I’m an Idiot…..

Let me first lay down the playing field I’m coming from. I am an independent voter. I’ve been registered as a Republican, Democrat and Liberal in my lifetime. I don’t feel the need to belong to a team or party when it comes to my social and political ideologies. Frankly, I have my doubts and suspicions about all of them. Politicians claim to take on their servitude for the interest of the people. I think many start out that way, but the very system in which they want to be part of corrupts them with time. Public service too often becomes self service to their egos and their financial and political career security. But what do I know….I’m an idiot…..

That being said, I’m still amazed at how badly so many of us have the need to believe with devotion, in an individual or a political party. We seem to have a need to be told what to think. What is right or wrong. We ignore the ugly faults in some of these individuals because some of what they say sounds like our voice, our beliefs. But what do I know….I’m an idiot….

Then we have the media. Perhaps, in my opinion the biggest stirrer of division amongst the masses. Do keep in mind, once again these media outlets don’t care about YOU. They only care that you are watching. They only care that ratings are high so they can improve their profit. They may be the most disturbing and evil part of the equation in the end. When I recently questioned the integrity of a former co-worker who has moved on to a cable network which calls itself news, but is just a propaganda pusher, of which this person has become, they told me to open my eyes and called me a “dipshit”. Well, that speaks volumes. But what do I know….I’m an idiot…..

So with the arrival of a new presidency, after a rather tumultuous transition, I would like to say I REALLY feel good about a healing time for this country. However, as I scour social media I see nothing but people looking to continue a fight, rub peoples face in the sand or make claims of this being the beginning of the end…. Armageddon is here. But what do I know….I’m an idiot…..

You could vote for whoever you like in this country. That’s our right and freedom. I don’t have to agree with you or vice versa. I understand differences in political views when it comes to the countries welfare. Economics, healthcare, defense and quality of life all might be resolved from different perspectives. We should respect and appreciate the right to agree to disagree. Respect. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Where has that gone. But what do I know….I’m an idiot…

If you follow social media everyone has the answers and backs the truth. Reposting things from people they often don’t even know or have researched the source. They don’t know if it’s true or factual, but it falls in line with their beliefs and so they repost it, perpetuating opinion as fact. Sounds dangerous to spread untruths. That can’t be good and will likely lead to some ignorant behavior. But what do I know….I’m an idiot…

You want to back an individual who mocks physically disabled people, suggests grabbing women by their genitalia because that’s what they like, addresses others as a grown man with derogatory names like “Pocahontas” and “Crooked.” Not condemning the likes of hate groups and socially suppressive world leaders like Vladamir Putin. Creating phrases like “fake news” which translated as anything that made him look bad. Of course the “fake news” that made him look good oddly was not fake. This led to others around him coming up with terms like “alternative facts”, which to this day sounds like something I might have said as a teenager after my parents found a joint in my pants pocket. Truth is going the way of extinction. But what do I know….I’m an idiot….

The following excerpts are from the article in the link below.

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-complete-listing-atrocities-1-1-056

1.  – July 18, 2015 – Donald Trump insulted the military service of Senator John McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who endured torture and solitary confinement as a POW in Hanoi. Trump said in a speech at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, “He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Trump’s comments drew boos from his audience in Iowa, as well as widespread condemnation from Republicans and Democrats alike. Donald Trump himself was exempted from military service after receiving four student deferments between 1964 and 1968, and a medical deferment for a “bone spur in his foot” after graduating from college.
   
2.  – August 7, 2015 – During the first Republican primary debate in 2015, Donald Trump clashed with moderator Megyn Kelly regarding his many controversial statements against women. In one exchange, Trump claimed his disparaging remarks about women were limited to comments about Rosie O’Donnell, to which Kelly responded, “Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks. You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?” The next day, Trump told a CNN interviewer that Kelly had been “off-base” in the way she treated him. “She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions,” Trump said. “You know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
   
3.   – August 19, 2015 – In August of 2015, just three months after Trump announced his candidacy for president, two of his supporters in Boston beat a homeless Latino man with a metal pipe, and then urinated on him. Asked by the arresting officer why they had done it, one of the attackers said, “Trump was right—all these illegals need to be deported.” During a press conference shortly thereafter, Trump said he hadn’t heard about the assault. “It would be a shame,” he told the crowd of reporters, before continuing, “I will say, the people that are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again. They are passionate.”
   
4.    – November 25, 2015 – At a campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump mocked New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis, a congenital joint condition. “Now, the poor guy, you ought to see this guy,” Trump said, imitating Kovaleski by flailing his arms about. Trump’s ridicule of Kovaleski came after the journalist disputed Trump’s claim that he had seen thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center — a claim that has been discredited by officials.

I’m not thrilled with the Democrat faction either. I was disturbed and disgusted at the acceptance of some deplorable behavior during the BLM protests. I totally agree that a large portion of the media soft soaped it and almost justified it. Destructive behavior and violence is what it is. It doesn’t matter the derivative. It’s not acceptable behavior. It’s ugly and un-American. But what do I know….I’m an idiot…..

My point is that this person that is no longer in the White House was NOT a very good man for the country. He divided us and made people who didn’t believe with his ideology, enemies. People we needed to defeat. Oh, by the way….they were Americans, more than half the population of the United States. Yes, the citizens of the same country he wanted to make great again. If bullying people into “you’re either with me or against me” doesn’t resonate uncomfortably with you, then you don’t understand the premise of this country. But what do I know….I’m an idiot.

Again, I have no problem with having conservative beliefs. You’ve been a Republican for life. You want less government and lower taxes. That’s fine. That’s why we vote and have that freedom. However, to suggest that those that disagree with this are anti-American and a threat. Liberals….Leftists…Socialists. Really? Then you can vote against it if you don’t like it. You don’t bring hateful rhetoric to it. Life is mostly grey, no matter how much some want to make it black and white. That leaves very little room for understanding and respecting why others aren’t necessarily thinking like you. But what do I know….I’m an idiot…

I guess I’m still puzzled at how many cannot see the terribly divisive language that was used by our past president. I have seen people who claim to be devout Christians supporting his behavior and rhetoric. Study the man. Look at his track record. He really only cares about his own successes. I ask of you to give me actual factual examples of what he did to make YOUR life better compared to what it was before. I’m sure some of his policies might have been helpful to some, but the damage he did in turning American on American outweighs this. But what do I know….I’m an idiot….

I have no idea or pretend to think that our new president is going to resolve things. What I do know fairly confidently, is that he will not stir things up and create a bigger chasm in the people of this country. You may not agree with the policies of the party, but I hope we can get back to concentrating on becoming a UNITED States………not divided. I have no high hopes, but my heart feels lighter hoping that terms like “us” and “them” will start to fade when talking about the entirety of the people of this once great country.

But what do I know….I’m an idiot…

Sunshine Always!!

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