By Jay Arrington March 9, 2016
“Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.” Psalm 69:22
A few years ago I wrote about how people who allegedly vote against their own interest actually vote their interest- their interest being hating folks not like them. Trouble with that philosophy is that by the time those voters realize the self-inflicted damage caused by their hate and false sense of entitlement, the only solution (in their minds) for remedy manifested in the past in the form of folks like David Duke and now in the form of Donald J. Trump. Don’t get me wrong, many members of the [Republican Party] and their other presidential candidates share theirs (angry voters) and Trump’s views. The difference is that unlike Trump the other party members won’t say (publicly) what Trump says, they just whistle, as in doggy.
Exit polls in Michigan showed that four in ten of GOP voters support Trump’s deportation of Muslims while Mississippi exit polls showed that fifty percent of voters support deportation of Muslims. What might surprise some but not others- and certainly not me- is that in Mississippi many of those supporting a ban on Muslims identify as Evangelical Christians. Shame on you. You do know that God is not mocked? You can’t love the Lord whom you don’t see and hate your brother that you do see. But I digress- just thought I’d remind you.
Immigration and hate for their fellowman notwithstanding, anger over the economy placed a strong second in both states on the list of “any excuse to vote for Trump.” A majority of those polled expressed dissatisfaction over the direction of the economy. Apparently $1:50 per gallon average for gasoline, 4.8% unemployment and record stock market gains are viewed as “going in the wrong direction.” However, to be fair, I understand that for those without jobs unemployment in their respective households registers 100%.
Anger and discontent aside, the media attention Trump and to some extent Senator Cruz of Texas command leaves Governor John Kasich R-Ohio looking, well, reasonable. Truth is however, that while [Kasich] comes across as this folksy Andy Griffith type with the calm and seemingly reasonable debate demeanor, his record as governor shows that as a matter of policy he is more extreme than Trump and just as extreme as Cruz. His expansion of Medicaid notwithstanding, Kasich recently signed legislation to stop state funding of Planned Parenthood. Trump by the way supports Planned Parenthood.
In addition to the Planned Parenthood bill, Kasich signed some of the country’s most aggressive and restrictive Voter ID laws. According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer Editorial Board: John Kasich’s voting legislation was “a breathtaking bid to suppress voting despite constitutional guarantees of voting rights.” “Ohio’s Republican-run General Assembly has now passed three bills aimed at holding down voting by black or low-income Ohioans, a breathtaking bid to suppress voting despite constitutional guarantees of voting rights. Unwisely, Republican Gov. John Kasich has signed all of them into law. Substitute Senate Bill 205 forbids anyone but the secretary of state’s office from sending out unsolicited absentee ballot applications.” [Cleveland Plain-Dealer, 3/1/14; SB 205, 10/10/13; SB 216, 10/29/13; SB 238, 11/13/13] correctrecord.org/the-2016-gop-record-on-voting-rights/
So you see folks (angry republicans), no matter which devil you choose he will still have horns and a pitch fork and he’ll be seated at the head of the “others” table…you know the one you prepared for your enemy. Not to worry though. There are plenty of seats.
Jay Arrington is a staff writer for The Maryland Daily Examiner. For more articles and information regarding the Maryland Daily Examiner, contact Reggie Kearney, Editor in Chief.