I have to chuckle at how badly people can take something you say and mangle it beyond recognition. I recently had occasion to be a “victim” of misunderstanding on a recent post I wrote as a guest-blogger on another site. I wouldn’t have even written this post, perhaps, except an article that I wrote for Eagle Rising got over 13,000 shares on Facebook. And so, it seemed perhaps I should take some of the comments into consideration here and respond.
I’m NOT a liberal, no matter what they say…
The post basically was an opinion piece, stating that Donald Trump is saying some things that the public connects with, and that we really do need to consider some of his points – especially when it comes to things like immigration and border security.
Besides, for all his failings, Trump’s stunning popularity is not merely because of his “showman” personality. He is popular because he is saying what a lot of people on the street believe is true. He is saying what the career politicians seem reluctant to say, and what the media seems to avoid like the plague (perhaps, because much of the senior staff in the media are married to staffers or are former staffers themselves). People are tired of the constant race-baiting from the current administration – the double-standards about white-on-black crime vs. black-on-white crime and the like. People are tired of the constant pandering to special interest groups. Yes, I do believe this is it.
And I might have to go so far as to say I agree with Trump when he says we should build a wall.
I often say it’s everybody’s lot in life to be misunderstood once in a while. And I suppose, if I think about it, maybe the misunderstanding is partly my fault. But if people were paying attention to what I actually said, they would have realized that some of the accusations they made were kind of baseless. But once someone calls me a liberal, they’ve hit below the belt. So let’s clear this up once and for all:
I’m NOT A Liberal
This isn’t so much about defending myself or clearing my name as it is a concern that some stupid comments were made, and I’d hate to think that people can get away with not thinking clearly. Some of these comments betray either a lack of clear thinking or a short attention span (or both). And I like the idea of thinking CLEARLY. Check my web site and you’ll see that thinking CLEARLY is what that is all about.
The article was about Donald Trump’s stance on building a wall along the Mexican border. Now, I don’t REALLY think the U.S. should build a wall, necessarily. Not a REAL wall. The idea is good in theory; but there are tunnels, too. And a wall would be so blasted expensive. The POINT is that the southern border needs to be a lot less porous. And I think THAT is a great idea to implement. And not even for the illegal Mexicans coming in so much as for the radicals that are coming across the border every day and night. THEY have plans to harm us. That is a bad thing. In case you were not aware of a recent interview between Greta Van Susteren and Representative Duncan Hunter, it went like this:
Van Susteren: Hold on. Stop for one second.
Hunter: They are going to be bombing American cities coming across from Mexico.
Van Susteren: Let me ask a question. You say that they are coming in the southern border, which changes all the dynamics Do you have any information that they are coming in through the southern border now?
Hunter: Yes.
Van Susteren: Tell me what you know.
Hunter: At least ten ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the border in Texas.
Van Susteren: How do you know that?
Hunter: Because I’ve asked the border patrol, Greta.
Van Susteren: And the border patrol just let’s ISIS members come across the border?
Hunter: No. They caught them at the border. Therefore, we know that ISIS is coming across the border. If they catch five or ten of them, you know that there are going to be dozens more that did not get caught by the border patrol. That’s how you know. That’s where we are at risk here, is from ISIS and radical Islamists coming across the border. Once again, they don’t have a navy, air force, nuclear weapons. The only way that Americans are going to be harmed by radical Islam — Chairman Dempsey said the same thing. He said that’s where the major threat is here, that’s how these guys are going to infiltrate through America and harm Americans.
Ya know, most of the stuff that the politicians promise when they’re debating is stuff I seriously can’t see they have power to enforce. The fact is, though, that one thing the president has is the ability to affect the frame and the tone of the debate. And we sure do need to be talking about this. These people are not a “J V” team.
I’M NOT A LIBERAL. REALLY. For the record, let me state my positions on a few key points. And after that, if you STILL want to insist I’m a liberal because you MISUNDERSTOOD what I said, you’re still entitled to be wrong; but you’ll have to live with that.
FOR THE RECORD:
I’M PRO-LIFE: the woman’s right to choose ends with the baby’s right to live. Period. Look, I realize there are (relatively rare) cases of rape and incest; but two wrongs don’t make a right. And we, as a society, have probably fallen down badly when it comes to making a place for these little ones when they show up, and showing love, support and compassion for the mothers who carry them to term. But killing them is not the answer. For the record, I will say that I think abortion done for the profit of the clinic is one of the biggest abuses of women going, all in the name of “helping” them. It just exchanges one problem for another.
I’M PRO-2ND AMENDMENT: I don’t pack a pistol, and don’t have any intent to do so. In fact, where I live, it’s illegal right now anyway. But I’m thinking about how the idea is appealing with all of the nonsense that the government is pulling lately. Look. I realize that letting everyone carry one is letting the criminals have them too. But they have them anyway. (I know, I know, it’s a weak argument… maybe. But access to arms doesn’t translate into crime by itself. Lawlessness does. If you have a lawless society because of an unrealistic sense of entitlement, THAT might be the biggest contributor to the gun violence problem. And THAT is taken care of as a byproduct of a good spiritual revival.) Guns are hard to come by in Mexico; they are easily obtained in Switzerland, and nobody gets hurt. And the 2nd amendment is to protect people from an overreaching GOVERNMENT. You’ve got an overreaching government NOW.
I’M PRO-REPBULICAN: Jeez, Louise, when I said I was an “undecided voter,” it DIDN’T mean that I was torn about whether, given an opportunity, I would vote REPUBLICAN or DEMOCRAP. FOR CRYIN’ OUT LOUD. In the context, the remark was about not knowing whether Trump or Cruz would ultimately be the better candidate to DEFEAT Hillary. The WHOLE POINT is that either one is a whole lot better than HILLARY. My concern was about which one could do it. (Read the article again, if you missed that, ok? For your own good.)
By the way, on the Trump vs Cruz gig, you have the added benefit with Trump that he’s already said if he’s elected, he will prosecute Hillary. That’s gotta be worth something right there.
I’M PRO BORDER SECURITY: NO deals on illegals, ESPECIALLY until AFTER you secure the border. THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE ARTICLE. It WASN’T about building an actual, physical wall. (It might be a great idea, but somebody’s gotta PAY for the stupid thing, right?) Look, Trump said we’ve got to slow the flow through the border until we know what’s going on. And Cruz is saying we need to increase police patrols and police presence in these neighbourhoods. They’re BOTH getting flack from the bleeding hearts. And they’re both RIGHT. PROFILING isn’t always a bad thing (unless you’re a liberal).
I don’t know that I would normally write an article like this one, except that it will be a handy reference point for future posts when I need to explain my positions on things.
And like I said, in case you missed it, I’m not a liberal. Hope I cleared that up.