Chicago, I’m proud of you. That orange-tinted political hack came into town and you guys shut him down. I’m all for Donald Trump having the right to say whatever he wants in front of an assembly of people. Surprising, I know, given how much I hate Trump. I hate hate hate Trump. That being said, I would never try to take away his ability to say utterly repugnant things.
I’m sure are some people who read this column that won’t believe that. And they’ll say that they think Trump should be locked in a gulag somewhere and never see the light of day again. Yes. I think that would be lovely. That being said, I know it’s not exactly right. I like letting people who are generally repugnant reveal themselves to be that way by letting them speak their minds.
Trump has done nothing if not that. With that in mind, I think that Trump has said enough and I was glad to see him shut down, if not for a moment. Let’s clear the air on something: for those complaining that those protesters blocked Trump’s right to free speech, well, they seem to be forgetting that the First Amendment also includes provisions to assemble and protest.
I get it, the most hateful among us wanted to see Trump speak. But the rest of us, the sanest among us, didn’t want to see him take the stage at the UIC pavilion. We don’t want to hear him anymore. We’re tired of the fear mongering. We’re tired of the racism. We’re tired of Trump. And we don’t want him in Chicago.
It’s not enough anymore to say that you respect Trump because he’s “politically incorrect” or “speaks his mind.” There are drunkards in bars on Western Avenue that will say the same repugnant and ugly things. They’re speaking their minds when they’re four drinks in and cursing out many of the same people that Trump does.
I don’t want those people negotiating for legislation with congress. I don’t want those people talking to Vladimir Putin to prevent him from taking over Eastern Europe. I don’t want those people with their hands on the proverbial “nuclear button”. If you do, that’s fine. You’re a fool. That’s your right to be a fool. I wouldn’t want to take that away from you. I just hope you’re such a fool that you didn’t register to vote on Tuesday.
(By press time I will not know the verdict of Tuesday’s primary and currently Trump and Ted Cruz – ick – are locked in a neck-and-neck fight for Illinois’s precious delegates.) By now I’ve grown to accept that Donald Trump will likely be the winner of the most delegates and could possibly be the nominee of the GOP. It’s all become depressingly real to me.
I take solace in knowing, however, that if he runs against Hillary Clinton, he most likely will lose. Thankfully, he polls below Clinton on a national level and it’s speculated that any moderates who were maybe thinking of voting conservative in this election, just for the sake of national balance, would likely vote for Clinton.
Now, don’t read this as an endorsement of Clinton. She’s not my favorite candidate in the bunch. I think she’s a flip-flopper….actually, she is a flip-flopper. She’s reversed her opinions on so many things as of late that she seems ingenuous. Consider how testy she got when journalists asked her whether or not her recent favorable stance on gay marriage was strictly for the election and not a personal decision. She defended that it was a natural evolution, but it rang mostly false considering how vehemently she was once opposed to gay marriage.
It’s the reason why so many people are flocking to Bernie Sanders and the reason that her campaign is having a harder time than they initially thought they would: he’s genuine. And he’s been genuine for most of his time in the senate.
There’s not a lot he’s gone back on. He’s unkempt, he shouts like a lunatic, he waves his arms like a lunatic and he’s proposing sweeping legislation that can never and will never happen. But, I believe every word that comes out of his mouth. There’s not a stance he has that I don’t believe is genuine. What that results in is warmth.
Sanders doesn’t seem like a phony when he takes to the stage and shouts his views at everyone. I can’t say the same for Clinton. All of her ads have swelling inspirational music and they seem more forced than filled with actual uplift.
Sanders doesn’t have much of a chance of being elected. At the moment I write this, he’s getting killed in the Florida polls and not doing so hot in Ohio either. So Clinton is the best option come the general election.
I don’t like the idea of voting for someone who may allegedly get indicted for an email scandal. But, you know with Clinton she’s not going to burn the place to the ground. I don’t mean to say that cavalierly or jokingly either.
She is a statesperson. She has experience before foreign dignitaries. She has experience in working with congress. She’s inconsistent on the issues and her professional communication methods leave a lot to be desired, but she’s certainly far from the worst option in this election cycle.
Brian Laughran
Editor-in-Chief
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