Would You Rather:

Have you ever played the game “Would You Rather…?” It’s an entertaining thought game that presents you with two equally horrid options and asks you to make a choice between the two.

Would you rather: Have your parachute fail while skydiving? Or have your car brakes fail at 90 mph while driving at a brick wall?

Would you rather: Be eaten by a shark? Or be eaten by a lion?

Would you rather: Have a lying, progressive liberal Democrat as president? Or have a lying, progressive liberal Republican as president?

Yeah, the game can get pretty morbid.

How’d We Get Here, America?

For nearly a year, Americans had the opportunity to examine +/- 16 candidates for the GOP nomination. In the end, Donald J. Trump was chosen.

I will not repeat previous accounts of Trump’s utter disregard for liberty, the Constitution and American principles. Apparently, the majority of Americans know these things. But they just don’t freaking care.

What led to this?

The presumptive nomination of Trump makes it apparent that the majority of Americans do not understand basic, American Constitutional principles. The majority of Americans do not understand the proper function of government. The majority of Americans do not understand that it is their responsibility, their duty, to inform themselves and involve themselves in their government.

If they understood these things, we wouldn’t be playing this national game of “Would You Rather…?” while betting with the future of our children and the free world.

It Is What It Is, Now What?

There is no changing what has happened and we must play with the hand that is dealt us. Now the situation stands thus:

Option 1: Vote for Clinton

I would never cast a vote for Clinton who in my mind is responsible for the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi. She would be the most radically anti-life president in our nation’s history, bar none. Her appointments to the Supreme Court would be disastrous. Not to mention the fact that she is in danger of being indicted. I could not do it.

Option 2: Vote for Trump (and Clinton most likely wins anyway)

But at the same time, I would have an equally hard time casting a vote for a man who helped fund Clinton, is a serial philanderer and adulterer, and has zero understanding of the Constitution. He has proven himself extremely flexible on policy, making swings from one end of the spectrum to the other and back again. He does not understand the Constitution or the proper role of government, just like his presumptive opponent.

Option 3: Vote Your Conscience (and Clinton definitely wins anyway)

I have always been against a throwaway so-called “conscience vote”, third party, non-vote or otherwise. However, I must admit, this Clinton/Trump match-up has shaken that belief to the core.

On one hand, I can totally see the validity of the argument that a Republican Congress would fight against a Clinton presidency with vehemence. And Alexander Hamilton definitely has a point,

"If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures."

Trump or Clinton, the next four years will most likely be a disaster.* But capitalism and conservatism (whether deserved or not) will have their image completely destroyed by a Trump presidency. And you can kiss the White House goodbye for a long, long time.

Option 4: Abstain from voting (and Clinton assuredly wins anyway)

This, in my opinion, is not an option. Our vote is a sacred duty and one that should never be ignored. The blood of patriots has been spilled to grant you this privilege. Do not waste it.

So….? NOW WHAT?

To be completely honest, I do not know.

Thankfully there is several months before ballots must be cast and a decision must be made. One thing is for sure, we must vote. No matter what your ideas are on Clinton vs. Trump vs. Option 3, there are other elections that are absolutely vital to our nation’s survival.

We have three branches of government for a reason. If one is taken over by progressive liberals who completely ignore the Constitution, they can be put in check by the other branches. The White House is not everything and maintaining a reasonable, principled, conservative voice in Congress is vital.

We have a federalist system for a reason. If our federal government is overrun by progressive liberals who completely ignore the Constitution, sanity can be retained by principled, conservative voices in our state governments.

We have a Republic for a reason. If politicians have become progressive, liberal, Constitution-crushing hacks, then We the People have the ability to get involved and bring America back to her principles.

It’s not easy, it’s not fun, but someone has to do it. You and I have to do it.

Would you rather: Fight until your dying breath for what American stand for? Or give up and let her crumble from within?

Not a hard choice. I’ll see you on the battlefield.

Jonathan Paine

@painefultruth76

painefultruth1776@gmail.com

*Is there a chance that Trump gets elected and turns out to be the best president since Reagan? Yes. Is there a chance of finding a grain of sand you misplaced somewhere on the beaches of the West Coast? Yes. However the chances of either happening are approximately equal. However, I will the first to gladly announce my error to the world should Trump defy all expectations I hold for him. I will also be the first to be in daily prayer for a President Trump, that he will make decisions that are truly in the best interest of America.