“He was a strange type, yet one frequently met with, precisely the type of man who is not only worthless and depraved, but muddleheaded as well – one of those muddleheaded people who still handle their own little business deals quite skillfully if nothing else. […] Again I say it was not stupidity – most of these madcaps are rather clever and shrewd – but precisely muddleheadedness, even a special national form of it.” – Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
He who shall remain nameless has left us with some difficulty. We must always remember the pen is mightier than the sword, but when only one person is allowed to speak and all the rest are left to react, then we are drawn into the muddleheadedness ourselves and it is better to just ignore it as best one can. I am left to wonder what America is left with without him, and that is a great divide tilting in a distinctly un-American direction.
Cruz and Sanders represent dueling polemics and make for wonderful satirical caricatures of the positions they represent. This leaves two sensible candidates – in principle – though one – in Kasich – who has far less backing than the other – Clinton – who despite the Clinton legacy, continues to drift toward Socialism. Clinton’s drift can be seen as a matter of positioning for the general election – in addition to stealing Sander’s thunder – but if Clinton is being forced that way in part under fear that he-who-shall-remain-nameless is a threat to her blue collar vote, and into socialist promises which she must later live up to, then the putsch on the Republican party can be seen as an eventual win for Socialism.
Socialism in Sander’s form and Conservatives in Cruz form are each equally damaging to America’s ideology in general – equally ‘un-American’ if you will. But America must quickly become firm in its ideology or they will lose a greater war. This may eventually entail a viable third party – properly libertarian, with a broad view of national security and broad protection of civil liberties. For now, Kasich is the only candidate who appears firm in American ideology as long as Clinton continues to drift.