Double standards – The Real Problem with Politics 
I would like to see both sides simply admit they have double standards. I’m not going to try to talk people to or from one side but point out the double standards that create division. Ultimately, it boils down to confirmation bias, where you seek and find confirmatory evidence in support of already existing beliefs and ignore or reinterpret dis-confirmatory evidence. More than ever before, people of different ideological backgrounds seem to live in separate universes, you only believe news sources that give you news you want to hear. You listen to authors, speakers that say what you want to hear. You read blogs that conform to what you want to read.
We unfollow or unfriend those in social media we don’t agree with and often do that in our offline life as well. All our friends think similarly to us. Then we see the other side and think they are so out of touch with reality. We think why are we so divided? Isn’t it obvious that my side is right? Then we give our articles that conform to what we are saying and the other side just says “Fake News” to it and we dissolve into immature social trolls throwing insults around, the right is racist, sexist, nazi pigs, the left is socialist or commie libtard snowflakes.
At times it can seem that the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates into dehumanization. Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples while judging ourselves by our best intentions — forgetting the image of God we should see in each other.” – 43, George W. Bush Oct. 19, 2017
Both sides feel confident that factual evidence overwhelming supports their position.
One example: In the days after the inauguration, social scientists showed participants photos of Trump’s inaugural crowd (right side) and Obama’s (left side). Those who had voted for Trump were more likely to say Trump had the larger turnout, despite obvious differences in the photos that demonstrated otherwise. Many people said it was photoshopped or “Fake News”. 
Double Standards For The GOP
Respect my President: Those who are saying we should stand behind Trump, stop the whining. Some have even said it is treason to not stand with Trump. I find the people who are saying this for the last 8 years showed no respect to Obama but want respect for their guy. Some people posted daily on social media with anti-Obama memes, he is the worst President ever, about Obama not being eligible to be President (birther movement moved pushed by Trump who later complains about people not respecting his legitimacy), he is the founder/head of ISIS, he is a Muslim, socialist hell bent of destroying America. I’ve seen one post on Facebook that said they can’t wait for the Obama idiot to leave, then the next post those that don’t respect Trump are what is wrong with America.
If you’re criticizing people for protesting and using the hashtag #notmypresident in regards to Trump, you need to look in the mirror before you continue. Half my news feed has been nothing but saying that about Obama for the past 8 years. See the Google Search for a nice visual of “Obama not my president” narrowed it between 11/2008 and 11/2016.http://www.google.com/search?q=Obama+not+my+president&biw=1440&bih=789&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A11%2F1%2F2008%2Ccd_max%3A11%2F8%2F2016&tbm=
Likewise, if you criticized those for saying Obama isn’t their President, and are now saying Trump isn’t your president. If you’re doing this, you are a hypocrite. If you want respect, you must give it as well.
I was confused as my conservative patriots and my friends under Bush who loved and respected our President and hated Dixie Chicks when they talked negatively about President Bush then seemed to have no liking or respect for Obama. For years I saw many post and memes a day, how he is going to take our guns away, how he was the anti-Christ (no joke), thanks to the guy name Trump pushing the birther movement, many of them questioned wither Obama was even eligible to be President. I remember thinking why do the people who loved the government and had so much respect for the President before now appear to hate him. Whether you like the president or not, he is the commander in chief of the United States of America, a lot of people died for democracy but it seemed that only if the person was on your side would you show respect.
I had a few conservative friends fly the flag upside down and had profile pictures with the upside down flag. In the view of some Tea Party advocates, the upside-down flag displays a palpable reflection of bitter disappointment and, perhaps even worse, a sense of irrelevance towards Obama re-election.
When Trump won, the very people who have been sharing nothing positive about Obama, all of the sudden started sharing post like if you don’t support the President then you should leave the country or be tried for treason. Liberals started using the upside down flag and the same people that had no issue with the Tea Party doing it now claim liberals hate America and they are disrespecting the flag. It was like America became bi-polar. I was blown away by all you should get behind Trump or else you are what is wrong with the world post.
Many of my anti-Obama friends unfollowed, unfriended or blocked me within the first month of Trump winning the election. I found it interesting that I could go years agreeing to disagree but they couldn’t go that long listening to any dissent and yet they called the liberals snowflakes.
If you didn’t give respect and stand with Obama, expecting others to give it to Trump is a double standard. I looked at my old facebook from Obama winning the 2008 election and saw a lot of people who were against him and stayed that way to this very day who are now saying people need to give Trump a chance and respect him who never offered it to Obama. A glaring double standard.
Hollywood Needs to Stay Out of Politics
If you are mad at Meryl Streep for not supporting Trump in her speech and were one of the many who said celebrities should stay out of politics but also shared positive memes and articles in support of Nicole Kidman, Toby Keith (who has been a democrat) or any other act supporting Trump then that is a double standard. I interpret that as any celebrity or artist that doesn’t support your guy should stay quiet but if they do support him then be loud and proud about it. That line of reasoning is a double standard for everyone. Either celebrities need to stay out of politics or not, you can’t just support them when they support your side. Besides the greatest irony is Trump is a reality TV star and he was voted to the highest office in the land.
If you are mad at how Obama treated Fox news at times, just calling them Fox but love how Trump shut down CNN recently calling them fake news. That is a double standard…and yes it goes both ways.
If you think Obama was weak and needed a backbone but are totally cool with Donald Trump’s tweets whining / bullying / arguing every time someone makes fun of him, despite no President doing that before. That is a double standard. Thinking Obama was rude to Conservatives but ignoring that Trump has been a bully to everyone, especially his own party, his has called House Speaker Ryan weak, in-fact he calls everyone weak if he doesn’t like them, he made fun of everyone in the primaries. Jeb Bush even said you can’t insult your way to the White House. All that to say, if he insults his own party but he gets a pass but if he insults the other side people, run with it. Lots of double standards with his nominee picks, many who voiced opinions that were against Trump.
I’ve seen many put downs on Bernie last year saying he doesn’t know Economics when it comes to free health care and tuition and how people should get a job and support their own. I’ve seen at least three go fund me accounts by the same people who have been critical of Bernie but wanting help with medical bills, student loans or a car. I almost donated to them because I like them as people but chose not too because of their Facebook postings talking about how welfare people need to get a job. I’ve earned my money from hard work, if they feel so strong against handouts for other people, why are they asking for one for themselves? 6. You are mad about the cost of Obama’s vacations but ok with Trump’s half a million daily security cost and possible continuing cost as Trump might spend part of the time in NYC still.
Sexual Harassment / Assualt is a big one for the GOP. Now let us be real here, all sides are guilty of this as this Wikipedia page shows, many people including many who called for Bill Clinton’s impeachment have been found to have had affairs too. The difference is the left is cannibalistic and will eat their own. I’ve seen way too many posts from my liberal friends condemning/disowning other liberals because of sexual harassment accusations. Harvey Weinstein, Ben Affleck, Louis C.K, Kevin Spacey, Anthony Weiner, even many on the left recognize Bill Clinton as a predator. I certainly do. I’m sure there are many others but at least from what I’ve seen liberals and even late night talk host have no issue with taking down a fellow liberal over sexual harassment accusations.
However the right from what I see on social media, without a doubt believes any victim if it is against a Democrat but they will dismiss all accusors as a liberal plant, a Democrat, they are all liars, they just want 15 minutes of fame. Bill Cosby a well-known conservative has been accused by 59 women of rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery, or other sexual misconduct. There were also two instances of alleged child sexual abuse, both involving girls 15 years of age.
Many Republicans defended Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, even Roy Moore. Too often the victim is lying if it is on our side but they are telling the truth if it is on the other side. It amazed me as many people brought up Bill Clintons’ affair as a reason Hilliary is a bad person for staying with her husband and totally ok with Trump and his life of misogyny. At least 16 women accused the president of sexually harassing them throughout the course of the campaign. In 2017, during a press conference in the Rose Garden, the president called these accusations ‘fake news.’ Is the official White House position that all of these women are lying?” “Yeah, we’ve been clear on that from the beginning, and the president’s spoken on it,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, before quickly pivoting to another reporter to ask a question.
Eleven women came forward during the 2016 campaign to accuse the then-Republican presidential candidate of unwanted touching or kissing. Other women accused Trump of walking in on them when they were undressing at beauty pageants he owned. The party of traditional marriage leader Donald Trump said if he hadn’t been caught red-handed he likely would have kept on cheating on his first wife, he admitted in a 1994 interview.
“Well it’s interesting, because it’s possible that you know, maybe it would still be going on. I’m not sure” he said in an interview with ABC Primetime Live that aired in 1994 when the interviewer asked him if he would have “confronted that situation” of the affair. “My life was so great in so many ways. The business was so great… a beautiful girlfriend, a beautiful wife, a beautiful everything. Life was just a bowl of cherries,” he says later in the interview.
The comments are just one of many examples of Trump’s steadfast refusal to show any guilt or remorse for his marital infidelities and his seeming view that women were disposable. It also suggests the only reason Trump went through a divorce with his first wife, Ivana, was because his years-long affair with Marla Maples became public. Trump’s repeated sexism and misogyny continued with a 2005 hot mic incident in which Trump later called “Locker Room Talk”. Mr. Trump was filmed talking to the television personality Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” on the set of “Days of Our Lives,” where Mr. Trump was making a cameo appearance. They are later joined by the actress Arianne Zucker.
Trump: I moved on her, actually. You know, she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it. I did try and fuck her. She was married. No, no, Nancy. No, this was [unintelligible] — and I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, “I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.” I took her out furniture — I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look. Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.
When it comes to Roy Moore running for Senate in Alabama, the allegations he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old in 1979 when he was 32-years-old. Three other women said Moore pursued them as teenagers. The following letter was posted before a fifth woman, Beverly Young Nelson came forward on 11/13/17 and even said that her and her husband voted for Trump and this isn’t a Republican or Democrat situation and yet many GOP folks, mostly from Alabama threw her under the bus saying she was a liberal Democrat plant, Fake News, and all the accusors are lairs and why do they all come out now? Some even said he still better than a Democrat.
53 Pastors signed a letter of Support of Roy Moore
Dear friends and fellow Alabamians,
For decades, Roy Moore has been an immovable rock in the culture wars – a bold defender of the “little guy,” a just judge to those who came before his court, a warrior for the unborn child, defender of the sanctity of marriage, and a champion for religious liberty. Judge Moore has stood in the gap for us, taken the brunt of the attack, and has done so with a rare, unconquerable resolve.
As a consequence of his unwavering faith in God and his immovable convictions for Biblical principles, he was ousted as Chief Justice in 2003. As a result, he continued his life pursuit by starting the Foundation for Moral Law, which litigates religious liberty cases around our Nation. After being re-elected again to Chief Justice in 2012, by an overwhelming majority, he took another round of persecution for our faith as he stood up for the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.
You can know a man by his enemies, and he’s made plenty – from the radical organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU to the liberal media and a handful of establishment politicians from Washington. He has friends too, a lot of them. They live all across this great State, work hard all week, and fill our pews on Sunday. They know him as a father, a grandfather, a man who loves God’s Word and knows much of it by heart, a man who cares for the people, a man who understands our Constitution in the tradition of our Founding Fathers, and a man who deeply loves America. It’s no wonder the Washington establishment has declared all-out war on his campaign.
We are ready to join the fight and send a bold message to Washington: dishonesty, fear of man, and immorality are an affront to our convictions and our Savior and we won’t put up with it any longer. We urge you to join us at the polls to cast your vote for Roy Moore.
In your service,
Dr. Tom Ford, III, Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama
Pastor Stan Cooke, Kimberly Church of God, Kimberly, Alabama
Pastor Jonathan Rodgers, Dothan, Alabama
Pastor Joseph Smith, Pine Air Baptist Church, Grand Bay Alabama
Dr. David E. Gonnella, Pastor, Theodore, Alabama
Pastor Mike Allison, Madison, Alabama
Dr. Terry Batton, Christian Renewal and Development Ministries, Eufaula, Alabama
Pastors Tim and Elizabeth Hanson, Smiths Station, Alabama
Pastor Mark Liddle, Dominion Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama
Pastor Steve Sanders, Victory Baptist Church, Millbrook, Alabama
Dr. Richard Fox, retired Baptist pastor
Dr. Randy Cooper, Pastor, Warrior, Alabama
William Green, Minister, Fresh Anointing House of Worship, Montgomery, Alabama
Maurice McCaney, Victory Christian Fellowship Church, Florence, Alabama
Pastor Jamie Holcomb, Young’s Chapel, Piedmont, Alabama
Pastor Paul Elliott, Young’s Chapel, Piedmont, Alabama
Pastor Rodney Gilmore, Covenant Christian, Gadsden, Alabama
Pastor Mark Gidley, Faith Worship Center, Gadsden, Alabama
Pastor Bill Snow, Edgewood Church, Anniston, Alabama
Pastor Michael Yates, Webster’s Chapel, Gadsden, Alabama
Pastor Mark Holden, Webster’s Chapel, Gadsden, Alabama
Pastor Joshua Copeland, Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, Anniston, Alabama
Pastor Bruce Jenkins, Young’s Chapel, Piedmont, Alabama
Pastor Keith Bond, Young’s Chapel, Piedmont, Alabama
Pastor Jim Lester, Fannin Road Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama
Pastor Thad Endicott, Heritage Baptist Church, Opelika, Alabama
Bishop Fred and Tijuanna Adetunji, Fresh Anointing House of Worship, Montgomery, Alabama
Pastor David Floyd, Marvyn Parkway Baptist Church, Opelika, Alabama
Pastor Bruce Word, Freedom Church, Gadsden, Alabama
Pastor Paul Hubbard, Lakeview Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama
Rev. Carl Head, Lakeview Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama
Pastor Duwayne Bridges, Jr., Fairfax First Christian Church, Valley, Alabama
Rev. Edwin Roberts, Adams Street Church of Christ, Enterprise, Alabama
Pastor John McCrummen, Open Door Baptist Church, Enterprise, Alabama
Rev. Mickey Counts, Open Door Baptist Church, Enterprise, Alabama
Rev. Alex Pagen, Open Door Baptist Church, Enterprise, Alabama
Pastor Glenn Brock, Eufaula, Alabama
Rev. Tim Head, Montgomery, Alabama
Pastor/Elder Ted Phillips, Christ Church, Odenville, Alabama
Tim Yarbrough, Elder, Trinity Free Presbyterian, Trinity, Alabama
Pastor Myron Mooney, Trinity Free Presbyterian, Trinity, Alabama
Jerry Frank, Elder, Trinity Free Presbyterian, Trinity, Alabama
Pastor Jim Nelson, Church of the Living God, Moulton, Alabama
Pastor Earl Wise, Millbrook, Alabama
Rick and Beverly Simpson, Summit Holiness Church, Alabama
Pastor Lane Simmons and Margie Dale Simmons, First Assembly of God, Greenville Alabama
Rev. Charles Morris, Pastor Grace Way Fellowship, Evergreen Alabama
Dr. George Grant, Pastor, Parish Presbyterian Church
Pastor David Whitney, Cornerstone Church
Dr. Peter and Roseann Waldron, St. Francis Anglican Church
Pastor Franklin and Mrs. Pamela Raddish, Capitol Hill Independent Baptist Ministries
Dr. Michael Peroutka, Institute on the Constitution
Reverend Bill Owens, Coalition of African American Pastors
Hannity on his show did a what about deflection and instead of answering questions about Roy Moore and his relationship with a 14 year girl, said in retrospect do you think Bill Clinton is a predator? I think that is a good question and yes most likely but when you change the topic to avoid any criticism of your side, it shows a double standard. Roy Moore is a here and now topic because he is running for Senate and some Christians are justifying his relationship using the Bible.
One such verse being used by Roy Moore supporters is Numbers 31:9-18 (KJV) 9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. 10 And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. 11 And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts. 12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho. 13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. 14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. 15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? 16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. 17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. 18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
The state auditor of Alabama, Jim Ziegler in defense of Roy Moore, “Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became the parents of John the Baptist,” Ziegler said choosing his words carefully before invoking Christ. “Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.” “There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here,” Ziegler concluded. “Maybe just a little bit unusual.”
Roy Moore had been banned from a mall in Gadsden, Alabama because he badgered teen girls, residents of the town, including lawyers and cops, say. A former Gadsden police officer said, “The general knowledge at the time when I moved here was that this guy is a lawyer cruising the mall for high-school dates.” Yet the reality is, moral right, won’t throw the bible at their own but will be outraged at kneeling football players, gays, transgender and It is pretty alarming when you make a bathroom bill to keep transgender people because they “might” be a predator or consensual same-sex marriage is bad and an abomination to God but then actually justify it when a Republican Christian conservative is known to have dated teens as a co-worker of Moore said was common knowledge. The logic just doesn’t make sense.
Double Standards For Everyone
- One of the biggest pet peeves of mine with politics is your side can do no wrong and the other side can do no right. Every time something happens politically, if it is positive about Democrats, the page is full angry comments from Republicans and opposite happens if it was positive for a Republican. A Republican can plagiarize a Democrat and Republicans love what she says but the exact words from a Democrat brings angry comments. It is this whirlwind of bias thinking that makes my head hurt because the words appear meaningless and all that matters is what side of the fence is the person talking from.
- Your media is the truth and the others are “fake news”. I saw someone say only Alex Jones and Breibart News is true news. Personally, I feel those two are the definition of fake news or at least conspiracy theories. It seems that “news” or more accurately opinions/propaganda written as a news article is all about telling you what you want to hear. Truthiness as Stephen Colbert coined is the quality of seeming or being felt to be true, even if not necessarily true. Facts and figures become “fuzzy math” when the conclusion isn’t what you expect it to be.
News / Media is where the biggest division is birthed, there is a liberal media basis that I saw first hand working for Clear Channel but conservative media can be even more slanted, if it fits the narrative you seek then you don’t see the slant. I see left wing media and they will have the raciest white trash redneck saying something offensive about black people to rally their base. The right will show the most extreme feminist, or a dead beat dad with 15 kids, or a snobby, elitist saying something like she has had an abortion every year and doesn’t want a job. This fuels division. The bathroom and gun control debate even is a clear example of media /political basis. Right wing people saying a controlling guns to stop the rare bad guy with a gun is insane, what you need is more good guys with a gun, however they want to stop the incredibly rare dude that says he is transgender from going to the women’s restroom so they want to outlaw all transpeople 99.9% who are law abiding people. Also gun control people who don’t support the bathroom bill, you need to look at the double standard you have if you want open bathrooms but not guns. In other words getting rid of all guns because of a lone wolf is stupid but outlawing all transpeople from their chosen bathroom gender because on might be a pervert is a double standard. The right news media portray a man just saying I’m transgender to get into the women’s bathroom. That scares even the trans people but it is used to bring out fear and anger from the lowest common denominator. The left media explains that if you make a law to keep guys out of the women’s restroom you will put guys in the women’s restroom in a strange paradox. See Trans-Men look, sound, act like men but they were born female. Thanks to those laws now guys could say they were born female and enter the women’s restroom. The law ironically hurts things more or at best doesn’t change things. The law seems to focus only on small percent of crazy men who would abuse the situation. It is already illegal for people to harass and assault so the bathroom bills really aren’t needed and laughable depending on what news source you turn too.
Tied to media but facts are subjective to your beliefs. Politifact is seen as conservative or liberal depending on the receiving end of the fact sheet. I’ve given up fact checking online, no one cares because they truly believe they are right. Everyone can find a blog somewhere that says something and they run with it. Many social conservatives believe they are doing God’s will so they will not budge on same sex marriage, transgender issues, abortion. Many liberal people feel they are doing God’s will fighting for social justice and against racism, sexism, anything that divides us. With both sides being able to justify their positions, we come at stalemate for social politics.
For instance on abortion, or birth control, requiring churches to pay for that is understandably questionable but having birth control means you don’t choose an abortion. If you take away birth control and abortion, those unwanted parents may turn to welfare to help cover the cost of raising those kids, you will have unwanted / unloved child who may end up in crime in later years leading to higher crime rates. There has been studies that show when abortion became legal, crime rates a generation later fell dramatically. When looking at the issue on a small scale you feel one thing but the big picture can show another. All depends on what you want to see. I can tell people’s political beliefs by the TV shows and blogs they go to and share from. Is it possible to start from facts first? I’m afraid facts are no longer relevant because facts are what you want them to be.
Partisanship – because if you color outside the lines, you can’t get re-elected
One example of how powerful partisanship is the rabid anti-Russian attitudes held by Republicans throughout the Cold War era, conservatives excusing Trump’s obvious blind spot toward Russian malfeasance. It is amazing ust how far we have come, people said Obama was soft on Russia and then Trump believes Putin over all 16 U.S. Intelligence agencies and possible collusion, very soon after firing the Comey the Russians are in a closed door, no media allowed meeting in the oval office and not much backlash from the Republicans. Had Obama done that there would have been outrage. Many people in the party seem to be ok with the Russians. If we as Americans could agree on anything, it’s that Russians are the Bad Guys, remember Rocky IV movie and the Cold War?
If you come a family of Republicans or Democrats you are more likely to stick with that side or else encounter friction with the family and friends.
Tennessee Sentator Bob Corker, Arizona Sentator Jeff Flake learned that if you speak out against Trump you can’t win re-election. So when Trump does something that people would be outraged over if it was Obama you hear silence. They know they can’t anger the base that elected the President on their team.
Obama passed his Affordable Health Care bill down party lines, just like a repeal of it would likey be down party lines. Now days both sides vote as a party in most cases, if you don’t, you will lose your seat. I think that holds us back. It would be refreshing if everyone voted by working with each other but in our current society and political culture, partisanship is just too powerful.
- What is progress to one side is America going backwards to the other side. As we step in one direction, half of the people are saying we are headed off the cliff and the darkest the country has seen while the other side sees us as finally becoming closer to a Utopian country. We can’t agree on much because we can’t agree on what is moving forward or backwards.
- Cognitive dissonance comes into play, We could, of course, have reasonable discussions about differences of opinion. But the “all or nothing” support mindset, coupled with the power of cognitive dissonance, gets in the way of that. When we assume that a supporter of Donald Trump supports everything about what Trump says and does, we feed that wall, the same for Hillary Clinton, or Jill Stein, or Gary Johnson, or any other political candidate
Double Standards For the Liberal Left
- If you are tired of the Republicans not working with the left and being an obstructionist congress but now want to obstruct everything Trump, that is a double standard. Someone will have to work across the aisle where it is possible to get quality work done.
- Liberal people can be xenophobic as well, there are a lot of northern urban liberals who think all southern people are inbreed hillbillies, uneducated who love Jesus but hate every non-white person out there. The truth is almost all the southern states vote 40% Democrat. Nashville which is seen as the bible belt and country music, voted 59% for Hillary Clinton and only 33% for Trump. Of course southern democrats probably known this but most of the country liberals would be surprised. Every side has xenophobia to some degree.
Just like you don’t like being called libtards and snow flakes, not every GOP / Trump supporter is a redneck with 20 guns with Bible verses on them that hates non-white people. Though I personally agree that Trump is a racist, egoistical, sexist and xenophobic, you will have divide the man elected from the voters. I know gay, lesbians and transgender men and women who firmly support Trump and yes it does seem counter intuitive but it is what it is. I know at least one handful of Obama supporting people who voted for Trump mostly because of the cost of health insurance. The affordable health care was anything but affordable for them. The last 8 years have not been good in the rural community. Many factories have gone to Mexico so Trump spoke the best to these people who are frustrated, the Yes We Can and Change didn’t come to them. Clinton assumed the rust belt would have her back and didn’t show up but Trump focused very heavy in those parts. I know people for half my life who are not racist and though conservative do not exhibit the traits and values that Trump’s words do. Even though your heart feels like every Trump voter is against your well being or a Nazi sympathizer. You need to look at the complexity of politics and let each person prove their own character.
- Kinda goes with #2 but there is a lot of elitist mentality among liberal people, it is a double standard to be for the down trodden, the poor while at the same feeling poor white people who vote Republican are dumb. There seems to be a I’m smarter/better than you attitude by some people who are left leaning, a feeling you get from Hollywood especially. Hollywood elitist liberalism turns off a lot of people who view them as privileged which is why the response is so strong every time a celebrity comes out against a Republican. If your heart goes out to poor black people but poor white people are white trash trump supporters you kinda have a double standard going on.
We are all sheep, we all have logs in our eyes while we spend the time pointing out the logs on the other side. We are slaves to our biases. For every article I read about Trump being sexiest I see another one that says the opposite. One article says he is racist but I’ve read many articles by black women who say he is far from it. I read one article about fake GOP ballots and hackers attempting to make Trump the winner and then I read another about how Clinton has thousands of fake ballots and they are committing voter fraud to win the election. My media is like how can a sane person vote for Trump while your source might be how can you vote for Hillary.
Our confirmation biases readily believes without fact checking any blog, news channel, social media meme that says what we already “know” to be true. If you believe Trump to be a Racist, Xenophobic, Islamophobic, Misogynistic, lying bigot pandering to his base by saying a lot to say nothing as I and many others do, then we automatically dismiss any person or source that is contrary.
For the record I am concerned the religious right have hijacked politics and merging the two together in that Republican means Christian. Almost all the liberals I know are Christians. I don’t know a single liberal on food stamps but I know a Republican who is. Jesus is not America’s girlfriend, Jesus does not carry guns and support one candidate over another. To get to the second amendment that conservatives love you have to pass the first which prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, ensuring that there is no prohibition on the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press. How can the same person claim Obama hates the constitution while wanting to ban Muslims which clearly goes against the first amendment but goes crazy over any talk of second amendment action on guns.
When we get to heaven it won’t be Republicans or Democrats, it will be all nations and creeds of people. If Trump can be forgiven for what he says and does, then why can’t Hillary be forgiven for what she has done? It is a strange double standard that if Clinton does and says what Trump says his supports would lose their minds but it is ok because Trump tells the truth and he is your ticket nomination
I personally see Fox News, Young Cons, The Federalist and MANY other blogs as very bias, untrustworthy, often using anonymous unprovable sources for outlandish claims. When Roger Ailes left Fox news to work with Trump that confirmed to me the cozy relationship Fox has with the Republican party, “Fair and Balanced”.
While Conservative people don’t trust the “liberal media”, is it liberal? Probably but is liberal a bad thing? What is liberal and why is it bad? I’m not a fan of MSNBC and a few other sites that are almost militant liberal. I laugh at the irony though, they point out why they can’t trust CNN and all these other places because they are biased while reading and promoting clearly Pro-Trump bias media themselves. It is hard not to have bias news.
Where do I get my news from? CNN, Late Show with Steven Colbert, Daily Show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Washington Post, Occupy Democrats and Bill Maher. As my Pro-Trump friends start twitching after reading that list and say wait, they are biased. My response is yes, they are and that is why I follow them. I see them as truth bearers, telling me what the propaganda machine of Fox News and the like won’t tell their sheep. On the flip side my conservative friends trust their sources because they tell the truth that the liberal / pro-clinton media won’t tell. We think the same thing but opposite sides. Both sides don’t want the real truth, we like our cozy sources.
My faith in God guides my beliefs. My heart feels for the minorities, the people working full time but struggling to pay the bills like I did for so many years. I grew up very conservative and I saw an angry God that will punish me I didn’t do the right things. Now I see a loving and grace-filled God that says if you do unto the least of these then you have done them unto me. So I see an election where Trump is about winning, power and his language would get most kids grounded but he is on path to be a President. I don’t see any spiritual fruits in him which are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. With spiritual leaders like Beth Moore, Max Lucado, Philip Yancey and more coming out against Trump we need to consider why Christians would support a man like Trump who brags about being rich and all the other stuff he says. Yet I read blogs from Pastors about why Trump needs to be elected.
“Yesterday’s America, in all its honor and shame, is in ashes but, rather than exercise the faith and obedience and earnest prayer to see God raise some beauty from the heap, some gold from the fire, we keep trying to glue ashes back together. And they won’t stick.
Yesterday’s America has become an idol to us. It has no more breath in it and the thing about idolaters is that, sooner or later, they become like their idols. (Psalm 135:18)
God could do something new but we’ve lost our hope. We want back what we’ve seen instead of believing Him for what we haven’t.” – Beth Moore
Make America Great Again, when was America Great? We have always had problems. Conservative people seem to have a nostalgia for Americana days where white Christians were the majority. Many liberals would say we the best days are ahead of us and we are getting there, aka Progressives were the diversity is what makes America Great. What makes America Great to one person is the shadow or the darkness of America to another. For instance gay marriage, to one person we are finally becoming a great nation to celebrate all of us but to the other person it was the beginning of the end and both people genuinely feel those emotions.
I am aware of my biases because I’m very honest with myself, I seek the truth so I at least will read “the other sides” articles. This divide is why Trump and Clinton can’t make America Great. We are putting our own problems, local economics and frustration with “the other side” and feel like we are electing God himself for President. We can’t trust the other side, it is ingrained because of our media.
We both want a healthy economy, we both want good lives. The worst years of my life was under Bush and my best years of traveling and enjoying the fruits of my labor have been under Obama’s watch so I’m naturally bias in that I don’t see Obama’s failed country and we are all going to hell. I see things are great and getting even better so I naturally oppose Trump who wants to change everything up because the self-preservation part of me wants to maintain my life. While other people will have a very different experience in life which influences their voting preferences.
I truly feel in the bottom of my soul I believe in the right things for the right reasons and therefore passionate about those beliefs. The same is true for you too. When we feel we are doing the right thing and especially if we feel we are doing God’s work in voting a certain way as I do and many Trump supporters do, there is no end in sight. How can we compromise when two sides feel equally passionate about the same thing?
If you read this far then you want to know who I voted for, I wrote in Bernie Sanders and straight ticketed the democrats. I never lost the Bern. I cried when he endorsed Clinton. Since Tennessee will go for Trump I knew my vote didn’t count as much as Ohio would. Nashville itself always goes Democrat and Clinton signs far out number Trump signs where I live and drive past but my conscience is not clear for Clinton. However Trump vs. Clinton I am rooting for a Clinton win nationally but I had to find someone I could stomach from a personal vote.
Trump I hope loses in a landslide, a respectable GOP choice would have been Evan McMullin
Clinton has a lot of faults and I feel the primary should have gone to Bernie Sanders, however I don’t think she is as bad as the GOP makes her out to be and she isn’t as good as many liberals want her to be. She is neither Satan or an Angel, I think she panders to the voters and too cozy to Wall Street for my taste and who knows what she will do when she gets in the office. Talk is cheap. Also growing up my family hated Clintons and I remember my grand parents spitting on the White House lawn when we visited DC because of the scum who lived there, AKA the Clintons. So I’ve had to work with my ingrained fear of the Clintons but I did remember when I was a young teen thinking I liked what Bill Clinton said more but my family had very strong views so I dismissed them as he was pandering for votes.
Gary Johnson, I like a fair amount of stuff from him but he is too isolationist, the fact he knows very little about foreign governments and what is happening internationally is concerning. It was isolation that led to WWII, we only got involved when Pearl Harbor happened. I agree we should limit being the world’s police force and spend those dollars at home but we need some degree of international involvement to keep ISIS or someone new from becoming a problem. When we focus on ourselves too long, an enemy will attack in time. So there needs to be a balance. In a Trump / Johnson match up I would have voted Johnson. Trump and Johnson both have this isolation method of let the world deal with their problems and we deal with ours. A valid point for reasons also dangerous for reasons. However, he should have at least working knowledge of other leaders.
Jill Stein and the other parties have no chance of winning so I debated voting for them as protest vote or voting my conscience and remain a Bernie Sanders supporter literally to the end.
With the Supreme Court at stake, I want to make sure America is great for the future so I’m hoping America goes DEM full ticket and we can win back Congress and with Madame President we can get some stuff done.
PS: Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan issued a very dire warning this week. You need to see it:
“If we lose the Senate, do you know who becomes chair of the Senate Budget Committee? A guy named Bernie Sanders. You ever heard of him?”
In 4 years we have to do better at picking out Nominees, with Clinton, America will still exist in 4 years in some form.
So to all my liberal and 3rd party friends, get out and vote, very very important to stop Trump. For the Trump supporters remember Trump said Nov. 28th. Let’s Make America Great by going _______! (blue in my case but your color may vary)
PSS: I voted for Bush, Obama twice and this election is the first time I will not be picking the winner but I feel Clinton will win nationally and Trump will win TN so I was more free to vote on principle rather than party.
PSSS: We may differ on opinions but I don’t love my GOP friends any less but sometimes when I read your post, it is hard to love you more. Lol. I look forward to the end of this election and we can move on. I’ll be your friend if you still want to be mine.