I left the Democrat party circa 2008.....although Christian (but perhaps 'more secular') and a registered Democrat at the time, I had been noting for years the hate being thrown by the Left towards Christians. I didn't get where the hate was coming from. Obama openly made fun of and showed contempt for ordinary Americans as well, the notable case being Joe-the-Plumber, ie "How much money do you need to live anyway?" said the man who now owns (4) multi-million dollar residences in Hawaii, Chicago, Wash DC and Martha's Vineyard. Like you, I couldn't stand the spewing of hate either. And one day, I just snapped. Looking back, it felt like an epiphany; it felt scary, but also relieving. I just couldn't buy into the Left's hate agenda anymore, their lack of grace and magnanimity. The brutality of the American Left today is fearsome. Like you, I just didn't want to be part of that club. So here I am, a registered Republican ( although I am rethinking this as well as the GOP drifts), an avowed Christian, with less friends, as my Democrat friends have expelled me as well...but I feel much more centered, compassionate and happier than ever. I feel bad for the people who call themselves Democrats today. Who could live with such hate in their hearts?
"So here I am, a registered Republican (but I am rethinking that as well), an avowed Christian, with less friends, as my Democrat friends have expelled me as well..."
You are in good company. Many of us are likely re-thinking our party of preference/identification vis-à-vis voter registration status. For me, I no longer identify thusly – I'll probably vote for the Republican Party candidate in any given local election, but I will not allow myself to be counted among the GOP faithful.
I go to a liberal Christian church that welcomes everyone including people in the LGBTQ+ community. We had "Christian" demonstrators show up at our church and scream at people going in that they are "going to hell!"
Do you? "Luke 15:1-2 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Ephesians 2:19 ESV
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God...
1 Cor 1:28–29
God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.
Romans 15:2 ESV
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
I think people can find most anything they want in the Bible.
Of course we humans are all born sinners, and Jesus came to bring sinners to righteousness. Yet those truths are a far cry from asserting that Jesus meant to say that continuing sinful behavior was righteous.
For example, after he saved the adulterous woman from stoning, he told her to "SIN NO MORE."
Did Jesus condemn homosexuals? Many people are not "neurotypical" such as my son with autism. Other people are not neurotypical because the sexuality of their brain (influenced by things like hormone levels, contaminants, nutrition ... during fetal development) does not match their physical body. I think people are the authorities on their own inner sexuality and should be free to express it as long as it does not hurt others such as children.
Old and New Testament writers rejected homosexual activity. According to Scripture sex is to be experienced between only one man and one woman within marriage. This is why Jesus did not support the harlot, rather expressing mercy asked her to stop her immoral activities. Apparently, Jesus was establishing an objective right and wrong. Romans one explains as the society rejects God's revelation of himself, they tend to refashion his image, (person) and develop their own morality based upon their new image of God. Presently our culture in rejecting the God of the Bible have replaced Him with themselves... "humanism". Humans... the culture now refashions truth, including morality based upon their own rationalizations, emotions, desires, what they think, etc. They are now playing God... as God appears to have slowly disappeared from their consciousness. Thus, you allow yourself the right to replace God's moral standard with 21st century rational thought. If God is God, he understood non-neurotypicals would exist throughout time. Yet Jesus did not use this argument to justify the harlot, who can be seen as a non-typical, nor should we to justify the homosexual. When we do, we are establishing a new pathway... a new "religious" order based upon another set of writings, philosophies, beliefs etc. Thus, the term "Christian" may no longer be an accurate definition of who I presently am?
Again, we are all born sinful. Homosexual behavior is consistently condemned throughout the Bible. Currently there is no scientific consensus that homosexual behavior is genetic, but even if there were, it would not matter. Through the Holy Spirit, the faithful follower of Jesus can overcome any sin, be it idolatry or sinful sexual behavior of any kind, including adultery and homosexual behavior.
Well put, in terms that anyone can understand. I have been a Democrat al my life. Democrats provided me with a lifetime of professional training. Democrats taught me there is only one breed worth consideration: the underdog... the person on the street... the invisible face... the crying child... the old person sitting by themselves. And then the party became this rat-faced mongrel of hatred, shielded by the badge of reverse racism, and justified by bizarre social science. Through sheer projection they are everything they accuse their opponents of... And now the "Twitter Files" unmask a collaboration of government, industry, and media that would have amazed Joseph Goebbels. And since the "blue" party has now become a cult, none of them can look at themselves with any sense of objectivity. It is hard to see how this will play out, considering the extent of the division of fols in this country.
Sasha, if there is one column I would send to the “liberals” in Seattle who dropped me as a friend, in some cases after 30-year long friendships, this would be it. I’m hoping I will find the courage to send it to our acquaintances here in Northern Virginia, should I find the need to explain myself— most of whom are consumed by the same hatred of everyone who disagrees with them. We’re not young and we need friends and connections in our new home, but at what cost? We’ve been ducking politics so far and letting remarks go by. I can’t do this indefinitely— it does damage to one’s soul. I am upgrading to paid, which I should have done before. Thank you for your passionate writing and for your humanity.
Merry Christmas, Sasha. I pray you reach your final destination today safely. I don't know why this hasn't occurred to me before, but it seems the biggest difference between the Left and the Right is that one side attacks ideas and policies, and the other attacks people directly. You're right, this is so dangerous. I don't know how to do it, but somehow we must get them to look in the mirror before it's too late.
Regarding the Left attacking people directly, this is a purposeful strategy that has infected the Left. See “Rules for Radicals” by Saul Alinsky. Most Democrats may not know this book, but it is the playbook being used by their side.
Rule 5: Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. There is no defense. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule.
Rule 13: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.
If I recall correctly, that was one of Obamas favorite books. If liberals weren't familiar with it when he was running for president, I am pretty sure most Democrats had read it by the time his second term ended. Or, at least had it on their bookshelves and claimed that they had read it. As we know, the average Democrat reads approximately seven minutes per day.
Just for the record, President Trump did not "make fun of a disabled reporter", as is commonly said. Here's what actually happened, (full article linked below).
"The incident in question is Trump supposedly mocking New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, whose hand and arm movement on his right side is impaired due to arthrogryposis. Video from 2015 seems to indicate that Trump was indeed cruelly imitating the man."
"The truth is, Trump has often used those same convulsive gestures to mimic the mannerisms of people, including himself, who are rattled and exasperated."
Video of Trump making this same hand gesture in earlier speeches is available here on YouTube:
Personally, I doubt Trump even knew at the time who Kovaleski is, that he was in the audience, or anything about his physical problem. I think, too, that hand waving to depict confusion is not an uncommon hand gesture.
We can thank the mainstream media for the fact that most people on the Left don't know these facts, nor even about the Twitter files yet.
The complete article on the Kovaleski story, quoted above, is available here:
Yes, Kovalevski's arm didn't have tremors or uncontrolled movements, it was in fact smaller and not mobile.
But I think the first instance was also the most goofy, the most telling, and the most wrong. It was "bigly". "Trump is so stupid that he says "bigly" all the time!" And they truly believed it.
By the time we got to "Trump and Obama *have been briefed* on a Russian dossier", I had the good fortune to recognize "all the hallmarks" of this kind of setup rather easily, but the misfortune to watch it take 3 years to get to 51% of the population figuring out the games.
Came up from Tennessee to visit my family in New Jersey and have been living this since I got here. No comment on current events is innocuous; all roads lead to Trump. This article has helped in dealing with the surreality of it all.
I’m in lower Manhattan and would like to take you out for coffee, or other hot or cold beverage, after your arctic expedition.
Your writing is such a joy to read. You have the clear perspective If a historian while writing about current events. It’s like you have the benefit of the passage of 50 years after the events you write about. Your lists of events and attacks are much longer than I recall, but when prompted I do remember every one.
Have you ever thought of pulling all your writing into a book? I’ve got space on my bookshelf for any title you publish.
Sadly, you are experiencing what those of us who were, are, and remain, as you wrote, "[not] inside the bubble and didn’t want to be." for the better part of the millenium, thus far. Trump supporter or not (I am, to the extent it matters), you, along with the rest of us, have been "otherized."
This excerpt from Biden's speech, "...not as members of 'Team Red' or 'Team Blue,' but as who we really are: fellow Americans. Fellow human beings worthy of being treated with dignity and respect." smacks far too much of the plea for covid amnesty from the authoritarianism so gleefully exercised by those in positions of power to do so, and they did it with such self-righteous zeal that such amnesty will never be granted by me to those responsible. Similarly, I reject this "plea" from the Elder Abuse Victim in Chief currently occupying the office of POTUS.
My recommendation is that you embrace being considered a Trump supporter, in spite of your own misgivings. Why? Because whatever may be your reservations, no matter how significant the distinctions, your former compadrés won't acknowledge or recognize them, they won't accept them. In their eyes, you ARE a Trump supporter.
I, myself, am a middle-aged, white male with a bachelor's degree, gainfully employed, libertarian-leaning Christian conservative. In the eyes of the woke left, I am a racist bigot and White Supremacist, and there is absolutely nothing I can do to demonstrate otherwise and escape such judgement. Hence, I embrace it – it isn't true, but the truth was among – if not THE first – casualties of the War on All Things Trump that began in earnest the night in 2016 he was elected instead of that shrieking haridan.
Thank you for writing this. I am an Independent precisely because of the many things you write of. It used to be that politicians left the family out of this. Trump brought on much of the criticism by installing his daughter and son-in-law as advisors. Remember how Hillary got criticized when she interjected herself into health care policy making as First Lady? However, Melania Trump did what First Ladies are supposed to do and did it with grace. The media refused to compliment her on her exquisite fashion taste in clothing, decor and did so with a skeletal White House Staff compared to her predecessor. At the same time, Hillary Clinton was gushed over by the same press wearing literally a cloth bag in an increasing bizarre alternate reality. Then I knew for me, to ignore it all. Thank you, again.
If you think that Hillary received even a fraction of the attention of being a co-president that Orange Man Bad did by hiring JaVanka, then you weren't paying attention. Half the country celebrated the Clintons' tag-team approach to governance. She became a Senator because of that "experience" in government.
"Half the country celebrated the Clintons' tag-team approach to governance."
Didn't President Bubba, himself, tell the American people that with Hillary, they got a two-for-one presidency? I seem to recall that, or words to that effect.
"Fighting him has destroyed who they used to be..."
Fighting Trump may have unleashed or exposed various psychotic behaviors in these pretty little hate machines, but I believe that those tendencies were always there. TDS was just a readily available excuse to bring their true elitist selves to the forefront and realize their dreams.
It's not just them, it's anyone who has fashioned a career or career aspirations in this odd little industry called Politics.
They saw what Trump did to the once-proud Grand Ol' Party in a span of 18 months, and did everything they could to keep the rest of the village standing. This includes the deep state, and the "political media" and the lobbyists and the whores who sleep with the lobbyists and run for office, and the real whores (streetwalker variety) who populate most of DC bars.
Sashia - I cannot thank you enough for your column. I have been utterly horrified by my oldest and dearest friends takiing up the hate all things Trump mantra. What horrifies ME is that I fell right into the trap of establishing my own cred by prefacing before defending any of his policies with "well I didn't vote for Trump" you know.
I no longer offer that caveat when they accuse me of turning into a MAGA hat wearer. I tell them that my hard working religious neighbors in the small town where I grew up were the sort that the Left has spent years deriding as racists, sexist, low information if not just plain stupid people. These were the ..people who did and do the hard and necessary work that keeps the town, the county and eventually the country working , Their reward is that people like Colbert and Kimmel make fun of them every night. And since they AREN"T stupid, they know they bear the brunt of the jokes. I think I am going to buy that hat come to think of it.
It’s Christmas night. This morning I read your piece and it literally has been working its way around in the back of my head all day long. I subscribe to a number of Substack writers, but hadn’t heard of you until one of them (or maybe Substack itself) recommended your piece. I intended to follow you for a while (free) to see if your writing piqued my interest, but as I said, I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d gotten from your piece, so I decided to subscribe just so I could tell you how it affected me.
Your piece gave me hope. It made me realize that the good people in my life--my family, my friends--who have succumbed to the “I hate Trump and anyone who voted for him is a racist, bigot, homophobe, sexist, Nazi, etc.” syndrome may someday come to realize what burden the hatred they’ve been living with has placed on them.
Sadly, that hatred has been fomented and nurtured by big tech, social media, the Democratic Party, a number of government agencies, and not a few Never Trumpers! And unfortunately, that won’t change until good people begin to understand what is being done to them.
Your piece is exactly the sort of experience sharing that can provide the catalyst they need. What a great Christmas gift! Thank you.
"...that won’t change until good people begin to understand what is being done to them."
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
–John Stuart Mill
True enough, but it cannot stop there – good people must not just oppose, but act to demonstrate that good to overcome evil. We must do so in sufficient number to counter those who are doing the harm, and that especially includes those in power both in the private and public sectors.
Merry Christmas! Watching Shia LeBouf stomp around barking at the ground in 2016 told a story...
I am politically homeless as well. I caucus with republicans because I have zero in common with the democrat fascists and communists or the multinationally funded republicans. I became a very strong Trump supporter because he did pretty much what he said he was going to do which helped all Americans, not favored groups. And, he is a consummate professional... until he is fired upon. He fires back and we love it. And he is usually right in his commentary and judgement. When he publicly ripped John McCain(who fired first) I jumped for joy as McCain is the consummate a$$hole.
“These people crawled out of a sewer Mr. Ward, now maybe the gutter is where we should be.”
Oh, and he didn't make fun of a disabled reporter. This is the true Trump:
Read "Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland" or watch video's by the author Christopher Browning. That is 'democracy' in action. We are a republic, not a democracy.
My "transition" began 35 years ago when my girlfriend told me she was pregnant. It has been an interesting journey - I have a wonderful, beautiful, daughter and I'm still trying to figure out how we tribally bifurcated as we have. I'm getting good information from writers such as you as well as your thoughtful commenters. There seems to be an emerging group of voices that are saying, "Hey, hold on a minute, I'm not liking where we're headed." I'm focused now on the nature of authoritarianism and finding that this is the context in which this is all happening. I'd like to recommend (I've done this before) Mattias Desmet's, "The Psychology of Authoritarianism." This a a great read and not nearly as dense as the title might suggest. If you want to go deeper, check out Hannah Arendt's, "The Origins of Totalitarianism." Eric Hoffer's, "The True Believer," is a short, easy reading classic. And, of course, damn near everything George Orwell wrote.
I'm finding Desmet (and others) to be a new type of existentialist. Maybe that's not the right word. But his take on our psychological evolution and the nature of nature strikes a chord with me. In particular, he notes, the Left is taking the path of a scientific, mechanistic ideology as a religion that separates us from our innate spirit. I'm still digesting this so take whatever I say with a few grains of salt.
I think Rene Girard could also do with a mention in despatches here. Not sure what the best "summary" book might be, but "I see Satan fall like lightning" has by far the bestest title.
I left the Democrat party circa 2008.....although Christian (but perhaps 'more secular') and a registered Democrat at the time, I had been noting for years the hate being thrown by the Left towards Christians. I didn't get where the hate was coming from. Obama openly made fun of and showed contempt for ordinary Americans as well, the notable case being Joe-the-Plumber, ie "How much money do you need to live anyway?" said the man who now owns (4) multi-million dollar residences in Hawaii, Chicago, Wash DC and Martha's Vineyard. Like you, I couldn't stand the spewing of hate either. And one day, I just snapped. Looking back, it felt like an epiphany; it felt scary, but also relieving. I just couldn't buy into the Left's hate agenda anymore, their lack of grace and magnanimity. The brutality of the American Left today is fearsome. Like you, I just didn't want to be part of that club. So here I am, a registered Republican ( although I am rethinking this as well as the GOP drifts), an avowed Christian, with less friends, as my Democrat friends have expelled me as well...but I feel much more centered, compassionate and happier than ever. I feel bad for the people who call themselves Democrats today. Who could live with such hate in their hearts?
"So here I am, a registered Republican (but I am rethinking that as well), an avowed Christian, with less friends, as my Democrat friends have expelled me as well..."
You are in good company. Many of us are likely re-thinking our party of preference/identification vis-à-vis voter registration status. For me, I no longer identify thusly – I'll probably vote for the Republican Party candidate in any given local election, but I will not allow myself to be counted among the GOP faithful.
Yup - the GOP has drifted and not in a good way
I go to a liberal Christian church that welcomes everyone including people in the LGBTQ+ community. We had "Christian" demonstrators show up at our church and scream at people going in that they are "going to hell!"
Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?
Do you? "Luke 15:1-2 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Ephesians 2:19 ESV
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God...
1 Cor 1:28–29
God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.
Romans 15:2 ESV
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
I think people can find most anything they want in the Bible.
Of course we humans are all born sinners, and Jesus came to bring sinners to righteousness. Yet those truths are a far cry from asserting that Jesus meant to say that continuing sinful behavior was righteous.
For example, after he saved the adulterous woman from stoning, he told her to "SIN NO MORE."
Did Jesus condemn homosexuals? Many people are not "neurotypical" such as my son with autism. Other people are not neurotypical because the sexuality of their brain (influenced by things like hormone levels, contaminants, nutrition ... during fetal development) does not match their physical body. I think people are the authorities on their own inner sexuality and should be free to express it as long as it does not hurt others such as children.
Old and New Testament writers rejected homosexual activity. According to Scripture sex is to be experienced between only one man and one woman within marriage. This is why Jesus did not support the harlot, rather expressing mercy asked her to stop her immoral activities. Apparently, Jesus was establishing an objective right and wrong. Romans one explains as the society rejects God's revelation of himself, they tend to refashion his image, (person) and develop their own morality based upon their new image of God. Presently our culture in rejecting the God of the Bible have replaced Him with themselves... "humanism". Humans... the culture now refashions truth, including morality based upon their own rationalizations, emotions, desires, what they think, etc. They are now playing God... as God appears to have slowly disappeared from their consciousness. Thus, you allow yourself the right to replace God's moral standard with 21st century rational thought. If God is God, he understood non-neurotypicals would exist throughout time. Yet Jesus did not use this argument to justify the harlot, who can be seen as a non-typical, nor should we to justify the homosexual. When we do, we are establishing a new pathway... a new "religious" order based upon another set of writings, philosophies, beliefs etc. Thus, the term "Christian" may no longer be an accurate definition of who I presently am?
Again, we are all born sinful. Homosexual behavior is consistently condemned throughout the Bible. Currently there is no scientific consensus that homosexual behavior is genetic, but even if there were, it would not matter. Through the Holy Spirit, the faithful follower of Jesus can overcome any sin, be it idolatry or sinful sexual behavior of any kind, including adultery and homosexual behavior.
Well put, in terms that anyone can understand. I have been a Democrat al my life. Democrats provided me with a lifetime of professional training. Democrats taught me there is only one breed worth consideration: the underdog... the person on the street... the invisible face... the crying child... the old person sitting by themselves. And then the party became this rat-faced mongrel of hatred, shielded by the badge of reverse racism, and justified by bizarre social science. Through sheer projection they are everything they accuse their opponents of... And now the "Twitter Files" unmask a collaboration of government, industry, and media that would have amazed Joseph Goebbels. And since the "blue" party has now become a cult, none of them can look at themselves with any sense of objectivity. It is hard to see how this will play out, considering the extent of the division of fols in this country.
At a basic level I will choose President Trump's commitment to world peace and American prosperity over the soft fascism of the Democrats.
Sasha, if there is one column I would send to the “liberals” in Seattle who dropped me as a friend, in some cases after 30-year long friendships, this would be it. I’m hoping I will find the courage to send it to our acquaintances here in Northern Virginia, should I find the need to explain myself— most of whom are consumed by the same hatred of everyone who disagrees with them. We’re not young and we need friends and connections in our new home, but at what cost? We’ve been ducking politics so far and letting remarks go by. I can’t do this indefinitely— it does damage to one’s soul. I am upgrading to paid, which I should have done before. Thank you for your passionate writing and for your humanity.
Merry Christmas, Sasha. I pray you reach your final destination today safely. I don't know why this hasn't occurred to me before, but it seems the biggest difference between the Left and the Right is that one side attacks ideas and policies, and the other attacks people directly. You're right, this is so dangerous. I don't know how to do it, but somehow we must get them to look in the mirror before it's too late.
Regarding the Left attacking people directly, this is a purposeful strategy that has infected the Left. See “Rules for Radicals” by Saul Alinsky. Most Democrats may not know this book, but it is the playbook being used by their side.
Rule 5: Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. There is no defense. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule.
Rule 13: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.
If I recall correctly, that was one of Obamas favorite books. If liberals weren't familiar with it when he was running for president, I am pretty sure most Democrats had read it by the time his second term ended. Or, at least had it on their bookshelves and claimed that they had read it. As we know, the average Democrat reads approximately seven minutes per day.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Just for the record, President Trump did not "make fun of a disabled reporter", as is commonly said. Here's what actually happened, (full article linked below).
"The incident in question is Trump supposedly mocking New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, whose hand and arm movement on his right side is impaired due to arthrogryposis. Video from 2015 seems to indicate that Trump was indeed cruelly imitating the man."
"The truth is, Trump has often used those same convulsive gestures to mimic the mannerisms of people, including himself, who are rattled and exasperated."
Video of Trump making this same hand gesture in earlier speeches is available here on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsaB3ynIZH4
Personally, I doubt Trump even knew at the time who Kovaleski is, that he was in the audience, or anything about his physical problem. I think, too, that hand waving to depict confusion is not an uncommon hand gesture.
We can thank the mainstream media for the fact that most people on the Left don't know these facts, nor even about the Twitter files yet.
The complete article on the Kovaleski story, quoted above, is available here:
https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/fake-news-trump-did-not-mock-disabled-reporter-and-other-lies-from-the-left/
Wow, thanks Ken.
Nice info! i was fooled by that one .
Yes, Kovalevski's arm didn't have tremors or uncontrolled movements, it was in fact smaller and not mobile.
But I think the first instance was also the most goofy, the most telling, and the most wrong. It was "bigly". "Trump is so stupid that he says "bigly" all the time!" And they truly believed it.
By the time we got to "Trump and Obama *have been briefed* on a Russian dossier", I had the good fortune to recognize "all the hallmarks" of this kind of setup rather easily, but the misfortune to watch it take 3 years to get to 51% of the population figuring out the games.
Came up from Tennessee to visit my family in New Jersey and have been living this since I got here. No comment on current events is innocuous; all roads lead to Trump. This article has helped in dealing with the surreality of it all.
Sasha, Merry Christmas and safe driving.
I’m in lower Manhattan and would like to take you out for coffee, or other hot or cold beverage, after your arctic expedition.
Your writing is such a joy to read. You have the clear perspective If a historian while writing about current events. It’s like you have the benefit of the passage of 50 years after the events you write about. Your lists of events and attacks are much longer than I recall, but when prompted I do remember every one.
Have you ever thought of pulling all your writing into a book? I’ve got space on my bookshelf for any title you publish.
Merry Christmas, Sasha!
Sadly, you are experiencing what those of us who were, are, and remain, as you wrote, "[not] inside the bubble and didn’t want to be." for the better part of the millenium, thus far. Trump supporter or not (I am, to the extent it matters), you, along with the rest of us, have been "otherized."
This excerpt from Biden's speech, "...not as members of 'Team Red' or 'Team Blue,' but as who we really are: fellow Americans. Fellow human beings worthy of being treated with dignity and respect." smacks far too much of the plea for covid amnesty from the authoritarianism so gleefully exercised by those in positions of power to do so, and they did it with such self-righteous zeal that such amnesty will never be granted by me to those responsible. Similarly, I reject this "plea" from the Elder Abuse Victim in Chief currently occupying the office of POTUS.
My recommendation is that you embrace being considered a Trump supporter, in spite of your own misgivings. Why? Because whatever may be your reservations, no matter how significant the distinctions, your former compadrés won't acknowledge or recognize them, they won't accept them. In their eyes, you ARE a Trump supporter.
I, myself, am a middle-aged, white male with a bachelor's degree, gainfully employed, libertarian-leaning Christian conservative. In the eyes of the woke left, I am a racist bigot and White Supremacist, and there is absolutely nothing I can do to demonstrate otherwise and escape such judgement. Hence, I embrace it – it isn't true, but the truth was among – if not THE first – casualties of the War on All Things Trump that began in earnest the night in 2016 he was elected instead of that shrieking haridan.
Thank you for writing this. I am an Independent precisely because of the many things you write of. It used to be that politicians left the family out of this. Trump brought on much of the criticism by installing his daughter and son-in-law as advisors. Remember how Hillary got criticized when she interjected herself into health care policy making as First Lady? However, Melania Trump did what First Ladies are supposed to do and did it with grace. The media refused to compliment her on her exquisite fashion taste in clothing, decor and did so with a skeletal White House Staff compared to her predecessor. At the same time, Hillary Clinton was gushed over by the same press wearing literally a cloth bag in an increasing bizarre alternate reality. Then I knew for me, to ignore it all. Thank you, again.
If you think that Hillary received even a fraction of the attention of being a co-president that Orange Man Bad did by hiring JaVanka, then you weren't paying attention. Half the country celebrated the Clintons' tag-team approach to governance. She became a Senator because of that "experience" in government.
"Half the country celebrated the Clintons' tag-team approach to governance."
Didn't President Bubba, himself, tell the American people that with Hillary, they got a two-for-one presidency? I seem to recall that, or words to that effect.
"Fighting him has destroyed who they used to be..."
Fighting Trump may have unleashed or exposed various psychotic behaviors in these pretty little hate machines, but I believe that those tendencies were always there. TDS was just a readily available excuse to bring their true elitist selves to the forefront and realize their dreams.
It's not just them, it's anyone who has fashioned a career or career aspirations in this odd little industry called Politics.
They saw what Trump did to the once-proud Grand Ol' Party in a span of 18 months, and did everything they could to keep the rest of the village standing. This includes the deep state, and the "political media" and the lobbyists and the whores who sleep with the lobbyists and run for office, and the real whores (streetwalker variety) who populate most of DC bars.
Merry Christmas, Sasha. You’re a very good person.
Sashia - I cannot thank you enough for your column. I have been utterly horrified by my oldest and dearest friends takiing up the hate all things Trump mantra. What horrifies ME is that I fell right into the trap of establishing my own cred by prefacing before defending any of his policies with "well I didn't vote for Trump" you know.
I no longer offer that caveat when they accuse me of turning into a MAGA hat wearer. I tell them that my hard working religious neighbors in the small town where I grew up were the sort that the Left has spent years deriding as racists, sexist, low information if not just plain stupid people. These were the ..people who did and do the hard and necessary work that keeps the town, the county and eventually the country working , Their reward is that people like Colbert and Kimmel make fun of them every night. And since they AREN"T stupid, they know they bear the brunt of the jokes. I think I am going to buy that hat come to think of it.
Ms Stone,
It’s Christmas night. This morning I read your piece and it literally has been working its way around in the back of my head all day long. I subscribe to a number of Substack writers, but hadn’t heard of you until one of them (or maybe Substack itself) recommended your piece. I intended to follow you for a while (free) to see if your writing piqued my interest, but as I said, I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d gotten from your piece, so I decided to subscribe just so I could tell you how it affected me.
Your piece gave me hope. It made me realize that the good people in my life--my family, my friends--who have succumbed to the “I hate Trump and anyone who voted for him is a racist, bigot, homophobe, sexist, Nazi, etc.” syndrome may someday come to realize what burden the hatred they’ve been living with has placed on them.
Sadly, that hatred has been fomented and nurtured by big tech, social media, the Democratic Party, a number of government agencies, and not a few Never Trumpers! And unfortunately, that won’t change until good people begin to understand what is being done to them.
Your piece is exactly the sort of experience sharing that can provide the catalyst they need. What a great Christmas gift! Thank you.
"...that won’t change until good people begin to understand what is being done to them."
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
–John Stuart Mill
True enough, but it cannot stop there – good people must not just oppose, but act to demonstrate that good to overcome evil. We must do so in sufficient number to counter those who are doing the harm, and that especially includes those in power both in the private and public sectors.
Merry Christmas! Watching Shia LeBouf stomp around barking at the ground in 2016 told a story...
I am politically homeless as well. I caucus with republicans because I have zero in common with the democrat fascists and communists or the multinationally funded republicans. I became a very strong Trump supporter because he did pretty much what he said he was going to do which helped all Americans, not favored groups. And, he is a consummate professional... until he is fired upon. He fires back and we love it. And he is usually right in his commentary and judgement. When he publicly ripped John McCain(who fired first) I jumped for joy as McCain is the consummate a$$hole.
“These people crawled out of a sewer Mr. Ward, now maybe the gutter is where we should be.”
Oh, and he didn't make fun of a disabled reporter. This is the true Trump:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/08/19/the-day-i-went-head-to-head-with-donald-trump/#624a2a035570
Read "Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland" or watch video's by the author Christopher Browning. That is 'democracy' in action. We are a republic, not a democracy.
My "transition" began 35 years ago when my girlfriend told me she was pregnant. It has been an interesting journey - I have a wonderful, beautiful, daughter and I'm still trying to figure out how we tribally bifurcated as we have. I'm getting good information from writers such as you as well as your thoughtful commenters. There seems to be an emerging group of voices that are saying, "Hey, hold on a minute, I'm not liking where we're headed." I'm focused now on the nature of authoritarianism and finding that this is the context in which this is all happening. I'd like to recommend (I've done this before) Mattias Desmet's, "The Psychology of Authoritarianism." This a a great read and not nearly as dense as the title might suggest. If you want to go deeper, check out Hannah Arendt's, "The Origins of Totalitarianism." Eric Hoffer's, "The True Believer," is a short, easy reading classic. And, of course, damn near everything George Orwell wrote.
I just finished Desmet’s book and I am about 300 pages into the “The Origins of Totalitarianism”. Both excellent. I am learning so much.
I'm finding Desmet (and others) to be a new type of existentialist. Maybe that's not the right word. But his take on our psychological evolution and the nature of nature strikes a chord with me. In particular, he notes, the Left is taking the path of a scientific, mechanistic ideology as a religion that separates us from our innate spirit. I'm still digesting this so take whatever I say with a few grains of salt.
I think Rene Girard could also do with a mention in despatches here. Not sure what the best "summary" book might be, but "I see Satan fall like lightning" has by far the bestest title.