Please, Please, Trump Supporters

 Those of you who know me know that I have shown remarkable restraint since November 3.  I have consistently opposed Donald Trump, not just as President, but as a human being.  My first piece on this blog raising issues with Trump was dated March 3, 2016.  I am not a fan of Donald Trump and that is a matter of record.

But I have friends and relatives who were, or are.  I know that sick feeling one gets when the candidate you most support and most care about loses an election.  I felt sick when Beto lost.  I felt sick when MJ lost.  But I have never felt as sick as when Hillary Clinton lost.  So I have a sense of what it feels like to lose.  I got all the emails and comments suggesting that I should just accept Trump as my President, get over it, and give him a chance. 

I did not have the opportunity to give him a chance as he showed his true colors in December 2016 before he was inaugurated.  You may recall that Trump bragged after the election in November 2016 that he had won with a landslide and a mandate.  No.  He lost the popular vote by 3 million votes to Clinton and his Electoral College victory ranked 37^th of 58.  Trump started his first witch hunt back then claiming that if he lost the popular vote to Hillary it must have been because there was widespread voter fraud.  He mandated a national commission to identify the fraud and appointed a loyalist to head the search. Six months later the commission adjourned having found only 200 instances nationally of possible voter fraud, well short of the 3 million more votes than Clinton had over Trump.  But we learned that Trump would always declare the universe in which he lived was more real than reality.  And many believed him.

I suspect that if you were or are a Trump supporter you fall into one of three groups.  The first group is that group of thoughtful, informed Conservatives who gradually learned that Trump was a disaster.  You stopped publicly supporting him after a couple of years and may even have joined the large number of conservatives in the Lincoln Project who campaigned against Trump and for Biden.  You may have kept it to yourself awaiting your time in the voting booth to secretly cast a vote for Biden.  If you are in that group I suspect you had a secret sigh of relief when it was clear Trump lost and a ray of hope because the “blue wave” did not materialize and the likes of Cornyn, Collins, McConnell, etc. were returned to office.  Regardless, I am oh so grateful for you and respect you tremendously if you fall into this group.

Or, you may have been a Trump supporter through the election.  But when you saw that he would not accept the outcomes of the election, that he claimed victory, that he filed suits to overturn ballots, that he refused to concede, that he was very slow at releasing transition funds and very slow to implement a true transition to the Biden presidency you abandoned him knowing he was in it just for himself and had no respect or support for the most fundamental of American traditions:  the vote.  All his court cases have been dismissed because there is no evidence of fraudulent voting.  None.  You saw that and now have joined the ranks of other conservatives who are abandoning Trump and supporting a peaceful and healthy transition to a new administration.  You include many Republican governors and Secretary’s of State who know the votes in their states were legitimate and resent the pressure applied by Trump to lie so that he could be elected.  You include Republican Senators and Congressmen who have announced they will retire or have announced they are leaving the Republican Party, claiming family values and integrity have been abandoned.  Finally, when the writing was clearly on the wall you shifted.  I also respect you and understand the depth of your grieving at the loss on November 3.  But I respect you for your courage and commitment to the truth and to the hallmark of our democracy.

Or, you may be what I now think of as the cultists.  You are in the group where liars have convinced you the truth tellers are the liars.  You believe in Trump.  When he says the election was stolen you believe him.  When he says there is a deep state out to get him you believe him.  You support him regardless of the evidence, regardless of the truth, and regardless of reality.  You have grown to hate and fear Democrats believing Democrats are all socialists if not communists who will kill babies and take away everyone’s rights and guns.  You still believe there will be some last-minute miracle that will give Trump another term of office.  You believe the Joe and Hunter Biden smear tactics.  You are protesting in the streets.  You are armed and threatening violence, and you still believe that God choose Trump so anything you do to support Trump you do with God’s blessing.  The only available term for folks who follow a charismatic person who defies logic, reason, and truth is a cultist. 

If you are in this group then I fear you.  There is nothing more frightening to me than a human being who will not respond to logic, reason, facts, and the truth.  You are a believer, not a knower.  You are a Trumper, not an American.  You have elevated Trump to the level of hero-worship and there is no law, no Constitutional provision, and no evidence that will sway you from your support.  And that makes you a Zealot, a cultist, and a source of fear.  You would have been among those Christians who tortured people during the Inquisition.  Or among those believers who burned women accused of being witches.  You would have been among those followers who drank the Kool-Aid because Jim Jones told you to.  You would have been among those folks who sold all their possessions and committed suicide while awaiting escape on a comet because Marshall Applewhite told you to do so.  Despite all the knowledge, all the reason, all the higher cognitive abilities of humanity there seems to have always been a group more than willing to sacrifice logic, the lives of others, and even their own lives based on some belief contrary to fact.

The facts are simple.  Joe Biden won the popular vote by over 7 million votes.  Joe Biden was named President-Elect by more than 270 electors.  There is absolutely no evidence of fraud, or stolen ballots, or ballots that were changed.  None.  Absolutely none.  That is why judges regardless of the President that appointed them have thrown out every single suit brought by Trump and his lawyers claiming the vote was a fraud, that the election was stolen from him.  Every single one of those 19 or 32 or 60 cases depending on how one wants to count them were thrown out because when they got their day in court no Trump lawyer could produce any evidence that anything was amiss.  So the cases were dismissed.  And while the rest of us moved forward toward a new administration Trump and his zealots continued to say Trump had won and the election was stolen.  That is blatantly false.  No one has been able to present anything to support such a statement except a string of unfounded conspiracy theories and the people and media who support such nonsense.

Biden will become our 46^th President on January 20, 2021.  Democracy will prevail over conspiracy theories and lies.  Trump supporters who remain steadfast Zealots will be in the position of opposing the legitimate government of the United States and possibly using weapons to do so.  And such opposition is treason according to the US Constitution and subject to imprisonment or death.

Please, please stop listening to those who are lying to you.  Please, please take a deep breath and try to find some tangible evidence of fraud other than those who claim to have such evidence but cannot produce it.  Please, please abandon a man who is so petty he will not acknowledge defeat nor attend the inauguration of his successor as every other President in our history has done.  Please, please be an American more than you are a Trumper.

Thank you.

Yes, I am a Liberal

(I originally wrote this with the intention of posting it on my Facebook page.  Seems that strategy may be a little too in-your-face.  But I like the piece, so I will post it here.)

Yes, I have been avoiding Facebook.  I figured all my friends of the conservative ilk were flooding the platform with half-truths, false logic, hateful rationales and downright BS.  And I committed to posting in general rather than post specific responses to each of those misguided conservative posts.  So, I have returned from a week of fishing at the beach and enjoying the sunrises and sunsets, and may have enough peace stored up to begin to respond.

And yes, I am a liberal, a progressive, a Democrat.  I proudly support the philosophy of our great nation.  We are a government of the people, by the people, for the people.  Not just the people we like or agree with, but all our fellow citizens.  I believe all men (sic) are created equal.  I believe no man or woman is above the law.  I believe every human being has civil liberties and rights that are inherent at birth.  I believe there must be a strong wall between church and state so that the religious beliefs of some do not become the law for everyone.  I believe we must always be on our guard against a power that would work contrary to these notions, especially efforts by the wealthy to secure their wealth at the expense of all others.  We must always be on our guard to avoid, as Jefferson said, the “tyranny of the majority,” and that we are unique as a nation because we have historically protected those who are minorities, those who are not successful in our economy, those who had the poor judgment at birth to select a race that was not in power, a gender that was not in power, a sexual orientation that was not in power.  I believe it is better to give than receive.  I believe we are judged by how well we treat the poor, the hungry, the naked, the sick, the outcasts.  I believe the quality of human life supersedes the ability to increase the quantity of wealth.

I celebrate all that the liberal philosophy has done for our nation.  It is liberal thinking that freed the slaves.  It is liberal thinking that gave Blacks the right to vote and abolished strategies that were designed to reduce voter participation such as the poll tax, attacks on mail-in ballots, additional scrutiny and credentials at the polls.  It is liberal thinking that gave women the right to own property.  It is liberal thinking that gave women the right to vote.  It is liberal thinking that established Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.  It is liberal thinking that turns to the government to solve problems and provide services that the private sector cannot or will not do.  It is liberal thinking that values the rights of adult women over the rights of something growing inside of them.  It is liberal thinking that says death by firearms is a major problem in our nation and we must address it in a reasonable way.  It is liberal thinking that views government as our government, not some enemy government.  It is liberal thinking that recognizes all humans are indigenous life forms on this small planet, that the notion of an alien-human is absurd, and that all humans have more in common than we have differences.  We are all pieces of a global pie and are constructed with stardust. 

It is liberal thinking that values freedom of the press as a strong arm to protect our liberties via the publication of the truth.  It is liberal thinking that provides free public education for all, not just for rich kids.  It is liberal thinking that structures our military and our law enforcement to obey civilian control.  It is liberal thinking that laments the persecution of any identifiable group of Americans (or any group worldwide.).  It is liberal thinking that recognizes our flag and our national anthem are symbols, they are not the United States.  Do not tell me that everyone I know who has given his or her life in the service of this country did so for a piece of red, blue, and white bunting with two holes on the side.  They gave their lives for the continuation of this great and noble experiment in self-rule.  It is liberal thinking that argues a person should be just as safe standing on the street corner yelling, “I am a liberal atheist,” as those who stand on the corner and yell, “I am a Christian conservative.”  (By the way, I think the term “conservative Christian” is an oxymoron, but that discussion is for another time and place.)  Each of these landmarks are liberal and each of these landmarks have been fought by conservative thinking.

Our nation was founded by a group of men who stood in opposition to the three major forms of government they experienced in the 1700’s.  Everywhere rulers were chosen by birthright or by military might or by some religion or another.  The people had no voice.  There was this incredible philosophical movement in the late 1600s and early 1700s that theorized that citizens could rule; that kings or queens should not be chosen based on who their parents were or on the battlefield or by some deity.  This notion of a government of the people, by the people, for the people was heretical thinking.  It was secular thinking.  It was liberal thinking and no one thought it would work.  But our founding fathers fashioned a document that declared our liberty from those other forms of government and defined the constitutional operation of a government ruled by the people.  It was the most liberal, most secular form of government on the planet.  And it remains so as long as we remember those basic beliefs.  Should we degenerate to a position that says this man is above the law, we should put some deity in charge, these people should have fewer rights, and these people should just go hungry then we have abandoned those tenets that made us great.  If we want America to be great again we should return to the secular liberalism of 1789.

I grew up in west Houston, one of the most conservative areas not only in Texas but in the nation.  It is the area that elected the very first Republican to the House of Representatives south of the Mason-Dixon Line since the Civil War by electing Bill Archer in 1974.  It is an area that was virtually all White.  It is an area that was all Christian, or at least as far as anyone knew.  I know the conservative philosophy.  I was steeped in it.  All my peers and all their parents were conservatives.  But I was empowered by my parents to think for myself, to question everything, to seek the truth, to accept nothing at face value, and to remain true to my core beliefs.  Doing all that lead me to liberal thinking.

I do not know how many liberals you know.  We are not evil people.  On the contrary, if you are ever falsely arrested we will defend you.  If you are ever hungry we will feed you.  If you are ever persecuted for holding a minority perspective or presenting a minority characteristic at your birth we will protect you as best we can. 

I met a Buddhist in college.  I did not know any Buddhists and was fascinated.  Sure, I could have proselytized, witnessed, preached, etc., etc.  But what I did was seek to understand him and understand his beliefs.  I was so fortunate that this person shared with me and we built a trusting relationship.  We did not hold the same beliefs.  I did not convert to Buddhism and he did not become a Christian, but we understood and respected each other.  All of this is to say that if you are a conservative and know a liberal I would encourage you to find out what they believe.  There are plenty of conservatives out there who simply declare liberals some dirty words or declare them fools, or declare them a threat to America.  Understanding is so much more powerful than castigating.

If you want to know more about what I think and believe just ask.  Or you can read my blog:  http://one-eyedbob.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading this.  I will return soon to respond to individual posts on FAcebook.  Until then, I believe truth, facts, and dialog are pathways to a better future.

Believers and Knowers

Faith is the belief in something without evidence.  Knowledge is the belief in something based on evidence.  It appears to me our great national divide falls along the lines of faith vs. knowledge.  For example, there are those who believe the earth is flat.  They have no evidence other than saying if you look at the horizon the earth appears to be flat.  Most folks know the earth is basically spherical.  There are volumes and volumes of evidence to support this knowledge.  So what happens when a flat-earther engages in conversation with someone who has evidence to the contrary?  It has been my experience that once the evidence is presented there is little for the flat-earther to do other than call the “knower” names, imply they do not support certain values, that they are rude, insensitive and not respectful.  It is an ongoing dilemma.  What should a person say who has knowledge and knows better?  Acquiescence implies there is validity in the believers’ belief.  And yet, to push the case just makes it worse. 

When confronted with facts believers can only attack and they do so without facts.  They do so with more beliefs.  Knowers are more than willing to change their perspective if there are facts to support an alternative view.  If one bases one’s position on the issues based on knowledge then of course as knowledge changes position changes.  That is not true of believers.  Believers believe they hold the truth because they believe it and for no other reason.  Just because one believes something to be true does not make it true.  Just because one wants something to be true does not make it true.  And just because one heard someone else say it is true does not make it true.

All this is made worse by spokespeople for believers who promote non-knowledge based positions that believers are more than willing to accept even though there is no evidence, or even though the evidence is all to the contrary.  There are multiple examples of this.  Some believe Obama committed treason and should be tried.  There is no evidence to support this position.  The evidence is all to the contrary.  But if a believer trusts a spokesperson who promotes conspiracy theories without fact then the believer will not be swayed.  The same is true of what believers believe about Clinton and emails, Benghazi, Uranium, etc.  All the evidence is to the contrary but believers do not want to hear that.  The same is true of the pandemic.  There is no evidence it was a Democratic hoax or developed in Chinese laboratories as a weapon.  But because certain spokespeople for the believers claim that it is true, believers go on believing it despite the facts.

I thought we reached the zenith of this bizarre conflict when a spokesperson for the believers announced that there was such a thing as “alternative” facts.  Yes, there can be conflicting evidence on a topic that has yet to be resolved via further investigation, but there is no such thing, by definition, of alternative facts.  This statement was clearly an effort to validate non-supported beliefs when in conflict with the facts.

When medical research showed that an aspirin a day could significantly help people with clogged arteries, those at risk of heart attacks and strokes, then doctors immediately began telling their patients to begin taking an aspirin every day.  No conflict.  No protests.  The facts were the facts.  When medical research showed that smoking was a significant health risk and should cease, there was a huge backlash led by the tobacco companies.  Eventually, the facts won out and everyone seems to know that smoking is bad for one’s health.  But there were economic consequences for recognizing that fact and there were addiction consequences for recognizing the facts so the facts were fought.

Science is not a liberal conspiracy.  Knowledge is a good thing, not a bad thing.  Why does anyone need to say this to a nation that has prospered tremendously due to our ability to innovate, explore, and develop via science?  Surely, everyone supports the collection of data to confirm or reject certain positions.  Not so.  It is never been so.  Just ask Copernicus when he showed that the earth was not the center of our universe or our solar system and was persecuted by the church for saying such blasphemous things.

Here is a list of those things that I currently perceive are a source of conflict between the believers and the knowers:

Knowers:  Trump is a consummate liar.  Believers:  Trump does not lie.

Knowers:  A free press must be able to investigate the wrongdoing of those in power positions.  Believers:  A free press is the enemy of the people and the main reason Trump is attacked.

Knowers:  Trump has been charged with committing multiple crimes for which he has yet to be held accountable.  Believers:  Trump has done no wrong and it is the media and the Democrats who are after him.

Knowers:  The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious risk to our way of life and the health and well-being of our nation and the world.  If we do not shut down, wear masks, maintain social distancing, etc., the number of deaths will continue to escalate.  Believers:  The entire virus thing is a hoax or at least nothing significant and has been overplayed so that the economy looks bad in November for political reasons and they will not wear a mask.

Knowers:  Trump will be seen as the worst and most corrupt President in our history using any variable of analysis.  Believers:  God chose Trump, he can do no wrong.

The above is just a sampling.  The list goes on and on regarding guns, abortion, police profiling, race relations, gender equity, gender preference, health care, etc., etc.  There are vast bodies of research out there on each of these topics, almost all of which is in conflict with what many believers believe to be true, or want to believe to be true.

We have no chance of advancing as a nation if we act on belief when it is in conflict with knowledge.  There has not been one single scientifically validated set of facts that has ever been replaced by a belief system.  The opposite, however, happens almost daily. 

I seek to be a knower.  When I hear something new and it does not seem to ring true I investigate.  I use fact-checkers, I use search engines to find articles on the topic, and I seek to find who supports the new something.  I am able to discard an entire array of conspiracy theories and erroneous belief systems doing this.  I do the work.  I do the reading.  On the other hand, if I find there is evidence to the contrary, evidence that supports the new thing, I will suspend my belief and seek more evidence.  My thoughts are likely to change.  I am not defensive about it because my position should always be fact-based so if there are new facts I should change.  And I do.

I spend a lot of time talking to believers.  For many, they are not interested in the facts and their minds are made up.  I find that ever so sad and ever so scary.  Had humans always operated that way we would still likely live in caves organized by clans, hunting and gathering food, and worshipping gods of weather and fertility.  I recommend that those who stick to their beliefs regardless of the facts should take all their technology, their cell phones, TV’s, microwaves, computers, and Roombas to the nearest Best Buy and turn them in to be recycled.  It is not reasonable to argue with science and benefit from the fruits of science at the same time.

Please be a knower.  Please know that if your beliefs are in conflict with the evidence and the facts you must abandon your beliefs.  Otherwise, we will all continue to suffer from ill-informed decision-making that has grown to threaten the very existence of this democracy, this secular government, grounded in knowledge and advanced by the application of that knowledge.  The truth will set us all free.  Beliefs without evidence will keep us shackled.

(PS:  Yesterday the new White House Press Secretary announced to reporters that the President was not going to let science get in the way of what needed to be done.  So, there you go.)

What Do You Expect?

A classic study in 1968 conducted by Rosenthal and Jacobson discovered a powerful link between teacher expectations and student achievement.  Teachers in a school were accustomed to reviewing the student IQ scores of their incoming students.  Low and behold those students with the highest IQ scores made the A’s and those whose scores were not so stellar made lower grades.  The study, however, gave teachers erroneous random scores rather than the actual scores.  There was no connection between the actual IQ score and the random score the teachers saw.  Low and behold those students with the highest random number made the A’s and those students whose random number was not so stellar made the lower grades.  Kids with actual low IQ scores performed better than kids with actual high IQ scores if their random number was higher.  Powerful data, and the study has been replicated and verified multiple times.  An entire set of instructional strategies emerged from these data to help teachers expect the best from all their students and communicate such to even the lowest-performing students. 

Do the achievement scores of high IQ kids still matter?  Of course, they do.  But high IQ students tend to do very well.  Black students not so much.  Poor students not so much.  If I was still in education I would be very tempted to start a “Black Kids’ Scores Matter” movement.

And that is the point of Black Lives Matter.  It doesn’t mean white lives or brown lives or rich lives do not matter.  It means we have it within ourselves to change our expectations and thereby change the outcomes.  It is far too easy to simply say Blacks would not be incarcerated to such a level if they did not break the law.  That would be akin to saying kids with low IQ’s are going to do poorly in school because they have low IQ’s.  We know that is not true regarding student performance, why shouldn’t it be true regarding Blacks who have contact with the justice system?  If I roll up on a group of black teenagers, what do I expect?  Or a group of white teenagers?  If I see a white man driving an old truck in an affluent neighborhood do I look at him differently than I do when I see a Black man driving the same truck?  We get what we expect.

When in college I had long hair and a beard and drove a 1963 Chevy Bellaire with a peace symbol on the back window.  I was often stopped and searched for drugs.  None were ever found for a very good reason.  I had none.

I used to drive a Mustang convertible.  I loved that car, but I sure got stopped a lot and warned about speeding.  I have always practiced setting my cruise control 3 or 4 mph about the posted highway limit and that got me stopped, but I rarely got a ticket.  I traded that car in on a pick-up truck and follow the same practice with my cruise control.  I have never been stopped.

I have never seen a Cadillac Esplanade on the side of the road as law enforcement searches the vehicle with Anglo passengers standing to the side.  On the other hand, I can hardly drive anywhere in south Texas and not see all kinds of cars, trucks, and suvs being searched while Latinos wait on the side. 

If a police officer wants to give me a traffic ticket he or she would not have to follow me very long to find a reason to do so.  We get what we expect.

And each time a Black person is shot and killed by law enforcement the expectations get confirmed by all.  Those who expect such outcomes always say the cops had probable cause.  Those of us who are sensitive to expectations may say one more case where Black lives did not matter.  It is time for us to always expect the best of people regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, etc.  For too long we have judged books by their covers and devalued the content of the book.  Law enforcement is sworn to serve and protect and that includes everyone.  Yes, Black Lives Matter.  If we know that, believe that, act on that we will get what we expect.

You Don’t Get America If:

You think we are a melting pot when we are a tossed salad.

You think this country belongs to Anglos.

You oppose protests that disagree with your beliefs. 

You believe this country was founded by God and is Christian.

You think protesting brutality by kneeling during the National Anthem is wrong.

You think blaming the victims of racism absolves you of responsibility.

You think diversity is a disability, not an asset.

You can pat yourself on the back for not being a racist but refuse to become anti-racism.

You can pat yourself on the back for not discriminating against women but refuse to support women’s’ equality movement.

You can pat yourself on the back for not discriminating against other sexual orientations but refuse to support LGBTQ rights.

You think you are free of responsibility because you do not commit sexual assault or physical abuse but refuse to demand that perpetrators of those crimes be held accountable.

You think blaming those who are less successful than you because you think they are inhibiting your success is logical.

You think to persecute, demean, fire, slander those who disagree with you is OK.

You think no man is above the law but support lawless men

.

You support the notion of democracy but oppose strategies that would increase the number of voters.

You refuse to wear a mask and argue your right is more important than the health or life of others.

You think public service is demeaning and pursuit of wealth is blessed.

You think a non-regulated private sector is best for all.

You think a non-regulated private sector can perform better than a public service.

You believe that those who are hired to serve and protect have no responsibility to serve and protect everyone, including suspects.

You think a free press is a menace to democracy.

You think freedom to assemble, freedom to protest, and freedom of speech should not apply to everyone.

You think modeling nobility and integrity and the value of human rights for all is not our responsibility.

You do not support working toward a more perfect union but prefer to work backward to some glorified past.

You do not support the findings of science and math but trust those who decide by their guts and beliefs.

You can support the end of immigration to the US based on color and religious belief and claim to support freedom.

You do not deeply believe that all humans are created equal and merit inherent human rights.

If you believe all that, you do not get what it means to be an American citizen.

Observations from a Beige Hypocrite

The murder of George Floyd, a Black man, killed by an Anglo Police officer, has surfaced tons of strong feelings across our land.  We were emotionally raw to begin with.  Trump has always been divisive.  Trump totally blew the federal response to Covid-19.  The economy has tanked.  So, protestors and rioters are no great big surprise when bigotry rules and equality and equity are harder topics than bleach and ultraviolet light.  My thoughts and feelings meander.

I have said before and will say again that I am clearly brilliant.  My decision to be born to middle-class white parents was a stunning achievement.  My decision to learn English as my native language was equally earth-shaking.  I chose to be born in the United States, an incredibly wealthy nation.  And, I chose parents who were Christian rather than Muslim or atheist or some other weirdo belief system.  I deserve a ton of credit for at least those four decisions.  Had I been born some other race or ethnicity I would not have prospered as I have.  If I spoke Spanish and not English I would not have prospered as I have.  Had I been born in the 3^rd world I would likely be dead by now.  And if I had been born to Muslim parents I would likely never have been able to even visit the US, much less live here.  Yep, I’m brilliant.  I remain amazed, however, that many of my peers, especially those from high school days, do not recognize their own brilliance having made the same decisions I made.  Perhaps they should spend a week or so as though they were born Black atheists from Somalia. 

White privilege is pervasive, and for many, invisible and deniable.  Like the bully who does not see himself or herself as a bully, or the bigot who cannot see his or her own prejudice and believes that beliefs are based on data and observation rather than outcomes based on other factors.  Or those who simply believe that some human beings are better than other human beings.  Or that for some reason this expanse in North America we call the USA was given by God to Anglo Christians just like the Garden of Eden was given to Adam and Eve.  (I find this particularly amusing since there are no Anglos or White people in the Bible.  Well, maybe Pontius Pilate, but he is hardly a hero.)  I have never felt fear walking into a restaurant or a retail outlet.  I have never suspected that a police car in my rearview mirror would stop me just because of my skin color.  I do not have a history of being enslaved.  I do not have a history of separate schools and separate seating and separate bathrooms and separate water fountains.  Everything around me reinforces the fact that my life matters and I can go and do as I please.  So when I say Black Lives Matter there is an unspoken “too” at the end of that phrase that many White people just do not understand.  I am the right color.  I am beige.

I am also a hypocrite.  I yearn for a society of tolerance.  I yearn for a society that is based on equity and equality, where incomes do not vary by race, where education does not vary by race, where health care and life expectancies do not vary by race, where employment opportunities do not vary by race.  I yearn for an open society not just respectful of diversity but celebratory.  I yearn for a culture that values human beings regardless of race, ethnicity, country of origin, religious belief, gender, sexual orientation, and on and on.

Sadly I must admit that I am a hypocrite.  I am totally intolerant of intolerant people and I totally discriminate against bigots.  I am a beige hypocrite. 

Kids Do Lie

I was a campus-level administrator in public schools for 5 years.  I saw a lot and learned a lot.  One of the most painful experiences I had in this role was when parents discovered their children would lie to them.  Many parents would enter my office to discuss the discipline of their son or daughter for some offense and the conversation would begin with the parent saying, “I know my child better than you.  And he/she would not lie to me.  There is some mistake here.”  Following such a statement I would typically lay out the evidence which often included a video of what the student had actually done.  Mouths would drop.  Tears would fall.  When finally confronted with the gosh-awful truth that a child would lie to them to escape punishment and avoid disappointing them the parents invariably broke down.  It was always a gut-wrenching moment and I suspect that most precious parent-child relationships changed forever.  The love did not end.  The unquestioning support did.

I keep waiting for the same experience to happen for those who support Trump.  The evidence is so clear.  He lies.  He cheats.  He creates false realities.  He has been accused of sexual assault.  He attempted to use taxpayer money to bribe a foreign country into doing his personal political investigation.  He has used his position as President to make himself more money.  There are 10 documented times he attempted to end the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in our 2016 election and he was not indicted for obstruction of justice because the law requires the House to impeach and the Senate to try a sitting president rather than going the standard legal procedure.  The Senate refused to conduct a hearing with testimony, evidence, and witnesses.  He continues to work in behalf of Russia attempting to get them re-instated in the G-7.  And on and on. 

And now, this president has used special ops troops to tear gas American citizens who were engaged in a lawful demonstration so that a path could be cleared for him to walk to a nearby church for a photo op.  He stood before a building he has never entered and held up a book he has never read.  If this does not scare you to death I do not know what will.  You might recall that when Bashar al-Assad,  the self-declared Syrian President gassed his own people who were protesting that he would not step down after losing the election, gassed his own people.  The result of Bashar’s behavior triggered a military response from the US and our European allies.  It is serious misbehavior to gas your own people.

How in the world does Trump continue to enjoy support from good-hearted American citizens with all the information and all the evidence out there in the land of truth, justice and the American way?  I think I know one reason.

There is an array of media outlets who benefit from the Trump Presidency.  Those outlets have mastered the ability to spin every negative fact about Trump into something other than the truth.  Sometimes they use the old, “Everybody does it” argument.  Sometimes they use the old, “It is not my fault, it is somebody else’s fault” argument.  Sometimes they use the old red herring argument, “You should see what the other guy is doing” argument.  Sometimes they use the old distraction argument, “Don’t look here, look over there.”  And sometimes they just out and out deny and lie.  Trump reminds me of that obnoxious kid in junior high who found great joy in approaching someone from behind on the left side while tapping on their right shoulder.  For Trump supporters who desperately do not want to believe the President they love is a liar and a criminal these media outlets provide them with some sort of rationale to continue to support him. 

Those supporters have been taught to believe that Democrats are evil people, that socialism will be the end of the USA, that even if Trump lies it is no big deal, that Trump has accomplished major goals as President, that Trump stands up for the worker in the US, that Trump stands up to foreign nations and leaders, that Trump has done nothing wrong regarding federal leadership in the pandemic, that Trump naming Cabinet-level officials as “acting” to avoid any Senate hearings on the qualifications of those appointees is OK, that Trump has improved our foreign relations with our allies and our enemies and has redefined our enemies as our allies and vice-versa, that Trump’s avoidance of climate change talk is a good thing, that Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran Peace Accord was a good thing, that tariffs are a good thing, that any limitation on gun ownership and registration is a bad thing, that Democrats will take guns away from law-abiding citizens, that abortions are nothing more than killing babies, and that Trump’s guts trump science.  Most disturbing of all to me is the supporters' belief that somehow God has anointed Trump to be President.

These supporters have support for their undying support and it comes from Fox News, Limbaugh, Murdoch, Hannity, O’Rielly, Beck, the Blaze, Brietbart, the Daily Wire, the New York Post, the Washington Times, and on and on.  If a supporter wants to be in denial regarding the truth of Donald Trump, all he or she has to do is limit the intake of political news to any of these sources.  These sources will play the spin game on every negative revelation regarding Trump and give those supporters one more opportunity to avoid learning their kid does lie.  These sources have even convinced Trump supporters that the legitimate, honest news sources are biased against Trump and lie too.

Trump was absolutely furious when it appeared that Twitter might fact-check him.  Wonder why?  Very simple, if the truth were universally known Trump would have no support except from the truly far-right extremes.

Trump was impeached and should have been removed from office.  He now presides over a nation with race riots reminiscent of the 1960s, a depression reminiscent of 1929, and the nation with the most infections and deaths in the world from the pandemic, reminiscent of the 1918 H1N1 pandemic.  Trump swore to protect and defend the US Constitution and has attacked that document ever since he entered office.  He attacks the right of the people to assemble and protest, he attacks the free press, he thinks religious freedom is the freedom to discriminate, he thinks there are good people who are white supremacists, and he thinks the second amendment exists without limits.

It will be a painful day for Trump supporters when they actually have the courage to look at the truth.  I have sat with adults when that revelation occurs and it is not pretty.  I suspect the anger arising from his current followers when they discover they have been duped will be something to behold.  Signs that such a revelation may be coming include military men who express concerns regarding Trump’s behavior, former Secretary of State Colin Powell saying Trump has drifted away from the Constitution, Fox News actually broadcasting some truth earning more wrath from Trump, former Cabinet members speaking out about Trump’s incompetence, etc., etc. 

Yes, kids will lie and it hurts parents to learn that.  The longer we deny that truth the more it hurts.  Trump lies.  His reality is not reality.  His ambitions are not in the best interest of the United States.  I hope Trump supporters learn those lessons soon.  The truth hurts, but it will set them free.