Homework assignment

I have a number of friends (yeah, I know, who'd have thought it?) who are adamant supporters of Donald Trump's candidacy. what I don't have is a concrete reason from any of them regarding why they support him. They may, and frequently do spew a litany of reasons (none related to competence in running the nation) as to why they don't like Mrs. Clinton. These are usually simply mimicry of the Trump campaign's smear tactics.

One writer's letter to the local paper recently, after my letter pointing out that the Clinton foundation is actually one of the top rated charities in America, higher than even St. Jude's, is exemplary. The author apparently decide that it wasn't enough that the Clinton foundation actually was honest, open and extremely effective with minimal admin costs and roughly 90% of all funds going to direct aid, but it had to go to causes the writer espoused or it was a scam. Fighting AIDS and hunger worldwide with funds solicited worldwide was apparently not enough. The real issue as with so many is that once Trump levied a general and false accusation at Mrs. Clinton ("Crooked Hillary") the truth became irrelevant.

The same is true of speaking fees. The attack ads run by Trump supporters, especially Florida's should be felon and current governor, Rick Scott's PAC, simply list some of the Clinton's speaking fees and with zero factual data, imply that because they were paid a lot, it is either illegal, immoral or fattening. This approach plays into the receptors of one branch of the "deplorables" - that being the "ignorants." Ignorant means lacking knowledge or being undereducated, and both apply to much of the Trump power base. To them, other people having money is wrong, and other people being paid a lot for anything (other than jacked up pickup trucks and meth) is wrong. What passes these morons unnoticed is that Trump has made at least 17 speeches at 3 times the payday of Mrs. Clinton 's most highly compensated speaking engagements, giving absolutely none of it back to charity. Where's the outrage?

As for the other categories which Mrs. Clinton unfortunately publically described as the "deplorables", it has been lost in the shuffle that she said "about half" and also specified that they fell into categories which most decent folks would, indeed call deplorable - homophobes, racists, xenophobes, religious zealots who would force their beliefs on others, etc. While she should have been more attuned to the way this might be used against her, I would have no problem with the attributions or the percentage. If you do, simply look at the people at Trump rallies. Mrs. Clinton, in this one instance unfortunately used a labeling tactic, which Trump does daily. She did , however specify and was accurate. At least she didn't mock a handicapped man, a Gold Star mother, or allude to a journalists monthlies!

Finally, if you actually can read this and intend to vote for the most sociopathic, ego driven, undereducated blowhard I have seen in a lifetime of following American politics, from Eisenhower to the present, do me, and perhaps yourself, a favor before election day. Take a quiet five minutes, get a pad and paper and make a list of factual reasons why you support Trump. I don't mean reasons why you don't like Hillary, I mean real world attributes which make Trump presidential material. I have tried to do so being as objective as I can. I got nuthin'. Of course if you are a bigot, homophobe, xenophobe or evangelical who is actually ingenuous enough to believe that Trump actually has any spiritual side to his nature, or cares about you, then feel free to list it, but be aware of your bias. Good luck. and please, please, if you do actually come up with what you consider valid reasons, post them here, so that we may all be enlightened.