As Alexis de Tocqueville is supposed to have said, people get the government they deserve. And if Donald Trump becomes US President, the old saying will be proved right.
Trump’s victory would be the result of gross negligence on the part of decent Americans who just couldn’t be bothered to vote.
A new CNN/ORC poll shows Trump leading Hillary by 2 points among “likely voters,” yet Hillary leading Trump by 3 points among all registered voters.
That tells me a lot of Hillary’s supporters aren’t likely to vote.
And it leaves me fuming.
Who are these people? What’s wrong with them?
They must know what’s at stake. Unless they’ve been on a trip to outer space, they must know by now what Trump and Hillary stand for. And they must know what their vote means to America’s future.
By not voting, they’re thumbing their noses at their country and their fellow-Americans.
And they deserve a President like Trump.
But what about the rest of us – those of us who take the trouble to vote? Do we deserve Trump?
Perhaps.
By “going along to get along,” many of us tolerate the racism, xenophobia, bigotry and other kinds of dangerous stupidity from our Trump-supporting friends and neighbors.
I know I am guilty. I am sometimes silent when I hear outrageous remarks. And I know I should stand up for what is right. I know I should straighten the offenders out. But I tell myself it would be impolite, and they wouldn’t listen anyway.
But when so much is at stake, being polite is not an option.
Not when it means having Donald Trump as leader of the free world.
