As public political discourse descends to new lows, what is a common-sense person to do?
Well, not go over the deep end.
What is that end?
Maybe it is Trump Anxiety Syndrome, the haunting fear that Donald Trump may become the next president.
Hey, I don’t support The Donald, but I always try to avoid syndromes.
Besides, I know many of his supporters. They are not as crazy as folks on the left think they must be. Indeed, East and Left Coast elites think that Trump is Hitler, and that his supporters are Nazis and white supremacists — as per a Saturday Night Live mock TV ad, just aired this weekend.
That’s way off, and those with common sense to apply should stop the demonization. It is not winning over Trump supporters.
Indeed, one plausible theory about the rise of Trump mania is that it is a reaction to previous unhinged leftist sneers and extremist excesses.
Extremes breed extremes. Calling someone who hates Nazis a Nazi might even make them hate Nazis less. Smart people don’t encourage that.
So, you oppose Trump? Seriously? Then, let’s consider emphasizing reason over bile. Avoid ad hominems and demonization. Left, right or center, the only workable Trump opposition will be done with facts and arguments … that address the real, legitimate concerns that led to Mr. Trump’s popularity.
And maybe try a bit of charity — at the very least to his admirers.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
5 replies on “Extremist Over-reaction Syndrome”
I believe the Trump rooters are more opposed to the insidious brotherhood inside Washingtton than to high expectations for Donald Trump. These days, both republicrats and demiocans look alike and vvote alike. Trump promises to better America which is a far cry from what the incumbents are doing. The winning card for Trump is the panic in DC.
Given that constitutionally the executive was to be the weakest branch of the federal government, what can be the issue if the other branches are capable of, and doing their assigned jobs.
This may not even be a crisis, certianly not reason for panic. It could even be healthy.
Lots of well written intelligent information out there that reveals interesting and important information on Trump. No need to invent it.
Many people I once viewed with respect- including some prominent in the TEA Party movement, have lost all my respect for supporting Trump. As pointed out above, there us plenty of legitimate information on The Pretender and if people don’t ignore all the danger signs and actually do their due diligence, then Trump will stumble as the primaries continue forward. But if one gets any experience in these article comment sections, on various news sites, engaging with the Trump supporters you soon find that the description of “brownshirts” that has been made has some validity. Some are just that nasty. But Paul, you are right, we need not go to that level. And it is critical to bear in mind that most of the Republican effort to stop Donald Trump is NOT coming from the “establishment,” but rather from the 2/3 of voters who are clear about one thing: anybody but Trump! He can’t claim legitimate mandate with only 1/3 of the primary/caucus voters behind him.
Trump is an opportunity to buy time, because of what he represents, solely symbolically. Here’s a column I guest excerpted from Jon Rappoport (http://brianrwright.com/CoffeeCoasterBlog/?p=7227). Think of Trump as Howard Beale, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” He is the demise and detonation of the entire cultural Orwellian PC BS… and everything the establishment represents. One good, even outstanding, reason to support Donald Trump: He’ll end Common Core.