Why I don't Vote Republican
Bill Maher runs a segment on his show called “I Don’t Know it for a Fact, I Just Know it’s True”. This is a great take on those folks who “just aren’t into facts”. You know, just like the current occupant of the White House. Using that as a base for my article, I decided to do some research (you know, FACTS) about who’s more corrupt, Democrats or Republicans. There is quite a lot of information available to anyone willing to look into this. It didn’t take me but 10 minutes to find all the info I needed on this. Others have also done the same and posted the same results, so my thanks to them as well. I’m updating the numbers here to include where we are with respect to the Trump Administration. I expect as we go forward in time, these will increase, but these are factual, proven numbers through 7/31/18.
When comparing criminal indictments of those serving in the executive branch of Presidential Administrations, it's so lopsided as to be ridiculous. I offer below the stark contrast that Republicans are, and have been, among the most corrupt officials ever, while serving in the Executive Branch of Government. So here we go:
Trump (R)- 18 Months in office (as of 7/31/18)- This is a bit tricky, even now-so I’m going to break it down. 25 Russian Nationals and 3 Russian Companies (25 counts); Paul Manafort-32 Counts; Rick Gates-23 Counts (which are part of the 32 against Manafort); George Papadopoulos- 1 Count; Michael Flynn- 1 Count; Alex Van Der Zwaan- 1 Count for a total of 108 criminal indictments. If you remove the Russians and go strictly with the other defendants, it’s 83, so I’ll go with that number. Convictions/Guilty Pleas- 5 (Gates 2, Papadopoulos 1, Flynn 1, Van Der Zwaan 1) and 1 prison sentence (Van Der Zwaan) so far. This will most certainly change, and soon.
Obama (D) - 8 yrs in office. Zero criminal indictments, zero convictions and zero prison sentences. So the next time somebody describes the Obama administration as "scandal free" they aren't speaking wishfully, they're simply telling the truth.
Bush, George W. (R) - 8 yrs in office. 16 criminal indictments. 16 convictions. 9 prison sentences.
Clinton (D) - 8 yrs in office. 2 criminal indictments. One conviction. One prison sentence. That's right nearly 8 yrs of investigations. Tens of millions spent and 30 yrs of claiming them the most corrupt ever and there was exactly one person convicted of a crime.
Bush, George H. W. (R) - 4 yrs in office. One indictment. One conviction. One prison sentence.
Reagan (R) - 8 yrs in office. 26 criminal indictments. 16 convictions. 8 prison sentences.
Carter (D) - 4 yrs in office. One indictment. Zero convictions and zero prison sentences.
Ford (R) - 2 yrs. 5 months in office. One indictment and one conviction. One prison sentence.
Nixon (R) - 6 yrs in office. 76 criminal indictments. 55 convictions. 15 prison sentences.
Johnson (D) - 5 yrs in office. Zero indictments. Zero convictions. Zero prison sentences.
So, let’s see where that leaves us. In the last 53 years, Democrats have been in the Oval Office for 25 of those years, while Republicans held it for 28. In their 25 yrs in office Democrats had a total of three executive branch officials indicted with one conviction and one prison sentence. That's one whole executive branch official convicted of a crime in two and a half decades of Democrat leadership.
In the 28 yrs that Republicans have held office over the last 53 yrs they have had a total of (a drum roll would be more than appropriate), 203 criminal indictments of executive branch officials (including the 5 individuals who worked for Trump, but NOT the Russian indictments). 94 criminal convictions and 35 prison sentences handed down. That's more prison sentences than years in office since 1968 for Republicans. If you want to count articles of impeachment as indictments (they aren't really but we can count them as an action), both sides get one more. However, Clinton wasn't found guilty while Nixon resigned and was pardoned by Ford (and a pardon carries with it a legal admission of guilt on the part of the pardoned). So those only serve to make Republicans look even worse.
So let's just go over the numbers one more time, shall we? 203 indictments for Republicans. 94 convictions, and 35 prison sentences. Those aren't "fake news" or "alternate facts." Those are simply the stats by the numbers. Between Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, there are 55 counts alone, even though 23 of Gates counts were identical to Manafort, they still count as separate charges against him. Donald Trump has made the Republican Party much worse than even Richard Nixon, the previous “Gold Standard” for corruption, as he has brought in a foreign adversary that has been proven beyond any doubt to have actively engaged in criminal acts of “Conspiracy to defraud the United States”. Republicans are, and have been for my entire lifetime, the most criminally corrupt party within the Executive Branch to include the office of the Presidency. Anyone willing to look up their policies and laws passed will most certainly see that they cater to their money masters at everyone else’s expense- the most recent 1.5 TRILLION in “Tax Cuts” (i.e. Corporate Welfare) which went to huge Corporations and the top 1% of richest Americans, while throwing the rest of us a scant few breadcrumbs which expire for us, but not the Corporations, in 10 yrs. When will the American people wake up to this? In my opinion it’s only when a specific policy affects them in a tangible way, usually affecting their wallets, that they begin to see the light. By then it’s already too late. The people who support and defend a criminal narcissist like Trump are too far gone and unreachable. Many (not all) condone violence, racism, bigotry, draconian, backwards-looking policies, all the while demanding that you be reasonable and respectful, which is laughable. Have you seen some of these Trump rallies? It’s like a Mob-Mentality on steroids. Forget them and move forward, they are doomed to repeat what have long been proven (with years of detailed facts) to be the worst policies put forth by the worst people. It’s like “Groundhog Day” for these people, and they are only too happy to be willfully ignorant of it all. There is strength in numbers, get out and VOTE!!