"Those Who Do Not Learn From Their Mistakes...."

Once upon a time, America made a mistake. That mistake was President Barack Obama. For two terms.

Once upon a time, there was a candidate for President of the United States that drew huge crowds of excited followers who were sick and tired of politics as usual and were ready for “change”. Many of these supporters were new to the political system and for the first time in their lives were pumped up about the process. With only little political experience, this person appealed to many as an outsider, someone untainted by the dirtiness of politics.

This candidate's self-esteem was extremely high and his confidence appealed to many of his loyal supporters. His charm and stunning charisma were assumed to be great assets that could be used to advantage on the world stage, something Americans were ready for.

His followers loves his many ideas for enacting this “change” he talked about so much. One idea was a ban on assault weapons and a longer waiting period for buying guns, because that would keep us “safe”. Another idea was to make sure that everyone had health insurance. Universal healthcare. Every single American would be covered, especially those with pre-existing conditions. No one would be left to die in the streets and best of all the government was going to pay for it. His followers unquestioningly ate it up.

They loved so many things that their candidate stood for. Their candidate was opposed to Super PACs. Their candidate, ostensibly in order to promote fairness, was in favor of limiting the salary of CEOs. Unions were seen as a very good thing in their candidate’s eyes. He believed that there is nothing wrong with mandatory membership and that the “right to work” laws are not important. Their candidate was also all about raising taxes on Wall Street and the wealthy. Their candidate favored a taxpayer funded stimulus bill to “keep the banks alive”. Their candidate was also in favor of the taxpayer funded TARP program and the taxpayer funded auto bailout.

Their candidate truly had a heart in the eyes of his intensely staunch supporters and followers He cared. So much, in fact, that he was convinced that the children of illegal immigrants should be granted amnesty. His followers loved that he also cared a lot about women’s health and repeatedly praised Planned Parenthood for all the they did. Their candidate cares so much about women’s health that he floated an idea of an extreme, radical pro-choice candidate for the Supreme Court.

Nothing could shake these supporters from their man. Nothing. All these stances on issues apparently appealed to the unshakably loyal audience of supporters and followers.

Or did they? Perhaps instead, what appealed was the nationalistic bombast and the promise of real change. Perhaps what appealed was not the policies and beliefs at all, but merely the hope that this person would actually, finally “do what was needed”.

If you thought I was describing the candidacy of Barack Obama, you would be wrong.

Donald Trump is the man accurately described here, in documented, excruciating detail.

Your move, America.

Jonathan Paine

@painefultruth76

painefultruth1776@gmail.com