Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/i-will-not-die-a-democrat

Comment #5301

2024-09-18T21:56:31Z

I was older than you are when I finally realized that what makes a good president has little to do with what makes a good person. The two most obvious examples for me are Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, both of whom seemed to me pretty good people, but terrible presidents. On the other hand, I found both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton objectionable on a personal level, but think they did better than average jobs as president. This is one reason I try to look more at a candidate's actions than his words. We may disagree on the value of any particular action, but at least this time around we have two candidates with bona fide White House experience to judge by.

Comment #5300

2024-09-18T20:21:10Z

I can empathize with drifting apart from a party like that. I've never been registered for either party, but I came of age politically at roughly the time Bill Clinton was running for office. It was drilled into me from all kinds of sources that character mattered, that it was wrong to had the controls of a country to man who couldn't control his zipper. Or who told silly lies about inventing the internet. Or who lacked the integrity not to flip-flop. The Democratic candidates were morally bankrupt, and it behooved us to vote for the men of integrity on the Republican ticket.

And then, 2016. The Republicans field a candidate who had broken nearly all ten commandments (not sure of the fifth, and I'll give him a pass on the sixth), often publicly, sometimes boastfully—a candidate who called people names, made fun of handicapped people, and bragged

about being able to grab **** or hypothetically shoot someone on Fifth Avenue.

Suddenly, somehow, character no longer mattered, and I became disillusioned, both with the Republican party and with the folks that excused Trump's character flaws with "God can work through anyone."

And this summer I saw signs saying "Trump save America." Not "God save America," echoing the British anthem, but signs expressing the desire for a morally bankrupt person to save America from moral decay. I no longer recognize the Republican party; it no longer makes sense to me in this incarnation. While I didn't have to officialize it the way you did, it was a disturbing and disorienting experience and I imagine you felt similarly as you looked up and no longer recognized the party of your youth.

I'll note, for the record, that the Democratic party wasn't terribly innovative in canceling a few primaries: the Republicans did it as well in 1992, 2004 and 2020 in several states, and the Democrats had already done it in 1996 and 2012.

Comment #5299

2024-07-17T10:28:50Z

It was. And into the snow, as I recall. Those were the days. Mind you, he only did that with his gaming buddies, never me. :)

And he, too, votes according to the best for the job, regardless of party. New York had all sorts of wild parties, at least back then. I think at one point or another I voted for most of them, except Socialist or Communist.

Comment #5298

2024-07-17T05:00:22Z

The quickest way to get thrown out of the Wightman house is to call Porter a Democrat. LOL. That was epic :)