Medium.com - "Are you still supporting Donald Trump?"

Op-Ed

By Marsha Blackburn

"Are you still supporting Donald Trump?"

I've spent the day in my district and that is the question I am asked most often. Where are you on this race? What do you think of Trump, of Clinton? Why are Republicans tucking tail and running? What do they think they will gain by doing this? Some fear that I would have pulled my support. Some fear that I might still be supporting him. But, my constituents want and deserve an answer. So, since I have always said you might not agree with me but you will know where I stand, this is where I stand on this year's Presidential contest.

Yes, I am still with Donald Trump for president. I find his comments about women indefensible and do not try to explain or defend him. I do think he is, as is Hillary Clinton, a deeply flawed individual. Each of them would benefit by some CHARACTER COUNTS lessons. Just as I don't agree with some of his comments, I also, obviously do not share some of his value system. It is obvious to me that he has not led a Godly life, but God does not always send us a Godly person as a leader. Just read the Old Testament and you find David, Cyrus, Nebuchadnezzar, each used by God. What I do share with him is a deep love for this country, our freedoms, the American Dream, and the future of this nation. Because of this, I am supporting and giving my best efforts to be sure he is the best candidate he can be and becomes the best president.

The policy differences in the two candidates are stark. Trump is for change, Clinton the status quo. He will shrink the size and cost of the federal government, reduce taxes, and roll back regulation and litigation. Under Clinton we will have a larger federal government, higher taxes, increased regulation, and further litigation. Trump is for securing the southern border and ending the illegal entry of drug, human, and sex traffickers. In a 2013 speech, Clinton proclaims her support for open borders, open trade, and a hemispheric common marketplace. Trump sees national security as one of our most pressing issues. In another paid speech, she said that terrorism was not a threat to us as a nation. Maybe she should have a conversation with the FBI and hear them talk about the terrorist cells that now reside in each of our 50 states. Or maybe she should talk to the citizens of San Bernardino, Boston or Chattanooga, and hear the heartbreak of loved ones lost to terrorists on our soil. He is for suspending the problem-plagued refugee resettlement program and Syrian refugees until we have a verifiable vetting system in place. We learned from Clinton's emails that she knows we are unable to vet these refugees but she supports increasing the entrants into the US by 550%. How could you possibly hold that view as ISIS has told us they plan to exploit that program to get their members into the US and Europe? Trump will fight for our pro-life stances and for preserving our religious liberty. Clinton stated in April 2015 that in her opinion, unborn "persons" did not have rights, and she and her staff have ridiculed evangelicals and Catholics.

Trump will repeal and replace Obamacare with free market options. Clinton is doubling down on Obamacare and will further expand the program. She stated in a speech to Canadian bankers that her dream is to have a Canadian-styled healthcare system in the US. Single payer is her goal. She stated in a speech to Wall Street that she did all she could for the finance industry to prosper, and that Wall Street knows how to fix Wall Street. She told a Goldman Sachs group who paid her $225,000 for a speech, that she has great respect for the finance industry and the work it does. Trump will stand with Main Street and small business. He regularly talks about rolling back regulations and putting a simplified tax code in place that is workable for small business and families. Trump is for trade that is fair to the American worker. Clinton is for TPP and considers it the gold standard of trade agreements.

We have learned from the released emails that Clinton's staff frets about her being a habitual liar. A majority of Americans see her as untrustworthy and for good reason. Look at what she did in Libya, look at what she did in Benghazi. She lied to the American people about the cause of the attacks and then looked the families of the deceased in the eye and lied to them. She did tell other governments, Chelsea, and Bill the truth, that it was a terrorist attack. But she lied to the American people. Maybe she did not want to talk about gun running and other activity in Benghazi. She lied about scrubbing her computer when she had her server go through bleach bit after she was issued a subpoena by Congress. One of my military constituents reminded me that he would be court-martialed for the mistreatment of one singular email on one singular device. His life would be over. What she has done is much worse. Indeed, it is so much worse that the FBI ended up striking an immunity deal with 5 of Clinton's top aides. Unprecedented.

In a 2013 speech she pronounced that to be politically successful, you need to have both a public and a private position on issues. Isn't that a big part of what people resent? Politicians who say one thing and do another? She told a Goldman Sachs audience who handsomely paid her that she was far removed from the struggles of the middle class. An email from her campaign chair notes that she hates everyday Americans. Maybe that is why she calls us deplorables, irredeemables. She thought something was "wrong' with New Hampshire residents when she lost the primary. She colluded with the Department of Justice during her email server investigation. She promised the president and the Senate that she would forgo foreign contributions while serving as secretary of state. Instead, she accepted money from 60 countries that were doing business with the Department of State, and we learned in the emails that a majority of her personal meetings included Clinton Foundation contributors. After the Haiti earthquake, the Haitian Senate president accused Clinton of giving her wealthy donors access to the "gold rush' in exchange for exorbitant speaking fees and large donations to the Clinton Foundation. A senior aide to then Secretary Clinton asked the staff to flag friends of Bill Clinton for priority treatment in Haiti reconstruction. Yes, this is corruption and pay-to-play. But, then the Clintons left the White House in 2002 being "dead broke' in their words and are now worth over $250 million. All of this by peddling influence and using a not-for-profit as a conduit to big money for big favors and big cronyism. Bear in mind, the Clintons have never built a business, never created jobs, never innovated, or received a patent. They have sold influence. The jokes abounded during President Clinton's term of "selling access to the Lincoln bedroom.' Then came the State Department and putting our foreign policy up for sale. What do you really think they will do with the White House?

Clinton was caught laughing about getting a rapist of a 12-year-old girl off. She laughed. She had accused Kathy Shelton, then 12 years old of fantasizing, being responsible for the actions of the 44-year-old man who raped her. Despicable. We all have heard the stories for years of how she treated, accused, and blamed the women in Bill Clinton's life. Even her former staff has admitted she had a war room to handle the "eruptions.'

In addition to all of these concerns, we have to include the appointments to the Supreme Court and the federal bench. The next president of the United States will most likely make three appointments to the court and another dozen to the federal bench. The future of our Constitution will depend on the type jurists appointed to these positions. I want them to be constitutionalists who believe in the constitution as the underpinning of the rule of law that guides the decisions of the court. My fear is that Clinton will appoint an activist court. I know that Trump will protect the court by appointing justices who value equal justice for all.

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