Open Letter to the GOP

To: Chairperson of the RNC

Four years ago, I posted a blog requesting the GOP not to nominate Donald Trump. My cry in anguish fell on deaf ears. I really wish you had listened at that time and saved us the embarrassment of the last four years. Now, on the eve of the RNC, I am making a plea once again.

Here is a collage of reasons to be embarrassed of Donald Trump

A few weeks back, I started a collection of "Did he really say that?". This has grown week after week. The latest edition of this collection can be seen here.

Gerald Seib has eloquently written in the WSJ, how Trump has changed the Republicans. To quote Mr. Seib, "He turned Republicans away from four decades of Reagan-style, national greatness conservatism to a new gospel of populism and nationalism". As former President Barack Obama said in his speech at the DNC (from Philadelphia) on Aug 19th, Donald Trump has treated the White House like one more reality show.

I am not a "liberal lifer". If I voted in the Reagan-Mondale elections (in 1984), I would have voted for Reagan. Even in the Bush-Dukakis elections (in 1988), I would have voted for Bush. 

Allow me to spell out the specifics of why Trump should not be re-nominated:

• Russian collusion: Trump is caught up in the uncertainty of the Mueller investigation. The long-awaited report from the Senate Intelligence Committee contains dozens of new findings that appear to show more direct links between Trump associates and Russian intelligence
• Immigration:  Trump's stance on the border wall, child separation policies, and the Muslim ban –have drawn criticism and in some cases, been questioned by the courts
• Foreign Policy: Trump has cozied up to dictators in Russia and North Korea, he has pulled out of international agreements and dismissed our European allies
• Despicable record of arrests: In all, 14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisoned since the days when the first-time candidate promised that he would only hire "the best people." Senior members of Trump's campaign staff, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates; first national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn; Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y and Former Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif; the list goes on and on ...

If you love our country, please do not nominate Donald Trump as the GOP candidate for the 2020 elections. Sen. Mitt Romney or Gov. John Kasich are far more worthy candidates. Trump is clearly the wrong choice for the American right.

Enough, already

There is a story about a boy who had difficulty in controlling his temper. His father asked him to hammer a nail into a fence each time he got angry. Over time, the number of nails he drove into the fence on a given day declined until he reached a day when he had not hit a single nail onto the fence. Now, his father asked him to remove a nail each day he was anger free. In a few weeks, all the nails were removed from the fence. The boy proudly showed the nail-free fence to his father. The father said, "Do you see the holes in the fence? It is scarred. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like these. No amount of apologies will restore the fence."

Donald Trump's apologies for his reprehensible comments are similar. If his (insignificant) position 11 years ago made him think he had the power that he refers to, imagine the power he would have as commander-in-chief. As Lord John Acton said, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The very thought of absolute power to Donald Trump sends a shiver down my spine.

I want to take cue from the fictional character, Howard Beale, (played by the oscar winning Peter Finch) and say, "I'm as mad as hell, and I am not going to take this any more." I certainly am mad as hell with Donald Trump. I am collectively asking the nation to not take this any more. Earlier, I had requested a favor to not nominate Donald Trump. Now, I am requesting the Commission on Presidential Debates to stop the farce on the debates. I cannot stand to hear more lies and false accusations from this disgrace that is the Republican nominee. I find Mike Pence to be a worthy Presidential candidate. He would still lose to Hillary, but a better candidate, nevertheless.

I have often heard people refer to Hillary Clinton as the "lesser of the two evils". I am with the Corpus Christi Caller Times editors in their endorsement of Hillary Clinton while debunking this myth.

Not everyone is perfect. Even Abraham Lincoln, considered by historians as the greatest US President ever, made several egregious errors. John F Kennedy had his transgressions. Hillary Clinton has her share. Her lifelong public service, her leadership, her ability to listen to people and the respect that she has from world leaders make her the only choice in the elections this November.