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I Don't Think Fascism Is Too Strong A Word

Donald Trump may simply be a vicious, self-interested, ignorant buffoon, but it's about more than just him; it's about the resentment and hate that he's uncovering. Do you want to put your name on a party that puts his name on their brand? I'm not sure I can. In fact, I know I can't.

If we don't beat him, and sanity doesn't eventually prevail, I'm leaving the Republican Party. I'm still ideologically whatever I am, but I don't want to have to explain why I did nothing, while evil triumphed. Lincoln wouldn't stay. Reagan wouldn't. And I can't. Call it sanctimony if you will, but I can't chase the votes of angry, disaffected blue-collar whites with a wink, either. Losing with your dignity is better than selling your soul to win.

I definitely respect those folks who--on account of abortion and euthanasia--will do their duty, and vote against Clinton or Sanders. We're Catholics, after all. I just can't vote for the man. For all the eye-rolling about reductio ad Hitlerum on the internet, maybe our mockery blinds us to the real danger right in front of our eyes. If you were seeing fascism for real, how would you know? Could you fight through the derision to raise your voice? Well, I can.

On another note, I cannot but have a simmering disdain for the position, becoming more prominent as we speak--that Trump's foreign policy is less aggressive that that hawkish fool Rubio's. I'm a dove if there ever was one. I think the Libya intervention was flatly illegal, and unconstitutional. I think the Iran deal is preferable to war. I largely opposed McCain because of his, and the party's, nearly reflexive resort to military force. But Rubio the hawk is decidedly more preferable than a flat-out nationalist. And one that is completely incapable of understanding even the choices before him, and of reasoning to a good one. I'd be a better president than Donald Trump, right now. I wish I were kidding.

So, you'd better believe I'm with Marco. I liked him, anyway. But now, he's the last sane person with a shot, and as a patriot, and accountable to God, that's all I need to know. (Please feel free to rise from  the ashes, Gov. Kasich, but I don't think so.)

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