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It’s a rough time for our country, but we will get through it, and we will eventually get back to the presidential election. When we do, I’m hoping its with a more civil, less hateful approach. And that includes how we talk about President Trump.
I’m not a Trump fan, but I’m also not a Trump Hater. It bothers how people attack the president personally and question his integrity. Not commenting on anything he did before elected, but give him credit – before the coronavirus, he was actually trying to do what he said he would do. He was actually trying to live up to his campaign promises, and that’s not something you can say about every politician or office holder. How could that not be viewed as proof of integrity?
Just as frustrating are the people that suggest Trump is in it for the money, that he is using his position as President to enrich himself. That’s just not true. By almost every publicly available number, he is making less money now that he was before he ran for president. Being president has hurt his finances, not helped them. Why is it so hard for people to accept that President Trump really is trying to do what he thinks is best for our country? Not trying to rip off the country, not trying to destroy it, just doing what he thinks needs to be done us a better country? Everybody talks about how the President has undermined democratic norms. One of those democratic norms is that we didn’t demonize the other side. We assume they loved our country just like we love our country, even if they thought it needed to move in a different direction. President Trump loves this country, and while I don’t believe in the direction he wants to take us, he clearly feels that he is doing what’s best for our country. He wants what he thinks is best for America. Again, I’m not a Trump fan, and I don’t agree with a great many of his decisions, or how he has handled this crisis. But I don’t question his commitment to, or love, of our country. You can’t complain about the damage to our democratic values and then turn around and accuse Trump of being an evil man trying to hurt our country. You just can’t – they are only democratic norms if they count for everybody in our democracy, even the people with whom we don’t agree. Yes, even for President Donald Trump. Comments are closed.
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We're In This Together
Sometimes it seems as if "Conversation" has become a bad word in our country, as if talking to someone not in complete agreement with you is a sign of weakness. Sometimes it seems as if Anger is the only energizing force we allow ourselves. I believe in a different America. An America where two people can disagree but still respect the basic humanity of the other person. An America where it is possible to disagree without hate, to talk without shouting. I believe, even still, in the ideal of the United States of America, a democracy where each person has the right to pursue their own life, and have their own opinion. If our country is less great than it once was, it is because we have slipped away from this idea, this belief that all men and women have the right to choose the course of their own lives, and their own opinions. It is both the left and the right that have slipped away from this idea, allowed their anger to somehow convince themselves to question the humanity of the other side. Sometimes it seems that fighting anger with reason is impossible. But if history has proven anything, it is that reason does always eventually win. This blog is my effort to again have a conversation, to replace anger with reason. I hope you will join me in a conversation, and together we can recapture the faith in our country and our citizens that made America great. Archives
November 2021
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