{"id":17478,"date":"2016-10-18T09:20:19","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T13:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=17478"},"modified":"2016-10-18T09:20:20","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T13:20:20","slug":"letter-lesser-of-two-evils-argument-is-wrong-clinton-is-an-easy-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=17478","title":{"rendered":"Letter: ‘Lesser of two evils’ argument is wrong, Clinton is an easy pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

To The Editor,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"letters1\"<\/a>A grab-bag of popular phrases is making the rounds this election season; and it really puzzles me. Two statements you hear: \u201cI don\u2019t like either candidate.\u201d \u201cI guess I\u2019ll vote for the lesser of two evils.\u201d<\/p>\n

First, the \u201cI don\u2019t like either candidate\u201d lament. It\u2019s good to remind ourselves here that we\u2019re electing a president \u2013 not a roommate. I say look closely at their qualifications. Whose list of qualifications shows readiness to govern the nation \u2013 Hillary\u2019s or Donald\u2019s? Based on a record of solid performance and reliable temperament, who could best lead the nation in a competent, serious, judicious way in this troubled time? In whose hands do I want to put this nation and really, the whole world?<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the popular \u201clesser of two evils\u201d comment. Generally they mean Hillary. Curious, because in Clinton you\u2019ve got a candidate with the proven capacity to rise to the most complex and confounding challenges (of which there are plenty); who has been dedicated to public service all her life; who comes to the job with a record of accomplishment, strong intellect and concern for a better life for all Americans. Not to mention two terms as a U.S. Senator and four years as Secretary of State.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure how all that makes Hillary the \u201clesser of two evils.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her opponents and some undecideds like to wave the \u201cemails and Benghazi\u201d flags to justify their reservations about Hillary. Even though she\u2019s apologized for the email error. And even though a year-long investigation by the FBI failed to uncover any wrongdoing! Then there\u2019s Benghazi \u2013 a sad episode in diplomatic life which led to the deaths of four State Department personnel in 2012. For that too she has taken responsibility as Secretary of State (and testified for 11 hours before a House investigating committee that found no evidence of wrongdoing).<\/p>\n

But notice how differently this Benghazi attack is treated versus back in 1983 when a suicide bomber killed 241 U.S. servicemen in Beirut. No one hammered relentlessly on President Reagan for these deaths. Democrats did not seize it as an election issue. It was just a tragic day in the life of American international presence \u2013 and all shared it equally.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s candidacy, on the other hand, has relied on his ability to pump up vast, adoring crowds. They don\u2019t seem to think his lack of knowledge on policy matters and his lack of interest in learning, or his unstable temperament, disqualify him for the office of president. They often say, \u201cHe\u2019s a good businessman.\u201d Well, not so fast there. His business record shows a nearly billion-dollar loss in one year reported in the recently leaked Trump tax return. Good business?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m mystified that Trump\u2019s fans do not seem to mind the easy way he traffics in untruth, as in his quest for Obama\u2019s birth certificate (long after Obama produced it). The result was to lay race-based suspicion on the nation\u2019s first African-American president that would never have been cast on another president.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s hear it for clear thinking this election. You can\u2019t waste your vote on a dangerously leaky vessel to carry us forward.<\/p>\n

My thought is, let\u2019s go for the brains, the dedication and the experience. Go for the record of accomplishment demonstrated over many decades. Resist the drumbeat of an empty promise to \u201cmake America great again\u201d \u2013 with no specifics provided.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a nation at stake. Be careful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

E.A. Bonner<\/strong><\/p>\n

Devon, PA<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To The Editor, A grab-bag of popular phrases is making the rounds this election season; and it really puzzles me. Two statements you hear: \u201cI don\u2019t like either candidate.\u201d \u201cI guess I\u2019ll vote for the lesser of two evils.\u201d First, the \u201cI don\u2019t like either candidate\u201d lament. It\u2019s good to remind ourselves here that we\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[5625,6723,6863],"class_list":["post-17478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-election-2016","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-president"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17478"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17479,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17478\/revisions\/17479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}