Somewhere, someone is writing the mirror image of this
piece. Making the same points I will.
They’ll be baffled why the other side can be so blind to the facts.
I’m certain of that.
The only difference is that they’ll be writing from the
point of view of a liberal progressive.
We’ll be saying essentially the same thing: conservatives
and liberals can be looking at exactly the same events, viewing the exact same
set of facts, and see entirely different things.
It’s as if one side sees an animal and calls it a dog while
the other side calls it a cat. Then both
sides vehemently defend their respective opinions and claim the other side is
delusional. If on closer inspection the animal is neither, each side will
continue to argue that it’s more dog-like or cat-like rather than admit they
were wrong.
This happens every day in our current political
environment.
Trump and Republicans passed tax cuts that put more money in
the pockets of working Americans, as well as corporations and the rich. There’s no denying they all got a substantial
tax break, including the rich. There’s no denying that some businesses – not all – paid out bonuses
to their employees because of those tax breaks. And that many working Americans
also saw more take home pay. The tax cuts have been cited as one of the reasons
the economy is booming and there are more jobs.
Why do a significant number of Americans think the tax cuts
were a bad idea? There are more jobs, wages are going up, unemployment is going
down, and people have more money to spend. Why do they now think lowering taxes
was a terrible idea?
How can this possibly be? People are upset because they have
more money? Because they now have a job,
or even a better-paying job? Are they
upset because they didn’t get more?
Or is it because they’ve been convinced they should be upset,
simply because Trump and the Republicans did it. That’s my guess.
If the Democrats and the left had lowered taxes, and
delivered the same results, would the same people still be opposed? Probably not.
Republicans and the right probably would, citing the increase in the
deficit, but mostly because Democrats and the left did it.
Much – perhaps too much – has been written about how divided
we are as a nation. That’s been used a rationale, an excuse, really, for the
heightened rhetoric on both sides. Both
sides blame the other for this. Democrats
and the left blame Trump and Republicans.
Republicans and the right blame Democrats and the left.
Both claim the other is promoting violence against the other.
Both claim the other is destroying
democracy and the rule of law. Both
claim the other is made up of liars, con artists, and leaders out of touch with
mainstream Americans. Both claim the
other wants authoritarian rule and is trampling everyone’s rights under the Constitution.
Both accuse the other of trying to stifle free speech.
Both sides have consciously chosen which media to follow,
which only reinforce and harden their views. Democrats and the left only trust
CNN, MSNBC, and the mostly liberal big-city newspapers. Republicans and the right only trust Fox News
and the Wall Street Journal.
That way, each can hear what they want to hear.
Democrats and the left can be told Trump is a monster, a
wannabe dictator, an awful human being, and someone who is clearly a racist, a
homophobe, a misogynist and an embarrassment for all Americans. Trump clearly hates all immigrants, especially those
of color, is possibly a Russian agent, and only won the last election by deceit
and collusion with Russians. He wants to
discredit our intelligence agencies, stamp out free speech, shut down dissent,
and destroy anybody in the media who questions him. He wants to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who will immediately overturn Roe v. Wade. He also wants to stop the Mueller probe
because it’s close to proving his collusion with Russians and his obstruction
of justice, which should lead to his long-overdue impeachment.
The Republicans and the right can be told that the Democrats
and the left are crazies who hate America, want to flood the country with
illegal immigrants to create a new pool of voters, are soft on crime, and want
to turn the country into a socialist nightmare like Venezuela. Democrats and the left have allies
in the corrupt “deep state” who have been working to bring Trump down, even
before his election. With wishy-washy
Republican never-Trumpers, they’ve all been working overtime to slow down
Trump’s agenda to secure our borders, reduce crime, and bring jobs back to
America. Mueller’s probe is a witch
hunt, a waste of taxpayer money, and an attempt to bring down a lawfully
elected President by Democrats who still can’t accept he is President.
Both claim they’ve seen proof of their respective sets of allegations.
Or at least enough evidence to point to a high probability these are true. They must be true, then.
The big media operations are happy to play along. Controversy – even invented controversy – is
good for ratings. So the media keep
stoking the fires for their audiences.
Conservative Fox and WSJ on one side; the liberal leaning media on the
other.
Facts are shaped and presented differently to each audience
to create a storyline they want to hear. Delivered often enough, that becomes
the reality for each of their respective audiences.
Trump says he wants better relations with Russia. The other
side says that’s because he’s afraid of something Putin and the Russians have on
him.
Trump tells NATO members they have to pay more for their own
defense and the European head of NATO thanks him. The other side says he
bullied our allies and made them question why they should support the U.S.
Trump wants to curtail illegal immigration. The other side claims he wants to end all
immigration, including legal immigration, because he’s a racist beholden to
white supremacists.
Trump says ICE is focused on removing violent criminal
illegals such as MS-13 gang members. The other side says he’s using ICE to
terrorize otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants.
Trump says he wants to stop catch-and-release programs at
our borders. The other side says he’s violating the human rights of families
simply seeking asylum and putting them at risk.
Trump is the first President in memory to not have a pet dog
in the White House. The other side says that’s proof that he’s so mean and evil
he even hates dogs.
It goes on and on.
There’s no way to discuss anything if both sides cling to their own
reality.
One side sees a dog. The other a cat.
Even though they know it’s neither.
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