An October 2016 New York Times feature chronicling the approach planned for the final weeks of the Clinton campaign carried a very blunt title:
‘I’m the Last Thing Standing Between You and the Apocalypse.’
At the time, pundits and amateur politicos alike dismissed it as unnecessary doomsaying. Four years later, we found out that this was basically true, as we all deal with an ongoing pandemic with 200,000 American citizens dead and America’s case count representing more than 25% of the entire world’s, alongside a daily death count frequently reaching into the thousands while Canada is often reporting single-digit numbers – and, once last week, zero deaths – and most of Europe and Asia have gone back to quasi-normal life thanks to aggressive containment policies.
The COVID-19 pandemic, while by far the biggest, is just one deadly failure of the Trump administration. Economic devastation to rural farming communities, including those local to us, thanks to ongoing trade wars was one pre-pandemic feature of the Trump administration; and needless to say the healthcare policies enacted and drafted by GOP legislators was equally deadly, denying coverage to millions and specifically targeting minorities and women.
But the pandemic has allowed the worst qualities of Trump, his administration, and his supporters, to truly shine. “Anti-mask” demonstrators, who are operating solely out of a desire to complain and feel superior to the general public, are now a frequent occurrence in communities nationwide, including ours. The feckless cowards elected to represent our community, including Mayor Longo and both our state and US representative, have devoted more of their time to “owning liberals” than to doing anything to keep the community safe and prosperous. Continuing to elect people like this is nothing short of suicidal, and with the administration’s death toll already significantly higher than that of the Obama or even the Bush Administration – including foreign wars and quagmires, it seems safe to say that the New York Times headline above was nothing short of gospellike truth – and with COVID cases continuing to skyrocket even here on our campus with no relief in sight, it seems that it remains even more true this election cycle.
Modern politics has become nothing more than one side making it their life mission to score owns on liberals from their Twitter account while doing so using the most heinous and disgusting lies possible, all while the Democratic Party does everything they possibly can to pick up the pieces left behind. If you would like a president who will devise policy to navigate a pandemic without dying, vote for Joe Biden. And vote for Kristy Gnibus for Congress, Shelbie Stromeyer for State Senate, Kolbe Cole for State Representative, and in two years, whomever is nominated to run for mayor of Slippery Rock. Because your life may very well depend on voting against the incumbent failures.
