The (Much Less) Dismal Choice

By Jack Dunphy

"Jack Dunphy" is the nom de cyber of a police officer in Southern California. Twitter: @OfficerDunphy.

| October 30, 2020

Four years ago, on the eve of our last presidential election, I posted here on Ricochet a piece I called “The Dismal Choice,” in which I lamented having to choose between two candidates who, each for different reasons, were in my view unfit for the job.

In deciding to vote for Donald Trump, I reasoned thus:

When I contemplate the choice to be made on Tuesday, I think of myself as a driver descending a mountain road when I discover my brakes have gone out. As my car accelerates, I realize I have only two choices: I can either steer into the mountainside or drive off the cliff, either of which will likely bring my doom. But while steering into the mountainside will bring certain death, driving off the cliff offers the hope, however slim, that my car will land on some forgiving surface and allow me to escape with my life. Or perhaps, like the title character in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, I will be plucked from midair into an alien spaceship and then delivered to safety. You never know. And even if I’m killed in a fiery crash, I’ll see some interesting things on my way down.

If I may so immodest as to judge my own work, I’d say the metaphor has held up well over these four years, which have at times seemed very much like a plunge from the side of a mountain road, with moments of terror and confusion interspersed with, yes, some diverting sights along the way. And there have been many successes as well, far more than I would have dared hope for when Mr. Trump was inaugurated. We’ve seen the appointment of three Supreme Court justices, more than 50 judges in the federal courts of appeals, and more than 160 to the federal district courts. Imagine if these vacancies had been filled by a President Hillary Clinton.

The American economy, before being hobbled by the coronavirus, was as strong as it’s ever been, with the return of jobs the Obama-ites told us had gone overseas or otherwise disappeared forever. The U.S. embassy in Israel was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, where it rightly belongs, and far from experiencing the apocalypse predicted by the John Kerry crowd, Israel is making peace with its neighbors one by one. And, of particular importance to me, President Trump has been unabashed in his support for law enforcement, a welcome departure from the default position of his predecessor.

All of this has occurred as the president endured a relentless assault by the elite media, the entertainment industry, academia, Democrats in Congress, and even members of his own administration, all of whom have downplayed or even ignored his achievements while amplifying his perceived shortcomings. It is important to note that many of our fellow citizens have formed their opinions of Mr. Trump based on what they have consumed in the media, the members of which are all but uniform in their loathing for the man. With very few exceptions, every word written or spoken about the president for four years has been drafted, edited, and presented by people who not only despise him, but also anyone so abased as to not share their low opinion of him. And somehow, despite all their best efforts, President Trump stands today with a reasonable chance of winning reelection. For those who find this prospect horrifying, I offer this counsel: Prepare yourselves; through the last campaign, through the Mueller investigation, the Ukraine impeachment farce, through every bit of dirt his opponents have continuously heaped upon him, Mr. Trump has gotten the last laugh every single time.

As I said in the piece four years ago, I acknowledge Mr. Trump’s character flaws. I long to vote for a candidate who is conservative, loyal to his wife, unblemished by shady business dealings, doesn’t use Twitter, and who shies from the spotlight. Alas, no such person is on the ballot, leaving me once again with a choice between two deeply flawed candidates. Faced with such a choice, I opt for the more conservative one.

The Democrats have had four years to produce an alternative to Mr. Trump, and the man they put forward is Joe Biden, with the thoroughly unappealing Kamala Harris in the wings as the understudy. It’s embarrassing to admit it now, but I was once a Democrat and may have found such a ticket attractive. A few years in police work dislodged the scales from my eyes, but even before embarking on my own Road to Damascus, I found Biden to be a pompous gasbag. He still is.

So here’s to four more years, and look out below.

Published in Elections

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Member

Arahant

America is like Little Liza Jane:
- #1
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4964675
- October 30, 2020, at 9:20 PM PDT
- Like

Coolidge

CarolJoy, Thread Hijacker

And yet, despite his accomplishments, here we sit buried inside an economy that in some places is close to collapse. We are enmeshed inside a “National Emergency” of an infection that somehow, despite having a survival rate of 99.95% if you are under 70 and in good health, has so many of us masked up and without the means to support ourselves.

A friend just sent me a cheerful Halloween card, which presented an amusing bit of verse until I noticed the thin sheet of paper that she attached. This was a short note, explaining that her sister-in-law had killed herself, due to pressures she felt overwhelmed by, regarding her inability to deal with society as it is right now.

The fix is in. The goose is cooked. Regardless of who wins on Tuesday, my state remains under the dictatorial control of a henchman who should be under investigation using the RICO act. (As should every single Dem governor, mayor and local health official.)

My state also has the total ability to switch whatever votes come in for Trump over to Biden/Kamala. Happy Halloween!
- #2
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4964676
- October 30, 2020, at 9:24 PM PDT
- 9 likes

Coolidge

Biden Pure Demagogue

A global plan called the Great Reset is underway. Its architect is a global élite that wants to subdue all of humanity, imposing coercive measures with which to drastically limit individual freedoms and those of entire populations. In several nations this plan has already been approved and financed; in others it is still in an early stage. Behind the world leaders who are the accomplices and executors of this infernal project, there are unscrupulous characters who finance the World Economic Forum and Event 201, promoting their agenda.vigano great reset 2

The purpose of the Great Reset is the imposition of a health dictatorship aiming at the imposition of liberticidal measures, hidden behind tempting promises of ensuring a universal income and cancelling individual debt. The price of these concessions from the International Monetary Fund will be the renunciation of private property and adherence to a program of vaccination against Covid-19 and Covid-21 promoted by Bill Gates with the collaboration of the main pharmaceutical groups. Beyond the enormous economic interests that motivate the promoters of the Great Reset, the imposition of the vaccination will be accompanied by the requirement of a health passport and a digital ID, with the consequent contact tracing of the population of the entire world. Those who do not accept these measures will be confined in detention camps or placed under house arrest, and all their assets will be confiscated.

Dear Mr. President from Archbishop Carlos Maria Vigano.
- #3
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4964817
- October 31, 2020, at 4:53 AM PDT
- 8 likes

Member

Buckpasser

Another version of Flight 93.
- #4
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4964833
- October 31, 2020, at 5:29 AM PDT
- 2 likes

Member

Eugene Kriegsmann

As Always, Mr Dunphy, a meticulously thought out and written piece. Thank you. I only wish that the reach of Ricochet and your words was much wider.
- #5
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4964859
- October 31, 2020, at 6:08 AM PDT
- 6 likes

Coolidge

Stad

Buckpasser (View Comment):

Another version of Flight 93.

I’m not so sure.

In 2016, it was the evil you knew (Clinton) vs. the unknown (Trump). Four years later, Trump is the person we know (like him or not), and his track record is fantastic, especially when considering all the roadblocks in his path. We know Biden’s track record too – zero real accomplishments with a seasoning of graft on the side. In normal times, Trump would be a shoo-in. COVID, or rather the actions taken to “combat” it, have thrown a monkey wrench into the election. Still, I have hope because where Biden draws a crowd of 20, Trump gets 20,000.

But you have to vote . . .
- #6
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4964910
- October 31, 2020, at 7:27 AM PDT
- 5 likes

Contributor

Jack Dunphy
Post author

Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):

As Always, Mr Dunphy, a meticulously thought out and written piece. Thank you. I only wish that the reach of Ricochet and your words was much wider.

We do what we can. Thank you for the kind words.
- #7
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4964957
- October 31, 2020, at 8:03 AM PDT
- 7 likes

Member

Steve C.

Jack Dunphy (View Comment):

Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):

As Always, Mr Dunphy, a meticulously thought out and written piece. Thank you. I only wish that the reach of Ricochet and your words was much wider.

We do what we can. Thank you for the kind words.

And endure what we must.
- #8
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965004
- October 31, 2020, at 8:39 AM PDT
- 2 likes

Moderator

Doug Watt

The Democrats have had four years to produce an alternative to Mr. Trump, and the man they put forward is Joe Biden, with the thoroughly unappealing Kamala Harris in the wings as the understudy. It’s embarrassing to admit it now, but I was once a Democrat and may have found such a ticket attractive. A few years in police work dislodged the scales from my eyes, but even before embarking on my own Road to Damascus, I found Biden to be a pompous gasbag. He still is.

I have a nephew that is in the police academy and he will graduate in March as a state trooper. His parents are definitely Left of Center. My wife and I wonder how much his parents will want to hear about his soon to come experiences dealing with people when he’s on the road. As my daughter said when she was a police officer it’s not all rainbows and unicorns out there.

There are a lot of promises coming from Joe Biden, and the rest of the usual suspects, but one only has to look at Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Democrat governors, they aren’t doing too well.

My dad used to say; it’s all well and good to march to the beat of a different drummer, but it sure screws-up the parade. He didn’t say screws-up, his language was a bit saltier.
- #9
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965007
- October 31, 2020, at 8:47 AM PDT
- 8 likes
- This comment has been edited.

Thatcher

John Hanson

My concern is that too many people vote for President based on their evaluation of the person, and his foibles. The person is not important in a Presidential election, however much one dislikes the person.

The person will be gone in at most 8 years, but it is the policies supported, and appointments made, by the person that last for generations and have an existential effect on the country.

Today, ANY democrat is a standin for policies that will further the goal of installing a Marxist tyranny in the country with every detail of everyone’s life controlled by the Federal government, and the constitution ignored by the elite in control. Who the person is doesn’t matter only what the supported policy, or appointed judge does. Any sign of the party that existed with Truman, and later JFK is long gone, and the enlarged socialist state promoted by LBJ is itself considered too right wing.

Carter was ineffectual, Clinton was a pragmatist who worked to a small extent with the Rs because he had to. (His wife would not have!), but any possible semi-sane persons have been driven from the party, and the immense damage caused by Obams, has only in small part started to be reversed. Any such drift towards a centerist view, has been ruthlessly suppressed, and only Marxist radicals are allowed to have any policy effect today.

Should Biden win, any investigation of the enormous political scandals of the last 5-6 years on the part of the Ds will, of course, quickly vanish.

Any failure to vote for Trump, no matter how much it offends ones nose, is a vote to impose a Marxist ideology on the US.

Anyone who thinks Biden is a “Moderate” democrat is mistaken. He is a figurehead proped up by the party’s radicals who will sign anything put in front of him, and his administration will continue to develop the use of FBI and intelligence agencies, not for their lawful purposes but rather to enforce at the point of the Federal Government, control of all persons. Kamals Harris is of course, much worse, with a voting record as the most radical US senator, so it only gets worse if Biden cannot complete a term.

The changes they plan, will prevent any R (or conservative under any label) for being elected again in at least a generation, and likely longer.
- #10
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965009
- October 31, 2020, at 8:47 AM PDT
- 8 likes

Member

cdor

Jack Dunphy: As I said in the piece four years ago, I acknowledge Mr. Trump’s character flaws. I long to vote for a candidate who is conservative, loyal to his wife, unblemished by shady business dealings, doesn’t use Twitter, and who shies from the spotlight. Alas, no such person is on the ballot, leaving me once again with a choice between two deeply flawed candidates. Faced with such a choice, I opt for the more conservative one.

So, @jackdunphy, God isn’t running for President this year and you are choosing Donald J. Trump instead. Tough decision, but well made.
- #11
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965023
- October 31, 2020, at 9:08 AM PDT
- Like

Coolidge

MichaelKennedy

I tend to agree that there is a great conspiracy behind much of what we see. I’m not sure vaccination is part of it. I think technology (to quote Ted Kaczynski) is running a multibillion dollar operation to put all power in the hands of a small fraternity of very rich men and women. The BLM rally in Kentucky included a prepared rental truck that arrived to supply the rioters with their preprinted signs and equipment, including body armor and clubs. By happenstance, that truck could be traced and those paying for the rental could be identified. It turned out to be a foundation funded by, among a few others, the heiress to the Walton fortune.

https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/25/tucker-carlson-names-the-rich-ceos-funding-supplies-bail-for-louisville-rioters/
- #12
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965054
- October 31, 2020, at 10:01 AM PDT
- 6 likes

Member

Suspira

This post sums up what I feel. There’s no enthusiasm for Trump. There’s even a bit of sheepishness about a vote for him. Had the Democrats been saner I could have reprised my non-vote from 2016. But no. They had to lose whatever tenuous grasp they may have had on reality.

I’m not really expecting Trump to win, but I have to do my part, however tepid my support may be.
- #13
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965062
- October 31, 2020, at 10:11 AM PDT
- 1 like

Contributor

Jack Dunphy
Post author

Doug Watt (View Comment):

The Democrats have had four years to produce an alternative to Mr. Trump, and the man they put forward is Joe Biden, with the thoroughly unappealing Kamala Harris in the wings as the understudy. It’s embarrassing to admit it now, but I was once a Democrat and may have found such a ticket attractive. A few years in police work dislodged the scales from my eyes, but even before embarking on my own Road to Damascus, I found Biden to be a pompous gasbag. He still is.

I have a nephew that is in the police academy and he will graduate in March as a state trooper. His parents are definitely Left of Center. My wife and I wonder how much his parents will want to hear about his soon to come experiences dealing with people when he’s on the road. As my daughter said when she was a police officer it’s not all rainbows and unicorns out there.

There are a lot of promises coming from Joe Biden, and the rest of the usual suspects, but one only has to look at Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Democrat governors, they aren’t doing too well.

My dad used to say; it’s all well and good to march to the beat of a different drummer, but it sure screws-up the parade. He didn’t say screws-up, his language was a bit saltier.

I hope your nephew’s career sees a swing back of the pendulum. I can’t imagine being a cop on the streets today.
- #14
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965083
- October 31, 2020, at 10:37 AM PDT
- 4 likes

Member

kedavis

MichaelKennedy (View Comment):

I tend to agree that there is a great conspiracy behind much of what we see. I’m not sure vaccination is part of it. I think technology (to quote Ted Kaczynski) is running a multibillion dollar operation to put all power in the hands of a small fraternity of very rich men and women. The BLM rally in Kentucky included a prepared rental truck that arrived to supply the rioters with their preprinted signs and equipment, including body armor and clubs. By happenstance, that truck could be traced and those paying for the rental could be identified. It turned out to be a foundation funded by, among a few others, the heiress to the Walton fortune.

https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/25/tucker-carlson-names-the-rich-ceos-funding-supplies-bail-for-louisville-rioters/

Maybe that will change when BLM and Antifa start burning Walmarts.
- #15
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965191
- October 31, 2020, at 12:08 PM PDT
- Like

Member

Buckpasser

John Hanson (View Comment):
Anyone who thinks Biden is a “Moderate” democrat is mistaken. He is a figurehead proped up by the party’s radicals

Amen. A vote for the d’s is a vote for AOC, BLM and looting.
- #16
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965197
- October 31, 2020, at 12:16 PM PDT
- 1 like

Coolidge

CarolJoy, Thread Hijacker

Doug Watt (View Comment):

The Democrats have had four years to produce an alternative to Mr. Trump, and the man they put forward is Joe Biden, with the thoroughly unappealing Kamala Harris in the wings as the understudy. It’s embarrassing to admit it now, but I was once a Democrat and may have found such a ticket attractive. A few years in police work dislodged the scales from my eyes, but even before embarking on my own Road to Damascus, I found Biden to be a pompous gasbag. He still is.

I have a nephew that is in the police academy and he will graduate in March as a state trooper. His parents are definitely Left of Center. My wife and I wonder how much his parents will want to hear about his soon to come experiences dealing with people when he’s on the road. As my daughter said when she was a police officer it’s not all rainbows and unicorns out there.

There are a lot of promises coming from Joe Biden, and the rest of the usual suspects, but one only has to look at Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Democrat governors, they aren’t doing too well.

My dad used to say; it’s all well and good to march to the beat of a different drummer, but it sure screws-up the parade. He didn’t say screws-up, his language was a bit saltier.

So how could anyone refuse Biden offering up promises about “The Thing!”

I mean, whatever Presidential candidate has ever dared offer us such?

Plus it fits into the Halloween theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_pMlnOxotA
- #17
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965329
- October 31, 2020, at 2:12 PM PDT
- 2 likes

Coolidge

Flicker

Doug Watt (View Comment):
There are a lot of promises coming from Joe Biden, and the rest of the usual suspects, but one only has to look at Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Democrat governors, they aren’t doing too well.

What I find incredible is that Biden twice has said that he had nothing to say during his campaign about the anti-fa/BLM riots because he was “not in office” (as if he would move aggressively against the rioters if he were voted in). But if he were a civic leader, or at least a concerned citizen, one would think that he would have said something other than a boiler plate “I oppose all violence”, especially during his campaign speeches. He does speak against right-wing rioting which I have yet to see, but is clearly okay with left-wing riots, and city councils which protect and encourage them, and with DAs who excuse them.

As such, his words mean nothing real, except that he too turns a blind eye to the wanton burning, looting and murder. What a great Democrat candidate.
- #18
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965332
- October 31, 2020, at 2:16 PM PDT
- 2 likes

Coolidge

Stad

Doug Watt (View Comment):
I have a nephew that is in the police academy and he will graduate in March as a state trooper.

Good for him, and I wish him the best in his career.
- #19
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965333
- October 31, 2020, at 2:16 PM PDT
- 4 likes

Member

GrannyDude

Jack Dunphy: And, of particular importance to me, President Trump has been unabashed in his support for law enforcement, a welcome departure from the default position of his predecessor.

Me, too.
- #20
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965494
- October 31, 2020, at 4:35 PM PDT
- 5 likes
- This comment has been edited.

Member

Bill Nelson

Kudos for the Python reference.
- #21
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4965783
- October 31, 2020, at 8:25 PM PDT
- 1 like

Member

Mim526

John Hanson (View Comment):
ANY democrat is a standin for policies that will further the goal of installing a Marxist tyranny in the country with every detail of everyone’s life controlled by the Federal government, and the constitution ignored by the elite in control.

To give some idea of the significance of this point, from linked letter in post #3 above:

up until last February, would ever have thought that, in all of our cities, citizens would be arrested simply for wanting to walk down the street, to breathe, to want to keep their business open, to want to go to church on Sunday. Yet now it is happening all over the world,

And:

while the politicians are barricaded inside their palaces promulgating decrees like Persian satraps, businesses are failing, shops are closing, and people are prevented from living, traveling, working, and praying. The disastrous psychological consequences of this operation are already being seen, beginning with the suicides of desperate entrepreneurs and of our children, segregated from friends and classmates, told to follow their classes while sitting at home alone in front of a computer.

Again from post #3 above, 2nd paragraph:

The purpose of the Great Reset is the imposition of a health dictatorship aiming at the imposition of liberticidal measures, hidden behind tempting promises of ensuring a universal income and cancelling individual debt. The price of these concessions from the International Monetary Fund will be the renunciation of private property and adherence to a program of vaccination against Covid-19 and Covid-21 promoted by Bill Gates with the collaboration of the main pharmaceutical groups. Beyond the enormous economic interests that motivate the promoters of the Great Reset, the imposition of the vaccination will be accompanied by the requirement of a health passport and a digital ID, with the consequent contact tracing of the population of the entire world. Those who do not accept these measures will be confined in detention camps or placed under house arrest, and all their assets will be confiscated.

Around the world…

https://mobile.twitter.com/SecretsBedard/status/1205435429136273409

https://mobile.twitter.com/LahavHarkov/status/1290521987002048514

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1279098947500273666

https://mobile.twitter.com/BardsFM/status/1279672256268918785

https://mobile.twitter.com/mdesisti/status/1300807592776798208

https://mobile.twitter.com/stillgray/status/1299502874418794496

https://mobile.twitter.com/imatriarch/status/1318627456090316807

https://mobile.twitter.com/johnrobertsFox/status/1199051255940886528

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1291605805167386624

https://mobile.twitter.com/HKerFoockCCP/status/1321203459442397185

https://mobile.twitter.com/LizRNC/status/1251158887996116996

https://mobile.twitter.com/cgarrett101/status/1319845609667346432

https://mobile.twitter.com/keenanite/status/1277641415661477893

https://mobile.twitter.com/brithume/status/1255318544893521920

https://mobile.twitter.com/themarketswork/status/1248412325335298050

https://mobile.twitter.com/InProportion2/status/1262670599014567937

https://mobile.twitter.com/herandrews/status/1274713570815741955

A common denominator among people who vote for Trump is that they oppose all the above. What do they/we engender in Americans determined to oust Trump? Extreme public ridicule per head of Lincoln Project:

https://mobile.twitter.com/heckyessica/status/1221999261874868227
- #22
- https://ricochet.com/818980/the-much-less-dismal-choice/#comment-4966890
- November 1, 2020, at 8:24 PM PST
- Like
- This comment has been edited.

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