The 45th President of the United States

Here’s the deal. I’ve written, easily, over two thousand words regarding this subject. And every time I’ve gotten to about five hundred or so words, I’ve straight up deleted everything that was there. All of it, gone. Countless hours trying to express how I felt about the election. The highest position held in civics, the president of the United States, is now held by Donald J. Trump, someone with absolutely zero experience in civics.

The first couple of posts I deleted was some sort of virtual hug garbage, letting everyone know everybody is still going to be fighting the good fight, this isn’t over, blah blah blah. Some of the other posts I wrote were a deconstruction of what went wrong with Hillary’s campaign because somehow hindsight makes Mr. Charlton a political science genius. All of what I what I wrote previously was obnoxious and/or had already been said.

To the people who were rooting for Trump; I hope your candidate succeeds in the next four years. I earnestly mean that. I can’t vote for the man, being Canadian and all, if I had the chance, though, I certainly wouldn’t have. Democracy doesn’t care about my opinion, and America voted for Trump. As he is now the leader of the world’s superpower, I hope he follows through and makes America and the world a better place.

To the people who were rooting for Clinton; I’m sorry she lost. I wanted her to win too, but to be honest, I was still angry at the Democratic party for nominating her above Bernie Sanders. If I were to have voted for Hillary, it wouldn’t have been because I thought she was a great candidate, it was because I thought Trump would be worse. A lot of people felt the same way I did,  and being the lesser of two evils is unfortunately not a solid platform to campaign on. You have to remember, Trump’s campaign was a grass roots campaign. The facts show that regular people were backing Trump’s campaign, while most of Clinton’s support came from corporate sponsors and a lot of media that worked to promote her.

Will Trump do a good job at running the country? I’ll be frank with my opinion; Probably not. He’s released his first hundred days in office, a list of some of the things he hopes to accomplish when he first arrives in office. The problem is a number of items on this list put him at odds with much of the established government in place. Being the president isn’t like being the CEO. And now that he’s in place, all the people who campaigned for him are headed home. Their job is over. For Trump, his job is beginning. The house, the senate, and the presidency might belong to the Republicans, but if the last year is any indication, then there’s a lot of internal bleeding that will take time to heal, and four years isn’t that long.

People have confused a few things about the government, democratically elected governments, at least. You see, if you live in a democratic nation, like the United Stated or Canada, then you are the government. Yes, you, sitting at your keyboard and stuffing cheetos into your gob, you’re part of the government. Unfortunately, people have forgotten that. Not only have they forgotten that, they’ve forgotten voting is literally the smallest contribution you can make to your own government. If we’re having an issue getting people out to vote in the first place, then how likely are they going to have any further involvement in their government? Out government isn’t made up of lizard men, it’s made up of people like you and me.

We pat ourselves on the backs for voting. “I did my civic duty!” It’s the bare minimum of your civic duty. Today also happens to be Rememberance day here in Canada, the day when we honor our veterans. It’s always weird to me that so many of us will pick up a weapon to fight for what we have, yet so few of us would take the time out of our lives to make even the smallest sacrifice. I’ve heard too many keyboard warriors proudly state they’d be the first in line if someone invaded out home and native land, and then proudly state they didn’t vote because they had better things to do.

I’m no different. I’m not pointing my finger at you, I’m pointing it at me. Seeing captain pussy-grab take hold of America awoke something in me, a fire that screams “Goddamnit, Mr. Charlton! You are handsome, charismatic, and pretty smart. Why aren’t you running the show?” I might have to start small, work my way up. But if Donald Trump can become president of the United States, then I can surely become the mayor of a small hamlet somewhere.

Sincerely,

The Illustrious Mr. Charlton

p.s. The hamlet vision I have in my head is a lot more like a sitcom than politics. “Mr. Charlton, we need to see you immediately! There’s a problem at the Chili Cook-Off!” The episode would end up with me, drenched in delicious chili.

p.s.s. I’m hoping it’s not spicy chili. I got super hot sauce on my bathing suit area once. It was as terrible as it was hilarious.

p.s.s.s. I will now resume writing my shitty book. I will see you at the end of the month.

 

The Republican Flatform

The big news this week in America was the Republican National Convention. If there’s one boon to the economy in Cleveland, strippers are raking it in, as Republicans are known to drop cash like crazy at strip clubs during the convention. So Trumps plan to stimulate the economy is already taking effect. Except for this poor girl.

I’d love to talk about what went down during the convention, as the hottest topic was the fact that Melania Trump’s speech was plagiarized. We’re not entirely sure who she plagiarized her speech from, as the debate rages whether it was first Lady Michelle Obama or My Little Pony’s Twilight Sparkle. I couldn’t actually make that up if I tried.

Twilight Sparkle speaks out against plagiarism.

We’ve finally gotten a look at the Republican platform, and it’s pretty vague and under whelming. Their website is still hosting the platform from 2012. Right now, the platform indicates stimulating the economy, tightening security, international trade, building a wall to deal with immigration from Mexico, and a return to the good ol’ fashioned values of the 1950’s nuclear family by having the most anti-LGBTQ platform to come from Republicans. We’ll go in order.

The republican economic platform has one of the usual tropes; lower taxes. Even of this has never worked to stimulate any economy, it’s still paraded out as the base of every conservative platform. No surprises here. Except Trump has flip flopped on this issue. At first he was going to cut taxes for everyone. Then he was going to raise taxes on the rich. He was musing to raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars across the nation. Then he’s going to let the states decide. The Republican platform doesn’t have a firm footing when it comes to wages and taxes.

What is something worth mentioning is the way the wave of self employed ‘gig workers’, like Uber drivers. While Hillary has mentioned that she’s completely against these so called entrepreneurs, the Republican platform has absolutely embraced them. Even though many civil servants have, from policy makers to mayors, have derided companies like Uber for being unsafe, unlicensed, and illegal, it’s really no surprise the republicans have embraced this unregulated new industry. The jury’s still our whether or not these new companies are actually good for the economy.

Now we get into one of the major points of the republican platform; security and safety. Even though violent crime has been falling for decades, the republican party still wants you to understand that you are not safe. Ever. Conservatives will decry crime is rampant in on streets, children are at risk, and that Satan himself is risen and is selling Meth for blowjobs. Even if this is statistically untrue. It’s always been one of my major concerns with most conservative platforms, the selling of fear in exchange for votes.

International Trade.

China.

Trump has made a point of wanting increased protectionism. He’s not a big fan of NAFTA or the TPP, and purportedly wants to create new trade deals. He’s been incredibly vocal about China, mentioning rampant piracy and intellectual property theft. His proposals so far are making a lot of nations nervous, as the world economy is already weak and the last thing it needs is Trump swaggering through and making an already poor situation worse.

Next up is the famous Trump wall. If you’re a contractor or civil engineer down south,  you’re probably salivating over the prospects of a massive wall that borders Mexico. The cost of this wall would be so absolutely staggering it could very well bankrupt the nation, especially one determined to lower taxes and take in less revenue. Even if Trump’s supporters are under the impression it might be an allegory for stricter border, the Donald is adamant it’s going to be a an actual, physical wall. If Trump is going to be elected, I’m suggesting that everyone buy shares in concrete and mortar suppliers, as that industry will explode.

Regarding the LGBTQ community, the Republicans have pretty much solidified their platform with these words; Fuck gay people. That pretty much sums up how they’re going about it.

Here’s the crazy thing. Trump doesn’t really need a platform to contend in this race The latest polls show he’s right behind Hillary after the convention. His supporters don’t care. The problem with that is if you implemented even half of what Trump is proposing, then you’d have an economic catastrophe.

Trump isn’t a politician or a leader. He’s a weasel in a suit. He wants to make America great again, but unless the Republicans shore up some better ideas, then the only thing that’s going to be great is the next depression.

Sincerely,

The Illustrious Mr. Charlton

p.s. This is going to be a crazy election year.

 

Shillery Clinton for President

There’s a certain consistency to who I am and what I do, and I think people have finally said, ‘Well, you know, I kinda get her now.’ I’ve actually had people say that to me.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton was born in 1947, growing up in the Chicago area. She graduated from the prestigious Yale Law School, earning a Juris Doctor. Hillary has worked in politics in most of her life, and previously was known as the first Lady of Arkansas, then the first Lady of the United States, where her husband was the Governor, then the president. She was the Secretary of State and is now running for the position of leader of the Democratic party, in which she’ll be up against Donald Trump.

The Secretary of State is not a small position. Next to the President, it’s considered to be the most powerful person in the United States. Hillary has held that position from 2009 to 2013. A lot happened in those years. The Arab springs, the releases of the information from WikiLeaks, the Libyan Civil war and the toppling of Gaddafi were some of the major events that she presided over in her tenure. Although some label her as a warhawk, overall she didn’t do a terrible job. Except when it came to email security.

Hillary used her personal email server to send classified and sensitive information. The FBI are currently investigating whether or not charge should be laid. Hillary states this was done to make things easier for her, in that she would only have to carry one phone.

Her position as Secretary of State aside, let’s focus on the Juggernaut that is the Hillary Clinton campaign. Where the Donald Trump’s campaign is mainly self-supported, and the Bernie Sanders’ campaign is a grassroots movement, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is a well oiled, well funded machine. Her ties to Wall Street are apparent, as she has given numerous speeches to firms like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, etc. The same companies who were accused of rigging the housing market crash.

Make no mistake, Hillary is firmly entrenched in the oligarchy that continues to drive a wedge between the haves and the have-nots. Never has the population had such of view of exactly where the puppet strings go. Hillary said she would release the transcripts of her Wall Street speeches when the other candidates did. Right now, the only two people left in the race besides Hillary is Trump and Sanders. Trump is considered a joke among many in the financial sectors, and Sanders is the candidate currently combatting big money in politics. Neither Trump nor Sanders were paid to give a talk to the banking elite.

The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.

Hillary Clinton

There’s good reason people are nervous that she’s leading the pack in the democratic nomination against Bernie Sanders. The polls are saying that Sanders has a better shot of defeating Trump, at least at the time of this writing. Superdelegates were created to combat a nominee would would win the primaries, but lose to the republican nominee. Now, it seems, they are being used against that ideal, to prop up a career politician with ties to both the banking institutions and big media.

The issue with Hillary’s campaign is that it lacks authenticity. The longer she campaigns and the more we find out, we see another candidate, like Trump, who wants to be president for the sake of being president. The second age to the Clinton White House dynasty. She says she represents the people, but makes backroom deals with institutions that bet against the average American citizen. How can she claim to combat big money in politics when she’s made a living taking it?

Bernie Sanders has trailed behind Clinton for most of the campaign, but has been sweeping up in the last few states. He’s also appealing to some of the superdelegates, in an attempt to change their tune. Hillary’s presidential campaign, even if she’s successful against Sanders, could be mired in the email scandal. Is it possible for a presidential candidate to be effective when they’re also involved in a legal dispute of this magnitude? Where classified information has possibly been compromised?

We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society.

Hillary Clinton

I would love to see a woman in the White House. What I would love to see more would be a dramatic shift in the culture of money in politics in America. And unfortunately, I don’t think that Hillary Clinton is the person who is going to bring about that change.

Sincerely,

The Illustrious Mr. Charlton

p.s. A plane crashes with both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Who survives?

p.s.s. America