The 2016 Presidential election has been divisive to say the least, and it's just getting started.
On July 12, Bernie Sanders endorsed his opponent Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for President, after a long and hard fought race. Several days after his endorsement, hacker group Wikileaks leaked thousands of emails which exposed collaboration between the supposedly neutral Democratic National Committee and Clinton, including a series of exchanges between top DNC officials about how best to smear Sanders for his Jewish faith.
Clinton is one of the most untrustworthy presidential candidates in history, according to the polls, one poll showing only 31 percent of voters believe that she is honest and trustworthy. These polls are hardly surprising given the sheer amount of scandals that have plagued her career, the most recent of which centers around her misuse of email servers, and collaboration with the DNC.
Clinton has taken more than $675,000 dollars in speaking fees alone from Goldman Sachs, and the Clinton Foundation has taken 25 million dollars from Saudi Arabia, a radical Islamist regime which beheads its citizens for blasphemy and witchcraft, and forbids women from going anywhere without a male chaperone. She is funded largely by Wall Street, despite claiming she supports Citizens United, a movement that aims to set limits on the amount of money candidates can receive from private interest.
Clinton herself has a Super PAC, which raises millions from various donors and private interests to fund her campaigns. Despite her claims of being a defender of women and children's rights, she voted with Republicans against an amendment that would ban the use of cluster bombs in civilian areas, leading to the deaths of thousands of innocent people, which would certainly include women and children. Perhaps Clinton's greatest crime was supporting the War in Iraq, over weapons of mass destruction that did not exist, which led to the deaths of thousands on both sides, and laid the ground work for ISIS to rise amidst the wartime turmoil.
On July 19, the second day of the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump was officially crowned as the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States, having emerged the sole victor of the bloodiest primary America has seen in decades. Out of the 17 Republicans that ran, Trump was initially one of the most unlikely to emerge victorious, a loud, vulgar, crude con artist known for his thin skin, short temper, and small hands. A man who had never held political office, and had donated more than $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation.
Trump, a former Democrat, has switched his positions on nearly every issue that faces America today, stating in 1999 that he was ''very pro choice.'' In 2000, he supported a ban on assault weapons, and stated, ''I believe in universal health care.'' Trump has retweeted fake African-American crime statistics sent from Neo-Nazi Twitter accounts on multiple occasions, and has been endorsed by David Duke, former head of the KKK.
Trump currently advocates for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S., a proposal that is in clear violation of the First Amendment. He has also called for the mass deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants from the U.S., which is logistically impossible. Trump has suggested dealing with the national debt by defaulting on it, which would bring about economic collapse.
Trump also suggested printing more money to pay off the debt, which would cause hyperinflation, effectively making the American dollar worthless. He has also complained about the Geneva Conventions; wartime rules that seek to minimize civilian causalities and establish humanitarian rules regarding prisoners of war, which have existed since 1949. Trump states, “The problem is we have the Geneva Conventions, all sorts of rules and regulations, so the soldiers are afraid to fight.”
Trump has also stated, "The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don't kid yourself. When they say they don't care about their lives, you have to take out their families."
Trump has sued several comedians, as well as satire site "The Onion," for mocking him, and has banned several news outlets from attending his events, out of fear that they will criticize him. Trump is an authoritarian, a strong man, offering simplistic solutions to nuanced issues, taking advantage of the rage that so many Americans (rightly) feel towards the system, and directing their hate towards those who are even more disenfranchised then they are.
This election year, the American people are faced with a choice. Neither candidate is optimal, indeed far from it, and unfortunately, no third party candidate is currently viable as a serious competitor.
Clinton's corporate leanings, combined with her series of scandals and disastrous foreign policy decisions make for an unappealing president.
However, Trump's egotistical narcissism, combined with his thin skin, and penchant towards war crimes, as well as his blatant disregard for free expression makes him more then unappealing, it make him dangerous.
This election asks the voter to choose the lesser of two evils, and ultimately the lesser evil is Clinton.
