Huey P. Long - Former Governor of Louisiana.
Huey Long was a one of a kind politician. He was a populist dictator in many ways, and someone who pissed off many of the wrong people. Although he championed the cause of the poor white man and believed in checking the power of the former elite who once ran his state's government, he amassed unchecked power in his own right and could only be stopped by a bullet from an assassin's gun.
Why is this important?
Long's family continued to dominate his state's politics long after his death, and represents the danger of vesting too much power in one person and in one person's family. Today, we have a choice between "Honest Politicians" (def: One who when bought, stays bought) and others who will abuse power once they have it and destroy our political system for their own gain.
Given that I am a member of the LGBTIQ community, I am very concerned about what will happen if Trump gets elected. How many people do you know that can go bankrupt several times and be considered a successful politician by his cult members? How many of my readers know that he made $300,000 by endorsing an edition of the bible - a book that he never has read and never will read. Every decision he makes is short term in nature, and is done to refresh his bank account or to indulge his desire for absolute power. His alliance with hard line Christian Fundamentalists puts my life at risk, as I don't want to go back to living life as in the gender which I was assigned at birth. Although I could go stealth, I don't trust that my privacy will be respected in any regime where he is the leader - I would not be safe if our community is hunted down as Jews were in Nazi Germany.
Sadly, many of the "Never Trump" Republicans have sold their souls to keep being elected and having their hands greased by people wanting favors. They fear Trump's cult. Even though many hate him, they are afraid of being voted out of power. So, they mouth support for this evil man and make him stronger. These people have as much use to me as a lone star tick, as I don't like what wither species can do to me.
Luckily, we have a good chance of keeping our former president far from the White House, now that Kamala Harris is the Democratic Presidential nominee. The Democratic party is far from perfect - it wants to protect illegal aliens already in this country instead of shipping them back to their homelands. Yet, it does want to make sure that all asylum seekers get their day in court without having to wait for years due to an underfunded court system - a more humane way of dealing with part of the problem. We have a choice between humanity and inhumanity. I'm choosing to err on the side of humanity. How about you?
