Home
Closing Arguments
By Barney Freiberg-Dale, Small Business Owner, Massachusetts
With only a few days before election day, the candidates are making closing arguments now. Rarely in the 225 years of our republic has an election turned so much on the character issues of both major candidates. Certainly not in the lifetime of anyone alive today.
We at Trump Business Record have explored the character issues presented by Mr. Trump, but not those of his major opponent, Hilary Clinton. That was not our task. If you have not read the various published articles that we have posted, or the original op-ed pieces we have posted, we hope that you will visit www.TrumpBusinessRecord.org and do so. We believe that Mr. Trump’s character, as displayed in a long business record as well as in the many ballihooed incidents during the campaign, is clearly one which American voters should reject in this election. Though we acknowledge that Ms. Clinton has character issues of her own, we believe that they pale in comparison to those of Mr. Trump. Here are the headlines:
1. Basic honesty: Mr. Trump has displayed a disdain for the truth, even to the point of denying what his own record vividly displays. Though his nickname for Ms. Clinton is “Lying Hilary,” he is the one who has broken all records for dishonesty on his pronouncements during the campaign, by wide margins. He is the one who has lied to his customers, investors, government officials, contractors, workers and business associates. Mr. Trump’s business record shows it over and over. By comparison, Ms. Clinton’s demonstrated incidents of dishonesty are a mere shadow, and are the exception rather than the rule for her.
2. Corruption: Ms. Clinton has been accused of selling influence on government policy in return for donations to the Clinton Foundation, or for large speaking fees and other financial benefits to herself. Never mind that no one can point to any incident where that “influence” resulted in a change in government policy or practice. But we will acknowledge that the appearance of impropriety is indeed a damaging thing. Compare that with Mr. Trump, who demonstrably has participated in government corruption on the other side – he is himself the source of funds and favors to politicians left, right and center, in return for enormous financial gain. And this is without even one day in public service. It seems to us that as soon as he wants to get anything done as president, he will be the first to horse trade favors to various constituencies. His whole career has been one of betraying the trust of people who have placed faith in him, and always for the good of no one but himself.
3. Respect for others: The myriad examples of Mr. Trump disrespecting nearly everyone are so numerous as to defy listing. Women, Muslims, residents of inner cities (i.e. African-Americans) Mexicans, war veterans, men, people with disabilities, people who are overweight, people who don’t meet his standards of beauty . . . there are many more. He displays his disgust at other people merely for who they are, not what they have said or done. He has even been quoted as saying that people in general don’t warrant his respect. He doesn’t even respect the bodily privacy of women whom he desires to touch against their wishes. Again in contrast, Ms. Clinton has always deported herself with respect toward other people – all people.
4. Openness: Ms. Clinton is often said to be secretive and to keep the public away from things she doesn’t want them to know about. But she has at least met the basic standards of releasing her tax returns for many years, while Mr. Trump has stonewalled that in the face of demands from all parts of the political spectrum. Without that basic disclosure, observed by all presidential candidates since Richard Nixon, the American people cannot judge how he made his wealth, where his conflicts of interest lie, and who his associates are. Ask the question: in what area of life has Mr. Trump been more open than Ms. Clinton? The answer is NONE.
5. Temperament for leadership: There is hardly any area of character in which Mr. Trump is so lacking as temperament. His tendency to lose self-control, his inability to focus on learning the facts before making decisions and spouting off, his judgment in the face of challenge, and so many other temperament issues leave us fearful of the careening course that our government would take under his leadership. He would leave all Americans going to bed each night worried about waking to a nation at war. His capacity for empathy is so limited that he would have no qualms about putting members of our armed forces at risk for reasons no more substantial than salving his bruised ego.
This site and page have not attempted to address matters of policy. Of course, we have our views on policy, as do our readers, but we have not made that the subject of our site. In a general way, let us say that Mr. Trump’s policy pronouncements have been vague even beyond the standards of normal political discourse (a hard thing to do), and he has vacillated even more than most politicians (another hard thing to do). So it’s hard to know what his policies are. For example, his position on “right to life” smacks of political expediency, not of principle, ready to be abandoned for sake of short-term advantage. Again in contrast, Ms. Clinton has had robust policy statements for many months, and her long track record in public service gives another clear indication of what she would do as president. So those who think that policy is more important than character, the choice may or may not be clear.
We believe that for those who think character is equal or greater in importance than policies, the choice should be much clearer. By traditional American value standards, be they conservative or liberal, Hilary Clinton stands out as the candidate for such voters.
HOME
We are members of the business community: Small business owners Self-employed professionals and tradespeople Investors Managers, professionals and executives in businesses large and small People retired from these fields Donald Trump’s business record shows that he has no respect for others...
TRUMPBUSINESSRECORD.ORG