Politically Jaded
I find that more and more I am becoming jaded to the confusing mess that is the Trump presidency. I am hammered each day from the right and left to tell me what is and is not true, what does and does not add up, and who said what and when. And, for better or worse, with the kind of social media we have and the fact that nothing posted ever really disappears, we can all find out who said what and when and make up our own minds - should we so desire.
Of course I still see the bumper stickers that say, "I don't believe the liberal media." Ok. So you don't believe them. I'm not sure I do either, nor am I sure I believe the conservative media. They both seem to have become so agenda driven that they have long, long, long ago stopped reporting the news and have decided that all they have to do is comment a story to death. Even "All Things Considered" has taken to interviewing Trump supporters to get their opinions on the state of the Union. That isn't reporting. It is fluff.
Now I have to acknowledge that I am not a Trump supporter. I am also not one of the "never Trump" movement. I was not a Clinton supporter either. They both seemed like bad choices. But, as an American, I respect the voting process (and if it was hacked or not, we have what we have) and the winner is the president.
In much the same way people can be for or against a particular war, they can still be supportive of the troops. I am no fan of some of our military actions, but I respect those who serve. Greatly. My concern is that we do not utilize them with the same level of honor with which they serve. But that's another issue.
Anyway, President Trump is my president. I am not the kind of person who claims that he isn't my president because I don't like him or wish to deny the fact that he is the president and substitute some kind of alternative fact that, say, Clinton is really the president. That is foolishness and a silly way to deal with reality.
It is precisely because he is the (or "my" or "our") president that I find I am exasperated by the news, the tweets, and the continual barrage of unsettling trends that come from the White House. I want our country to be great, but that has to be reflected in the stature and comportment of our top officials. We have a world that is changing rapidly and if we are so caught up in scandal after scandal and bad decisions, we will find ourselves so busy trying to untangle the stories that we are missing what is going on around us.
We do need to get our house in order. We do need to focus on our economy and jobs and health care. But we need to do it well and with honor and without a system that turns differing political ideologies into "enemies." Because once you turn someone into an enemy, they don't have to be treated as human any more. The same is true in our racial issues as well.
It seems that we are wearing ourselves out with mistakes and worries. And this has only been a little over 100 days. What will the future hold? It is hard to imagine that it will smooth out any time soon. And if that sounds jaded it is because I am.
Of course I still see the bumper stickers that say, "I don't believe the liberal media." Ok. So you don't believe them. I'm not sure I do either, nor am I sure I believe the conservative media. They both seem to have become so agenda driven that they have long, long, long ago stopped reporting the news and have decided that all they have to do is comment a story to death. Even "All Things Considered" has taken to interviewing Trump supporters to get their opinions on the state of the Union. That isn't reporting. It is fluff.
Now I have to acknowledge that I am not a Trump supporter. I am also not one of the "never Trump" movement. I was not a Clinton supporter either. They both seemed like bad choices. But, as an American, I respect the voting process (and if it was hacked or not, we have what we have) and the winner is the president.
In much the same way people can be for or against a particular war, they can still be supportive of the troops. I am no fan of some of our military actions, but I respect those who serve. Greatly. My concern is that we do not utilize them with the same level of honor with which they serve. But that's another issue.
Anyway, President Trump is my president. I am not the kind of person who claims that he isn't my president because I don't like him or wish to deny the fact that he is the president and substitute some kind of alternative fact that, say, Clinton is really the president. That is foolishness and a silly way to deal with reality.
It is precisely because he is the (or "my" or "our") president that I find I am exasperated by the news, the tweets, and the continual barrage of unsettling trends that come from the White House. I want our country to be great, but that has to be reflected in the stature and comportment of our top officials. We have a world that is changing rapidly and if we are so caught up in scandal after scandal and bad decisions, we will find ourselves so busy trying to untangle the stories that we are missing what is going on around us.
We do need to get our house in order. We do need to focus on our economy and jobs and health care. But we need to do it well and with honor and without a system that turns differing political ideologies into "enemies." Because once you turn someone into an enemy, they don't have to be treated as human any more. The same is true in our racial issues as well.
It seems that we are wearing ourselves out with mistakes and worries. And this has only been a little over 100 days. What will the future hold? It is hard to imagine that it will smooth out any time soon. And if that sounds jaded it is because I am.
Comments
Post a Comment