So this is what it's come to. Statesmanship, patriotism, the welfare of our country, not giving the button controlling nuclear weapons to a reality star … all this goes by the wayside because party unity and hating the Clintons is more important. I have been disappointed in our congressional delegation many times in the past but this time is the worst. They are all uniting behind Donald Trump because they believe defeating Hillary Clinton is more important than electing someone with even a modicum of credentials for the job of United States president.
This is like a patient asking for someone who just got a nurse's assistant diploma from DeVry University to do their open-heart surgery because they don't like the highly credentialed surgeon available for the procedure.
Let there be no doubt about it. A Trump presidency would not just be the low point in American history and politics. It would be as though a sinkhole opened up beneath the lowest point and dropped us even further into the abyss. The Republican candidate for president brings, as his main credentials, a host of failed businesses, a host of bankruptcies, a reality TV show, three wives and multiple mistresses.
Clinton may not be your ideal candidate on many levels. But she is competent and qualified. She brings a background as a senator and a secretary of state. She has been actively involved in causes she supports since her college days. Trump went to a military academy and compares that to serving in our armed forces. He insults women, minorities and foreign leaders. His policy to Make America Great Again seems to consist of him saying the words over and over as though this were Beetlejuice: Say it enough times and somehow it will be.
I would feel a lot more sympathy toward the Republican Party if they weren't reaping what they sowed. I just don't think they ever imagined that a Donald Trump would come along and collect their harvest. They were hoping that the fruit of their labor would die on the vine. But it didn't. The tea party that they welcomed with such enthusiasm has sown the seeds that resulted in Trump as the Republican nominee. And they have no one to blame but themselves.
Lisa Murkowski and Don Young are up for re-election this fall. Alaska being Alaska, there is every chance they could support Lucifer and still get re-elected. But I persist in holding out hope that Alaskans will show some common sense at the voting booth and not give their nod of approval to anyone who would support Trump in the name of party unity over what is best for this country. And Trump is not what America needs. Not now, not ever.
Both Young and Murkowski have said they are supporting him with some reservations. Well, thank god they have reservations. Sadly, their reservations about electing this orange man for president do not outweigh their need to bow to their party overlords and do their bidding. Trump insults women, Hispanics, Muslims and praises Putin. This is the man our congressional delegation has decided is a better choice than Hillary Clinton based, I imagine, on the Republican Party's unmitigated hatred of her.
Whether the religious right likes it or not, she stuck to her marriage vow for whatever reason. She raised her daughter in a two-parent home that actually had the original two parents. Her daughter neither got pregnant outside of marriage nor ever abused drugs or alcohol. I can see why the right hates her. She shows up their hypocrisy with every breath she takes.
But somehow, our esteemed congressional delegation thinks that Trump, a man whose sole qualification for the presidency is firing Gary Busey on a reality TV show, is better qualified than Clinton. Or, at least that's what the party overlords tell them to think.
When party unity comes above the good of this country, this country is in real trouble. When supposedly respected politicians support a buffoon for a position that puts his finger on the nuclear button, we need to have a serious conversation about those politicians. They seem to have forgotten their first responsibility is to this country and the people who elected them. Their first loyalty should not be to a party, Republican, Democrat, tea or otherwise.
Elise Patkotak's latest book, "Coming Into the City," is available at AlaskaBooksandCalendars.com and at local bookstores.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com or click here to submit via any web browser.