If only we had built that wall today to keep Trump from coming back.

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Here's an idea: Let's listen to the experts instead of the Clinton haters.

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Not only a great actor, but the man who launched a million memes. RIP, Gene Wilder.

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Trump's biggest supporter haz a sad.

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Trump shamefully exploits the shooting death of a young mother to brag about his electoral chances.

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The nice folks at Gulf of Maine Gunsmithing have, let's say, a "unique" way with words. We can be pretty sure they're Trump voters. In case you can't read the sign: "Beware the beast Hildabeast Clinton and its vagenda of manocide." #VagendaOfManocide is trending on Twitter.

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Trump's pandering to racists is immoral, hypocritical, and stupid. It's immoral because racism is immoral, obviously. It's hypocritical because Trump himself has a background of discrimination and racially insensitive statements. And it's stupid because true racists are a much smaller American voting block than the many good people in this country who are repelled by Trump's immoral and hypocritical appeals to racism.

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Trump's attacks on the Clinton Foundation show just how desperate he is. You can judge Clinton and Trump by where they put their name. The Clinton Foundation versus Trump University--charity versus scam. It will be a pleasure to watch Trump squirm in the first presidential debate when Hillary asks Donald why he donated to the Clinton Foundation if it's so evil and corrupt.

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We must immediately appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Trump's tweet that sounds drunk at 9:53 a.m. on a Tuesday. We must ban Trump's tweets from entering the country until we figure out what's going on. Yeah, let's make this internet troll president. Believe me. Bigly.

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Professional economists favor Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a by an astonishing 41-point margin, according to a recent survey.

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Hillary Clinton knows that empathy and commitment make an effective president.

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Here's the perfect gift for reality-denying Republicans.

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Republicans hope you forget about the last time they held the White House. Trump's economic policies are just reheated Bush delivered in a nastier package.

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The people who know Hillary Clinton the best admire her the most. The people who hate her the most don't even know her.

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It's simple. If we vote, we win--from the presidency on down.

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Once dubbed "America's Mayor," Rudy Giuliani is a national embarrassment.

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Trump's insane use of the term "Crooked Hillary" is easier to understand when you realize he's just talking about himself.

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Let's not let how terrible Donald Trump is make use forget how terrible Mike Pence is.

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Trump calls Obama the "Founder of ISIS." Trump is the "Founder of Dishonesty."

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Hillary Clinton is far more honest than Donald Trump. Far. Far, far. Far, far, far. A lot. Seriously.

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Trump says Obama is the "founder of ISIS." Yeah, and that green water at the Olympics is Obama's fault too. Riiiiiiiight.

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Sadly, Trump's assassination wish is nothing new for desperate, radical right-wingers.

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Trump Backers Fail to Convince

This column originally appeared in my hometown newspaper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

Living on our liberal area is a blessing I didn't have when I lived in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Here, the biggest political argument is Bernie versus Hillary, so I know I'm among my tribe. But I also make sure to stay connected to conservatives through personal relationships, social media, and information outlets. Being in a bubble is like binging on Boston cream donuts: comforting, but not good for us.

Instead of dismissing Donald Trump's supporters, I've been reaching out to my conservative friends to see why they support a candidate who projects the opposite of traditional American values. The results are revealing.

Many of them don't "support" Trump so much as they hate Hillary Clinton. They honestly believe the fictions of their right-wing bubble: that Clinton killed Americans in Benghazi, committed treason by email, and should be in jail. They can't provide evidence for these beliefs, but they continue to claim that Trump, despite his obvious faults, trumps Clinton.

I strongly support Clinton and can name dozens of her policy proposals, career accomplishments, and character traits that make her a great candidate. But when I ask for positive reasons to support Trump, things get weird.

My conservative friends almost always begin with, "Trump speaks his mind." He certainly does--that's the problem. When I ask how Trump's rejection of "political correctness" and multiple profane remarks, nasty insults, and outright lies are acceptable, they deflect. When I ask if rudeness and bullying are strong presidential qualifications, they attack Clinton.

I send my friends to the most respected political fact-checker, PolitiFact.com, for a comparison of Clinton and Trump. Clinton is among the most honest politicians they've ever rated, and Trump is one of the biggest liars. "No," I assure my Republican friends, "PolitiFact isn't an agenda-driven political operation. That's Fox News." 

Another reason they support Trump is that "we need a businessman in the White House." Really? Have they heard of George W. Bush and Herbert Hoover? We tried businessmen in the White House, and the results were depressing--literally.

Trump's businesses aren't really something to boast about--although boast, he does. Trump brags about using multiple bankruptcies to make money, usually by screwing everyone else. As Clinton said recently, "How can anybody lose money running a casino?" Fellow rich guy Michael Bloomberg said, "Trump says he wants to run the nation like he's running his business. God help us!"

Trump supporters seem to forget that the business of government is people, not profit. Trump isn't as great at profit as he claims, and he's even worse at helping people.

My Republican friends claim that Trump will bring jobs back to America. "Which jobs?" I ask. "Making Trump Ties in China and Trump Suits in Mexico?" The financial research firm Moody's Analytics looked at both candidates' economic proposals and determined that Clinton would create 10.4 million American jobs, while Trump would lead to 3.5 million job losses. Moody's isn't exactly a liberal think tank filled with granola-crunching sandal wearers.

My Trump-supporting friends say that he will somehow fix political corruption. This guy has been involved in thousands of lawsuits. Worst of all, New York state court found that Trump operated Trump University without a license, and two major lawsuits are pending against the fake "university" that Trump put his name on to scam millions of dollars from thousands of people. Any claim that Trump is above corruption is absurd.

The list of bad reasons goes on.

"Trump will stop ISIS!" Trump claims to have a secret plan to defeat ISIS, but he won't reveal it unless he's elected. That's just plain nuts.

"Trump is self-funded." Nope. He solicits donations.

"Trump will take care of our veterans." He stiffed veterans' organizations on charitable donations until reporters shamed him.

"Trump won't hide things like those evil Clintons." He won't even release his tax returns, something every other major candidate does.

"Trump will surround himself with great advisors." His campaign staff and surrogates are an embarrassment.

"Trump will dump Obamacare." And with no coherent plan to take its place, twenty million people will lose coverage and the insurance companies will go back to their abusive practices unchecked.

"Trump will reverse Obama's terrible policies." The policies that cut unemployment and the federal budget deficit in half? We'll keep those, thanks.

"Trump will make other countries fear us." They're already laughing at us for even considering Trump.

"Trump will save us from Muslims who hate America." Like Ghazala, Khizr, and Humayun Khan? They are what America stands for.

"Trump will build a wall and close our open borders." Illegal immigration is down under Obama. Look it up!

"Trump's a winner!" Then why is he already acting like a loser by claiming that the debates and the election are rigged against him?

All this fuzzy-headed trumpery is almost enough to make me climb into that liberal bubble and binge on those donuts. But I won't.

Liberalism means keeping an open mind--open even to my conservative friends who haven't yet provided good reasons to support Trump. But they'll keep trying. Like their candidate himself, what they lack in common sense, they try to make up for in persistence.

John Sheirer is an author and teacher who lives in Florence. His most recent book is, "Make Common Sense Common Again." Find him at JohnSheirer.com.

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No one gets lied about more than Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

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Any way you say it, love trumps hate.

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Donald Trump is the Grand High Poobah of the Cult of Ignorance.

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Republicans who are waiting for Trump to "mature" have a loooooooong wait ahead of them.

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Finally, we found something Trump said that's actually true! The economy does better under Democrats than Republicans.

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Happy birthday, President Obama!

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Trump supporters love how he "speaks his mind"--that's the problem.

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Big News: First Congressional Republican endorses Hillary Clinton.

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Victory for voting! The courts are striking down discriminatory voter suppression laws.

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Hillary Clinton's policies would add 10.4 million jobs. Trump's policies, on the other hand, would cut 3.5 million jobs. Moody's Analytics shows how terrible a Trump presidency would be for American workers.

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