Why I Voted For Mr. Trump

I voted for Donald Trump and throughout the election cycle I explained why I was voting that way. I am an informed independent, Christian, constitutionalist American. I am a Marine no longer on active duty who takes the oath of enlistment seriously and it has no expiration date. If I perceive you as a threat to the Constitution I am honor bound to protect the ideals and principles and law set forth in that document against all enemies foreign and domestic. I am honest and detest dishonesty in those entrusted with governing and have taken the same or similar oath.

President Obama, a Democrat, has had 2 terms (the maximum) in office and had campaigned and was elected on a platform of transparent, honest, and inclusive government. He failed at all of it by those standards. His administration has not been transparent as evidenced in the emails which have been made public detailing the exchanges with Ms. Clinton’s staff to cover up the private email server she set up and compromised classified information. Which also exhibits their lack of compliance with a personal standard of mine, the rule of law.

You cannot tell me you are for the rule of law when you will not, and do not intend, to enforce the law of the land because you disagree with a law which has been instituted in accordance with our system of government and you happen to disagree, something the Obama administration has done throughout its tenure. They would not prosecute voting law in regards the New Black Panthers who were intimidating voters in Philadelphia and they will not enforce immigration law against either employers or those who enter the country illegally.

If you believe in the rule of law, you live it out in the actions taken when in a position to take action. You enact legislation through compromise and deal making; you do not do it with the stroke of a pen through executive order. When you do not put action with words you have no credibility, you are not truthful. You live within the bounds of the authority granted your branch of government in the Constitution. Mr. Obama and the democrats have not done that and have no intention of doing so. Ms. Clinton would be a continuation of this behavior.

You also don’t denigrate those who have legitimate differences on matters of conscience as President Obama and Ms. Clinton have done. They force Christians to perform acts contrary to their Biblically based beliefs or lose their businesses. They say we must change those Biblically based beliefs on abortion and homosexual marriage and enforcing of the current law in regards to immigration or be in the “basket of deplorables”. We are not xenophobic, or misogynist, or racist, or homophobic, or any other hateful name you wish to call us when using the Saul Alinsky political tactics to try and win an argument on other than facts. You have an us versus them mentality, not me. Live within the bounds of the Constitution and we will not have an issue. I am an adult, I can live and deal with disappointment in a positive way.

I am also not a globalist; I am an American before anything else and I will not surrender the sovereignty of my country to any world body or allow it to be surrendered by either an internal or external threat as defined in the Constitution. While I have empathy and sympathy and compassion for those in other countries, they are not my priority. My priority are American citizens. Our veterans come first, our homeless, our poor, our downtrodden all others come after them; especially when we have an almost 20 trillion dollar national debt. Any other tact is irresponsible and burdens our future in a way which is criminal in its negligence.

Any trade deals which costs Americans their jobs or destroy our manufacturing base are negligent. Any trade deal which disadvantages American based business or makes it more advantageous for American businesses to operate outside our borders instead of at home creating American jobs and building our manufacturing base is wrong and should not be pursued. The United States of America and her citizens must come first.

This is not to say we should disengage from the world and what is going on, not at all. We have to be engaged and protect our interests as we are the world power, but we cannot be a bully or impose our will on others. We continue to fight for human rights and the rule of international law, but we choose our battles carefully. If American interests are not at stake, we should not be militarily committed; it should be a diplomatic approach.

We should also not call domestic political activist groups as good if they promote an agenda which calls for violence as certain groups favored by the current administration have done. If you engage in or use rhetoric which calls for violence against any group within our country you are to be labeled as what you are, a hateful organization which promotes an agenda which is in contradiction to the values embodied in our Constitution. The Constitution is the standard against which everything must be measured.

 These are some of the reasons I voted for Mr. Trump. I could have also mentioned the Supreme Court or the nomination of an extremely polarizing candidate, but this is getting long and I don’t want to bore anyone. These are my reasons and I don’t claim to speak for anyone else (I am not that arrogant).