I'm sorry, we're fresh out of your candidate

So, you’re seated at a steak house and all day you’ve had one thing on your mind: their delicious filet mignon. You’ve almost been able to taste it all day. You know the exact temperature. You can feel the texture in your mouth, that wonderful flavor. The waiter approaches your table and your pulse starts to race. Almost before he even utters, “May I take your order?” the words rush from your lips. “I’ll have the filet mignon. Medium, please.”

The waiter looks at you with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry, sir. We’re out of filet this evening.” Your heart sinks. “All we have left is the New York strip and the chopped steak.”

“But I had my heart set on the filet,” you plead.

“I’m sorry, but the New York strip and the chopped steak are all we have left.”

It’s too late to get a table anywhere else. You’re starving. You have to eat. Leaving is not an option. After a moment of serious consideration you answer. “I’ll have the New York strip, please.”

There. That wasn’t that hard, was it? No matter who you may have supported in the GOP primary, those choices are no longer on the menu. You’re now down to two choices: Trump or Hillary. New York strip or chopped steak.

Some so-called conservatives are finding that an impossible choice. It’s really not that difficult. Oh, but Trump once gave money to Hillary, they say. So, you’d rather have Hillary than the guy who once gave her money? The insinuation is that Trump is too liberal because he donated to Hillary’s campaign. But she’s not too liberal? That doesn’t even make sense.

Look, I feel your pain. I voted for Cruz, but Cruz is no longer on the menu. To not eat is not an option. To order something that isn’t on the menu will only leave me hungry. There are only two choices. Two! Trump or Hillary.

Let’s face it. The appeal of Trump is the illegal immigration issue. He didn’t invent the issue, he just played it to perfection. When all the other Republicans were afraid to be so blunt, Trump had no such fear. He connected with millions of people who are sick and tired of the lip service paid this issue in Washington. They want the problem solved, and they want it solved now.

Trump is accused of being anti-free trade because of his rhetoric toward China and his threat of tariffs. Do you know that we currently have hundreds of tariffs on the books? Some were designed to protect special interests who have high-powered lobbyists doing their bidding. Others are designed to level the playing field.

It’s rather ironic that critics of Trump’s attitude toward China would call it anti-free trade when there’s precious little freedom in anything China does. Too much of their goods are made with slave and near-slave labor. Does that sound free to you?

If I had my way, we wouldn’t buy a thing from China. All we’re doing is propping up an oppressive communist regime with our capital. I’ve long advocated capitalism with a conscience. How well do you sleep at night knowing your sneakers were made by little kids? How happy is your Christmas knowing your Christmas tree lights were made by slave labor in some god-forsaken gulag?

Yes, tariffs on Chinese goods might very well drive up the prices at Walmart, but the end result may mean we stop subsidizing oppression.

So, I ask you once again. What’s it gonna be? New York strip or chopped steak?

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.