So here we are - Election Day in America. Hoo boy.
I said a little prayer in my car driving to work today, I didn't ask God for any one side to prevail - I just asked that somehow our country find it's way back to being closer together rather than so severely divided as we have been for the past few years.
God also knows my heart and knows that I would also prefer to see a red wave today, but truthfully - I would take any wave at this point if the result meant less anger and hate in our hearts.
Sadly, I fear that if the Democrats do take back the house, the result will not be unifying whatsoever - but we will widen the gap of fear and fury even more.
Ben Shapiro had a great monologue on his Fox Sunday Election special a few weeks back that went down a detailed list about why we should vote GOP and how terrible the consequences will be if we let the Dems back into power.
You don't need to watch the whole thing - the gist is that the Democrats are frothing at the bit, ready to go to war against our president should they happen to take back the house. In other words, they will aggressively pursue impeachment, along with trying to dig up every little bit of dirt that they can on Trump.
Now I get that millions of Americans detest Donald Trump, but really I don't think that matters as much as the big picture does.
Right now we are a nation divided, certainly more divided than I have ever witnessed in my life time. This division is pernicious in that both sides believe they are righteous and that the other side has lost it's mind.
Clearly, compromise is needed desperately. If I may, here is my view on what has to happen on the left for any sort of bipartisanship to emerge.
As for what has to happen on the right, we'll get to that.
It's one very simple thing the left must do that will singlehandedly help turn the tide from boiling hot rage to at least a manageable temperature:
Our president cannot be called a racist. Period. End of story. When you impugn the man this way, you are painting half of the country with the same brush. It's unacceptable. I don't especially care what people actually believe, but to say this out loud without any actual hard smoking gun evidence, does so much damage to the liberal cause and credibility, it simply has to stop.
Liberals need to understand that when they say Trump is racist, they are saying that we conservatives are racist - or at the very least, racist if we support him.
I have become a Trump supporter, read the previous post for a good explanation why, but I still have misgivings about his character and wish that he wouldn't be so antagonistic all the time.
But I don't believe he is a bigot. If I did, I wouldn't support him. It's that simple. He's a bit of an ass, sometimes a jerk, but I believe he is a good man insofar as other presidents were who also had deep flaws of character.
Bill Clinton has been credibly accused of rape - and has an army of other women who have credibly accused him of various degrees of harassment and assault.
Kennedy was a womanizer of the highest order.
Nixon's deep character flaws are permanently on display in the Watergate tapes.
Clinton is a tough one, because I really do suspect Anita Broderick is telling the truth - and there is a fair amount of corroborating evidence. Unlike the Kavanaugh thing in which there was ZERO.
But the other women that Clinton trampled on, none of them have a story that gets into rape territory; so it's hard for me to know for certainty. Yeah, exposing himself to Paula Jones is revolting and awful - it's not rape. Coming on super strong to a 20 something intern and then demeaning her sexually is revolting and awful - it's not rape. As powerful as he was and as at a great disadvantage she was, it does border on assault but in the end it was consensual.
So when Bill comes up in conversation or on the internet, my first response is not "Oh, you mean the rapist." It does cross my mind, but I keep it to myself, because there is a reasonable doubt.
I admire some things that Clinton did administratively, especially his second term. Along with the GOP congress he balanced the budget for the first time in a long time, and the only time since. He also passed the fantastic welfare reform (which Obama gutted) and an amazing crime bill that saw crime rates fall off a cliff. Obama also had a big hand in weakening all of this good work.
So was Bill a good guy? Probably not. Is it worth it for me to scream RAPIST every chance I get? No.
There is a reasonable doubt, he was our president, not going to do it. Wouldn't be prudent.
I would hope that sensible liberals could step back and use the same methodical reasoning in regards to Trump being a racist.
Are there signifiers that this might be true? Sure.
Can you say it with certainty? No.
Is it worth it to shout 'Racist' to the rooftops every time Trump comes up in conversation? Absolutely not.
The damage done by liberals to our country by smearing Donald Trump this way is truly incalculable.
It really is like dropping hand grenade after hand grenade into a political discussion - entirely unproductive and very harmful because the destruction can't really be undone.
It's time to drop the R word from discussion - and if you can't do it, I really have nothing to say to you.
******
Now, I promised I would touch on what we need to do on the right to get us moving back in the correct direction - that is, less angry and more willing to listen.
Truthfully, I'm having a very hard time coming up with something simple that conservatives can do to affect positive change in our political discourse. I kind of think it has to start on the left. A prominent and respected voice needs to make the argument that that our president is not racist. He/she doesn't have to believe it, but the point needs to be made and the American left needs to be convinced that even if deep down they still think Trump is racist, it does ZERO good and a ton of harm to keep bringing it up.
Once this smear is off the table, then it will be on the right to reciprocate somehow; again, this is tough for me. I see the left as the quickest to anger, the quickest to smear, always the first ones to make things personal.
I think the best thing we can do as conservatives is embrace that there will always be a double standard, and then to work within that framework.
In other words, yes, the left will never be called out for their personal attacks because the media supports them. Meanwhile, when a good conservative slips, it's the end of the world because the media is primed to rip them apart.
We just have to embrace that - and always strive to be the adults in the room. It's not fair, but that's the way it is for now.
When someone on the right, for example our president, launches a personal attack - we need to speak up and discourage this behavior. We don't have to feign outrage the way the left does and condemn him whole cloth; but we can give a gentle rejoinder or suggestion at a different approach.
For example - rather than saying -
"Trump is clearly a racist because he says there's mostly gang members in the caravan"
maybe we can say
"I share the presidents concerns that there might be a criminal element among the thousands marching to our country, but I think it's a bit early to conclude that the majority of these folks are criminals."
In this way we don't give into the leftist hysteria about reading Trump's heart, but we do put ourselves firmly in camp grown-up while still supporting our president.
And that, is the best I can do for now.
The correct approach for conservatives who hope to promote unity is thoughtful and involved.
But the correct way to go for the left is very simple and rudimentary.
Calling President Trump a racist is unacceptable.
