Today's post is about Donald Trump.
First, let me make something clear: I am not going to pretend to be unbiased. I am almost certainly voting for Bernie Sanders. That pretty much says it all. So it may surprise you that the main theme of this post will be rising to Mr. Trump's (very limited) defense.
There is an important principle at work here; that of civilized dialogue and democracy. Let me be clear: I think Donald Trump's policies, if implemented, would be immensely destructive. His policies on immigration are unrealistic, unwise, lack compassion and would probably ruin the whole country. His attitude towards women is clearly misogynistic and backward. These things make him - in my opinion - unfit to be President of the United States. I would not vote for him if you held a gun to my head. However, these policies, in and of themselves, do not make him unfit to run for President of the United States.
This is important, so I'll say it again: an immigration policy which advocates rounding up every single immigrant tomorrow and immediately deporting them is a valid policy. It is incorrect, it is misguided, and - again, in my opinion - it is terribly wrong. But it is a valid statement of policy. I firmly believe that every citizen has the right to express their approval of that policy. I sincerely hope that, given that free right, they will choose not to approve of that policy. But it is very important that they get to freely choose. The whole point of democracy is that my opinion is not law. There are limits, to be sure, and they are important. If Mr. Trump advocated rounding up all the "darkies" and shipping them off to concentration camps, then we would say that not only is he unfit to be President, he would be unfit to even attempt to become President. But his policies, while inane and stupid, do not yet seem to rise to the level of mass extinction.
Democracy is, quite frankly, terrifying. It is no less than paralyzing to fully accept that 50% + 1 of America could wake up tomorrow and decide that every single illegal immigrant needs to be immediately deported. That's awful. But here's the thing: a lot of smart people have thought about this, and nobody has come up with a better system. There's a quote about this, in fact, by no less than Winston Churchill: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." And it's true. I don't like it. I want to enshrine my ideas in law. I want to comfortable believe that nobody can do things I don't like. But that doesn't work.
One of the reasons that I felt it was important to write this is that I notice my Facebook feed - on the Donald subject - degenerating. Ad Hominem attacks against Mr. Trump only prove that we don't know how to be civil. He is not a bad candidate for President because his hair is ugly. He is not a bad candidate for President because he makes funny faces or owns a company. He is a bad candidate for President because his policies are dumb. In fact, the sheer idiocy of his policies doesn't make it less important that we be respectful, it makes it more important. We must rise to the occasion and firmly, fervently and consistently argue against his ideas, not necessarily the man himself. I remember seeing some really unpleasant memes about Barack Obama, and they made me mad. Now I see those same memes being applied to Donald Trump, and it makes me queasy. Two wrongs don't make a right.
One of the reasons this distinction is so clear to me is that my parents - and many of their friends - are the sort of folks that might vote for Trump. And they are wrong. But I still respect them. I would no more attempt to deprive them of the right to express themselves than I would expect them to deprive me of the right to express myself.