Now that Joe Biden has been elected the 46th president of the United States, it has been interesting to watch the reactions across the board. I’ve seen a lot of expressed hopes by everyone across the board that Biden can help end the divisiveness and bring back civility to the national discourse. I’ve seen people post things about how a new day has come, and how the stress and anxiety they’ve felt for four years is finally lifting. And yes, after listening to Biden’s acceptance speech last night, if he ends up governing as he indicated he would do in his speech, if he governs as the moderate he has always had the reputation of being, if he strikes a reconciliatory tone across the aisle, then yes, we will all be better off as a nation. In all honesty, though, I have my doubts. Still, my attitude has always been that no matter who wins the election, we should give him a fair shot and judge him on his record.
I didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 because I found him to be wholly despicable and toxic in his rhetoric. Still, I was determined to give him a fair shot and judge him on his record. Over the past four years, I’ve come to see (as I said in my previous post) that Trump effectively was chemotherapy to politics that was, regrettably, needed. And I’m not yet convinced that our country didn’t need another round of chemo. Joe Biden won because people were tired and exhausted from the constant turmoil and fighting between Donald Trump and those in the media. For four years, that “media war” seemed never-ending, and people just wanted a kindly old man in charge so they could feel better.
The truth is, though, Donald Trump was not the sole source of all the chaos and hatred. Whether or not we are willing to admit it, the fact is that he was a mirror to all the ugliness and nastiness in our political discourse. It wasn’t just on Trump. It was on all of us, and if we don’t acknowledge that Trump’s toxic rhetoric is a reflection of our own, we’re in for more trouble as a nation. If we truly want to end divisiveness, if we truly wish to bring back civility, we first need to look in the mirror and acknowledge that all the evil we have projected on Trump is staring us right back in the fact, and then we need to repent. As the Michael Jackson song, Man in the Mirror, says, “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.”
Looking Back at 2016, When Trump Won–A Profanity-Laced Night
The reason I’m writing the post is because of a “memory” from four years ago that showed up on my Facebook feed this morning. On the evening Trump won the election in 2016, I made a simple post on Facebook: “Anyone feeling…odd???” Over the next day, I got hundreds of responses. As I read the responses from that night from one now former Facebook friend (let’s just call him Bob), it got me thinking this morning. The result is this post. A warning up front—some strong language ahead.
The morning after I had made that short Facebook post, I was greeted with this response from Bob: “I can’t believe I live in a country filled with this many goddamn fucking idiots! Anyone who voted for Trump is a fucking goddamn idiot!”
As the conversation between me, Bob, and a few others continued, I pointed to the very liberal Michael Moore, who said that Trump could win because a large part of the working class was sick and tired of the government ignoring them, so they wanted to elect a giant middle-finger to the government. (For the record, I think Michael Moore was exactly right). Bob’s response was: “So they vote for a racist, misogynist, authoritarian ignoramus? Seriously, I’ve lost any faith in humanity. Fuck is all!”
I then tried to give my assessment as to why Trump won. I said, “Both parties are learning the hard lesson that there is a large segment of working-class people who feel betrayed by their government. The traditional ‘conservative/liberal’ lines of demarcation have been blown up.” Bob responded with this insightful comment: “Fuck the working-class! You vote for the American Hitler! Fuck you!”
I then said that I thought the biggest issues that led voters to vote for Trump were (A) A loss of blue-collar manufacturing jobs, (B) A perceived US weakness overseas, and (C) The $20 trillion national debt. Bob responded with: “No! The biggest issues are racism, misogyny, fear, and stupidity! Seriously, this is just stupid people voting to harm themselves. Germany, 1933! Ignorant people don’t understand nuance, and they voted for Trump!”
The conversation ended when, in a reply to another friend of mine who said that the best way of resistance was non-violent resistance, like Corrie ten Boom and Martin Luther King Jr., Bob replied that doesn’t work, and that it was “Time for Malcom X, not MLK!” Even after I said that, like it or not, Trump won, and that we needed to give him a fair chance, treat him fairly, and call him to account if he actually did anything wrong—that wasn’t good enough for Bob. As far as he was concerned, people voted for Trump were all stupid, misogynistic racists, Trump was the American Hitler, and it was time to break out the brass knuckles and fight.
For the next four years, Bob had up as his Facebook profile the ITMFA (“Impeach the M**** F**** Already”). I think it is safe to say that he never accepted the legitimacy of the 2016 election. I eventually had to defriend and block Bob, because he never stopped that kind of pathological ranting, both on my Facebook page and even in instant messages. I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m willing to bet that everyone who reads this has encountered someone like Bob over these past four years.
Why Do I Share That?
I wish I could say that Bob’s response was the outrageous outlier. I didn’t want to think he was representative of liberals or the Democratic party. Sadly, though, over the past four years, I’ve witnessed Bob’s insane and hostile vitriol displayed across the nation. As soon as Trump was inaugurated, we read “the resistance starts today,” where Democrats were calling for his impeachment from day one. One Democrat congresswoman told her supporters that they were going to “Impeach that M**** F****.” Trump was a Russian agent, a traitor, a fascist, Hitler, mentally insane, a misogynist, a racist, a homophobe, an Islamophobe, and worse that Stalin. And recently, Democrats like Robert Reich have called for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that would “erase Trump’s lies, comfort those who have been harmed by his hatefulness, and name every official, politician, executive, and media mogul whose greed and cowardice enabled this catastrophe.” And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for a list to be made of all the “Trump sycophants.” I’m sorry, but that doesn’t sound to reconciliatory to me. It sounds like getting revenge. It sounds like something Bob would want…and no one should want to be like Bob.
There are a lot more examples over the past four years I could give, and examples of Trump’s own divisive rhetoric is already well known, so there is no need to rehash all of it. I hope, though, if people really want to turn a corner away from all the divisive and hateful rhetoric we’ve endured over the past four years, I hope they are honest enough with themselves and admit that the hatred and divisiveness has come from both side of the political aisle. Regardless of your political leanings, if you really want civility, you need to be the one to make a conscious choice to act civilly and not throw out poisonous rhetoric like my former friend Bob. And you need to have enough courage to speak out against, or at least acknowledge, such rhetoric, especially when it comes from people and politicians on “your side.” That doesn’t mean not to argue for your point of view, but it does mean you shouldn’t broadbrush half of America as…fascist, communist, misogynist, etc., just because they don’t vote the way you do.
I’m afraid there are much deeper problems in the United States than most people realize. Changing who is living in the White House is not going to be the answer to the deeper problems we face. As a Christian, I want to simply say this to all my Christian friends, be they conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat. Obviously, you should voice your opinions and vote your conscience for whomever you think is the best candidate, but at a fundamental level, I don’t see how a Christian cannot feel somewhat out of place in all of this. Quite frankly, if you “feel completely at home” in either party, perhaps you should check your allegiance.
In any case, don’t wait for Joe Biden to bring back civility and heal divisions. Start doing that yourself.
I wish you have inserted “projected” into your claim.
December 8, 2020: The safe harbor deadline in the electoral college
December 14, 2020: Electors vote
January 6, 2021 at 1 p.m.: Vote count is finalized at the results are certified
January 20, 2021 at noon: The president is inaugurated
These are the important dates to consider in determining who will be prez in 2021.
In other words, each of these steps are important and it is not over until it is over. Normally, all these steps take place behind the scenes as there is no concern.
In the 2000 election, the safe harbor deadline played a role for the Supreme decision. Recall that Gore and Bush used 38 days to determine the 2000 election by a Supreme Court decision.
Well, if something comes up with Hunter’s emails that end up indicting Joe, or if there actually is widespread fraud uncovered, then things will change.
As a side note, I really do hope the Durham Report comes out before inauguration. If it doesn’t, I’m pretty sure we’ll never see it.
Joel, I don’t think Any honest observer (You or me) would say Trump was President of all the Nation. He was President only to those backed him one hundred percent. He was not the President of anyone who disagreed with him on anything. Having said that, thanks for you thoughts and perspective.
Here’s my request to you and other Christian teachers and Philosophers: I would like to hear some history and etymology of the word “Conservative” and here’s my thinking. The Red states (Alabama and other sunbelt states) I think, are confused or misunderstand (and I think not intentionally in a majority of cases), the difference in what the Evangelical Church means when it speaks of “Conservative” and what the “Federalist society” vetters of the Supreme Court nominees mean (their etymology and definition of “Conservative”). I’m not sure most Protestant Pastors North or South knows the difference. I would doubt a lot of Catholic Priests or Laity could articulate that either. In other words, what would be the definition of “Conservative” of Conservative Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas vs. Conservative Billy Graham?
This has bothered me for many years. We talk of healing the nation and I pray that happens but, what are we being healed of? And who would fuse and distort two words like that to confuse others? Could we possibly need to heal from corrupt definitions?
Well, it is rather hard to be president of the entire nation when the other party starts to call for your impeachment on your inauguration day. That’s the point of this post–he’s not the only guilty culprit when it comes to the divisiveness in our society today.
As for the “conservative” and “liberal” labels, I think Trump’s presidency has made those general labels worthless. I was just using them in the stereotypical “GOP = Conservative”/”Democrats = Liberal” sort of way.
But look here man (In the spirit of Biden..ha), that’s our “Go to” reactionary thought, Conservative vs. Liberal. What I’m interested in is Conservative vs. Conservative. Same for Liberal vs. Liberal. Meanings do matter.
For most of my voting life I voted “conservative vs. liberal” because I was taught by my parents and in church that that was simply how a Christian voted. The Republican Party was synonymous with God. I assumed that political conservatives would also be religious conservatives. Now I’m starting to agree with NT Wright that labels such as “conservative” and “liberal” are just that–labels that in the long run don’t really tell you very much. I know some religious conservatives who are political liberals and vice-versa.
I didn’t vote for Obama and honestly thought his 8 years were a disaster, but he was the president, my president, even thought I didn’t vote for him. I was willing to accord him the dignity and respect his office deserves. Not to mention his being the first African-American president in US history.
Yet Dr. Anderson is right: Trump never had a chance. His enemies were calling for his impeachment before he was even elected. Everything Dr. Anderson pointed to in his initial post that Trump accomplished is true yet he will never get credit for any of it because of the fact that most of the mainstream media cannot stand him as a person. Instead of simply reporting the news, they not only decide what *is* news, but also *how I should feel about that news.*
But just imagine–Trump is the FIRST US president in history to successfully broker a mid-east peace agreement with Arab nations hostile to Israel. These peace agreements aren’t a quick-fix or a magic wand, there’s undoubtedly much work to be done to stabilize that region, however no other administration in history pulled off what Trump was able to pull off. Had Obama done that, it’d be all the mainstream media could talk about. If you notice the books and magazine articles about Pres. Obama, to this day they’re all written as if he were the new JFK and his administration was the new Camelot. In many quarters it seems as if the former First Lady is venerated the way devout Roman Catholics do the Blessed Virgin. Now think of Melania Trump and how she’s generally portrayed in the mainstream media.
What Dr. Anderson described relative to his friend “Bob” is what I’ve noticed for fifteen years–that too many people on the Right and on the Left, think with their emotions, meaning they actually don’t really *think* at all, they just react *without* thinking. Because they personally despise Trump himself they cannot and will not give him credit for anything good his administration did. It was all set in motion by Pres. Obama, or was just simply dumb luck. Perception is everything now. People no longer make decisions based upon trying to differentiate what constitutes actual reality, but based upon what they *perceive* to be actual reality, or what they *think* actual reality *should* be..
As long as people continue to make major decisions based upon nothing more that how it makes them personally feel at any given moment, as long as the received wisdom continues to be “Don’t bother me with facts because I’ve already made up my mind,” real meanings aren’t going to matter. And nothing much will change.
Pax.
Lee.
Only a comment to a small part of your post: Would not Carter’s brokering of the peace between Egypt and Israel count?
Yes, that is one good thing Carter did.
Right. I forgot about that one.
Pax.
Lee.
Lee; I happened to be with an organization in 2008 (happy I’m no longer there) that harped on nothing but impeaching Obama. I’m still not a fan of Obama (he seemed to me the very definition of “Neo-con” Republican so much of the time) and I thought he missed a grand opportunity to reform the Federal reserve However; I don’t remember having heard General Barry McCaffrey tweet, telegraph, or even insinuate this type tweet (this morning) during the Obama years:
11-09-2020 Quote, “Watching FOX and Newt Gingrich and others decry a STOLEN election is deeply alarming. I know Newt. Extremely intelligent. These false claims are pushing Trump voters to paralysis of our democracy. The fringe is talking violence. Republican leaders?” End of quote.
And Joel; having finished Walton’s book “Old Testament Theology for Christians (and thank you forever for the introduction); on the subject “Order”, “Disorder”, and “Non order”, can I conclude that Trump has promoted order or, disorder. Has he been an agent of chaos, lies, and disorder? And to both of you; does McCaffrey know a thing or two about order, disorder, and chaos?
Larry, I’m not defending Trump’s moral character. However in my humble opinion Trump’s moral character was no better/worse than Bill Clinton’s or a few other presidents we’ve had. Rather than admit he committed adultery in the Oval Office Clinton tried to deny and then lie about it to the American people and Congress. None of that would’ve even come to light were it not for the fact that the Clintons were being investigated for their alleged involvement in Whitewater. The only difference bet. Trump and Clinton is their political party.
Just think back to LBJ. He literally stole his first senate election via voter fraud; was implicated in the Bobby Baker Senate scandal of 1963 but because he was VP managed to not get indicted; was tied to career Texas criminal Bill Sol Estes; basically told the Warren Commission to conclude before they even started that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK; was implicated in a couple of unsolved Texas murders; reversed Kennedy’s policies and ramped up the Viet-Nam War while Kennedy had intended to start withdrawing US troops; liked to use the “N” word; had at least one mistress and a possible illegitimate child; and was obsessed with his manhood, which he nicknamed “Jumbo” and exposed to staffers more than once; and once even publicly urinated on the leg of a secret-serviceman. So to me, Trump has nothing on Johnson for sheer crudeness and dishonesty. Johnson was way more of a troll than Trump. Bad behavior is bad behavior. All I’m asking for is some consistency. Why do many on the Left give Clinton and LBJ a free pass on their immorality but not Trump?
Trump was responsible for his tweets, no doubt. I was not a fan of most of his tweets. However I’m sure he thought that the only way to get his message out uncensored was via Twitter. It did kinda work because we’re all still discussing them four years later and at least a couple of books have been written about them. Like ’em or don’t he got his message out.
However Trump’s detractors in the media and Hollywood are as much to blame for the disorder and divisiveness as he was/is. They had him branded as a Sith Lord and all but impeached before he even took the oath of office and didn’t relent for four years. I thought the mainstream media hated Bush II but I’ve never seen the mainstream media and Hollywood go after a president with such outright vehemence as it did Trump. Their hatred was/is almost visceral. The media behaved as much like spoiled children as he did. I would’ve given both of them “time outs.” Everyone wants to blame Trump, and he’s partly to blame, but it wasn’t all his fault. And frankly, much of what they accused Trump of (collusion with Russia to steal the election) was purely in their mind, it’s just that they kept saying it so long that they finally started to believe it.
Remember–it wasn’t Trump supporters who crashed Hilary rallies in 2016 to start fights; it was Hilary supporters crashing Trump rallies in 2016 to start fights. I’ve not heard of one person wearing a Hilary cap or Sanders tee-shirt who got beaten up or refused service for it, Yet I can remember at least a dozen cases where a person wearing a MAGA hat was beaten up; refused service at a restaurant; etc.
And I still agree with Dr. Anderson that Trump’s administration was a giant “middle finger” to the political establishment on the Right and the Left and as such, managed to get some substantive things done. Trump did this *despite* many prominent members of the GOP who initially refused to support or work with him.
I don’t have to like or approve of Trump’s moral character to give him credit for the positive stuff he’s actually done. Again, that isn’t to excuse bad behavior, just to be fair and consistent.
The way it’s been going I’m not too impressed with either party recently. But I’m willing to give Biden the benefit of the doubt and a chance to to lead the country.
Pax.
Lee.
Lee; RE your last sentence: I know you are willing but, is Trump willing? as I am typing this; Just heard (from Tucker Carlson’s popup “The daily caller”) that window smashing and violence against the Democratic campaign headquarters in Oregon had already begun. Will Trump plead with them to end the violence? Not holding my breath. Also, I may have already shared that Carlson would the Republican candidate for 2024
Also; I’m not going to use this platform for a long article about Conservative vs. Conservative but, I happen to run across a rather long in depth but excellent expose’ of who is behind much of the word meaning changes that are occurring right now. I’ll post it on FB. It was written in 2018 in Democratic opposition to the Kavanaugh appointment. Peace
Lee, meant to say I know you are not willing but…
Lee, totally disregard my last statement Ha