Monday, October 10, 2016

Judging the 2016 Presidential Election as of Today, October 9

I don't think anyone should vote for Trump because of his godliness or moral purity or even his Christian faith.  This is not how to judge this election. The media, which supports Hillary Clinton at something greater than 90%, released the tape on the weekend to hurt Trump.  It's not news.  Everyone already knew that about Trump.  The tape itself is bad enough, but the media lies about the tape to make it worse than it already is.  They say that Trump was bragging about sexual assault.

The tape is intended to counter the activity of Bill Clinton.  Trump's federal income tax forms are supposed to offset Hillary's emails.  Whenever someone thinks of those two aspects of the Clintons, the tapes and the tax forms are supposed neutralize Trump in the areas where the Clintons are most vulnerable with the people who will decide the election.

I don't think anyone should justify what Trump said on the recording broadcast this weekend. However, it's mostly phony outrage over it, especially from the Clintons.  Heather MacDonald in the City Journal, herself not a Trump supporter, communicates it well (other articles written by women: here, here, here)  I'm saying you can't justify the behavior, but you should also recognize that America isn't against the behavior anymore.  You aren't voting for the Trump conduct when you vote for him.  You are voting for some of what he stands for and against Clinton and the Democrats.  Trump is held accountable by the media for what he says and does, while the media says nothing about the sexual perversion of the Clintons.

You can vote against Hillary by voting for Trump.  Go ahead and hate Trump.  She's worse though. That's how you've got to judge this election.

You can also vote for Trump.  You have reasons. In the latest Wikileak dump, Hillary wants open borders. It didn't even come up in the debate.  The media would support open borders, so they aren't reacting to that.  Trump will do far better on border enforcement.

Besides Trump's immorality, I understand conservative opposition to Trump's trade talk.  The neo-conservatives don't like Trump "isolationism."  The answer on the court question alone in the debate, however, should be enough to vote for him.  Hillary's answer was a nightmare, while Trump's was exactly what you would want to hear if you are a conservative.  Hillary said she wants justices who will support Roe v. Wade and marriage equality.  She said nothing about the constitution.  I don't think she cares if her justices do rely on the constitution to make their decisions. Trump wants justices like Scalia, who will uphold the constitution.  He has provided a very top notch list of conservative justices from which he will choose.
Hillary has promised to raise taxes.  She wants healthcare that is more liberal and even worse than Obamacare.  Trump wants to repeal and replace.  While Hillary rejects school choice, Trump supports it.

The Clintons are corrupt.  They sold access for monetary contributions.  She kept a private server to cover for their crimes.  She deleted tens of thousands of emails to destroy evidence.  I'm just scratching the surface.  Multiple books have already been written about all the crime and corruption.

Quite a few have talked about the less-than-acceptable repentance of Trump.  If you wanted to break down his apology, you won't find a scriptural mea culpa.  However, did you hear any admission of wrongdoing about Hillary's part toward the women in the debate audience who her husband abused? She has not apologized, the media doesn't expect her to, and she hasn't been questioned about it.  They don't care.

The Democrats and Hillary Clinton would be happy to have conservative church going people sour on Trump to the extent that they don't vote or write-in.  That will guarantee the election for them.  You would be playing into the Clinton hands, while thinking you were taking some kind of moral stand based upon conscience.  The Clintons will applaud your morality, while they move into the White House.

Donald Trump has been and is a crass human being.  Recognize that and vote for him to prevent Hillary Clinton from winning the election.  She is far worse and in a massive way.  You've got to want her not to be president more than you want him to be president.  Conservative principles are principles that will remain even if Trump wins.  You won't be destroying those by voting for him.  You'll just be making a sensible choice.

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If you were to frame the election in one statement, it would be the following tweet today (Monday) by Governor Mike Pence.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

If women are so outraged by Trump's lewd and disgusting language,(it is lewd, digusting and wrong) then who bought 125 million copies of 50 Shades of Grey?

Matt said...

Hello,
I am a young Christian that was saved about 4 years ago. I have quickly evaluated in my 4 years of being saved that a lot of professing believers are very easily offended. I am apart of a wonderful New Testament Baptist church and have a great pastor, but we also have a lot of folks that are easily offended at any and everything yet they do little about it other then talk. I see the same thing goIng on in our nation. A lot of people don't like the way the nation is going but they are offended by what Trump says so there just not going to vote. As bad of shape as our country is in now we will really be introuble in 4 years if Clinton is in office. Get out and vote for Trump! He is the only canadite that's mentioned anything about standing with churches!

Thank you Kent for your work on this blog. I really enjoy the information and challenges from Gods word.

Matt

Kent Brandenburg said...

Hi,

I agree with both of these comments. It seems that people feel like by voting for Trump they are approving of his behavior. You're not.

You may be one of those who were super anti-Trump in the primaries, and you can't get over his winning the Republican primary race. He won the race and he far under spent his foes in that primary. There are reasons why people voted for Trump with their having known this about his morality. Republicans want to come off as opposing his behavior. This, I think, is fear of looking bad. I also think it is about looking good, morally superior, to other people.

Evangelicals lap up Hollywood movies that are worse than Trump morally. This is the candidate that they deserve morally. If they are willing to set aside the morals of Hollywood to watch its movies, then they should understand how to do that when they vote.

The Bushes and others have embraced Bill Clinton, appearing with him as a friend, and yet he raped Juanita Broaddrick. He hasn't repented of that. The media has ignored that. These politicians can't ride the moral high horse on this one.

Just admit you can't approve of Trump morally, and vote for Trump. This is where we're at folks. I recognize people think they can name other Republican candidates who would be up in the race, like John McCain, oops. Mitt Romney, wrong again. Fill in the blank. They didn't come close to winning. You can only speculate that someone had a better chance to win. That's over now though.

Unknown said...

Well said. Christian conservatives are being trolled by the media with a false narrative of an immoral Trump. They are baiting them with a shock and awe video which is a nothing more than a red herring to the Clinton scandals. The video shouldn't have been that shocking if you are in tune to his candidacy. Like Wayne Grudem said, (paraphrasing) Trump is a good candidate with bad flaws. If all former presidents were up for reelection, many, if not most, would fail the moral test.

People that see the value in a Trump presidency are voting for him based on policy, not personality. If for nothing else consider him for the Supreme Court nominations. Even (lyin') Ted Cruz, who probably still loathes Trump, has come around because if this issue. Our personal liberties are hanging in the balance with the Supreme Court.

With a Clinton presidency say good-bye to the the unborn babies, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms. Say hello to progressive liberal enforcement, crony capitalism unchecked, single-payer healthcare, LBGT authority, domestic and abroad radical Islamic terrorism, and on, and on...

Josh

Kent Brandenburg said...

Josh,

I agree. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Christians have, in a strange twist of events, started to swing back to other extreme side of the balanced middle when it comes to proper view of elections and civil government. Back when we had decent men running for President, perhaps Christians got too excited about supporting them, and forgot: 1) No politician can save America, and 2) What the proper value and perspective is on one's earthly nation and civil government in the grand scheme of things--important, but not as important as Jesus Christ and His church, for instance. Now that we don't have any decent candidates in the running, the extreme reaction is to pull back and say things like "I'm going to leave the election in God's hands," as their reason for not voting/voting 3rd party/something else. Whatever happened to viewing our participation in civil government (by voting or holding office) as Christians simply seeking to bless their country, and choosing the best option out there that has a chance (giving one's vote actual value, not throwing it away)?

Kent Brandenburg said...

Anonymous,

I agree with the paragraph. If I were living in France and had a vote, and despised both candidates, I would still vote for the best one. I wouldn't sit it out or do a write-in. I would consider what would preserve the church's ability to serve God with freedom.

Kent Brandenburg said...

Mark Snoeberger gives an excellent analysis.

http://www.dbts.edu/2016/10/13/once-more-unto-the-breach-electing-a-president-and-selecting-a-plumber/

Kent Brandenburg said...

This is a pretty good summary of the Podesta emails as of Oct 13. 18 different brutal points.

https://stream.org/18-reasons-so-far-leaked-podesta-emails-reveal/

Unknown said...

Mark’s article is good. It plays homage to what I said earlier that conservative Christians are grappling with Trump’s personality which is clouding his policies. It appears to me that the typical populist non-Christian voter is choosing Trump based on his positions that are resonating with them (i.e. immigration, boarders, national defense, lower taxes, gun rights etc). He is pulling them in by the droves despite what the media polls say. All of those issues are important to the Christian voter, but they are busy wrestling over his character.

For the Christians’ conscience:

1.We’re not voting for a pastor-shepherd but rather a commander and chief. The pastor’s role is to tell us from the Bible how to conduct our lives. The president’s job is to protect the constitution which grants us the freedom to live that Bible-life in the United States. We don’t’ need government to intrude and tell us how to live, that’s authoritarianism. The voters’ role is to elect a competent person to govern by upholding the law of the land, the Constitution.

2.Though Trump is flawed and has said some bombastic things, he’s hardly a fascist as people claim. People that say that are listening to the media too much. That is a subjective analysis of his personality.

3.People also say he will renege on his policies. It’s possible, but no one can truly say he will since He was never a politician with position statements on voting record. Hillary has been elected on a stated record that was reneged. We know that with her, but we can’t predict with certainty that Trump will because we have no voting record on him.


On a personal note I believe Christians are missing is Trump’s platform of nationalism. On the other side, Clinton is a globalist. Nationalism and borders is a Biblical concept. Globalism and open borders is a fast track to the tribulation paving the way to a one world government which will empower a one world ruler, the Antichrist. Looking at this broader perspective may help evaluating Trump’s campaign as well as understand the true motive behind main stream media.

Is he a great guy? No.

Is he good candidate? Maybe. Probably. Certainly better than Hillary.

Kent Brandenburg said...

Josh,

I agree with the analysis you've given here. It's how I think too. We had a pretty big debate on the globalism/nationalism issue here in the last year. You could find it if you searched under globalism nationalism.