This is a referendum on 'Amerexit ' from our ideals
In the last analysis, the nomination of Donald Trump has made this election a referendum on the vision of America Lincoln and the Republican party and the Founders themselves held, and a vote for Donald Trump is a vote for "no."
This is a referendum on "Amerexit-' the withdrawal of America from its own ideal as a society where everyone is treated equally, where the Bill of Rights applies to everybody. where fair play is valued, and where the function of the law is to protect the weak from the strong from the weak, not to empower the former in making the latter their prey. It's a reaffirmation or rejection of the values we have always held most dear.
In essence, it's a referendum on the following proposition:
RESOLVED, that all human beings are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (Here follows the text of the Bill of Rights).
The options we are being offered are:
NO (Hillary Clinton)
NO (Donald Trump)
The only way to vote "yes" is to vote for a third-party candidate, or not to vote for president at all.
Yes, the Supreme Court may well be at stake. Yes, Hillary Clinton is a nightmare who thinks that only some human beings have constitutional rights- just like Trump is. But its character as a referendum on our values is its most compelling and important aspect. It is in playing that role that history will remember this election, not in the others.
We can hope that the damage Hillary can do can be restrained by a Republican Senate that can reject her nominees to the Court. But if we allow Donald Trump not only to take over the government but to take permanent control of the Republican party, there is no way back. The reality is the opposite of what pro-Trump conservatives are saying: if we elect Trump, we lose everything for sure, and for all time. But even if Hillary wins, we can work to contain the damage and almost certainly defeat her four years from now.
This is a referendum on our American ideals in which a vote for either of the major candidates is a vote for "Amerexit." When it comes to choosing between Trump and Hillary, the overriding reality is the line the computer speaks on the subject of thermonuclear war at the end of the movie "war games:" "This is a very strange game. The only way to win seems to be not to play."
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