Why I Didn't Vote For Trump

(http://www.wnyc.org/story/how-realistic-is-donald-trumps-immigration-plan/)

Let me start this out by saying that Trump seems like a good guy (as all of the Republican candidates appeared to be). He will probably win the nomination and if he somehow manages to beat the democratic machine of dirty tricks and slimy vote manufacturing in the general election, he will be like a breath of fresh air compared to what the Bamster has done in the last 8 years.

I thought of writing this up just before Super Tuesday here in Virginia. Work schedules and other things kept me from putting figurative pen to paper until now. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.. Dr. Ben, Jeb, and Rubio are gone, and then there's that whole Sturmabteilung in Chicago thing that closed down the Trump rally. These were followed by the various (disappointing) response by Cruz and Rubio that have tempered my beliefs a bit. However, I still feel the following needs to be said.

Now on to my point. See that picture up there at the top of the page? That right there is the reason that I didn't vote for Trump. Here's another view:

http://www.newsbusters.org/

Yep, it's the hat. Now some would say that it is reminiscent of this hat:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_cover

Yes, in a way. Like the way a poodle is reminiscent of a wolf. That hat (the green one) is only worn by those who have earned it. The other one? There is a bit of a different qualification for that. So lets look a little more deeply into this hat. What is it? Wikipedia notes that this hat style:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker_hat

is a called a 'trucker hat'. It is distinguished from the average ball cap by a high foam crown, with a logo or message printed on it. I can remember getting this type of hat back when I was a kid when I played baseball. The name of the team sponsor would be prominently printed on the crown. They have a plastic strip in the back where that snap into another plastic strip so they could be sized to any head that would want to wear them. Despite the 'trucker' monicker, grown men generally do not wear this type of hat. In my experience, it is worn by the pre-teen who take there drinks strong (i.e. 'suicides' which are a ballpark concoction of every flavor of soda available at the the drink stand all mixed together), and their double plays rare.

I am not a hat snob. Much to my family's chagrin I have worn a hat to work and play almost every day of my life. Mostly the same hat. Until it comes apart. In pieces. I take my head-wear seriously, since I know I will be wearing it quite a bit. The man doesn't pick the hat, the hat picks the man, and thus it defines him.

So let's look at the other candidate's hats. First off, I could not find a single picture of Cruz or Rubio wearing any kind of hat. What the hell? Even the Bamster has pictures wearing a hat. It's bicycle hat, and he is riding a little girl's bike, but it's still a hat:

http://www.thedailyrash.com/ny-times-calls-obama-bicycle-photos-rugged-masculinity-gone-wild

It also tells us a little bit about the man, no? Then there is this picture from way before he became the leader of the free world:

www.telegraph.co.uk

Uh, yeah.. that says a lot too.

On to the candidates. First there is Dr. Ben:

www.woodlandsjournal.com

Nope, that hat does not make your head look big. You can tell he knows that. On the other hand, he does have the guts to try. I like Dr. Ben for that kind of self depreciating humor. While he is obviously not a hat wearer, he knows it and doesn't pretend to be something he is not. A very admirable quality.

Then there's Kasich:

https://politics.concordmonitor.com/2015/10/gov-federal/day-on-the-trail-energetic-john-kasich-takes-it-all-in/

He is not a hat wearer either. He looks like he is putting the hat on here to try to appear that he is. Hat wearers can tell he is faking it. We don't really like being sucked up to. I guess there is a reason he is loosing in the polls.

Finally there is Jeb:

http://www.politico.com/gallery/2016/02/jeb-bush-funny-faces-photos-002199?slide=4

Ugh! I am not even going to comment here. The picture speaks for itself.  Unlike his brother:

www.crawford-texas.org

There he is wearing a hat he has probably worn for years surrounded by guys wearing hats they have probably worn for years doing real work in the hot Texas sun where a hat is just a part of the mandatory equipment. Been there, Done that. Sweated buckets. That's all you really need to know about the character of the guy.

So that brings me back to the Trump hat. I understand why he has it, and what he thinks he is saying to the electorate. He is one with the hard working, hat wearing, constituency. But we know a cheap knockoff when we see it, and the hat wearing electorate is not fooled. By pushing this hat, he has disappointed the male hat wearers, and that a real shame.

You will note that I haven't said anything about Hillary and hats. Personally, I can't really remember seeing any pictures of her wearing a hat. There is something disconcerting about that. Women and the hats they wear have always been a bit of a mystery to me. It's something I don't know anything about nor do I wish to. I will, however go ahead and comment on it.

From what I know there are two types of woman’s hats. The foofy kind that you see runway models wearing that men never see as there eyes are turned elsewhere; and the foofy kind that you see nominally southern women wearing at the Kentucky Derby. I have no idea how to tell anything about a women by the hat that she chooses to wear (or not), as women wear hats for reasons that are different than men. Those reasons I think have less to do with how one feels about oneself, and more about how they want to be perceived. It's not a knock on women, but more an observation. On the other hand, a women who's job it is to appear in public and almost never wears a dress tells you something else about how she wants to be perceived. I really don't think it's very flattering to her or the men in her life.

So has Trump lost the real hat wearing demographic with his 'Make America Great' hat? Well, I suspect there aren't that many of us, so in the end it really doesn't matter. Those of us that wear real hats don't really give a damn about that kind of thing (other than being mildly offended by his choice of symbolism). We are probably more concerned about real things, like the border, the second amendment, and getting government out of our lives. In the general election, when we are faced with the Bengazi liar, the socialist, or a guy who made a bad hat decision, who to pull the lever for will be a relatively easy decision.