Is There any Neutrality?

From my experience over the past 6 or 7 years, there is no neutrality when it comes to Trump - if you are a voter in the USA you either despise this man, like I do, or you found him qualified and deserving of your vote.  Of course I suppose that the support Trump receives is by degrees, ranging from "he'll have to do" - to - "he was sent by Gawd".

Personally, and to put it mildly, I have always found Trump to be an incredibly objectionable human being.  From the moment I was made aware of his existence, way back in the mid 80's when I was in my 20's, I viewed him as a fluke.  I viewed him as another wealthy loudmouth who OBVIOUSLY thinks to highly of himself.  

And - that was pretty much that.  I really didn't have to concern myself with him beyond the occasional TV news clip over the ensuing many years.  

And then . . . This man-child decided to make a serious run for the office of President of the United States of America.

At 6:00am, Nov. 9th 2016, the morning after election night , my clock-radio (tuned to NPR) went off, and the first (worst) words I have ever heard in my life were "Donald Trump has been elected the 45th President of the United States".  Those words haunt me to this day.  I don't think I would have felt any worse if, when I was 8 years old, my parents had of woke me up at 6:00am and screamed, "You're ugly and we hate you".

"Trump says everything three times, and it is just as false the third time he said it as it was the first time he said it."

~Sam Harris 

I voted for Reagan.  Well, his first term.  After Reagan was elected I became a tad disillusioned with conservative politics.  Politics really didn't occupy much space inside my head - I just felt that Reagan wasn't all that.  So, I just didn't bother to vote at all when he ran for his 2nd term.  And to be honest, I pretty much withdrew from any political involvement. The next time I would vote would be 32 years later, when Barack Obama ran for his 2nd term.  

I didn't vote for Obama during his initial run for office.  I just didn't want to be disappointed again.  I didn't want to bother casting a vote only to feel so let down a few months later.  But what I felt instead was shame - shame that I played no part in electing Barack Obama to the Presidency.  After he had been in office for a few months I came to realize that he was truly a good man, and I confessed my shame to my lady, and told her that I was proud that she had participated in this historical event (she had previously voted for George W. Bush).  So I made sure to register to vote, and when November 2012 rolled around, I cast my vote for Obama.

During both of Obama's campaigns, I noticed something:  There was no depths too low for the Republicans to stoop in trying to win this election.  They didn't simply stretch the truth when it came to the democratic candidate - they outright lied, consistently and continually.

My dear father (god rest him) at that time had recently acquired a computer and subsequently learned how to forward emails that he had received, many (most) of which were political in content.  And without exception, they were all lies about Barack Obama, without exception.

  

At first I would take the time to send Dad a correction.  I would take a few minutes to look up the fraudulent claim that he had just forwarded - and every single time, there was clarification or absolute refutation of the accusation.  I would then copy and past, send it to Dad with a gentle suggestion that he may want to check to make sure he wasn't forwarding untruths.  But within a few hours, my inbox would receive a couple more forwarded emails from him.  

Eventually, I didn't bother correcting him.  

Eventually, I didn't bother reading them.

But this didn't stop once the campaigns were over and Obama was elected - it went on for the next eight years.  I have no idea how many emails from my Dad that I just deleted, either completely unread or after a quick glance, just to make sure it wasn't an actual, normal email.

Dad never talked about politics with me.  Until the Obama years, when I was in my 50's, I had absolutely no idea how my parents voted.  I just assumed that they were Republican voters.  They seemed to be conservative, and Dad was retired military.  I remember having a short discussion with my Mom one day just a few months after George W. Bush was first elected president.  I remember asking Mom something like:  "Is it just me or is this guy a tad dopey?"  Mom replied, "No, it's not just you".  Some time later I was told (by whom, I can't remember) that Mom said that they (Dad and Mom) had always voted Democratic until W. Bush - that's when they switched.  But, since me and Dad never talked about politics, I really don't know why they switched.

What I do know:

Dad wasn't an evangelical Christian - heck - he wasn't a Christian at all.

Dad wasn't a gun nut (never owned one).

Dad wasn't anti-abortion.

Dad did vote for Trump.

But, his support for Trump was not long lived.  On one visit, perhaps a few months to a year after Trump was elected, Dad expressed his disapproval with something Trump had said or did - and his expression led me to believe that he was regretful that he had voted for him, but, I never inquired, and I never heard him make such an expression again.

"Where ever you are on earth you could walk a thousand miles in any direction and not meet a less admirable person than Trump."

~Sam Harris

Here is what I do know - Trump is unprincipled and without moral standards. His guiding light's are his interests ONLY, and his interests are limited to - "How is this going to affect (benefit or harm) me?"

~  ~  ~ 

As for Trumps supporters - I fear that the only hope for this country is Covid.  As Trump supporters refuse to get vaccinated, and they die from the infection, there will be fewer Trump supporters voting.  That is the only "beneficial" aspect to come out of this pandemic.  Trump will do and say anything that might possibly result in him acquiring more wealth, power, and keep him out of jail, and his devoted followers will stand with him even if he stood in the middle of 5th Ave. and shot someone.

“There is never a moment where I find Trump persuasive. When I look at him I see a man without any inner life. I see the most superficial person on Earth. This is a guy who has been totally hollowed out by greed, self regard and delusion. If I caught some sort of brain virus and I started talking about myself the way Trump talks about himself, I would throw myself out a fucking window."

~Sam Harris

bob

r.u.reasonable@gmail.com