Friday, January 6, 2017

Are you shunning Trump to hurt him or help you?



     The Amish withdraw from the wicked world, but the wicked world goes on without them.

     Just as well, since the Amish don't reject cell phones and SUVs because they want to undercut modern life, but for their own benefit.

     That question — am I withdrawing to help myself or hurt someone else? — is worth bearing in mind as Donald J. Trump is inaugurated president two weeks from today, and we judge who participates and decide how much we will own the country shaping up before our startled eyes.

     A tough call. It was almost shocking when Barack Obama welcomed Trump into the Oval Office immediately after he squeaked out a victory with the help of neo-Nazis, the FBI and Vladimir Putin. But a victory nonetheless, and as pained as Obama's expression was, treating Trump with dignity seemed smart. It preserved a tendril of influence, and Trump could at least glimpse what class looks like.

     On the other hand, you had to feel good when stars turned down offers to entertain at the inauguration. Nobody who loves Bruce Springsteen would want to see him crooning "Born in the U.S.A." for Donald Trump. Yet Hillary Clinton will be there. Bad for her, good for the country.

     There will be big protests. I'm glad Trump might see the majority who voted for someone else. Though I also sense that many protestors are the same folks who backed Gary Johnson because they believe all politicians are the same. Had they cared less about their own moral purity and more about the country's fate, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess.


To continue reading, click here.

11 comments:

  1. "CLICK HERE" doesn't do anything. The remainder of your column is a mystery.
    MIKE RAMBO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry -- the link hadn't gone up before I went to bed. It's fixed now.

      Delete
  2. Are you certain those are the only reasons Hillary lost? Is there anything the Democrats,candidate,campaign managers or the DNC could have done differently? Not saying Bernie was the answer either.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gary Johnson got 4 million votes, Dr. Jill Stein got 1.2 million votes, both parties have their party platforms and voters who believe in their cause. The 2016 increase in Libertarian Party votes derives from loyal Republicans who couldn't stomach Trump and his Neo-Nazis. Call it maintaining their purity or not, after all Johnson and Weld are Republicans. There is another class of voters who cropped up in 2016, 1.7 million people who showed up and voted for local offices, but didn't cast a vote for any President. All were dwarfed by something like 90 million eligible voters who didn't vote this election cycle.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've been wondering how many people voted for Trump with the thought, "What the hell! He can't win anyway."

    john

    ReplyDelete
  5. "We all own this mistake." See, that's where I strongly disagree. Yes, I am embarrassed and ashamed that he will be president, but this is not my mistake and he is not my president.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Basically, that's what the Republicans have been saying for the last 8 years. For shame!

      john

      Delete
    2. Let me ask you this, ah, Skippy. Are you proud of your country? So you take pride in the good things it does and has done, then divorce yourself from the bad things? Is that it? The good presidents are your doing, the bad, someone else's?

      Delete
    3. Well, no, I'm not proud of my country; never have been, really. Should I be? It's just the place where I live. I've never been so ashamed, either, as I am now. But what is my country, anyway? The rivers and the mountains and the trees? No, it's not the geography, it's the people. And 60+ million of them have proven themselves to be utter morons.

      Delete
    4. But that is surrendering to the simplicity that you supposedly condemn them for. They were duped, sure, but that doesn't make them morons. They're like a lonely man who falls for the Nigerian fiance scam. Sure, it's dumb, but there are reasons. Americans have made guns into secular faith -- that's a reason. They really hate minorities -- that's a reason. Manufacturing sucks -- that's a reason. I respect not taking pride in the place you just happened to show up in. But the nation does have some good qualities. It did invent the modern democracy. We were ruled by kings before. That's a good thing. We just fail to live up to our own ideals. Over and over again.

      Delete
  6. The RCP and their fellow travellers are a tiny fringe movement (much like the LaRouchies) that have no connection to power in the United States. The vast majority of the left, if it's even aware of them, reacts to them with at best amused contempt. The Nazis, on the other hand, are connected to a large stack of fascist organizations which regularly commit hate crimes (against Republicans, too; the alt-right doesn't care if you voted for Trump if you're black or a Jew) so it's not surprising that the ADL, SPLC, et alii pay them a little more attention.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated, and posted at the discretion of the proprietor.