I was probably happier than anyone that this
election cycle finally came to an end two weeks ago. I was tired of seeing the
daily conglomeration of ignorant Facebook posts, and I was tired of hearing
people who had no idea about any political issues like fifteen minutes ago suddenly
pretended to be experts and started lecturing everyone with the intensity of
Jonathan Edwards’s famous Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God sermon.
However, the most concerning revelation to come out
of this election season was one we've seen time and time again- the absolute blatant dishonesty by members of the media. Television and journalists has always been to the left, and talk radio and Fox News have always been to the right, but this cycle seemed particularly dishonest. Each side lied time and time again and perverted their principles to
cover the ass of the person they were supporting.
But it wasn’t just the media who were dishonest; it
was also the candidates themselves! And when you have people running for public office that tell more lies
than Pinocchio, covered or perverted by a media that regurgitates the same BS
onto an ill-informed, polarized society that’s willing to believe just about anything, we end up with Donald Trump, and a country that’s as fractured as it’s
ever been.
Hillary Clinton is as slimy, corrupt, and dishonest
as it gets in American politics, but she’s not really the focus of this; she was so inept as a politician that she lost to a guy that had a
recording of him hinting at sexual assault leaked to the public like four weeks
before the election. Clinton was so terrible and unlikable that she couldn’t manage
to defeat an orange buffoon with no real knowledge of the issues. During their first debate, Trump literally screamed that he had a, “winning temperament”
while looking more flustered than Kanye West during a profanity-laced rant, and she still couldn't beat him. She’ll now fade into obscurity, and rightly so.
My issues now lie with Trump, the right-leaning
media, and the American right at large, a group who entirely compromised their
morals and principles in the name of defeating Hillary throughout the entire
election cycle. Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, two guys I didn’t have a lot of
respect for anyway, were completely in the bag for Trump from the outset, and many people threw their weight behind The Donald as it got closer and closer to November 8th. I don’t
particularly care if media members, whether it’s politics, sports, or culture,
vocally support candidates, teams, or actors, but the problem arises when they
outright lie for them, or twist their words into something that they didn’t
really mean. For example, and if you’ve ever read anything I’ve written, it’s
pretty obvious that I’m about as big of a Tennessee fan as anyone could
possibly be. Does that mean I should take it easy on them when they suck, or
that I should betray what my eyes saw and make excuses for the program or the head
coach? Of course not. The number 1 thing I owe anyone, whether it’s in this
medium, or in my conversations, is honesty.
So when Trump laid out his plan for mandatory paid
maternity leave a few months ago, many on the right who would’ve lost their
minds if Obama or Bernie did the same thing suddenly raced to defend the plan as “conservative”
and “necessary” when it was neither of the two.
It’s the same thing with this
whole Mike Pence-Hamilton controversy.
Ben Shapiro made this point on CNN on Sunday; if Joe Biden went to a NASCAR
race and got booed, wouldn’t conservatives decry Obama if he went on Twitter
and condemned NASCAR as a whole and demanded an apology for people exercising
their right to free speech? Of course they would! So why is it ok for Trump to
do that? (To be fair, I think the Hamilton actors are idiots. But even
people I disagree with have the right to free speech!)
Other disturbing trends; many conservatives have now
abandoned free trade, embraced tariffs, and foolishly believed that the loss of
that T-shirt factory to Indonesia is the reason life in the Rust Belt is now so
terrible. Plus, Trump has flirted with a $15 an hour minimum wage and has done
everything to position himself as a strong, powerful executive who has made overtures
to racists and the Alt-Right. I’m also old enough to remember when
conservatives absolutely lost their minds about Bill Clinton’s sexual assault
accusations, affairs, and general negative attitude toward women. But when
Trump does it, it’s just “locker room talk” or hearsay. For the record, I don’t
think what Trump said in a private conversation a decade ago is the biggest
deal in the world; I say things probably every day that I wouldn’t want
broadcast to the masses, but it’s a little hypocritical for the right to so
blatantly and egregiously defend a guy who has been through multiple divorces
and extra-marital affairs when they killed BJ Clinton for his conduct less than
two decades ago.
I understand that Hillary Clinton is terrible. You
don’t have to convince me of that, and I could see the logic of voting for
Trump to stop her. But now that we’ve elected him, how many people are going to
actually going to keep paying attention? How disappointed are you going to be
when that wall doesn't get built? He’s already pivoted on many of his
immigration policies, like employing a deportation force, and he’s basically
abandoned his promise to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the handling
of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. Why should I believe that he’s going to
stand up for the second amendment or the pro-life movement? And what has he done to indicate that his “Repeal and Replace” of Obamacare is actually going to be an
improvement, considering he’s been pretty mum on what he’s actually proposing.
I have no reason to believe anything that comes out of his mouth, because he’s
literally held every position imaginable. Here was an exchange he had with Bill
O’Reilly a few months ago:
O’Reilly: There has to be a federal minimum wage.
What would you set the federal minimum wage at?
Trump: There doesn’t have to be. Well, I would leave
it and raise it somewhat.
What? Wasn’t that just three different policy
positions in the span of two sentences?
I suppose if
you just hate the Clinton’s and getting what you perceive as new blood in
there, no matter his policies, then a vote for Trump is justified. But if you care about the principles
of limited, constitutional government, you’re taking the L for the next four
years.
Is it fair to say that, even before he takes office,
Donald Trump fooled the masses by pandering to their concerns and anger? He came
out and presented himself as the swinging balls of America by saying brash,
politically incorrect, and sometimes rude things about anything and everything,
and was a direct backlash against the identity politics and the unfounded charges of racism,
sexism, and bigotry from the Obama administration and the American left the
last eight years. The Democrats had become so disconnected with the rest of the
country that Americans rallied around an as establishment-as-humanly-possible
celebrity to defeat the establishment and celebrity culture of the Obama White
House and potential Hillary Clinton administration.
It’s not about principle anymore; it’s all about
defeating the other side, no matter the cost, even if it means lying for or
protecting the candidate you support. We went through the entire Obama
administration without the leftist media ever asking him a tough question; Trump
won’t have the same opportunity, because the left controls most of the major
media outlets and they hate him, but are O’Reilly, Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and
most others on the right going to treat him with kid gloves?
Here’s what I want for the next four years and
beyond; a media that isn’t afraid to ask tough questions, and commends
presidents and politicians when they do well and hammers them when they are
dishonest or betray their principles and constituents for personal gain or political
purposes. Truth has to become the most important factor in analysis and
reporting again. I have my doubts it ever will be, considering their behavior
the last two weeks. Principle and truth have gone out the window in favor of
pandering to certain segments of the population and winning elections.
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