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| Photo found on the web is from Atlanta Journal-Constitution I hope they don't mind I'm using it in this post. |
Okay, I admit it, I have been pretty angry the last couple of months. Not with my immediate family, or with life in general. Don't get me wrong 2020 was an exhausting, trying year but I haven't been depressed, I promise. Just fed up with all the lies & deliberate misinformation coming from the White House, the Trump Administration, his GOP supporters, & the millions of manipulated & misled Trump supporters, in the general public, via social media. This includes members of our extended family & friends. I still do not understand the cult of Trump. I do not understand why his followers treat him as if he is their savior. He's just a man. And an incredibly bad man at that. An excellent con-artist but that's it. And he was a terrible leader/example of the free world, democracy, & our republic.
Technically, intellectually, I get the psychology of it. I get the desperation to want to feel some control over their own world & the concept of brainwashing & conspiracy theories & why they work, truly I do. But there are so many who fell for it. So many people whom I once thought were rational, intelligent, people. I know they are still, they've just been so thoroughly lied to & manipulated it's hard to see it anymore past the mania & paranoia. I'm trying to be understanding, no patient. I'm trying to be patient with these vulnerable souls who were sold a pack of lies. The souls who still, despite all evidential facts to the contrary, believe that the election was stolen & that Trump was elected the President. That even though 60+ lawsuits against multiple courts & judges, a lot of which were Republican, Trump appointed judges, including the Supreme Court, with 3 recently Trump appointed conservative judges found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Even though Bill Barr, the Republican AG of the US, said there was no voter fraud, the Cybersecurity Task Force, Republican-led & appointed, also said it was the safest, fairest election in US history. It is clear nothing we say, no proven fact-based evidence we show them can help them see the truth. They have to figure it out on their own. But I pray for them. I pray for their mental & emotional health as they go through this experience each in their own way. I imagine it won't be easy to be that disappointed, to realize how far afield they've been led. There of course are those who followed simply because they are full of fear, of rage, of prejudice, and yes even those who simply enjoy the action of hate itself.
In all my 45+ years, I have never seen such animosity over a presidential election. I grew up in a divided house, my mother was a staunch Democrat & my father a staunch Republican. And certainly, they disagreed about politics but I never saw it come between them. I never saw or heard as much verbal abuse, rage, bitterness, & just plain hate hurled back & forth across the aisle as I have in the last couple of elections. Ever since Clinton's scandal came to light it has seemed to me, people were getting angrier & angrier. Then Bush & his Weapons of Mass Destruction debacle happened. Which pushed the Republican/Democrat divide even wider. But the last 12 years? Wow, it really started getting bad. Notice it started getting bad at the same time that the social media boom was born, coincidentally starting when Obama ran for President. I listened to 8 years of my husband & a lot of other Republicans/Conservatives bashing him & saying he was going to ruin the country because of his socialistic policies, this was the first time I personally started hearing the term being thrown around. They were incredibly insulting to him, even though he was President. They didn't respect the office of the Presidency at all. And then Trump became a possibility, at this point, I walked away from social media because both sides of the aisle were becoming incredibly vitriolic, increasingly cruel & ugly in the epithets they hurled at each other & at each other's candidates. It is one thing to have opposing viewpoints, even passionately. But this wasn't that. This was vile, dishonorable, & base. I imagined Satan sitting back so satisfied with his success at spawning all of this.
Now, I admit I really, really dislike Trump, I've made that pretty plain, he truly terrified me. Unlike other Presidents that I didn't agree with or vote for, I truly believe he is a bad man, a fascist & a despot & the absolute wrong man to be the President of the United States. Having grown up in the world he was born with his incredibly dysfunctional family explains why he is a crass, crude, narcissistic, psychopath. This is upon which I based my opinion of Trump. He was & is not a good man. And I said that over & over every time he did something I disagreed with. I could not stand the man, but I never wished him ill. Yes, I realize that there were some people who probably did wish him ill. But not nearly as many as you might think. For one thing, if he had died or been grievously injured during his presidency I honestly think it would have given his followers even more impetus for overthrowing the government, as he would have become their martyr. So no, there aren't as many people as you seem to think there are that would wish him harm. They definitely wanted him removed from office, but by law not by death.
Now, maybe former President Obama, & President Biden are not your cups of tea. Maybe you disagree with their politics, their beliefs, their way of doing things. But they are not bad men. Yes, they are politicians, which I automatically do not trust or at least I look upon with skepticism. But they are not bad men. I didn't vote for Bush, during his first run & during his second term, in which I did vote for him, I complained about his policies & disagreed with some of the choices he made in regards to the country & war, etc... And I fully admit I still haven't gotten past his mispronunciation of nuclear, it drives me crazy, but if that is my biggest pet peeve I'll more than survive. (she said sardonically) But I never ever said he wasn't a good man, or hurled cruel insults at his visage on TV. He's just a man, trying to do things the best he could & following his own moral conscience, just as former President Obama did, & now President Biden will try to do. Is President Biden perfect? Absolutely not! He is just a human being, like all of us are just human beings. No former President has been perfect, some were definitely better than others, but that is a purely subjective opinion for every individual. This is where I really struggle with the Trump disciples. For that is exactly what they are...disciples! Disciples like cult leaders David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite, & Jim Jones once had. They revere Trump, as though he is the second coming of Christ or a prophet for God Himself! He most emphatically is neither of those holy things. He is a man. Not a good man. By his works, I judge him. And he has shown time & time again that he has no moral conscience. He cares about himself & only himself. He wants worshippers, disciples, followers. He likes power & wielding power. It fills him with satisfaction to use his power to sow discord & to sow hate. He whispers words of unity as he yells that "we will walk to the capitol..." & "fight like hell".
He spent months working on the long con. Convincing his disciples & followers to buy the big lie. The lie of fraudulent voting. And his family, friends, & GOP cronies helped him. They encouraged him, in their desperate desire for power & for money to gain more power. They echoed his sentiments. These greedy, selfish men & women spread Trump's vile messages of suspicion, lies, & hate. They encouraged people who were already under the brainwashing influence of Q & others like him, people already riled by the pandemic, the economy, due to the pandemic, & their own ingrained bigotry, hatred, & "America-First" mania to attempt a violent overthrow of our democracy. And it is still ongoing. Someone on Facebook recently shared a post from 2017 that talked about the rioters at Trump's inauguration & compared it to the insurrection of the capital bldg just 2 weeks ago on the 6th. But failed to notice the biggest differences. In 2017, they were rioters. They didn't come armed with guns, bombs, zip ties, & organized plans to kidnap &/or attempt to kill members of congress & the Vice President. Yes, people were injured, & yes property was damaged. Was it wrong? Very wrong! Rioting, vandalism, physical violence, hurting people is ALWAYS wrong! What happened on the 6th was so much worse. There were thousands of people there & this time 5 people were killed! You can say it's a case of semantics or that I'm being pedantic but those differences were there. The 2017 rioting was wrong but it wasn't an insurrection. It was angry people melting down but there was no intention to kill. Intention matters. Trump & his cronies, cohorts, whatever you call the men & women in leadership positions who spread the mendacity that took hold of this country had intentions. As did the mob of insurrectionists. They've even said they were following their president's orders to storm the capitol bldg.
Another shared post on Facebook that had been copied & pasted on a friend's page went like this...
"I do not like Joe Biden. I do not like Kamala Harris.
But as of January 20, is Biden my president? Unfortunately, Yes. Why? Because I am an American. I refuse to act like a child like the crying liberals who claimed Trump wasn’t their president for the last 4 years.
Do I think Biden will be a good president? Nope. But do I wish for his failure? No. Why? Because I am an American and I don’t want to see America fail.
Do I wish death upon Biden just because I don’t like him? Nope. Again, I’m not like the heartless liberals who prayed for Trump’s death for the last 4 years just because they didn’t like him.
Do I think the left is using Biden as a pawn? Without a doubt. I guarantee he won’t be president long. Pelosi will claim he is unfit due to mental instability/dementia and invoke the 25th Amendment which will make Harris president, which was their goal all along. To have a female president. It’s the only plausible reason why Harris would agree to be his running mate when she claimed he was a racist and a rapist.
Do I think the election was fair? No. Proof of fraud and lots of it. Valid votes not counted. Invalid votes counted. It’s all a disgrace. There is no integrity in our elections anymore.
Do I trust our government? Not a chance.
I fear for the next 4 years. I fear for our economy. I fear for small business owners. I fear for our healthcare. I fear for what’s to come after these next 4 years. I fear for what this country is turning into.
But I hope and pray I am wrong because I am an American and I want America to succeed."
First, it supposes that all the people who voted for Biden were crying liberals. I am not a liberal. I am a centrist. But yes I voted for him. Second, it also insinuates that everyone who didn't vote for Trump 4 years ago wanted his death. This kind of gross generalization predisposes approximately 50% of the US to be murderers. And while yes I have heard a few NeverTrumpers not-so-secretly wish, when he tested positive for the Corona Virus, for him to not make it through, other than Kathy Griffin's disgusting decapitated Trump effigy joke, which by the way she took a lot of heat from, including from a lot of liberals. Personally, I am not a fan of hers, I don't like insult comics in general, but I think she should have been blacklisted a lot longer than she was but that is neither here nor there. And other than a handful of celebrities, to whom I never listen, there has been no one else that I know of, that has ever actually planned out or thought past their instant anger at him to follow through on any plan to cause him physical harm. Kathy Griffin's was the worst of the bunch & even hers was merely a shock tactic to get more attention, which while more than a little sad & pathetic, is not actually dangerous. Besides anyone who did even minutely wish him harm was immediately put on a list by the FBI & then crossed off as even the FBI found their "threats" not credible. Like I said, no one wanted him to be martyred. Third, the author is either delusional enough to believe themself to have the psychic ability to be able to read the minds of the democrats, ie: Nancy Pelosi & their evil agendas. I would be impressed but I'd rather point out that this is nothing more than an attempt to enforce propaganda that the left is full of evil master manipulators while the right has no ulterior motives at all & are as pure as the driven snow in their intentions. (Yes, I know that the left does this too, it's wrong then as well! Two wrongs do not make a right.) Fourth, let's not forget to mention that it's quite common for politicians to sling mud at each other and then go on working together later, they are incredibly 2 faced & self-serving! Trump insulted Ted Cruz's wife's looks & bullied him intensely, yet Cruz became a huge Trump supporter because it helped his career. So pot calling kettle babe! Fifth, I'm not even going to justify this with a real response seeing as it has been proven a fallacy time & time & time again. Sixth, good! One should never completely trust any government agency or worker, even if they are in your own party. Take everything you hear, read, &/or see with a grain of salt or skepticism, please! And 7th, last but not least, blah blah blah...you're nothing but a hypocrite. Just like everybody else on this planet. If you really want America to succeed you wouldn't post such a passive-aggressive missive. You'd just suck it up & get on with your life. But you want the attention of your family & friends who agree with you to tell you how brilliant you are while also getting in a stab at the other side of the aisle. Transparent & immature.
Hear me now all of you! Neither side is innocent of manipulation, corruption, or lying! Both Democrats & Republicans are imperfect parties. There is no perfect party. And the sooner we get rid of this party crap the happier this country will be. COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY!!!!! Your country is far more important than some stupid party! Do I believe Joe Biden is going to save this country? No. But I do believe he has a better chance of bringing this country together & moving us forward than Donald Trump. Trump pushed this country back & dragged half of its population down with him. He's destroyed the once intelligent & discerning GOP & turned them into sycophants & liars. It will not be easy for Biden to bring this country together though because Trump did an incredibly thorough job of exposing the real ugliness that has been kept in hiding for such a long time when he encouraged the spread of hate & lies.
Dave Ramsey said,
"You have Republicans and Democrats telling you how they’re going to fix your life. And the reason I hate that is, A: It’s a lie and B: It makes you think that you can sit around and wait on those morons to fix your life."
"Politicians can’t save you. Because they aren’t saviors. They’re cogs in a political machine that churn out catchy slogans and slick speeches. Even if they have angelic intentions, they aren’t going to solve all your problems. They simply can’t."
I do have a couple more things to get off my chest. Do not tell me that just because I voted for Biden I can't complain if he does something I disagree with because I voted for him. That is why I voted! Voting is what gives you the right to complain even if it's the guy/girl for which you voted! That's the whole point of a Democratic Republic! Duh! Only those who don't vote don't have the right to complain, they had their chance & they blew it. And as I didn't vote for Trump I most definitely had the right to say he wasn't my president. I'm being figurative, not literal & since I did not want him to be my literal president I do have the right to say he's not the guy I voted for, which is what "Not my President" actually means. As for the mainstream media? Well, I too dislike how biased it has become. But that guilt lies on the shoulders of both sides of the aisle as well. Just because the facts, true facts have been presented by the opposite side from you does not make it a lie. Do your own research from reputable companies, & websites. And even if the info isn't info you want to hear, if it has been proven by non-partisan scientific evidentiary data then it is not a lie.
So there you have it. I am officially over this whole thing. Biden won. The Democrats control Congress. Deal with it. Don't like what they are doing, then vote, run for office, be a part of the solution, not the problem. It is time to stop the rage. And it's time to make those people in leadership positions, from the former President down to the House of Reps, face the consequences of their actions to incite a coup against this country. Only then will we truly be able to move forward together, for the entire country, not just your own section or group.
I pray for Biden, just like I did for Trump because he is the President. That he will be protected, & able to make the right choice that is to the betterment of the entire country, for the earth, for the future.
Jes