I Don’t Get It and Neither Do They
I keep wanting to believe that most of the people who voted for Trump were
white, male, uneducated rednecks. Sadly that is not the case. At least three of
my bar mates voted for him. All three are white but they are also educated;
they are not rednecks in any sense of the word. One of them is female.
The argument I witnessed (and partially participated in) a few weeks ago was an exercise in futility. A white man, a black man and me (white). The other two are friends and have known each other a long time. I'm still fairly new in the mix. These guys were basically echoing their respective candidates' commercials and talking points. In other words, the argument points were impressions and feelings but not especially fact-based. I got them to stop arguing, which is ironic because someone else had to do that to me a few weeks before the election.
There is nothing either could say to the other that would change any attitudes. Same for me; nothing will convince me to back off of my position. We all agreed that we had to choose between two flawed candidates. Which is the biggest liar? Which is the most corrupt? Which really cares about the future of our country? No agreement on those points.
No friend at my hangout and no reader of this blog will convince me that Trump can be a good President. My 'facts' are as valid as anyone else's 'facts'. The best we can hope for is that one of Orange man's multiple personalities will turn out to be a decent leader. He had a mildly humbled look on his face when he met Obama and began the transfer of power process. I also sensed an 'oh shit I actually have to do this now' look on Trump's face and a 'good luck, it's all yours now, and you have no clue, do you?' look on Obama's face. Obviously that is my opinion, with no actual facts to back it up.
That old 'reap what you sow' adage is coming into play now. Trump set the stage to make racism, sexism and violence acceptable. Then he says those who protest his election are professional protesters. Bullshit. Those people are as valid as the Trump supporters who protested Clinton. And all of them are wasting their time.
The deed is done. Time to try and make it work. I negatively predict it won't and I positively hope I'm wrong.
The argument I witnessed (and partially participated in) a few weeks ago was an exercise in futility. A white man, a black man and me (white). The other two are friends and have known each other a long time. I'm still fairly new in the mix. These guys were basically echoing their respective candidates' commercials and talking points. In other words, the argument points were impressions and feelings but not especially fact-based. I got them to stop arguing, which is ironic because someone else had to do that to me a few weeks before the election.
There is nothing either could say to the other that would change any attitudes. Same for me; nothing will convince me to back off of my position. We all agreed that we had to choose between two flawed candidates. Which is the biggest liar? Which is the most corrupt? Which really cares about the future of our country? No agreement on those points.
No friend at my hangout and no reader of this blog will convince me that Trump can be a good President. My 'facts' are as valid as anyone else's 'facts'. The best we can hope for is that one of Orange man's multiple personalities will turn out to be a decent leader. He had a mildly humbled look on his face when he met Obama and began the transfer of power process. I also sensed an 'oh shit I actually have to do this now' look on Trump's face and a 'good luck, it's all yours now, and you have no clue, do you?' look on Obama's face. Obviously that is my opinion, with no actual facts to back it up.
That old 'reap what you sow' adage is coming into play now. Trump set the stage to make racism, sexism and violence acceptable. Then he says those who protest his election are professional protesters. Bullshit. Those people are as valid as the Trump supporters who protested Clinton. And all of them are wasting their time.
The deed is done. Time to try and make it work. I negatively predict it won't and I positively hope I'm wrong.
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