“Trump is a sexist. He hates women. He regards them as objects. Remember that tape of him talking about women as objects?”
“What about Bill Clinton? We know his history. He reportedly likes young women, according to the latest documentation coming out. Women are just objects to him, aren’t they?”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“We’re talking about TRUMP here. TRUMP! We’re not talking about Bill Clinton. He has his flaws. All politicians do. All men do. But TRUMP! There are no words sufficient to condemn him.”
“Why the different standard for different men?”
“We’re talking about TRUMP!”
“Should Biden have the opportunity to keep Bernie Sanders or RFK, Jr. off the ballot, if he finds them a political threat, as he finds Trump?”
“No. They’re not insurrectionists. Trump is.”
“Insurrectionist is a serious legal charge. It requires lots of evidence, but also a legal conviction. What’s the evidence and proof? And has there been a legal conviction?”
“Well, we’re talking about TRUMP here. TRUMP! He has to be stopped!”
“So whatever we do to Trump is justified, because it’s Trump. And only because it’s Trump. But Trump’s policies and actions are those of any Republican. Somewhat lower taxes. Somewhat fewer regulations. He’s against abortion. He’s not against gay marriage, but he has concerns about forcing beliefs onto religious people if they don’t agree with them. He supports gun rights. He supports America having a border, something that was never in dispute for the entire history of the United States, until Biden. Trump doesn’t want government to team up with Facebook and Google to censor dissenting views. He questioned electoral practices in the 2020 election, just like Hillary and her people, to this day, question electoral practices in the 2016 election. He wants the military to defend the country, not to provide a platform for people who believe transsexual history should be required reading in order to become a soldier. How does any of this qualify as insurrection?”
“TRUMP! We’re talking here about TRUMP! Hillary is not an insurrectionist. TRUMP is. For God’s sake … how can you tolerate even one second of consideration for supporting TRUMP?”
That’s what passes for discussion of political issues today — if you’re lucky. Most of the time, you’ll be called a white supremacist (even if you’re not white). The conversation above is very close to one I’ve had with Republicans — lifelong Republicans, who voted for Reagan, the Bushes, Mitt Romney, all of them. Republicans who claim to agree with Rush Limbaugh and sometimes even with Ayn Rand. Yet they cannot believe anyone would vote for Trump. They will vote for Biden, they will vote for the green agenda, higher taxes, socialism — ANYTHING but Trump.
And yet Trump simply practices — in moderation — what Republicans always claimed to believe.
The issue isn’t that they don’t like Trump. It’s fine not to like him. But they cannot say why. It’s ALL emotional. And, most significantly, they don’t think they need a reason. And you’re a monster for defending Trump, even on a single issue.
This is what the death of reason looks like in a culture. And the irrationality surrounding Trump is one of the more prominent symptoms.
People have gone mad, in the political and social realm. In such a context, the 21st century version of concentration camps cannot be far behind. Most of us think we’re beyond that, and that it cannot ever happen in America. I’m sorry to tell you: that’s magical thinking.
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