ruminations from chicago: What Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have in Comm...

ruminations from chicago: What Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have in Comm...: What Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have in Common . Donald Trump is the quintessential Hollywood generated American Hero, the rugged...

What Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have in Common.

What Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have in Common.

Donald Trump is the quintessential Hollywood generated American Hero, the rugged individualist, the self-made tough man who dispenses with common human frailties, civility, doubt, or insecurity on the spur of the moment.  .  He flaunts his distain for others; he doesn’t need others, he is fiercely independent, a self made man, powerful in his own right.  He makes the rules and others follow.  He is the hero of every little boy before he matures.

His spirit, his obvious disregard for what others hold dear is the foundation of our country.  He is a continuation of the founding fathers of The United States who conquered the wild west. who used disease, alcohol, guns propaganda to win territory that rightfully belonged for centuries to native Americans.  

Donald Trump, tramples over people without hesitation.  He brings forth that spirit, that callous disregard for human life, for rules, laws, and common etiquette.   He performs with an abundance that ignites the powerless to feel they too are now alive and able to conquer all who cross their path.  This is part and parcel of the American legacy we try to hide   Just like his father who bulldozed Coney Island to erect Trump Towers at the expense of many.  Donald  Trump is an American bully, so well known abroad but hidden in plain sight at home.  To conquer him we must own him, exposure him, not expunge him from our collective memories. 

He epitomizes the crude Capitalist making money off of all who fall into his orbit flaunting his success at cheating the system, at not paying taxes, at getting away with rather than contributing his fair share like everyone else.

In his treatment, of women he is no better than a Hollywood creation, Trump sees women as disposable powerless arm pieces. that glitter with gold and long blonde hair without a worthwhile word to be uttered.

He thrives on the show, not the substance.  Truth, reasonableness, nuance are foreign to him, negotiation a waste of time, a needless impediment to his stated goal of gendering power and more power. What matters is the show, the outrageousness of his opinions that changes as the need for attention demands.  He is smart, sleek, unafraid, brilliant in his tactics, in his attacks on others.  He goes for the guts and laughs because his is a winner.

He doesn’t play by the rules because for Trump there are no rules.  He is the exception, “The self made” Man!

He enjoys, he cultivates the thrill of inflicted pain.  His callous disregard for others, his violation of the rules of human interaction is flaunted to a public hungry to shred their pent up “trying” to be nice in a world that has failed to reward their efforts.

There is no one, no thing, no idea or commonly agreed upon value or behavior so compelling that Trump will hold to it rather than destroy or ignore what others might cling to as a fundamental ingredient of human interaction.

And he knows his public,  his audience.  He brings out what is the worst part in all of us and relishes the effect of his efforts.

I have an image that he is laughing, enjoying the show.    Will he ever give up?

I doubt it.  Even if he loses this election, he will declare himself a winner.  Like Nixon, he will emerge from the rubble of defeat and spring forth into victory, if not today, tomorrow.

Clinton is not so different   She too has suffered defeat and come back a winner.  She is a woman who exemplifies the aura of power by assuming the macho man image of power.  She is not soft, not feminine.  In her years as Secretary of State she did not shine in the success of compromise, the results of hard won negotiations.   Rather she is known for her embrace of death (of others), her hunger for War with Iran.  She displays, flaunts an obvious lack of kindness, or an embrace of human fragility.

 She is strong and for Hilary Clinton strong is similar to Trump’s.  A self-aggrandizement, a power display that does not shrink from delight in death, torture.

 She is not honest, nor is Trump.   Lies flow from her mouth, as Trump is quick to point out.  And she is greedy. 

How did she and her husband amass the great wealth they now enjoy?  What was Whitewater all about and this latest fiasco where she took money that was raised to support Democratic candidates at the State level and put it to work for her cause, not theirs.

Note how often she gets caught, exposed.   Why is that?

Clinton might be a woman but she long ago abandoned the feminine agenda.

Clinton lacks to a fault the values of femininity that woman own and display without fear of being less of a powerful person in the eyes of others.  She has to be tough, tougher than a man to appear powerful enough to be President of the United States., or so she seems to think.  And that makes her all too similar to Trump’s power for Powers sake.

Her Emails, written on her personal account cannot be dismissed.  Is she sloppy, insensitive to the ramification of her actions?  Is she prone to mistakes, carelessness?  What was she thinking or what did she fail to think when she used the unsecured “private” account?

Although her hunger for war, torture, absolute use of her potential military power mirrors Donald Trumps, her lack of attention to important details might make Clinton a more dangerous President than Trump.  Will she accidently ignite a nuclear device?  He won’t.  If that device is activated, Trump will do it with intent, deliberation and possible glee at his own sense of power, while Clinton will hoover in the background waiting for others to deal with the ‘ Fallout’. 

What will she do with the over accumulation of personal data amassed by our government?   Will it be different from Donald Trump?  Both are to be feared.

We are left with virtually no choice this election.  Maybe that is the way it has always been but now we are more informed, more involved.  We know the fix is in and we can’t win regardless of which candidate we “chose” to endorse.

Third party candidates have been effectively wiped off the map.  Our vote, once deemed precious, means nothing.

Linda Zises

7/2016