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Vail Daily column: Deplorable baskets of ignorance

Richard Carnes
My View

How about sacks of xenophobes?

Cages of condemnables?

Buckets of lamentables?



It makes no difference what words are used, as the descriptions apply equally across both sides of the political aisle this election season.

Not for all of us, of course, but a select few of a highly vocal and attention-craving minority.

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Every one of us here in Happy Valley have that one friend, or at least a good acquaintance, that easily qualifies for one of the above ignorance containers.

They are not voting for Donald Trump as a vote against Hillary Clinton, as so many others claim, but truly believe the man can be an actual functioning quality president of the United States.

It doesn’t matter what Trump says or how he says it.

The bankruptcies, the failed airline, failed casinos, failed mortgage company, failed vodka and steaks and Trump University play no role in the firing synapse of an ignorant mind.

This has been proven time and time again over the last year, and happened again last week when Trump said, “Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the Birther controversy. I finished it … President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.”

And then he offered to take reporters on a tour of his newest hotel, but they would not be allowed to ask any questions about what Herr Donald had just said.

Five years of being the unofficial head of the “Birther” movement.

Five years of never producing his imaginary Hawaiian investigators and the “amazing things” that he would “reveal soon.”

Five years of proving his racial bigotry over and over with this nonsense, and it all magically disappeared with a 30-second speech.

And the ignorant shrug their collective shoulders and move on, as if the entire five-year embarrassing episode never occurred.

It’s like the old episode of Dallas, where the entire season was just a dream.

“Hi, I’m Donald. I got 11 million Twitter followers by claiming a black guy was from Kenya, but now I need black votes, so … yo, I was only kidding. You people understand sarcasm, right?”

This is important for people to understand going into next Monday’s debate, not just because Trump also heavily promoted how President Obama might be a Muslim and that he faked his Harvard degree, but because of what Tony Schwartz, co-author of Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal” recently said to the New York Times.

“Trump has severe attention problems and simply cannot take in complex information — he will be unable to practice for these debates…Trump will bring nothing but his bluster…He’ll use sixth-grade language, he will repeat himself many times, he won’t complete sentences, and he won’t say anything of substance.”

Yet those living inside “boxes of miserable misogynists” will choose to ignore Trump’s contradictions and position reversals, all the while focusing on what a “great business man” he is and how hot is wife and daughter are.

We cannot afford to continue ignoring the ignorance nor the ignorant, because they vote.

(Please note that this column in no way, shape or form heaps any praise whatsoever on his opponent, though I’m sure a few of you will be convinced otherwise, thus helping me prove my point).

Richard Carnes, of Edwards, writes weekly. He can be reached at poor@vail.net.


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