The Religious Right and Trump's Victory

[angus]

Hillary Clinton is a uniquely loathsome figure

Truer words are rarely spoken, but I' a little surprised that evangelical protestants would nominate The Donald.  Still, maybe you're right.  He simply played all the cards right.  He certainly didn't seem to "moralize."  I wouldn't think it possible for such an amoral person to moralize anyway.  

[angus]

Saying "Trump's a Whoremonger!" may or may not be true, but even if he is, that doesn't impact public policy at all.

I agree with that, but Donald Trump has been divorced multiple times.  He has become rich by buying cheap, declaring bankruptcy, and letting others pay for his mistake.  He has created fraudulent educational programs to swindle people out of their money.  He used undocumented workers to build Trump Tower, then cheated them out of their money because he knew they would have no legal recourse. 

Not exactly the sort of history that might inspire one to think that he'll execute the law in a manner consistent with the gospels.  One might even say that camels fit through needle eyes more easily than Donald Trump fits through the Pearly Gates.

[angus]

I hope this trend continues.

I don't.  If you had asked me about this ten or twenty years ago I'd have said sure, I'm getting sick of politicians interjecting their religious beliefs into campaigns and anything is better than those who wear their religion on their sleeves, but now I have seen the alternative.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and their campaign styles, are disgusting.  One was crude and the other was insulting.  One is addicted to his mobile phone and the other is addicted to platitudes and overconfidence.  This election was probably the most peurile I've seen.  As much as I am loathe to say it, I would prefer the holier-than-thou types to the low-brow campaigns that these two narcissistic individuals waged.

[angus]

If they had ran their campaigns under the pretense that they were forced to be civil with one another out of obligation then it would've come across as a complete lie. Nobody would've believed it.

That's a good point, so let's take it from there.  You prefer a lie that no one recognizes to a lie that everyone recognizes?  I ask because that's what we have with Donald Trump.  He made all sorts of outrageous campaign promises that (fortunately) he will not keep, and probably never intended to keep.  He promised to be a new kind of Republican for a new era.  He promised to build walls and export millions.  He promised to take legal action against Hillary Clinton.  He promised protectionism and isolationism.  He promised to make America great again.  I'm glad that he won't keep those promises, but I wonder if his supporters are glad?  He is simply padding his executive branch seats with campaign donors who will collect salaries and do nothing.  Moreover, he intends to let the traditional elements of the GOP pursue a traditional GOP agenda.

If you give me a choice between lies that people can smell and lies that people can't smell, I would prefer the former to the latter.