This isn’t about the 2016 presidential campaign. It’s not about the candidates or the conventions; it’s not about about political ideology or the political process.
It’s all about We The People.
But that requires talking about — at least briefly — the candidates I’d rather not talk about.
Some of us had dared to hope that Donald Trump, after securing the Republican nomination, would disclose that it had all indeed been an act and that he was ready to start acting like an adult. After all, he’s a super-successful billionaire real estate mogul. And he has such great kids. Surely, he’s capable of acting presidential.
Ah, hope springs eternal.
Then the ghost of Ted Cruz reappeared. To be fair, Mr. Trump has a legitimate grievance against Mr. Cruz, who should have either endorsed his former rival or declined the invitation to speak from the convention pulpit. As a career politician, Senator Cruz must understand that the purpose of a national convention is to inspire party solidarity, not to posture for the next election cycle. Mustn’t he?
Of course, life isn’t any better in Philadelphia, where DNC head Debbie Wasserman-Schultz finally agreed to disappear into the night in exchange for one last grandstand, after she was caught exploiting her position to skew the supposedly even-handed primary process in favor of Hillary Clinton.
Not than anyone was surprised. Whatever your political bent, principles have largely become a thing of the past.
That may be because too many Americans have no notion of the values on which this country was founded: Equal opportunity, equal rights, and equal protection under the law. These do not ensure equal wealth or power. But they are part of a culture that once recognized a moral, as opposed to a legal, commitment to place the lowest rung of the ladder of fortune within reach of its most downtrodden citizens, to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority, and to shape a society bound together by commitment to higher values and national destiny.
Yonason Goldson 