endorses Hillary Clinton

I will not accept comments on this post.

After all, the message is "Why I'm voting for Clinton" and not "you should vote for Clinton."

For yes indeed, we here in the frantic and fast-paced editorial offices of ESE, after circumspect analysis, endorse Hillary Clinton for President.

There are no perfect candidates. Makes sense as I am not a perfect person and I've yet to meet anyone who is. Therefore, my task as I see it is to select the best candidate based on the available facts. For me, that is Hillary Clinton.

Clinton brings with her a lifetime of political experience, most notably her service as Senator and Secretary of State. She has a run a campaign that offers a vision of a future America. This vision includes a $12 an hour minimum wage, protection of abortion rights, making higher education affordable, and a reform of sentencing laws that have led America to become the world's largest jailer per capita. Contrary to the rhetoric of her opponents, her stance on immigration is not one of "open up the borders and let illegals flow in." In truth, Clinton accurately sees the current immigration policy as unsustainable and proposes sensible reforms that will not violate human rights. If national security is your greatest concern, then she is the logical choice as she has actual foreign policy experience and his been a party to overseeing military operations.

Critically for myself and readers of ESE, she views climate change as "the defining issue of our time."

But what of her flaws, you say?

Those emails...wait, that was resolved.

BENGHAZI!!!! Likewise resolved.

Pay for play? Not going to lie. It probably happened. Sadly, that is what I have come to expect from political leaders. That's an issue far larger than this election and goes to the root of politics itself. If it is a true sticking point, then let's examine the alternative.

Donald Trump is a billionaire with no record of public service or holding office. Indeed after reviewing his CV, I'm left wondering if the only thing Donald Trump really cares about is Donald Trump. He is woefully misinformed about political issues, most notably in calling climate change "a hoax created by China." While lauding the constitution, he is ignorant of both the document's content and its workings. In fact, one wonders if Trump reads anything at all.

Perhaps worse than all of that is the man's character. Trump aims to establish himself as a recalcitrant outsider immune to political pressures. In reality, the man is a thin-skinned demagogue who has repeatedly exhibited misogyny, racism, and xenophobia. The only solid policy proposals he has offered are building a wall along our southern border and replacing the Affordable Care Act with "something great." He has threatened to prosecute his political opponents and has expressed desire to punch protesters in the face and have them carried out on stretchers...just like most dictators do. He is little more than a bully, wanting only one thing and that is to beat whomever he is up against.

"What's wrong with that?" you might ask. "Who cares if he says mean things? So long as he gets the job done."

Said objection is often uttered by someone who has spent their life steeped in "business." I have five responses:

1) The real world doesn't work that way. In politics and diplomacy, one must be pragmatic and build compromises. Hillary Clinton demonstrated quite an aptitude for this as a senator, working with Republicans to get things done. Trump can't even deal with his own party's leadership. How much success do you think he'll have with Democrats? What's more, Trump's ignorance of how things operate on an international stage is underscored by his willingness to withdraw from NATO and the Paris climate accords.

2) I have seen the "bottom line" attitude in workplaces before and it invariably led to disaster. True, the person in question may indeed "get the job done" for a while, but their character and their attitude spill outward and affect the entire workings of the operation. In time, the demagogue collapses under his or her own weight. On a related point...

3) Words matter. They are powerful. We build reality with words. Listen to the audio where he brags of committing sexual assault. Our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters deserve better representation. There is no place in civil society for a man like that and he should not be rewarded...least of all...with the highest office in the nation.

4) You don't want to be governed. You want to be ruled. Whatever life has dealt you has you thinking in Machiavellian terms. Such thinking grows intractable and is no frame of mind in which to make sound decisions.

5) "Gets the job done." To which of his six bankruptcies are you referring?

Taken as a whole, Trump lives up to the caricature of "the ugly American": loud, loathsome, ignorant, and bellicose. I have never seen a person be less qualified to be president than Trump. Hell, I wouldn't even want him to have a job at Applebee's. A Trump presidency would result in four years of irreparable harm and GOP leaders such as Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham should rightfully be scared of what it would do to the Republican brand. Given these facts, you may view my vote for Clinton as more of a "vote against Trump." You may be right.

In any case, the result is the same. I'm with her.


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