I think Barack Obama has been one of the most effective and successful presidents in the history of the U.S., certainly in my lifetime. He promised change, and he, thanks to a feckless, witless, and spineless Congress, has delivered.

In the short span of eight years, he has caused America to become more divided than it has been in decades. His success isn’t limited to financial ineptitude; he has transformed us into a politically correct machine, where a person’s individual conscience or religious belief is meaningless (unless you’re Muslim); where your right to earn a living for yourself and your family is secondary to the wants and desires of lazy, greedy citizens and illegal aliens who benefit from a plethora of entitlement programs; where marching bands tremble at the thought of being forced to play the national anthem; where millionaire ballplayers (who provide nothing more than entertainment to society) publically disdain the country that allows them the opportunity to become rich.

Donald Trump was not my first choice for president when this long political season began. Actually, he didn’t make the top 10. But, less than two weeks before the election, I have to be realistic about where we are as a country. Now is not the time for me to hold on to my idealism while watching the USA teeter on the precipice of being a world power has-been as it continues to degrade into a divided and culturally depraved society.

When I read the letters to the editor written in the hopes of swaying other voters, many state that they’re unable to vote for Trump because he’s an offensive lout, a characterization with which I agree. But what they’ve failed to do is give any valid reason to vote for Clinton.

Though I don’t expect to change anyone’s values, I’d like to say to my Republican friends that withholding a vote for Trump (by either voting Libertarian, or not voting for president at all) simply guarantees a Clinton presidency.

Trump, based on his and on Clinton’s campaign talking points, is America’s best hope for reducing our budget deficit, slowing our government’s assault on individual rights, reducing the government’s insatiable appetite for your paycheck, protecting us from raging political correctness, and stopping activist Supreme Court justices from rewriting the Constitution.

Clinton has admitted that she’ll raise taxes. Can you afford to have more of your hard-earned income taken from you? Clinton has admitted that she wants more restrictions on your ability to protect your families with a firearm. Undoubtedly, she will stack the Supreme Court with ill-named “justices” who see the Constitution as a living, evolving document, to be changed at every whim of a society that has turned away from financial accountability and social decency.

To my Democrat friends I ask, what is it about Hillary Clinton — who, by what I’ve read, is as foul-mouthed as Donald Trump and Joe Biden, as power hungry and arrogant as Trump, who has worked to undermine the family unit in America, undermine the strength of America’s armed forces, and undermine the financial welfare of America’s citizens — that you find attractive? Do you really desire less rights, less money, and more discord? Do you really want her continuing Obama’s sad legacy?

Again, now is not the time for idealism. Hold your nose, and vote for Trump.

Doug Adams is a resident of Whitefish.