As I’ve watched the faux outrage and self-righteous indignation regarding Donald Trump’s most recent comments, the hypocrisy involved is truly mind blowing. Beyond that, what is truly troubling is that how this seedy, yet completely unsurprising, attack on Donald Trump’s character threatens to fundamentally alter who America is at its core, and where we as “millennials” will end up going. Beyond this, to all those “millennials” rumbling of abandoning ship, and just accepting Hillary as the next President, you should take a long hard look at not only what is truly at stake, but also at yourselves.
First and foremost, is anyone surprised by these comments from Trump? Granted, they’re completely below-board and disgusting, but ask yourself: do his comments from a decade ago suddenly make Hillary Clinton’s policies in line with what you want America to be? The man is the walking embodiment of “stream of consciousness” who has lived almost his entire life in the public eye. So all of a sudden now, you’re surprised “controversial” things have been uttered?
Furthermore, is this honestly the worst thing you’ve heard him say? Is this the first edgy utterance you’ve heard in your entire life? How many reading this have been around a fraternity, have brothers, or have been in the military? How many women own 50 Shades of Grey? It wasn’t as if he was joking around with Churchill at the Yalta Conference and this slipped into the media via a hot-mic and embarrassed the nation. Nor, was he impeached for lying about extra-marital affairs inside the oval office, which actually is a national embarrassment.
Do his comments at any time reflect the eloquence of Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln? Assuredly not, those two men had a great gift rarely seen. However, what is crystal clear within them is that unlike a certain previous occupant of the White House (who is potentially due for a return) Trump understood what “no” meant. Beyond that, this is off-hand commentary from more than a decade ago, and is completely irrelevant as it pertains to an individual being capable of deciding policy. This may be our last chance to get America back on track, yet so many have taken the left’s bait and turned this into a personality contest.
Maybe what is turning you off is the fact that it’s so self-aggrandizing. But, wait a second, aren’t we as millennials sometimes referred to as the “selfie-generation?” We not only flaunt our personal excesses and individual conquests via social media, but we’re so self-absorbed that we routinely broadcast images of the food we eat. We live for that edgy and pithy tweet or the number of likes we can garner off our latest picture. We’re also the generation which has propelled Tinder, which I might add is quite possibly the single most objectifying app ever created, into a billion dollar company. Yet, Trump’s self-centered and objectifying commentary is (gasp) appalling. One could even argue that, in effect, Trump is just an older, more successful version of ourselves. That being the case, why on Earth aren’t we looking at policy instead of personality? Because, after all, virtually none of us will ever going have Mr. Trump over for dinner and this nation sits at a crossroads.
I ask you to do something very simple: rise above the noise, and check your ego at the door for a second. Please, look at what is actually at stake on November 8th, and not the petty personal attacks that the left wants to you to focus on. Lost amidst the chatter and wide-spread condemnation of Trump this weekend was the trove of information dropped by WikiLeaks. which outline potentially dire consequences for both the nation, conservatism, and the Republican Party. Hillary is on the record stating that open borders are “her dream” and that she can virtually negate the second amendment via executive order. In addition, an entire generation’s worth of Supreme Court Justices hangs in the balance. Do you trust her with all of this? I don’t. She has even has openly proposed an expansion of Obamacare, increases in taxes, and expanding the wars which Obama was supposed to (but didn’t) end. For all his faults, Trump is unequivocally the opposite of this. Oh, but don’t forget — Trump is a jerk, so he can’t be President.
Didn’t so many of you vote for “change” in 2008? It didn’t happen, things only got worse, yet you now seemingly pine for more of the same. Some may argue, “Well, we can still hold both the House and the Senate, that’s all we need!” To which I reply, how has that worked out for you over the past 8 years? Do you really think that’s the best solution? In closing, if you’re looking for Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, or Ted Cruz 4 years from now, how do you think an already skewed electorate is going to look like once Hillary is done expanding the Democratic voter rolls with potentially millions of new citizens? Most of them will truly be “With Her”. If this is allowed to happen, conservatism and the Republican Party risk remaining at best, just an idea. If this happens, then we need look no further than ourselves for blame.
JR Webb served as an enlisted Infantry Marine from 2005-2010 and is the son of former Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Jim Webb.