I can’t get over why reporters can’t get over voter hypocrisy.
There have been several moves Trump has made that could already be called executive over-reach or “pay to play.” Reporters interview voters/supporters and say, “But didn’t you say this was wrong? Why is it okay when Trump does it?”
The answer: “Well, what he’s doing is going to fix all these things.”
There is no admission of what the truth is: it’s okay when Trump does it. It’s not okay when Obama/Hillary does it.
That’s all.
We’ve all seen the videos of voters being read Hitler’s quotes and being told Trump said them. They love the ideas!
We’ve all seen the videos of voters being read Obama’s policies and being told they’re Trump’s. They love the ideas!
We are all guilty of this, to some degree.
For example, Republicans say they believe in small government decisions, favoring the state over the country, the city over the state, except of course when the small government passes pro-marijuana, anti-discrimination, or gun control legislation.
Generally, I’m a federalist, rather than a states’ rights person. I don’t think my rights should be different in different states or that I shouldn’t be able to ship wine to myself from one American place to another or that a lawsuit against someone basically falls away if they move across a state line.
But I love it when California tells the rest of you to go f yourselves sometimes (although of course I want the whole country to get more progressive, so we don’t have to be different) and, during difficult Presidencies, I tell foreigners that I’m from California when they ask. It automatically makes them like me more.
My hypocrisy is absolutely glaring in another way right now.
I believe in empathy, in Rogerian arguments, etc. And yet I cannot yet empathize with Trump voters. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to do so with those who are attacking people, who are threatening the Islamic center in my town, who are making me and my friends and my students angry and afraid.
Americans (and humans) have problems upholding their principles; no wonder we elect people without any.
