Twitter and social media in general is
an interesting place where there is an exchange of ideas, even if
some of those exchanges are sometimes contentious. Tempers can flare,
especially when the topic is politics. President-elect Donald J.
Trump is a newcomer to the world of politics and he has created chaos
since day one. His running created a group of people who came to be
known as “never-trumpers.” The Republican Party and those who
often vote Republican became divided—battle lines were drawn. Some
of those people fought Trump, even to the point of possibly electing
Hillary Clinton as president. Even after the election of Donald J.
Trump, the coals of the feud are still hot.
For the past year I've listened almost
daily to Glenn Beck say everything imaginable about Trump and his
supporters. He often called his supporters “brown-shirts,” a
reference to Nazi sympathizers. Beck often referred to Trump as a
tyrant. There were many days when I had to turn off his radio show because
it was just too much. People asked why I even listened. I remembered
who Glenn Beck once was and I hoped he would someday return to the
man who educated many of us on a variety of topics.
Over this past year, those who
supported Trump were ridiculed as being someone supporting a tyrant
or someone who was a progressive. Is Trump either of those things? No on
can be sure. I do know he is fairly progressive on social issues,
which is one of the reasons I supported him. Trump is moderate on
LGBT issues, which I found refreshing, but of course strict social
conservatives hated that aspect.
Beck and others supported the strict
conservative, Ted Cruz. Some conservatives and libertarians drifted
to Trump because Cruz was seen as a snake, someone not to be trusted.
For some, the primary never ended and they kept battling Trump and
his supporters.
This boils down to what brought me to
the keyboard, today. I was listening to Doc Thompson who was filling
in for Glenn Beck. I've listened to Doc for many years as he filled
in for local talkers and others. I always found him enlightening and
entertaining. But that day I tuned in to find someone angry. He said
some things that wasn't suppose to be bad about Trump, but his tone
said something different. I found it impossible to believe he meant
what he was saying.
Doc then moved onto the reports that
Trump said he wouldn't pursue criminal charges against Hillary. The
media repeatedly played a clip of Trump saying he wants for all of
us to get along and that he wouldn't pursue charges against Hillary.
This made the never-Trump crowd and a few supporters extremely angry.
These people were ready to put Trump on trial and convict him of
treason for renigging on his campaign promise. They might be right,
but I say, let's give him a chance. He has appointed a tough Attorney
General who will decide what happens to Hillary. I have doubts that
Hillary will ever get more than a slap on the wrist, not because she
is above the law, but because the standard of guilt is set much
higher.
When Doc began the topic of Hillary and
her prosecution, I tweeted:
Doc didn't feel he was bashing. He
felt he was just addressing points. He took the time to ask me
privately why I felt it was bashing. I explained that for a year
Trump supporters have been hearing lies and mis-truths. It's hard to
know what the truth is when you read or hear something about Trump,
so the first, and correct, reaction is to be skeptical. Because we
have heard so much negativity, we might be overly sensitive at times.
It's more likely we are frustrated from a year of hearing the same
words repeated—such as Republican talkers and politicians tearing
each other apart daily.
Together, Doc and I listened to the
segment to understand why I called him out for bashing. It came down
to tone. How he spoke said more than his words. It came across as
sarcastic. In retrospect, I might call it passive-aggressive instead of bashing. I'm sure his fans and Trump haters understood what he
intended. But to those of us who have been bombarded with anti-Trump
rhetoric, we heard something different. This time is better spent
analyzing Trump's moves. He has made some interesting nominations. We
should be learning more about these people.
It's time to speak with calm voices and
judge what is done and not what is said. Trump has been put down
because he wasn't presidential. From what I see, he is trying to do
just that. So far Trump's actions have been encouraging—even his
detractors are feeling more positive. Many times when people have
tried to predict Trump's actions, they have been wrong. It's time we
come together and try working to make the best of what we have. For
the first time in nearly a century the right-wing ideology has a
chance to make positive changes to the country. We have a chance to
unify the races by showing the world what can be done with a free
market system. In short, me, and many like me, are just sick of the
negativity—the arguing and name calling. Trump will inevitably make
mistakes and we should remind him of those mistakes. He will do
things with which we disagree and we will voice that disapproval. If
we get 50% of what he promised, the country will be far better. No
one who has ever run for, or elected to office, will be able to do
everything they promised. We can hope the Clintons someday get what's
due them, but there are far more important issues. If we fix the
system so future Clintons end up in prison, then we have done enough.
I'm glad Doc took the time to try and
understand my point of view—why I reacted as I did. I think that in
the end, we both will be the better for this exchange. The both of us
only want what's best for the nation. I can tell you, Trump is the
last person I thought I'd ever support for any office. All I ask is,
let's give him a chance.
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