Over 450 Writers, Including Stephen King And Michael Chabon, Sign Petition Against Trump … Pulitzer and National Book Critics Circle winners call out Trump’s “nativism and bigotry.”   -Huffington Post

This is an amazing effort considering the many things that writers could complain about when it comes to the US.

But it is Donald Trump that seems to have aroused these writers.

Published on Literary Hub, the petition states, “We, the undersigned, as a matter of conscience, oppose, unequivocally, the candidacy of Donald J. Trump for the Presidency of the United States.”

The letter was signed by Celeste Ng, Lydia Davis, Rick Moody, Rebecca Solnit, Lauren Groff, Jennifer Egan, Anthony Marra, and over 400 others.

The letter concludes as follows:

The rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response …

The article in the Huffington Post appends this editor’s note at the bottom of the article:

Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

It’s hard to tell if HuffPo’s reporting has produced an article or a peroration.

Trump’s candidacy has numerous controversial elements. And he has made many inconsistent statements. But if his anti-war sentiments are lasting and if he continues to emphasize free-markets and low taxes over fedgov activism, he could change the course of the country for the better.

These writers are concerned about Trump, but what about his potential opponent, Hillary Clinton? Over the years, the Clintons have been accused of everything from murder to rape to large-scale drug-dealing and bribe-taking.

And the concentration on a single political figure is itself somewhat puzzling. There are many areas of concern one might mention when it comes to the US.

• Some 40 million are on food stamps and 100 million are either out-of-work or in non-mainstream, part-time jobs.
• Serial wars are taking place in the Middle East and Northern Africa that poison entire countries with depleted uranium.
• The political system generally self-selects incompetent, fearful and “politically correct” leaders.
• A system of governance is exploited by shadowy controllers that seek evermore aggressive globalism.
• An increasingly violent and over-armed police force is responsible for break-ins and murders.
• Public infrastructure nationwide is falling apart.
• Local, regional and national public service sectors verge on bankruptcy.
• A monopoly central banking system causes ever-more ruinous business cycles.
• An irrational, oppressive and unnecessary system of progressive taxation continues to oppress citizens and businesses alike.
• The mainstream media ignores real issues to focus on areas that reinforce destructive elite priorities.
• An incompetent and untruthful educational systems produces ignorant, unthinking students.
• Exploitative and authoritarian intelligence agencies use technology for domestic spying – and worse.
• A penal industry turns prisoners into slaves and has at any one time some six million individuals involved in the system.

Conclusion: Apparently Trump’s candidacy has galvanized elements of the US writer-class. But their complaints reveal more about them than Trump.