FEBRUARY 1, 2020 – We who’ve disdained Trump forever are in the funk we’d predicted for ourselves at the onset of the impeachment process. These past couple of days, we’ve been hurling invective at the Republican Senators who surrendered their scruples in order to . . . save their jobs; avoid the withering wrath of their thoughtless leader; stay on the prayerful side of religious zealots?
But the “problem” runs deeper than Republican senators.
Yesterday morning I followed my usual route through the section of skyway that runs from my downtown bus stop to my office building. Early in the walk I passed around a couple of middle-aged white guys talking in low voices. As I did so, I heard one say, “. . . what the liberal media says . . .” I immediately pegged them as conservatives, since generally, people use a “liberal” or “conservative” label for the media only in derogation.
Sure enough. The next phrases I overheard were (by one guy), “I just can’t understand why Hillary Clinton isn’t in jail,” and (by the other guy), “Yeah, uh huh, and a whole lot of other Democrats . . .”
I wanted to slam on the brakes, spin around and cross-examine these guys on the spot. “In jail for what? On what charge? Based on what admissible evidence? Pursuant to what process?” I wanted to ask. “And since we’re talking about people being jailed, isn’t it true that Trump’s long-time personal lawyer and fixer is . . . in prison? Isn’t it true that Trump’s campaign manager is . . . in prison? And since we’re talking about Trump’s cohorts and associates, let’s talk about Trump himself. Isn’t it true that [list all his documented misdeeds]?”
But I didn’t say anything. Nor did I whip around nor slacken my pace. I just kept walking, distancing myself from the two gentleman who thought Hillary Clinton belonged “in jail.” (Details, details . . . but I wondered if they knew the difference between “jail” and “prison,” or were just parroting what they’d heard ad nauseam on FoxGoebbels.)
A short time later, while hiking up the stairwell of my office building (part of my exercise regimen), I flipped through my Facebook newsfeed. Grabbing my attention was a post by “The Presidential Coalition.” To my shock upon a little research, it’s a pro-Trump affiliate of Citizens United (!). It had beaucoup followers. I scrolled through a number of the comments and noticed a theme—not just the obvious theme (“Rah, rah Trump!”) but the absence of evidence, the denial of fact, the praise of qualities wholly absent in Trump, even when he ran around as . . . a Democrat.
By the time I reached the floor of my office, I’d long forgotten about the spineless Republican Senators. I was in a funk about my fellow citizens—and how their perceptions of reality can be so wildly and radically different from what I’ve learned, observed, and accepted as verifiable fact, truth based on guiding principles, and norms of behavior in a civil society.
Or am I the one detached from reality?
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
