I wanted to share about one disturbance that took place at the Trump Kona kickoff dinner on Saturday night.
Immediately after the meeting concluded one man stood up and loudly thanked Scott Presler for his passion, expressions of spreading love and then proceeded to proclaim that the Republican Party could do better than Donald Trump. Someone else exclaimed that it was rude to speak up at that time as surely it was a Trump event. The man agreed it was rude. Immediately the whole room went from jubilation to a somewhat stunned and surprised mood.
Instantly a young man jumped up into the face of the Republican anti-Trumper badgering him and preventing him from saying more.
It was instantly noticed that the young man had been drinking, was aggressive and talking irrationally. At that point, some thoughtful people quietly ushered the young man, the anti-Trumper and his wife gently out the door while the young man continued to badger the other man and his wife.
The anti-Trumper tried to talk to the young man, even shaking hands saying they could be friends if he would calm down. During all of this going on, one lady more than once said to the man that we get what we deserve. The man agreed with her but did not have much opportunity to thank her due to the aggressiveness of the young man.
I know all of this because I was there. I was the guy.
I had a lot more to say but was shouted down as expected. People don’t want to hear others’ opinions. I wanted to say more and here it is. The biggest problem with Trump is not his policies but his disrespect for the law, disrespect for the press, and disrespect for everyone else.
The foundation of our democracy is respect for the rule of law and respect for freedom of the press, and others. Without that we have nothing. Republicans who stand by Trump will go down with the Trump ship. Republicans can do better than Trump. Don’t support someone who would throw you under the bus if you disagree with him.
Let it go, and lose this election if you have to. Save yourself and your soul to fight another day and be able to face yourself in the mirror. Are you sure that the end justifies the means? Mark my word, if the Republicans don’t wake up they will do irreparable harm to the party for years to come.
We just had Veterans Day, honoring all who have served. It was said that over a million men and women have died for your country since it was started. Are you ready to tear it all down? Policies are short term and laws change and are changed. It is time to save the Republican Party. If the party loses this one, so be it. Think about this: If there was a real world crisis would a White House in turmoil be able to handle it?
Lloyd Dunn is a resident of Kailua-Kona.
