Speaking My Mind
AJ Robinson

I keep seeing Trump do well in the polls and I can understand one aspect of appeal in him: he’s not a standard GOP politician in many respects. When I hear the ‘Dumpters’ say why they support him, despite his numerous shortcomings, the answer is always the same: he speaks his mind, he’s not PC and he’s not afraid to say anything he has to in order to win.

Let's see how I differ from Donald J Trump.

Okay, let me try something here. I’m going to speak my mind about some of the candidates. See if you can figure out what’s different between Trump and me.

Let’s start with Carly Fiorina. Okay, she has zero political experience, knows nothing of foreign policy; she can only tout her record as CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP) as what she’s got going for her. Let’s check that record out. She merged HP with Compaq, but did pretty much nothing else. The patents she oversaw at the company didn’t generate any income and, while, the company does well with printers that was about it, despite being part of the high-tech economy. Does that sound like a good president?

Chris Christie was at least governor of a state, New Jersey, but where do I start with him? The state has seen its credit rating downgraded nine times. He has cut taxes on the rich, resulting in budget shortfalls; he gave corporations over two billion in subsidies, yet unemployment remains high; he cut vital services. He attacked teachers, unions and other public service people. Wasn’t he the one who called teachers thugs? He insults and demeans anyone who dares to question him, especially if they’re merely a common ordinary person. Then there was the bridge lane shutdown that some say was retaliation for not getting the support he wanted. He also cut payments to the state pension system, despite making a deal with pensioners that involved them making bigger contributions, which they did.

Rubio is gone from the primaries, but still worth a word or three.

Marco Rubio is one of my Senators, in Florida, much to my chagrin. He has done almost nothing in the Senate; he has a terrible voting record. He supported a bipartisan immigration reform bill, but then opposed it when the Tea Baggers went thermal over it. He opposes the rights of women on multiple levels, control of their own bodies and fair pay, to name only two. He’s a climate denier, despite representing a state that is dealing with sea level rise right now! He’s against regulations to protect the environment, he wants to cut taxes on the rich and corporations and eliminate government regulations that get in the way of business. He’s in favor of repealing Dodd-Frank and the Affordable Care Act, replacing both, but he won’t give any details. Essentially, he’s for cutting the safety net for the poor and middle class, but for an increase in defense spending and all the other failed GOP rhetoric of the last several decades.

Now, we come to Ted Cruz and oh, where to start? He has done nothing in the Senate, literally nothing, and pretty much no one in the Senate can stand him. He has actively worked against any sort of compromise, with the Democrats and the President; any of the sorts of things needed to actual govern the nation. Instead, he’s pushed for government shutdowns that have hurt us. He gives virtually no details on his positions on multiple issues and his foreign policy advisers include people who are, for lack of a better word, total flakes! He flip-flops, lies and speaks vague meaningless drivel. He’s been spewing lies about Planned Parenthood as if they’re gospel, and he’s opposed to women’s rights, gay rights, and anything that helps minorities. He wants to cut education; he’s a chicken hawk, a climate denier and a false Christian. He follows the old mantra; cut taxes on rich, soak the poor. He and many of the GOP also want to eliminate the EPA. I have just two words for you people to consider, Flint, Michigan.

Is Trump a good christian, as he claims?

As for Trump, where do I begin? He claims to be a good Christian, but has multiple trophy wives. He has multiple bankruptcies to avoid paying his debts to decent hard-working people and ships jobs overseas, along with his money. There’s been Trump Vodka, Mortgage Company, Steaks, Airlines and so on and so forth. All failed. He insults and demeans women, minorities, the disabled and anyone who asks him a hard question. He has no foreign policy experience and is completely vague on his positions; most of them he’s flip-flopped on. His tax plan is simple: cuts for the rich, soak everyone else and watch the deficit explode.

Okay, I just spoke my mind on several candidates, I called them out on what they really stand for, on their real records; these are what the voters should know. What’s the difference between Trump and me? Ah, let’s see: I didn’t engage in the sort of insults and demeaning language that you might expect to hear in a grade school playground or a bar! All right, people, I now expect a write-in vote from all of you. I think I’ve proven who is the most mature and thoughtful of the two of us.m