Friday, August 18, 2023

My Choice For President

 Election Year - 2024 - is fast approaching, and already there are a number of candidates who have thrown their proverbial hats in the ring.  A lot is at stake in this election, perhaps more than in any other.  At present, we have a senile old fool named Joe Biden who is in the White House, and he is useless, corrupt, out-of-touch, and he is more interested in Ukrainian transvestites than he is his own citizens.  Simply put, we cannot afford another 4 years of him.  There are plenty of Republican candidates - as well as one somewhat decent Democrat, RFK Jr. - vying for the position.  So, who will come out on top?   Let's look at things.

The obvious front-runner for the Republicans is Donald Trump, and Trump does represent the mindset of the average man in the street in so many ways.  Then there is Ron DeSantis, who has been a stellar governor in Florida and also has some good ideas, although he often does not really have the "oomph" factor to communicate them.  Then, there are some really bad Republicans - the overly-obese Chris Christie, who is useless; Asa Hutchinson, who in reality should be a Democrat; and Nikki Haley, who on occasion has said good things but for the most part I cannot really figure her out.  Then there is the former Vice President and Race Bannon (from the old Johnny Quest cartoons) clone Mike Pence - Pence is a nice guy, but as a leader he would stink honestly.  But, there is another who really has shaken up the status quo, and to be honest I am putting my support around him to be the Republican nominee, and that is newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy.  I want to focus my discussion now on him, as he is of interest.  


Vivek Ramaswamy is an American-born tycoon and entrepreneur of Asian Indian descent, and at 38 he is youthful and enthusiastic.  He has many good ideas, and so far what I have seen of him I like.  Now, mind you, I am not a Republican myself - I would rather have a dozen root canals than be part of the current Republican Party, which is dominated by a bunch of Establishment hacks who are out-of-touch with their base.   The candidates that are getting noticed are the ones who stand out - Trump, DeSantis, and now Vivek.  To be honest, any of the three of them I believe would be a good Republican contender against the Senile Sovereign that is in the Oval Office now, but it will come down to one.  More than likely Trump will be the guy who gets the nomination, and naturally I will vote for him if he does.  But, there are issues with both Trump and DeSantis that need to be considered, and like commentator Ben Shapiro said today in his podcast, the objective is to kick Biden out of the White House, and we need the best person to do that.  Are any of these guys that person?  

Trump has already been President, and while he was in office he did a lot of good stuff for the country.  Having him back in the White House would be very welcomed.  But, Trump has issues.   For one, the myriad indictments taking place against him - all of which I think are bogus and are a way Democrats are plotting to get rid of him as a serious contender -  may cause a problem.  Also, despite the fact I believe Trump to be effective, his weakness is that at times he doesn't activate the filter between his mouth and his brain, and that has caused him issues.   As for DeSantis, he has excellent policies and a pretty impressive and effective track record as Governor of Florida.  He has the potential to be a wonderful leader if he were elected, but the problem is that he is now becoming America's best-kept secret - he is not really strong on his national campaign.  Then there is Vivek - of the top three, I think Vivek has a lot of promise.  He is passionate, very conservative, and he also does admit where he is weak and I believe he knows how to delegate authority so that his weaknesses can be compensated.  Even people who like Trump and DeSantis seem to also have a fondness for Vivek, but at times there are some things people bring up about him, and I want to get into that now. 

The first thing people tend to bring up is that Vivek is not a Christian, but a Hindu.  I have heard some conservative commentators I listen to say that an American President has to be Christian.  I would argue that this is not necessarily true.  We are not electing a religious leader; we are electing the leader of our nation, and personally I want a leader who reflects my values, and although Vivek is Hindu, he does  have some pretty good traditional views on social issues - that is all I am really concerned about, and he passes the test there.  Some others have made issue about his name - it is obviously not a European name by any stretch, but again, I am not concerned about that at all.  After all, did we not have a President for 8 years named Barack Hussein Obama??  That is definitely not a European name either, despite the fact I am distantly related to him on my mother's side of the family - that does not mean I like him though, because Obama was one of the worst Presidents we had yet and he was elected based on his skin color and not his policies or his record, which were practically nonexistent.  Therefore, if a conservative Hindu who loves America more than the White Democrat leftists do becomes President, I am OK with it, and I could care less what his name is.  If we can have a Barack Hussein Obama for 8 years, I don't think there should be an issue with a guy named Vivek Ramaswamy.  

Another issue that many conservatives have with Vivek is his stance on legal immigration - he wants to establish a vetting process for that but not have a set quota or limit, and that has caused concern with some.  Personally, I am conservative, but I am an independent, so in all honesty I am somewhat flexible on this like Vivek is, and I have personal reasons I won't get into now for why I believe as I do.  Not every conservative talking point is good, I will just say that, and there are a few areas I would disagree fundamentally with other Conservatives on, but I also understand where they come from and I respect them too.  This is one of those issues.  The key concept here in regard to immigration is legal - if someone wants to come to our country and respects the system enough to comply with it, that means a lot.  It also means they appreciate American enough to be good patriotic citizens once they are nationalized, and we need all of those we can get!  I have known many foreign-born nationalized citizens of our nation, and many of them are very patriotic, as well as being political Conservatives.  I respect those people, and they are a wonderful addition to our nation, so I would welcome them.  So, I think Vivek has a good idea here - it could probably use a little tweaking and refining, but I think he is smart enough to know that too, so we should give him credit. 

In summary, I am supporting Vivek Ramaswamy as a viable Presidential candidate.  He may or may not get nominated, but he is essential in that he is bringing some things to the table that need to be addressed.  Provided the Republicans nominate a good candidate like Vivek, Trump, or DeSantis, that person will have my vote regardless.  But, I am firmly on Vivek's side too, and it would be wonderful if he would become the nominee to usurp the Alzheimer's Autocrat in the White House now.  Thank you for allowing me to share this brief PSA, and my prayers for our good candidates who are running, and also prayers that the bad ones will evaporate like the dew on the morning grass.