The viewfrom inside America’s political gulf
This country is so divided when it comes to Donald Trump ( and what he represents) that the gulf sometimes seems impossible to cross.
Here are a few reader responses to my column about the dawning of the Trump Era:
“I know Trump is not perfect. We do not view him as God like the Democrats did Obama,” wrote a reader named Pat.
But another reader stated her belief that Trump is acting on God’s behalf.
“You are wrong stating that President Trump wants to be remembered as the most important guy ever. … President Trump wants to be remembered as the most praying president in history. When will you get it; God put him there and America will be greater than ever.”
My guess is more Americans are praying since Trump was elected, but I thought the writer was being sarcastic, so I replied that I found it hard to believe the president acknowledged any higher authority. This was the response: “He has become a born again Christian and God is working through him. He is not perfect but is making America a nation we can again be proud of. He was not elected for his personality but for his policies. … Wait until you see 2018. There will be victory after victory. So sorry you cannot see the good he has done. So sad.”
This was representative of the other side.
“That criminal fraud ( Trump) has got to go. Along with his whole orbit of dangerous and low- class creeps. God bless the free press.”
Can God be on the side of the press and of Donald Trump?
“They are dying for liberal journalists in Turkey,” wrote a fellow namedWilliam.
Turkey has been called the biggest jailer of journalists in the world.
“You are the reason the current day media is falling fast,” wrote John, who identified himself as a Bernie Sanders supporter and blamed Chicago’s Democratic machine for Sanders’ loss to Hillary Clinton. “President Trump was right on 90 percent of his claims. His building was indeed wired! … Folks of all colors and beliefs are seeing you people for what you really are: Gloomy, boring, corrupt, greedy and worst of all Hateful.” Hey, I am not corrupt. I have clearly stated in the past that Trump is our president and we have to accept that. He is making decisions that impact the lives of Americans and making statements that have altered the way the world views us.
Yet, since I am also sometimes critical of his policies and statements, his supporters view me as unpatriotic and hateful.
Those who clearly hate Trump tell me that no matter what I say ( and contrary to the facts), Trump will never be their president.
So, while his critics disavow the president, they have adopted his administration’s belief that there are “alternative facts” available for those who do not like the real facts.
And that was one of the points I was trying to make in the column.
Trump has fundamentally changed America.
Americans who believe Trump is right and everyone else is the enemy of the people don’t seem to realize that those on the other side of the political fence are taking the same attitude toward conservatives.
There are congressional elections in 2018, and we still haven’t come to terms with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The level of distrust within our country sparked by that election illustrates how successful the Russians were.
I can hear the Trumpsters shouting, “They had no impact.”
I can hear the Democrats yelling, “Conspiracy.”
Anyone calling for reason and discussion is simply an idiot. Looking into the gulf can be educational and painful.