Got your attention, did I? I had originally intended to title this article: ” The persecution and character assassination of Donald J Trump as performed by the inmates of the asylum of the House of Representatives under the direction of Madame Pelosi de Sade.”, but it seemed that most people who weren’t around in the late ’60s wouldn’t get the allusion.
View from the Left
The Left is thoroughly convinced that conservatives and others on the Right are incapable of thinking for themselves so they have fallen into thrall to demagogue Donald Trump, who has somehow mesmerized millions of followers. These followers click their heels, raise their arms in salute to someone who is literally Hitler, and obey unthinkingly. If only these people could open their eyes to see how dishonest he is, how he constantly lies, mistreats women, is autocratic and authoritarian, and how he wants to destroy our democracy, they would shake off his demonic influence and join the Left in their lockstep march over the cliff of socialism.
Unable to actually think for themselves, the Left projects their condition onto the Right in order to explain Trump, his followers, and the MAGA movement. Believing the Right to be too stupid to understand the huge defects of modern society and to formulate effective solutions, the Left’s only explanation is that Donald Trump must be some sort of cult leader, like Jim Jones, but worse.
It’s not about Trump
Because of their inability to conceive of any other possibility, they cannot understand that the situation is far different than what they believe. The Left does not appreciate that far from being a cult leader, Trump is more someone like an articulator who expresses the concerns, opinions, desires, and grievances of a body of people who have been disparaged, dismissed, and discounted for too long. In that way, he is much like the early union leaders who were able to distill and express the anger and frustration of laborers who saw themselves as mistreated and exploited by industry.
For decades now, the Left has expressed its contempt for those who don’t share their values. They speak of “flyover country” where all those deplorable redneck right-wingers live. One of their icons called us “deplorables” a few years ago and we have taken the appellation as a badge of honor to throw back in the faces of those who hate and revile us.
Why they fear us
They both fear us and need us, those condescending minions of the Left. Our farms and ranches and orchards produce the food they eat. We work to keep their cities safe from crime and fire. Our power plants provide the electricity that keeps the lights of their cities on and enables them to live in comfort undreamed of by thousands of generations past. We volunteer to serve to defend the country they denigrate and seek to destroy, all the while taking advantage of all its benefits.
They call us ignorant and uneducated, not realizing or admitting that many, if not most of us have college degrees, often even advanced degrees. Unlike them, however, our degrees are in useful fields like science, technology, engineering, business, agriculture, and many other subjects the Left finds beneath them.
Fear and loathing
The Left resents us for the meaningful things that we can do that they often fail at. They fear that at some time we may decide we no longer will put up with their disrespect and dependency and cast them adrift to fend for themselves. Like petulant teenagers rebelling against parents, they hate their dependency and hate us for being competent in the face of their obvious incompetencies.
In their fear, they seek to control us so we won’t abandon them. They call us names and denigrate our values and institutions in hope that we will believe them and give them our power – the power they desire and feel they deserve, but cannot earn.
Who is Trump
So now we come back to Trump. Despite his wealth, he has worked with many of us and appreciates what we do. Indeed, much of his wealth is a result of our labor. He respects our contributions and speaks agreeably of our values and institutions. He loves this country as we do and expresses that love unselfconsciously.
Far from being a cult leader, providing us with his vision for us to adopt, Trump instead gives voice to our concerns, and our aspirations. He listens to us and gives voice to the things that matter in our lives – earning a living, providing for our families, keeping our homes and families and children safe, ensuring a system of equal justice, and many other things of universal importance. He speaks in terms that even the Left should be able to understand were they to make the effort to listen.
An imperfect human, just like the rest of us
One of the points the Left makes in claiming that the MAGA movement is a Trump cult is how we seem oblivious to Trump’s faults, almost as though we think he doesn’t have any. If true, that would be a valid indicator of a cult. We know, though, that Trump is human and has his faults. We don’t ignore them, but rather consider them relative to his good qualities and come out with a strong balance in his favor.
In fact, many of the things the Left finds objectionable about Trump are things we hold in his favor. Yes, he can be brash, prone to mild exaggeration, will sometimes misspeak, and offend the “refined” sensibilities of the Left. A strong point in his favor is, like what Lincoln said of Ulysses Grant: “He fights.” No doubt the Confederacy was much offended by General Grant, just like the Left is of Trump, and for many of the same reasons.
Lies, damn lies, and the Left
The Left also accuses Trump of lying. Politico has conveniently maintained a database of his “lies”. I reviewed their list and was somewhat amused when I wasn’t offended. Several were Trump’s use of approximations or round-offs. For example, when he said “40”, Politico claimed the true value was “39.7” and declared that for a lie. In all, none of the claimed lies held up to scrutiny. True, there were approximations, minor boasting, some misstatements, and other things, none of which were obviously statements intended to deceive – the definition of a lie. Contrast that with most of the statements originating from the current administration.
One thing, in particular, the Left claims Trump is lying about is the 2020 election. They even go so far as to call his claim that the election was stolen as “The Big Lie”. Trump has justifiably maintained that the 2020 election was rife with fraud to the point that the outcome was altered in favor of the Democratic candidate.
The Left, promoting their own Big Lie, claims that the election was secure, honest, fair and that Trump lost legitimately. Some of their own even boasted in an article in Time magazine how there was collusion to “fortify” the election to make sure the “proper” candidate was elected. The Left has fought fiercely over the last year and a half to prevent any examination of the evidence of election fraud. If the election was legitimate, why would they not want to prove that? Only cheaters fight to prevent exposure of their cheating. Who are the real liars?
A problem of trust
The Left has faulted Trump for using so many of his family members in his administration, claiming that it showed nepotism. Consider, though, that many of the positions he needed to fill required high-level security clearances. Such clearances are provided by the FBI, a part of the Deep State swamp Trump had sworn to remove. Might there be a temptation to approve the clearances of those loyal to the Deep State who would act against the objectives of Trump? It would seem that his family members were among the few he could actually trust.
I could go on, but the point the Left seems unable, or perhaps unwilling, to wrap their heads around is that far from being a cult led by Trump, MAGA is a movement driven by a long history of injustices and offenses whose members have recognized in Trump an individual willing to stand up and fight for our cause, and to fight effectively. Being independently wealthy, he is not beholden to special interests as so many others of the political class are. He is accustomed to working in a highly competitive industry and in dealing with avaricious and politically motivated opponents. His New York background has taught him to move quickly and effectively to deal with those who would waste our time, our energy, and our resources.
Why we have a Constitution
Trump has also shown that he understands our Constitution far better than anyone on the Left. He understands, as those of us on the Right do, that a written and consistent law is essential to a stable society. If the law is arbitrary and subject to change at any time and depends only on the whim of particular judges, then no one can be safe or secure at any time.
For the Left, this is a feature, not a bug, but only because it fosters fear and uncertainty that empowers authority. Like those of us on the Right, Trump realizes that freedom and liberty depend on laws that say what they mean and mean what they say so that anyone can understand and guide their independent actions accordingly.
A champion for our times
For these reasons and more, Trump has received our support. Far from being mesmerized by a charismatic cult leader, we have instead found a fearless and able champion who will enter the ring to fight on our behalf against the evil of the Left. The Swamp is not a kind or forgiving place, and many whom we have sent before have fallen to its forces. The Left fears Trump because he has been so effective against all the Swamp has been able to throw at him. Every attempt the Left has made to find some dark secret in his past has failed, much to the aggravation of his detractors.
Now the Left seeks to render him ineligible for future office. They have warped and distorted and subverted and undermined the integrity of our Congress, our courts, our military, and our system of justice in their desperate attempts to prevent Trump from ever representing our cause again. They think that if they can block Trump, they can keep us from thwarting their perverse agendas and that they can retain the power they have usurped.
If only they can stop Trump, they think, then they can emasculate the Right. Little do they realize that MAGA is a power in itself, and now has several good champions ready to fight for our cause. Yes, most of us still want Trump to lead us in this battle, but he is not our irreplaceable Napoleon. The Left has yet to awaken to the fact that they oppose a citizenry, not an individual.
They have sown the wind, let them reap the tornado.
By David Robb
David Robb is a regular contributor to The Blue State Conservative and a practicing scientist who has been working in industry for over 50 years. One of his specialties is asking awkward questions. A large part of his work over the years has involved making complex scientific issues clear and understandable to non-specialists. Sometimes he even succeeds.
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Blue State Conservative. The BSC is not responsible for, and does not verify the accuracy of, any information presented.
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Photo by Natilyn Hicks (Natilyn Photography) on Unsplash
This story syndicated with permission from The Blue State Conservative