Within the past couple of weeks or so, our
illustrious President Trump, a so-called "Republican", has:
·
Colluded with the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling
to over $22 Trillion.
·
Pushed forward with his ill-informed trade war
with China, causing the stock market to crash big-time.
·
Continued his incessant, hateful racial rhetoric
against Hispanics, which inspired a loyal follower to commit mass murder.
·
Colluded with Democrats to institute new
requirements on gun ownership
I usually
tune my car radio over to the talk channels when running errands during the day,
just to see what the right-wing pundits have to say. What will his devoted, hypnotized supporters say
this time? Is there a chance in Hades
that maybe, FINALLY, they will have had enough of this inept, unfit man-child with
dubious Republican credentials, and speak the truth?
Dream on.
So how did they defend Trumpism? The main lines of defense all go something
like this:
·
the Democrats are awful
·
the Democrats did it first
·
the Democrats made him do it
·
the Democrats are even worse
·
the Democrats hate him
·
the Democrats cannot accept that he beat Hillary
and so on
and so on and so on. Every sin and
shortcoming committed by Trump was either blamed on the Democrats, or nullified
because of Democratic actions, or something along those lines. In essence, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity
logic says that: as long as the left-wing
and the Democrats do bad things, then it's all Ok. In other words: the Democrats set the standard. They are the role model that Republicans
should follow.
Those two talk radio hosts are nothing but
Republican toadies. A "toady",
according to Wikitext, is: a sycophant
who flatters others to gain personal advantage, or an obsequious lackey or
minion.
The other day I was listening to Hannity,
and a caller attempted to point out some of Trump's previous racist utterances. Hannity would break in with: "But what about Warren and Sanders and all
the leftists?!?" The caller would
remind Hannity that this conversation was about Trump, NOT the Democrats, and implore
him - in vain - to stop changing the subject.
Clearly, Hannity is not a good debater.
Now it is true that their condemnation of
the sins and maniacal utterances from the left are spot on. The Democrats have, for example, made racist
statements, or accused white Republicans of being racist. Their hateful, toxic statements have inspired
left-wing fanatics to commit acts of violence, such as the attempted assassination
of Senator Steve Scalise (R-La), or the attempt to link George W. Bush to the
lynching of James Byrd. It has been
suggested that the harsh rhetoric of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders inspired
the recent mass murder in Dayton, Ohio. And
of course Democrats are quite brazen about their economic policies designed to make
the USA more like Venezuela, or the Soviet Union.
Another line of defense used by our Republican
toadies is that Trump is not responsible for the recent murders of Hispanics in
El Paso, because his is not the one who pulled the trigger. I will agree that Trump is not 100% responsible
- but neither is he zero percent responsible.
Look at the things Trump has said:
He has called Hispanics "murderers, rapists, and criminals"
from "shithole countries"; he claimed that Indiana-born Judge Gonzalo
Curiel "cannot be impartial" because he is of Mexican decent; he instigated
the "send them back!" chants for the four Democratic Congresswomen;
he called the white supremacists in the Charlotte riots "fine people";
he did NOT reject support from white supremacist organizations during the
campaign; and he has instituted cruel and draconian measures to discourage Hispanic
immigrants from seeking asylum. One
cannot deny that he bears SOME of the blame for all the racial hostility in our
nation.
Meanwhile, Trump's statements that
"I'm not a racist" are hollow and phony. If he really wanted to prove it, he could
start by canceling his Twitter account, where most of the hate and ineptitude
originate.
If the President was a Democrat and had
said (or tweeted) these things, then without a doubt, our Republican toady
friends would be tearing him/her apart every minute they are on the air. Limbaugh, especially, is a disappointment
because he has always boasted that he is the ultimate "truth-teller". I used to actually believe that, and tuned in
to his radio show for that very purpose.
But looking back, I see now that he was only a "truth-teller"
when Democrats like Bill Clinton and Obama were in the White House. Evidently, all bets are off when Republicans are
in charge. I find myself almost wishing
that a Democrat wins the White House in 2020, if for no other reason than to
force Limbaugh to start telling the truth again.
When a politician - ANY politician - says
something stupid, dishonest, hateful, or against the ideas that made America a
great nation, then YES, the pundits need to call him/him out on it and tell it
like it is. But what we're seeing here from
Trump supporters is a blatant double-standard.
When a Democrat does it, it's horrible!
But when a Republican does it, well, not only is it Ok, but we ENCOURAGE
him to keep doing it!
Meanwhile, what we really need in the White
House is a true statesman: a mature, eloquent
diplomat who can unite us and inspire us all to reject hate and be the best
that we can be. And also be a staunch defender
of free trade and minimal government.
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