Pages

Saturday, August 15, 2020

An Open Letter to Trump Haters

Dear Trump Haters-

I just wanted to point out a few things, but first I would ask you to take a deep breath, put social media and CNN aside, and just think about what I have to say. 

Short version:

  1. Before running for president, the media, political and community leaders, and most of the public really liked Donald Trump. They admired his ability to build wealth, and to recover from losing wealth and building his empire back up.
  2. No president is without skeletons in the closet, a huge ego, and the ability to say stupid things. 
  3. The media is not telling you the whole story, and often they're not even telling the truth. They don't show you everything, and they tell you what to think about what they do show you.
  4. Just because it's in a meme or said by a comedian or news anchor doesn't make it true. 
  5. Last point- do some research, don't form your opinion of any man, including President Trump, based on what you hear from those who despise him. 

Long version:

Caveats are required nowadays, so here are mine. Trump is egotistical and often tweets or says things that are embarrassing. He's behaved immorally in the past, and it's well-documented. I don't agree with everything he says or does, as is normal with any politician. I fully acknowledge that he is a pompous egotist.

A couple of points to consider: a huge ego is a hallmark of people who run for president. So is sexual promiscuity (this seems to go hand-in-hand with power). Bill Clinton's forays into naughtiness are well-documented, and stories of JFK's extra-marital relationships are generally accepted as truth. It wouldn't suprise me in the least for stories of other presidents' infidelity or promiscuity to be many-- they've just managed to remain secrets. As far as we know, Trump's misbehavior in this arena is behind him. 

As for the dumb things he says- do you remember when George W. Bush was president and SNL decided to make him look like a moron? They took a few gaffes and made a running gag out of the "idiot president", and now I bet you believe he's a buffoon, a nincompoop, and ill-educated. Bush has a degree in history from Yale. Yale. He's not stupid. 

But when any popular media outlet decides to label someone a certain way, it becomes "common knowledge" among the public. Even if it's just not true. Biden is a gaffe machine, and no mainstream media outlet, no running SNL sketches, no liberal talk show hosts make fun of him. Obama surely said things that he shouldn't have, things that could have been mocked (everyone does), but we didn't hear about them. But everything Trump says is sliced up, held under intense negatively-biased scrutiny, and blasted over every media outlet. And from comedians to news anchors, whatever they decide the public opion should be is spread across the country, and people believe every word. Yes Trump says some stupid things- even his supporters acknowledge that. But not everything he says deserves the level of outrage it gets.

Long caveat. Also Trump has weird hair. Acknowledged.

Here's what I want you to really consider. Look back 10 years ago, and Trump was a media darling. Obama said something akin to "Everyone wishes they were Donald Trump," -- said with a smile, not as a criticizm. Trump was lauded by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and others. Not one single person thought for a second that Trump was racist. None. 

(photos are hyperlinked to sources)




Then he did the unthinkable and declared himself a Republican and ran for president against the queen of the Democrats and, even worse, won! The media went berserk! Someone decided to label Trump a racist. They took a comment Trump made about a gang of thugs, and a reference to him calling a country where it's horrible to live a hell-hole (I think), and proclaimed that those words made him a racist. And it stuck. 

There are people who truly believe that he is racist. You're probably one of them. But if you listen to his entire speeches, if you consider the context and who and what he is referring to, none of the statements paraded out as racist actually are. Racism is putting one race above another, and he does not do that. In fact, under his guidance the U.S. unemployment rates among black people are (or were before the covid craziness) the lowest they've ever been.

But the narrative continues to be spread and people believe it at face value.

Trump with Alveda King, MLK's niece

If your opinion about Donald Trump has been formed by memes, social media posts, CNN, MSNBC, etc., and so-called comedians' opinions, you're not actually deciding for yourself. None of those people will play his entire speeches. If you watch CNN's coverage of a speech and then watch the whole thing elsewhere, you'll be shocked at how little they show you. I'm not going to go into why the mainstream media doesn't want you to see the rest. Hopefully you have enough of a brain to figure that out. Unless the brainwashing works, you will.

I remember the first time I heard the suggestion that the media wasn't telling us the whole truth- this was like 18 years ago or something- and it was like waking up. I thought- wait a minute, what!? Then I compared certain news stories and how the media had reported them vs. how a conservative radio personality reported them - he told a much more detailed, full story. (I don't remember specifics, just the feeling of waking up). I was shocked, amazed, and I immediately stopped believing what I was told or shown by even my local news.

One example of modern news media. Scary.


I encourage you to do your own research. Balance your media diet with the other side, and look behind what you're being taught by meme culture and media (including movies, books, TV shows, podcasts, and music). There is (naturally) an agenda to take down Trump any way possible, even if it comes to lying and slander, and the media are 100% complicit. 

Is he perfect? Of course not. I'd rather not have to defend the guy- I'd rather you did your own research and formed your own opinions, but it seems like social media culture has been enough for you. If the person on your TV or in the video you're watching hates Trump and slanders him, that's good enough for you. Please stop and think. 

Do you like your life? Do you like having a job? Do you like having the freedom to improve your life through education or training or entrepreneurship? Do you enjoy your car, your phone, your TV, your laptop, and other benefits of capitalism? Then you really should consider maybe not voting for those who are ready to push capitalism off a cliff and replace it with their version of what's good for you. Because that's what is happening.

There's so much more I could say, but I'll wrap it up. Just please, use your brain. It's a good brain. It can make its own decisions and judgments.

In the meantime, I'm scared to let people I work with know I'm a conservative. Is that how you want the country to be? Should I be afraid to share my thoughts publicly? Do I deserve to be attacked for asking someone to consider whether what you've been told is true? This is not right, and the flames of hatred, judgment, and now, violence, are being flamed by the media and the Democrat politicians (pay attention to what they say). Trump is not to blame for any of it. He has tried to patch up the division that developed during the last administration, and his opposition has blocked those efforts every step of the way. Do you want to live in an America that hates white people (aka racism)? Do you want to live in an America without police? I mean, really? 

THINK. And then go educate yourself. You can do it. 

God bless you and God bless America. 

No comments:

Post a Comment