A family member posted this picture and the following diatribe and dared me to unfollow him. Why would I unfollow him? He's a great guy. And my Blog is a great opportunity to open up a spirited Debate. The Italics are from the post he shared from some rando on Facebook and my response follows.
An anguished question from a Trump supporter: "Why do liberals think Trump supporters are stupid?"
The serious answer: Here’s what we really think about Trump supporters - the rich, the poor, the malignant and the innocently well-meaning, the ones who think and the ones who don't...
That when you saw a man who had owned a fraudulent University, intent on scamming poor people, you thought "Fine."
People don't care. They don't. I used to think people did their homework. They don't care. Did I care Trump had a Fraudulent University? Yeah. but no more than his other scams. To me, Trump University is the same scam as the Clinton Foundation.
That when you saw a man who had made it his business practice to stiff his creditors, you said, "Okay."
I assumed people knew of Trump's history. Fred Trump was basically a racist slumlord 50 years ago. People didn't care. I used to think Trump was a unique in his greed. Then I remembered Al Gore had principles and then sold those principles to the Qatari Government for a quarter of a billion dollars.
That when you heard him proudly brag about his own history of sexual abuse, you said, "No problem."
Trump's behavior toward women should have disqualified him from the Presidency. Absolutely. Just like Bill Clinton should have resigned after he was impeached for his relationship with M. Lewinsky. In nearly every Profession in America, a leader can be terminated for having sexual relations with an intern. Technically, what B. Clinton did in office was worse than what D. Trump did while he was President. If a teacher in your school district had a sexual relationship with his 20 year old college intern, he would be fired in about 45 seconds.
That when he made up stories about seeing muslim-Americans in the thousands cheering the destruction of the World Trade Center, you said, "Not an issue."
Donald Trump didn't make up the story. He exaggerated the numbers. The left wants you to think that it didn't happen. It did. The right wants you to think ALL muslim-Americans were cheering. And the truth is it was just a smattering of small gatherings. I remember 9/11, listening to live radio all day with angry callers telling their stories of small muslim groups cheering the bombing across the nation.
That when you saw him brag that he could shoot a man on Fifth Avenue and you wouldn't care, you chirped, "He sure knows me."
Because people were so fed up with politicians, Trump using Hyperbole resonated with the public.
Again, h-y-p-e-r-b-o-l-e.
That when you heard him illustrate his own character by telling that cute story about the elderly guest bleeding on the floor at his country club, the story about how he turned his back and how it was all an imposition on him, you said, "That's cool!"
Not cool.
That when you saw him mock the disabled, you thought it was the funniest thing you ever saw.
Yeah, that was bad. Half of me, though, thought "a politician would never do that." Yeah, a politician makes fun of you behind your back.
That when you heard him brag that he doesn't read books, you said, "Well, who has time?"
I read a ton of articles. Almost no books. You can easily google Hillary Clinton's favorite books
I have read absolutely none of her choices. I would suggest to Clinton read "Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us by Ralph Nader."
That when the Central Park Five were compensated as innocent men convicted of a crime they didn't commit, and he angrily said that they should still be in prison, you said, "That makes sense."
Donald Trump was dead wrong about the Central Park 5 and the DNA proved it. And then the Central Park 5 settled with the city of New York for $30 or $40 million, depending on your sourcing. But I'd like to make a point here. Donald Trump had a history with that case. His angle was the law and order angle. When in doubt, society should err on the side of the police. A lot of people on the Right feel that way. The Left believes you should err on the side of the citizen, even if they are criminals.
What no one wants to talk about is how much being a police officer in America sucks. Chris Rock joked about American Airlines not keeping bad pilots, and he was spot on. But I don't believe I have EVER seen an advertisement hiring pilots. I see want ads hiring cops all the time. Never in the nice suburbs, always in the areas of urban decay.
Locally, the Cleveland Police officer that shot Tamir Rice got another job. It was all over the news. That guy shouldn't ever be a cop again. But guess what? He found a municipality ravaged by the opioid epidemic.
Editor's Note: Said Officer rescinded his acceptance of the job.
It took me exactly 15 seconds to find a stereotypical Appalacian Home in Belmont County. I guarantee you that even bad pilots aren't working at airports in the Wheeling "Metroplex."
But let me make a quick point about the USA. The Central Park 5 got a settlement. In Russia, if you are falsely accused, and then found innocent, you may be kicked out of jail with no compensation. If you are falsely accused but found innocent in China, guess what? You're still in jail.
That when you heard him tell his supporters to beat up protesters and that he would hire attorneys, you thought, "Yes!"
I hate to break the news to you, but Antifa are not the good guys.
That when you heard him tell one rally to confiscate a man's coat before throwing him out into the freezing cold, you said, "What a great guy!"
I remember going to a George Bush Rally in 1992 with a friend of mine. She was a Clinton supporter and had a sign that said 4 More Days instead of 4 More Years. (It was days before the 1992 election.) My friend got her sign taken away at the door and was treated poorly once at the venue. Security threatened to kick her out.
This story of Donald Trump treating people poorly at a political rally is as old as politics itself.
That you have watched the parade of neo-Nazis and white supremacists with whom he curries favor, while refusing to condemn outright Nazis, and you have said, "Thumbs up!"
Donald Trump has emboldened certain fringe elements on the Right, just like Barack Obama emboldened certain fringe elements on the Left. Are white supremacists worse than a group like the Nation of Islam? To me they are, but my opinion is not the consensus. I also don't believe that Trump curries favor with Nazis. I could re-write the paragraph this way about Barack Obama and half the country would say that it was the God's Honest Truth.
That you have watched the parade of rioters and black supremacist groups like the New Black Panthers, with whom he curries favor, while refusing to condemn the outright criminals and thugs in Ferguson, and you have said, "Thumbs up."
The way that the original post reads you would have thought there were Nazis swarming the country. I want a hard number of Nazis.
And...
And then there's the above map. If you go on over to the Southern Poverty Law Center, you can actually track hate groups. The number of Nazi groups are up, but the number of Klan groups are actually down. After reading that-
Trump Supporter Screams "Look at the numbers, we are chasing away the Klan!" (Klan groups down 40% since Trump election.)
Trump Haters Scream "Nazi groups up 20% since Trump election."
Editor's Note II: The Chalice is a Radical Catholic Group. The Purple Circle is the Nation of Islam. The Nazi and the Klan symbols are obvious. The point is that the SPLC tracks all types of hate groups from the left and the right. If you look at the Red Square in the lower right hand corner, they're a radical Anti-Immigration group. I chose a map that is close to my home, the SPLC tracks the whole nation. You could look over the map and then ask "how do they determine what's a hate group and what's not a hate group?" Ah see, now you're starting to think.
That you hear him unable to talk to foreign dignitaries without insulting their countries and demanding that they praise his electoral win, you said, "That's the way I want my President to be."
I remember Barack Obama taking great American ally Winston Churchill's bust out of the White House and the right-wing pundits going absolutely crazy. Obama was trying to make a statement about Colonialism. Though he made his statement in a subtle and dignified way, the British were still not happy.
Trump insulting Ally Canada? Idiotic.
Trump insulting Ally Pakistan? That's the way I want my President to be! Pakistan was playing both ends against the middle. They accepted billions of aid and was hiding bin Laden in their back yard. They have been a faux ally for years. Pakistan was basically scamming the US government.
That you have watched him remove expertise from all layers of government in favor of people who make money off of eliminating protections in the industries they're supposed to be regulating and you have said, "What a genius!"
I've said it again and again. Trump wanted to drain the swamp. Yeah, of corrupt politicians. He wanted to surround himself with people of his own ilk. You know, corrupt businessmen.
That you have heard him continue to profit from his businesses, in part by leveraging his position as President, to the point of overcharging the Secret Service for space in the properties he owns, and you have said, "That's smart!"
Did you even read my reply to the last statement?
That you have heard him say that it was difficult to help Puerto Rico because it was the middle of water and you have said, "That makes sense."
Trump's biggest crime, not moral failing or poor judgement, has been Puerto Rico. He let that Commonwealth down and stood idly by as thousands died. But I have a question for the bleeding heart liberal who wrote this meme. Why is this item the 20th thing on the list? In my mind, Puerto Rico has been, by far, the biggest travesty of the Trump Presidency.
It's because making fun of a handicapped reporter is easy to condemn. It's an 8 second sound bite that was on every newscast and talk show in the nation. For a week. But at the end of the day, it was just in bad taste. It wasn't against the law and no one died. Serge Kovaleski has a Pulitzer, yet half his Bio reads that he was the recipient of Trump scorn. Most of the nation knows of the Trump actions with Kovaleski, few know of the apocalyptic difficulties sustained by average Puerto Ricans for a year. Which is my point.
For years Donald Trump has been on the Howard Stern Show, The Phil Donahue Show, Oprah, Letterman.... and he says all kinds of things, some crazy, some clever. He is a ratings magnet and reality show guru. Most of what Trump does is theatre. But his Puerto Rican response was a real disgrace. People in America shouldn't be marching to remove statues, they should be marching to impeach Trump because of what happened on that island. But no one in America cares. Even the author of the original meme is using Puerto Rico as a throwaway line.
The person who actually wrote this meme about Trump that my cousin posted? Let's do some homework there because their partisanship is really pissing me off. Her name is xxxxx xxxxx and is a self-employed classical-oil portrait painter. She has no profile picture. You know why? Because......
.....because of the Pink Wave. What is the Pink Wave, you ask? Vote Blue (Democrat) in November.
(I'm getting bogged down here and I'm never going to finish this post, I'm going to keep moving.)
That you have seen him start fights with every country from Canada to New Zealand while praising Russia and quote, "falling in love" with the dictator of North Korea, and you have said, "That's statesmanship!"
Preventing another Cold War with Russia is a good idea. I don't know when it became a bad idea. Not going to war with North Korea is a good idea. Listen, I don't disagree that Trump is like a Bull in a China Shop when it comes to foreign diplomacy, but every day for his first year in office I checked the news to see if he started a new war, and, in his defense, he hasn't. As long as New Zealand doesn't declare war on us, Trump's rudeness is immaterial.
That Trump separated children from their families and put them in cages, managed to lose track of 1500 kids. has opened a tent city incarceration camp in the desert in Texas - he explains that they’re just “animals” - and you say, “well, ok then.”
In 2014, Glenn Beck went to the Mexican Border and said families were being separated and there was a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions in Texas. Glenn Beck even went to FoxNews to raise awareness of the immigrant's plight. I remember him talking about this live on the Glenn Beck Program and I wondered why America yawned. If I remember correctly, Beck cried when he found out that they were putting immigrants in cages. President Trump gets elected, Left-Wing media splatters the SAME EXACT STORY across every platform, then all of a sudden Americans are angry.
Because it's not about the story, it's about your reaction to the story. When your guy does it, you say "well, ok then." When the other guy does it, you go on an Epic Rant about not talking to Trump supporters.
^^^2014!!!^^^
That you have witnessed all the thousand and one other manifestations of corruption and low moral character and outright animalistic rudeness and contempt for you, the working American voter, and you still show up grinning and wearing your MAGA hats and threatening to beat up anybody who says otherwise.
The author is making broad generalizations, just like I am making broad generalizations about...
what was it again?
Self-Employed Classical-Oil Portrait Painters???
Don't make broad generalizations about us, while we make broad generalizations about you. The Democrat Party Platform for the 2018 election.
What you don't get, Trump supporters in 2018, is that succumbing to frustration and thinking of you as stupid may be wrong and unhelpful, but it's also...hear me...charitable.
Because if you're NOT stupid, we must turn to other explanations, and most of them are *less* flattering.
Let me be crystal clear here. If xxxxx xxxxx or my cousin xxxxx xxxx voted for Jill Stein in the 2016 election, then I owe the both of them a sincere apology. Because you voted your conscience and truly believe in women's issues. You are part of the solution.
If you voted for Hillary Clinton, then you are hypocrites and part of the problem. Hillary Clinton stood by while her husband committed most of the same offenses as The Donald. The difference is that Bill Clinton was a politician, through and through, and he worked the room and made it to the pinnacle of his profession by presenting a fake persona to the press. How did he get there? Through using Donald Trump and people like Donald Trump's money. Bill Clinton gave you a smirk and a wink and you thought he was charming. (Just don't look behind the curtain.)
Trump gives you reality show bombast as he played the system to perfection. What system? The 2 party system. For nearly every point of Trump outrage, I could counter with somebody on the Left that is held up as a hero for doing the same things on that side of the fulcrum. Politics is a big business game where the 2 major players are not unlike Political CEOs. Ideas should guide the parties, not the interests of the big money contributors who donate to the parties. Trump is a loud and abrasive CEO. He is not a Conservative Ideologue. What he did was manipulate and conquer the Party Machine.
Another bad analogy is the Mattress Warehouse Analogy. Locally, a company makes mattresses and advertises that they have the cheapest mattress prices around. How can they make such a claim? Because the store is at the mattress factory. They cut out the middle man.
And that's what Trump did. Instead of bribing, -uh-, ahem, ahem, contributing to politicians, he cut out the middle man and ran himself. That's the DIY American mentality that everyone loves right? RIGHT?
Why do I have such scorn for Democrats? Ralph Nader was a choir boy and the Democrats made him a Pariah. Because it wasn't about ideas, it was about the Party Machine. Did our team win? Name even one scandal associated with Ralph Nader. You can't. All Nader did was propose solutions to problems for the average American. Boy Scout Nader, trying to help the everyman. He wasn't destroyed by the Republicans, he was vilified by the Democrats. Their problem with Nader? Boring. Impractical. Unwilling to play the big money game.
And the reason I bring this up again is because Jill Stein got the same treatment. As soon as Clinton lost, Stein was savaged by the Left-Wing.
I hate to tell you who is Unreachable.
Why am I so angry when I voted for Gary Johnson? Because Ted voted for Trump and I feel like xxxxx xxxx was personally insulting Ted (BOS partner). Ted is a good man and this isn't the first time he's been made fun of for supporting Trump.
A story about America.
As you know, Beacon of Speech is Fred Hunt and Ted Koly. When the website was in its infancy, there was a third minor contributor named Joe. Joe wanted to be more of a part of BOS, but his personal life was... uh... let's just use the term hectic.
Joe, Ted, and I worked together under a manager named Jason. He was driven, arrogant, and treated women horribly. He urgently wanted to be promoted and as soon as he was promoted he wanted to be promoted again. As he climbed the corporate ladder, he pushed competitors off the ladder at every chance he got. Jason and Joe ran in the same circle of friends and did lots of stuff together outside of work.
Eventually, after about a decade, Jason began to settle down once all his enemies had been vanquished. He had advanced as far as he could in the company given his education. (An "Engineer" with only a High School Diploma.) He finally settled down with a rich girl, half his age, and planned an extravagant wedding. I joked with Joe that he'd be one of the few people on the Groom's side seeing that Jason had burned so many bridges in his life.
Funny thing is, Joe never got invited to that Wedding. When the Wedding came, only management personnel making 6 figures + were invited. And they weren't Jason's friends, we knew for a fact that Jason invited people at the company he hated. Jason's Wedding List was populated with people who could do something for him in his career. And that's it.
That's the way America works. The Jasons of the world rise up. If Jason himself was sitting here next to me while I wrote this Blog entry, he'd say "don't hate the player, hate the game."
I want you to look again, very closely, at that Wedding Photo above. Do you get the impression that those people are great friends, or are they Rich People playing the same game?
Matthew 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.