Old Hickory
Another great week in Trumpland. After his supporters decry all polls for being "fake", they all seem intent to spread any polls that show their collective support has not diminished, despite the actual fact that the president has continued from day one to lie about, well...virtually everything. According to a recent University of Virginia (as opposed to a Trump University poll), 93% of Trump supporters approve everything the president has done in his first 100 days in office. The excuse for any failings Trump has had? "He's just getting acclimated to the position." (See: www.politico.com/story/2017/04/27/trump-voters-100-days-237660).
For a guy elected because he was such a smart businessman, how come he gets a "pass" for being so uneducated as president? What does getting acclimated to the position have to do with his continued stance that former President Obama "wiretapped" Trump's offices in Trump Tower? Just yesterday Trump reiterated on CBS' Face the Nation his wiretapping claim as widely supported! “I don’t stand by anything,” the president responded. “You can take it the way you want. I think our side’s been proven very strongly. And everybody’s talking about it. And frankly it should be discussed. I think that is a very big surveillance of our citizens. ... And we should find out what the hell is going on.” One problem though. No one has shown even a scintilla of evidence that his allegations about the wiretapping are true. Another problem? He's the President of the United States and he says we should find out what is going on? Isn't he in the best position to know? (See: www.newsday.com/news/nation/donald-trump-abruptly-ends-cbs-news-interview-after-wiretap-question-1.13547624). But that is okay in Trumpland. Any attempt to show him as being a bit "light" on his facts seems to becomes a beacon of the "left" trying to tear down "their president" under the banner of "Fake News!" One thing is sure - Bannon's genius in creating a foundation of doubting anything anyone says against Trump as simply perceived as an attack on supporters directly, hence, to be immediately dismissed as ideological rhetoric. Except selective perception and reinforcement has been taken to a new level of banality.
Just this week Fox News posted a graphic to show how successful Trump has been by crediting him with having a low unemployment rating after his first 100 days while Obama had devastating job losses during his first 100 days! Proof Trump is "making America great again!" Except anyone with a single working brain cell would recognize that Trump inherited Obama's unemployment rate (under 5%) and Obama inherited a cratered economy still reeling from the crash of 2008. (See: thehill.com/homenews/media/331246-fox-news-graphics-compare-economy-under-trump-obama-without-context). So much for claiming "left-wing media" is THE Fake Media!
But any glance at reactions on social media proves Trump supporters swear on the reliability of everything Fox News airs - no matter how ridiculous! Please don't get me wrong, there are many just as bad on the Left side of the political spectrum believing anything "their" perceived leaders say. But our president is not a representative of the Left. Right now, I'm frankly not sure who Trump is actually leading - except Americans so disillusioned by Far-Right bloggers, Fake News outlets voicing faux outrage and of course, good ole' now reliably fake Fox News (see above nonsense).
And the latest? Trump claiming Andrew Jackson was angry about the Civil War! "I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, There’s no reason for this. People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War — if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?" (See: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/05/01/trumps-woefully-ignorant-beliefs-about-the-civil-war-and-andrew-jackson/?utm_term=.b3df07385a36#comments). First, had Jackson been president on the eve of the Civil War, it may not have occurred. He dealt with the Nullification Crisis to ensure the Union remained in tact. I get that. But Jackson left the presidency in 1837. The Civil War broke out in 1861. It was NOT the Nullification Crisis! But the rest of his comment is a serious attack on American History. Not only was Jackson dead (he died in 1845!), we fought a different war between his death and the Civil War. So if he was "really angry by what he saw what was happening" what were his feelings about the Mexican War (Declared by Congress) that raged in 1846 (a year after his death)? I wonder what President Polk thought of the Civil War since HE was Commander In Chief during that intervening war? Oops, he died in 1849! Makes me wonder whether Trump even knows we went to war with Mexico? More importantly, that we could have "taken" Mexico? Or the notion that War had more of an impact on the origins of the Civil War than anything Jackson would have been "angry" about. But his supporters rallied to his defense claiming he was simply pointing out how divided we are and how we must unite the nation again to avoid such a bad thing. One problem though folks - Trump "lights up" his followers by using rhetoric designed to divide US! He's so concerned about a possible civil war in the US that he freely tosses about lit matches at the same time he is throwing down super dry kindling! (See: wskg.org/news/trump-attacks-media-in-defiant-pennsylvania-speech/).
As President Andrew Jackson once wrote: "Our government is founded upon the intelligence of the people. I for one do not despair of the republic. I have great confidence in the virtue of the great majority of the people, and I cannot fear the result." I wish I could agree with Old Hickory in this era of ideologically driven Fake News! Have a great week!
For a guy elected because he was such a smart businessman, how come he gets a "pass" for being so uneducated as president? What does getting acclimated to the position have to do with his continued stance that former President Obama "wiretapped" Trump's offices in Trump Tower? Just yesterday Trump reiterated on CBS' Face the Nation his wiretapping claim as widely supported! “I don’t stand by anything,” the president responded. “You can take it the way you want. I think our side’s been proven very strongly. And everybody’s talking about it. And frankly it should be discussed. I think that is a very big surveillance of our citizens. ... And we should find out what the hell is going on.” One problem though. No one has shown even a scintilla of evidence that his allegations about the wiretapping are true. Another problem? He's the President of the United States and he says we should find out what is going on? Isn't he in the best position to know? (See: www.newsday.com/news/nation/donald-trump-abruptly-ends-cbs-news-interview-after-wiretap-question-1.13547624). But that is okay in Trumpland. Any attempt to show him as being a bit "light" on his facts seems to becomes a beacon of the "left" trying to tear down "their president" under the banner of "Fake News!" One thing is sure - Bannon's genius in creating a foundation of doubting anything anyone says against Trump as simply perceived as an attack on supporters directly, hence, to be immediately dismissed as ideological rhetoric. Except selective perception and reinforcement has been taken to a new level of banality.
Just this week Fox News posted a graphic to show how successful Trump has been by crediting him with having a low unemployment rating after his first 100 days while Obama had devastating job losses during his first 100 days! Proof Trump is "making America great again!" Except anyone with a single working brain cell would recognize that Trump inherited Obama's unemployment rate (under 5%) and Obama inherited a cratered economy still reeling from the crash of 2008. (See: thehill.com/homenews/media/331246-fox-news-graphics-compare-economy-under-trump-obama-without-context). So much for claiming "left-wing media" is THE Fake Media!
But any glance at reactions on social media proves Trump supporters swear on the reliability of everything Fox News airs - no matter how ridiculous! Please don't get me wrong, there are many just as bad on the Left side of the political spectrum believing anything "their" perceived leaders say. But our president is not a representative of the Left. Right now, I'm frankly not sure who Trump is actually leading - except Americans so disillusioned by Far-Right bloggers, Fake News outlets voicing faux outrage and of course, good ole' now reliably fake Fox News (see above nonsense).
And the latest? Trump claiming Andrew Jackson was angry about the Civil War! "I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, There’s no reason for this. People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War — if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?" (See: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/05/01/trumps-woefully-ignorant-beliefs-about-the-civil-war-and-andrew-jackson/?utm_term=.b3df07385a36#comments). First, had Jackson been president on the eve of the Civil War, it may not have occurred. He dealt with the Nullification Crisis to ensure the Union remained in tact. I get that. But Jackson left the presidency in 1837. The Civil War broke out in 1861. It was NOT the Nullification Crisis! But the rest of his comment is a serious attack on American History. Not only was Jackson dead (he died in 1845!), we fought a different war between his death and the Civil War. So if he was "really angry by what he saw what was happening" what were his feelings about the Mexican War (Declared by Congress) that raged in 1846 (a year after his death)? I wonder what President Polk thought of the Civil War since HE was Commander In Chief during that intervening war? Oops, he died in 1849! Makes me wonder whether Trump even knows we went to war with Mexico? More importantly, that we could have "taken" Mexico? Or the notion that War had more of an impact on the origins of the Civil War than anything Jackson would have been "angry" about. But his supporters rallied to his defense claiming he was simply pointing out how divided we are and how we must unite the nation again to avoid such a bad thing. One problem though folks - Trump "lights up" his followers by using rhetoric designed to divide US! He's so concerned about a possible civil war in the US that he freely tosses about lit matches at the same time he is throwing down super dry kindling! (See: wskg.org/news/trump-attacks-media-in-defiant-pennsylvania-speech/).
As President Andrew Jackson once wrote: "Our government is founded upon the intelligence of the people. I for one do not despair of the republic. I have great confidence in the virtue of the great majority of the people, and I cannot fear the result." I wish I could agree with Old Hickory in this era of ideologically driven Fake News! Have a great week!
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