have been breaking my cardinal rule recently about not (or at least trying not) to post political topics on social media. Why is it different this time?
For me, it is not an election about debating idea, but an election about hiding truth and rewriting reality.
Let me start off by saying that I have never been a real fan of Donald Trump. I didn’t vote for him the first time and reluctantly voted for him the second time. Though I agree with his policies, I wasn’t crazy about the man. It was kind of like Democrats/media said about Bill Clinton in the 90s when he perjured himself: character doesn’t matter; he was a “good president.” I didn’t agree then, and I hold to that now.
Personally, I wish he hadn’t run in this election. I felt that there were other good candidates. But Trump was nominated, and here we are.
I am told constantly what a bad man Trump is.
However, what bothers me is I am told this by people who will not hold their candidate to even a fraction of the same standards.
Truth is, I am tired—even fed up—with being lied to by institutions I should normally trust.
Beginning with COVID in 2020, it became clear that I was being fed a line by public health officials (and come to find politicians) about precautions and school closings—the latter of which we’re still dealing with the repercussions in education. People were being pressured with nazi-like tactics to receive a largely unproven vaccine. I remember vividly thinking then: if public health officials are behaving this way with covid, what’s going to happen when there is a far worse pandemic? Most—including myself—are no longer going to believe what they say.
I remember election night 2020. I went to sleep around 1 a.m. with Trump ahead of Biden. I woke up with Biden as President. I remember thinking: wow, in the remaining votes to be counted, over 80% broke for Biden—something statistically improbable. When I lived in Portland, I was always amazed how Multnomah election officials (and it was ALWAYS Multnomah County) constantly found boxes of uncounted ballots under the stairs somewhere in the building a couple hours after the polls closed. Can I prove something nefarious went on? No. Does that mean I trust the system? No, I don’t.
I try not to make accusation I can’t substantiate, but that doesn’t mean I am going to trust. I am particularly concerned that questions are not allowed to even being asked without mockery.
Next, in the last years, I am told constantly that everything is ok. It’s the greatest, fast-growing economy in history. Government officials state it, and the media mindlessly parrots it; however, walking out of Walmart with $200 worth of groceries that doesn’t even fill my cart or that the gas prices are still a dollar a gallon more than it was before 2020, it makes me wonder if the president isn’t trying out a Jedi mind trick on me (“this isn’t the economy your looking for”).
I have come to realize that government statements and quarterly reports are just spin and narrative control. Even on the rare occasion a sliver of truth is contained within, it will be spun to better fit a narrative. Even though, I might not be able to prove it, it doesn’t make me not suspect that I am being lied to.
Now we have a wildly unpopular, failure of a Vice-President overnight become a legitimate and visionary presidential candidate whose solely strategy is to not talk to her fawning media, hide her record (there is in-context video!), plagiarize at least three of Trump’s policies, and downright lie to us: “my values haven’t changed.” Even CNN had to call out her campaign after Harris released an ad in Arizona showing her support for a border wall that until July she had called racist. Last night was a debate that was a parody of itself. The media is not even trying to mask its intentions.
And though few people trust the media, we continue to let them.
Because our cause is greater than truth.
America cannot sustain itself on mistrust. We must demand truth from our leaders, our institutions, our media. We must hold them accountable for the deception they feed us daily. But in order to do so, we must be smarter.
And we must keep our moral compass.
Sadly, I am not sure that is even possible anymore.
I no longer have faith in the American people to make smart or moral choices. 2024 has shown that we as nation are heading for a cliff, and there seems little we can do to stop it. We cannot mandate intelligence; we cannot dictate morality. So we must let everything run its course and let this great nation implode.
I know I serve a God far bigger than this world. Yet I am also sad to see a great idea come to an end. Through history nations have crumbled due to their loss of a moral compass. America is no different.
We are history repeating itself.
Be First to Comment