Forgive the self-indulgence here for a second, but there is a point to be made through it. I’m filling in for the great Rush Limbaugh tomorrow (Friday, so make sure to tune in) and, needless to say, I’m very excited about it. As such, I posted it on social media, once I was allowed to. One of the replies was from my best friend, who happens to be a big liberal. He’s always been a big liberal, I’ve always been a big conservative, it’s never really been an issue…until President Donald Trump.
Sure, we’d argued about politics over the years – when you’ve known someone since high school, you’ve likely argued about everything, at one point or another – but we’ve always been cheerleaders for each other, like friends should be. And he always has been, until now.
He responded with a crack about COVID and misinformation, the details aren’t important. What is important is the tone, it was nasty. We haven’t talked much in a while, he’s a doctor living in New Jersey and is married with two small kids so, as you can imagine, he’s busy and stressed, which is understandable. Still, once Trump was elected, the phone calls became returned less frequently.
I should add that we avoided talking politics as much as possible. Years of friendship, fun, and arguing led us to realize there was no point in fighting about the things we aren’t going to change about each other, there are enough other things to talk about that we didn’t need to start pointless fights. That’s what made his snarky reply to my good news so bothersome.
You don’t have to be happy with a piece of news to be happy for someone over that news, or at least you shouldn’t have to be. Yet, that’s how it seemed.
We’d been there for each other through the deaths of our mothers, various girl problems (and there were a lot of those before we both got married), and everything else life throws at people. But Trump, somehow, was different.
I know I’m not alone. It’s tempting to think it’s simply related to Donald Trump, but I somehow doubt it would’ve been any different had another Republican, any of the dozen or so who ran, had won in 2016 instead of Trump. Something seems to have changed with Democrats in the last two decades.
Yes, Donald Trump tweets rude things, but he hasn’t actually done anything beyond the pale or out of left field that would set him apart, as far as norms go, from any other president. In fact, Barack Obama issued more broad executive orders, bypassing Congress, than President Trump did. Obama created laws on his own, Trump did not. Obama ignored laws with the stroke of his pen, Trump did not.
But after four years of “Trump is a criminal who is using the presidency to make a fortune” and “Trump is a monster, a threat to our democracy” stories from the activist press, liberals have taken it all to heart. It’s a testament to the power of propaganda. When you are preached the worst about people who disagree with you, simply because they disagree with you, you start to believe it.
George W. Bush was Hitler. Then John McCain became Hitler when he won the nomination. Then Mitt Romney inherited the title in 2012. Now leftists yearn for the days of those men because Trump is Hitler. Whoever comes next will be super-Hitler on steroids, no doubt.
What they can’t do is point to any proof of Hitler because it’s stupid.
Calling your opponent Hitler allows you to avoid specific, or even vague approximations, of counter-arguments. It makes the job of media-types easier, presenting alternatives or refuting facts takes effort. A Rachel Maddow monologue, while carefully constructed, is easy to write when you can use a three-second clip here, and an anonymous insinuation there. It’s even easier to digest because it challenges no preconceived notions, only reinforces what the audience wants to believe.
That’s why, when someone like Alyssa Milano, who has spent four years smearing Republicans, comes out and says, “I’d like to extend an olive branch to Trump supporters. I am ready to move #ForwardTogether,” the reception is less than friendly.
We do need to get along, but conservatives aren’t interested in enabling an abusive relationship. We’re not going to apologize that we brought out the worst in the left by existing any more than an abused spouse should apologize for “angering” their partner to the point of getting physical. If leftists want to change the nature of the relationship with conservatives they should start with acknowledging that they’re the ones who soured it in the first place.
On a national level, that seems unlikely since there’s too much money and high ratings in the current relationship. On a personal level, maybe we start by getting over the petty. It is, after all, Thanksgiving. So, until liberals get it (and maybe they never will), I’ll start by ignoring my best friend’s Trump Tourette’s and at least pretend he’s happy for me, unless and until the opposite is proven. I suggest others do the same. We’ve forgiven each other for worse over the years. Politics goes on forever, life does not. When it comes to the people closest to you, it’s too damn short to live it any differently.
Derek Hunter is the host of a free daily podcast (subscribe!), host of a daily radio show on WCBM in Maryland, and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter.
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