Opinion
The heavy price of Trump hatred
My friends have a house by the water with a deck facing west so they can watch nature create a Monet at dusk as they enjoy a glass of wine.
But they haven’t enjoyed that blissful serenity since 2016 because “we spend 80% of our time worrying about Trump.”
Staunch Democrats, they despised Reagan and the Bushes, especially George W. “and his wars.” But no Republican has got inside their head – posed a real and present danger to their health – like Trump. For them, he’s political sciatica, a piercingly painful condition that won’t go away.
They admit their response goes beyond his policies – though they really hate his judges. They oppose him because “he’s a disgusting human being.”
I personally know dozens of other people who feel the same way and am certain there are tens of millions of others just like them across the country. They want him gone by any means necessary.
That’s their right as private citizens. But, as impeachment dominates the nation, I would hope they might take a step back and recognize how dangerous it is when the pillars of our Republic – the government and the press – share their commitment to remove a duly elected president by hook or crook.
Recall that from the moment Trump was elected, the reporting and commentaries from news organizations such as the New York Times, CNN and NPR created the impression that Trump conspired with the Russians to steal the 2016 race. Former CIA Director John Brennan promised time and again that indictments were imminent.
The reporting was so one-sided and unfair it’s no wonder that Americans already repulsed by the president took it all as gospel. Part of me can’t blame them – who would believe that their government and the prestigious news outlets they relied on would mislead them about so much for so long?
But they did.
In April, Special Counsel Robert Mueller admitted the obvious – there was not enough evidence to say the Trump campaign conspired with Russia. That, of course, hasn’t stopped Hillary Clinton and others from insisting the election was stolen.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice’s Inspector General issued a devastating report that found the FBI committed gross abuses – including presenting “inaccurate” information to the courts and doctoring documents — while chasing a phantom conspiracy. Combine this with the documented anti-Trump bias of agents working the case, and the fact that false opposition research paid for by the Clinton campaign was a foundation of this probe that included spying on a presidential campaign, and every American should fear that the ghost of J. Edgar Hoover still runs the bureau.
It doesn’t get any more serious than this.
Instead of owning up to this horrific malfeasance, Democrats and their operatives in the media have been gaslighting the public, defending their indefensible conduct by pretending only a few small errors were made while switching the focus to the first wholly partisan impeachment in our history.
None of this will change my friends’ feelings. But one can hate Trump and still admit that he has been libeled and smeared. One can oppose him with every fiber of their being and still acknowledge that the government and the press have acted with reckless contempt for the truth.
If they normalize this behavior by refusing to demand honesty and accountability from their party and their news outlets, then we are lost.
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