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Politics and flavors of the day

Now that Ted Cruz has cast aside his disdain for Donald Trump (because he can’t support Hillary Clinton), it appears the world of the conservatives has turned upside down.

The price of integrity in politics is obviously not as high as one may have thought, and it’s more evident than ever that all political reasoning is based on self-interests and personal gain.

While Clinton and Trump continue to spar, debate the honesty quotient of one another and claim their opponent isn’t qualified to be president, the country continues to wait for one of them to reach the sewer’s shoreline and climb out of the muck.

Who do you believe is capable of leading this country? Who do you believe can do what they have promised? Which one has the “chops” to take it to Putin or Kim Jong-un? Will Hillary need to push another re-set button, or will Trump’s “bromance” with Putin do the trick?

Where do the candidates stand on North Korea? Syria? What about the children of Aleppo? We don’t need empty promises; we need action on these serious issues. Can we believe what either of these two candidates have said?

According to the latest polls taken prior to the debate the race is neck and neck, and regardless of the many high profile supporters, it will all come down to turnout at the voting booths.

Does it matter that Cruz has thrown both his wife and father under the bus? Will the constant drip, drip, drip of Hillary’s emails change anyone’s mind? And when it comes to the alleged misuse of funds from the two foundations, it’s the pot calling the kettle black; and so it goes.

Republican President George H.W. Bush said he will vote for Hillary, along with many other prominent Republicans. According to a Washington Post report, more than 100 Republican national-security professionals signed a letter opposing Donald Trump, and many are preparing themselves to breach party lines and vote for Hillary Clinton instead.

In addition to the current president and vice president endorsing Hillary, there are numerous generals, military and cabinet officials who have endorsed her as well. Not to be left out, Trump has also received his share of top level endorsements. But do these endorsements mean much to you and me who are looking at our mortgages, taxes, college tuition costs, and a lack of employment opportunities or worse yet the fear of the lone wolf terrorist?

Trump is called an outsider, a man with business acumen and a billionaire promising to make the country great again. But it’s his Teflon exterior and innate ability to dodge questions by answering with an insult or denial of the facts that keep him in the game. Is he a phenomenon? A movement in his own right taking the American people along for a ride as though on a magic carpet to some golden casino in the sky? Is he running for an office that he wants, or is it the thrill of the chase that has kept him engaged in this exhilarating pursuit of the presidency?

Trump is like the snake oil salesman on the back steps of a train moving through the countryside shouting out promises and making those who are listening believe that if they buy his elixir they too can become rich and famous. He is sending out a shiny promise and people are taking the bait hook, line and sinker. He is called a “regular guy” by Carol Williams, a small business owner in Fayetteville, Tennessee.

How can a man who owns golf courses all over the world, hotels in almost every big city in the country, and who travels by his own private jet be a regular person? A man who touts bringing jobs back to this country, but has his clothing line manufactured in China and Taiwan isn’t a regular person he is a bait and switch artist.

But Trump isn’t the only one making promises and garnering support from people who want desperately to believe that change can happen. Hillary Clinton has vowed to continue with the Obama administration’s programs and policies, and the people still follow like mice following the Pied Piper.

With Trump promising to make America Great Again, and Hillary promising to continue the policies of Obama, they are missing the cries of the American people cries for an improved economy, National security, defeating terrorism and creating jobs. Last evening’s promises may have sounded good, but can either of these candidates deliver?

While Trump appears to be put together by bailing wire when it comes to holding his anger, maintaining a presidential persona and keeping his name calling and bullying tactics in check, Hillary’s problem is just the opposite. Her personification of composure and decorum laced with her lawyerly answers too often leave the listeners shaking their heads in disbelief.

Trump has insulted women, Hispanics, the disabled, and African Americans, yet he still manages to come out of the fray unblemished and wiping off the criticisms as if brushing off confetti from the shoulders of his silk suits. He has refused to make his tax returns public and says he has never asked for forgiveness for anything.

Hillary has a history of what is perceived as playing by different rules, shady dealings and a lack of transparency. Yet, according to Dr. Patrick Cronin, who served as a senior official at USAID during the Bush administration, there is “Only one candidate who has thought through America’s challenges, understands policy, has a positive and inclusive vision, is smart about the world in which we live, and is ready to be president, and I intend to vote for her – Hillary Clinton,” Cronin said.

A life in politics might just mean integrity for sale.

Where are John Kasich or Joe Biden when you need them?

Have a great day.

Vicki Westling is a Dunkirk resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com

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