Sunday, June 03, 2018

Anti-Trump posturing gets old

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for May 2, 2018- I promise it's not pro-Trump; it's actually anti-anti-Trump while being anti-president in general.)




How can anyone ever be disappointed in a president? It shows unrealistic expectations. Don't people realize that getting to the top of the political heap takes a certain kind of person, and it's not a particularly good kind?

Some presidential actions irritate me more than others. It is the same with anyone, president or not, who believes he has some mystical authority to tell others how to live and backs his opinions with the threat of violence. I won't tolerate such behavior in friends or acquaintances, why would I tolerate it in people I don't even know?

Presidents matter so little to my day-to-day life; I have to go out of my way to notice the new political threats being made against my life, liberty, and property this time around. Each new law or policy is just another link in the "long train of abuses and usurpations".

Still, the posturing of those who make an effort to signal their elitist disdain for President Trump gets old. Especially when they haven't shown every other president the same disdain. It is terribly hypocritical when they screech about the liberty-crushing agenda of one while fawning over the liberty-crushing agenda of the other. You've got to crush liberty in the politically correct way, I suppose.

The "progressive" Trump haters want you to believe they are the sensible ones, while in their minds, the "yokels" who voted for Trump, many of whom still support him, are "ignorant rubes". This is their mantra, to be chanted until they get what they want.

I chuckled recently when I heard a self-identifying liberal refer to liberals as society's "intellectuals". When it suits them, perhaps, but not so much when it doesn't. Supporting bigger, more powerful and intrusive government, in spite of evidence, doesn't reflect well on a person's intellect. It's even worse testimony against their ethics.

I'm also amused at liberals' reactions to Trump's behavior. The "progressives" suddenly became Puritans.

I'm hoping the "get Trump at all costs" crowd has opened a can of worms they'll never be able to close. One good thing which might come from this melodrama is a whittling away at the illusion of legitimacy which has too long surrounded the office of president. If every future president gets the same treatment, or worse, maybe people would stop wanting the job. It could be a path to better times ahead; where people stop looking to politicians as role models, and start taking responsibility for themselves.

-
Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com

Follow me on Steemit and Medium

Let them think what they will



Someone recently asked a rather personal question about a particular form of resistance, and whether or not I pursue that path. I'm not going to be more specific.

I foolishly answered, but then immediately deleted the response (I know- too late).

I doubt the person is a snitch. Maybe trying to find something to criticize me on. Or testing to see whether I "walk the walk". Those are valid reasons to ask, but that's no excuse to answer. Let people believe what they want about you-- it's nothing to you.

The question made me stop and think, though. I don't generally consider my "contributions" beyond writing, and I simply don't talk about such things in public.

I do my best to live as I believe I should live. Why would I put it out there, trying to make others see why such a course is the right one, then go off and live some other way? I have room for improvement, but I expect that to always be the case.

But don't go around answering questions that shouldn't be answered just because you don't want someone to think you might be a hypocrite. There's no benefit.

-
Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com
Follow me on Steemit and Medium