Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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Of all the words written about this year’s presidential election, none hit home quite like a few from “Hud,” a classic American western released almost 60 years ago.
The heart of the movie is a clash of values. A rugged and honorable cattle rancher, Homer Bannon, wants to do right by his neighbors when some of his herd contracts contagious hoof-and-mouth disease. He lives his life by the golden rule, with integrity and honesty.
His son, Hud, follows a different rule — do what you want and always put yourself first. He lies, he cheats, he manipulates. When he learns of the outbreak, he wants to duck responsibility by selling the diseased cattle to unsuspecting buyers. “I’ve always thought the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner,” he says. “Sometimes I lean one way and sometimes I lean another.”
The moral struggle between them plays out before Homer’s 17-year-old grandson, who is torn between being charmed by Hud’s tough swagger and repelled by his selfishness. His grandfather puts it to him plainly and simply: “Little by little, the look of the country changes because of the men we admire. … You’re just going to have to make up your mind one day about what’s right and what’s wrong.”
That’s what Americans are now challenged to do by Nov. 3.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is an honorable, decent and capable man, with a lifetime dedicated to serving the public.
President Donald Trump puts himself first, his interests above all else.
Despite knowing the deadly risks of coronavirus, he misled the nation, telling us “like a miracle, it will disappear.” That political calculation cost lives, put millions more at risk and wrecked the economy in the process.
Even catching the virus himself hasn’t stopped Trump from putting himself ahead of the American people. His disregard for the safety of doctors and nurses, Secret Service agents, his aides and his own family is disgraceful. His example and the misinformation he’s still spreading about the virus could cause harm to any Americans who put their trust in him.
His refusal to do what’s obvious to most Americans — speak out against racism, white supremacists and police abuse — is shameful. When Americans peacefully protested in Lafayette Square, tear gas and batons were used to clear a path for Trump to pose holding a Bible in front of a church. A campaign photo took priority over guaranteed constitutional rights.
The founders would be outraged at the ways he’s abused the presidential pardon power to reward cronies and protect himself. When Trump commuted the 40-month prison sentence of his friend Roger Stone, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, channeled that spirit by calling it “unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.”
His apparent systemic cheating of tens of millions of dollars on his taxes, which he calls smart, means that other Americans must pay more to make up his share. It also has created direct and dangerous conflicts of interests with his responsibilities as president.
His corrupt attempt to coerce Ukraine to interfere in this year’s election blatantly put his political interest over our country’s national security and the integrity of our democracy.
His efforts right now at the Supreme Court to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and take health care coverage away from millions of Americans in the midst of a pandemic are gratuitously cruel, while his climate denial jeopardizes the future of our children for a short-term political play.
It was one thing for Trump to hide behind a phony medical deferment to avoid serving his country in Vietnam. But his contempt for our troops — reportedly calling them “losers” and suckers” — and his cowardice for not confronting Vladimir Putin when he put bounties on our soldiers have no precedent among previous presidents.
On top of all this, Trump won’t even accept that our most fundamental democratic principle — a peaceful transfer of power if the American people vote him out of office — applies to him. That’s a betrayal of the oath he took to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution.
The Constitution requires the president to put country before personal self-interest, but Trump’s inability to do that is the very hallmark of his administration. It’s the worst failure of any president in our history.
Homer was right. The look of the country does change because of the people we admire, as does its values and future. But the changes Trump has made aren’t yet permanent. Nov. 3 is the final day for all of us Americans to make up our minds about what’s right and what’s wrong, and what we want America to be.
Congressman Eric Swalwell is seeking a fifth term representing California’s 15th District, in the East Bay near San Francisco.
