The Big Question

Without further ado: Right vs. left, Blue vs. Red, Socialist Communism vs. Capitalism, Republican vs. Democrat, Trump vs. Biden.

Searching for a position.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve lived the past four years with my primary news source being from friends and family and it’s left me very uncertain. Certain jobs I’ve held at times have limited or completely removed my ability to check-in online and I’ve often returned from lengthy stints without service, only to find that California is on fire or that there are riots in the streets. Now given the passion, the hurt, and the overall climate of our nation, even by simply saying that I’ve spent most of this time on the fence and have leaned both ways can illicit a reaction of rage and anger which I have already experienced firsthand. But I press on, because my goal is to ask questions and seek the truth. I know some of you might be truth-seekers and/or questioning as well so I invite any and all to join me as I quest for answers. I believe that this debate more than others warrants that I present facts separate from my opinions so I’m going to do my best to separate from the main body of the article those sections which are about facts and those which are about opinions and label them as such. I will not apologize for any questions that I ask but I welcome all criticism devoid of hate especially that which points out questions that I didn’t ask but could have.

Why question anything? Well for me, since day 1 of this presidency, there has been one thing above all else which has kept me from having an unwavering opinion on the morals, ethics, and quality of our standing president. That thing, is: the relentless attempts of every media source I have experienced to paint Donald Trump in any negative light possible. It’s vilification, and pardon me, but if every media source in the U.S. tells me to think in a specific way, I’m going to question that. Think the media is a reliable news source? Think again. We believe what we want to believe. If any of us want to think a certain way (myself included) there’s stuff out there to support our opinion, but a lot of that stuff right now is hot air and bullshit. I want to know where I stand now.

Why are we being told to hate Trump? Why is the media so quiet when Trump does something right? The big question: is Donald Trump what the media says he is? Largely because the media has been relentless, this polarization of views in our country is sickeningly gravitated around Trump; he is the center of this conflict and without him the red vs. blue, communism vs. capitalism, left vs. right would be normal levels crazy. It would be our nation’s comfortable/uncomfortable constant where we shift from blue to red every 4–8 years feeling distrust and a love/hate (but mostly hate) for our government while living some level of contentment nonetheless. Maybe we just ignore it; maybe we don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to politics…but it’s not normal this time, and from where I’m standing, what I hear is that those in my circle who fall hard on one side or another of this debate believe that when the dust settles, this election is basically about good vs. evil, though which side is good and which is evil is flipped depending on who you’re talking to. And certainly, 2020 has been exceptionally strange…but it is clear to me that even without Covid, the BLM movement, and the entire west coast being on fire, this division would be with us just the same, as long as Trump is a part of the picture.

So in turn, Trump is who I’m going to focus on. I’d like to explore Biden a bit at some point but as it is clear that all the focus and energy is centered around one person, that person is going to get the brunt of my questioning.

1. The Environment

In his presidency Trump has:

Signed legislation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to domestic energy production.

Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, with 42,000 jobs and $2 billion in earnings.

Repealed the Clean Power Plan, a regulation estimated to increase energy costs by billions.

Kept campaign promise to get America out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

This September, the Trump administration announced the award of nearly $72 million in support of carbon capture technologies.

Okay and now for my opinion: clearly Trump is for independently sourced oil. I think that more than anything he aims to make the U.S. financially independent and that is the driving factor for most of his decisions about environmental and energy issues. I think oil is evil; especially in that plastic waste derived from oil is creating toxicity in our world’s waters. Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere is still rising steadily, showing a non-stop climb since 1960. From where I’m standing, whatever we’ve been doing hasn’t changed anything. I was having a discussion with a friend of mine who deeply cares for the environment and has studied and worked in that field for several years now, and I was asking her, what’s the real issue? She took a moment to respond before saying, “I suppose I would say capitalism.” Capitalism: the system in which trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. I agree in that capitalism is flawed…corporations crush the individual craft makers and create more waste, less use, less quality, and bigger impacts on our environment. Smaller scale and local is the way to go, and therefore while I don’t believe capitalism is perfect I prefer its environmental impact to that of a state-run system that would make all ownership and production large-scale. The thing is, green energy is being used as a sales tactic. The human race does need to advance in the way it harnesses and uses energy. I personally believe that we should be there already, and it would seem that greed keeps making humans harvest what they can sell, regardless of what others pay.

2. Racism in America.

Trump has been portrayed as racist since the beginning of his presidency. Here are some of his presidential actions.

The First Step Act: “On December 21, 2018, President Trump signed into law the First Step Act (FSA) of 2018 (P.L. 115- 391). The act was the culmination of a bi-partisan effort to improve criminal justice outcomes, as well as to reduce the size of the federal prison population while also creating mechanisms to maintain public safety.”

Providing funding to historically black colleges and universities.

And the proposal of the Platinum Plan, which, if history repeats itself, Trump will come through on his promises, because no matter what your opinion of him is, he has a good track record of doing what he says he’s going to do.

Speaking of, “The Trump Administration has secured funding for approximately 445 miles of the total 722 miles of border wall requested.”

“In FY2018, ICE conducted 256,085 removals, an increase of 13% over FY2017, with 57% of the removals in FY2018 being convicted criminals.”

“In FY2018, DHS arrested more than 10,000 gang members including more than 2,000 members of MS-13.”

“The President released his immigration reform proposal which calls for the transition to a merit-based immigration plan.”

“U.S. Border Patrol and the Office of Field Operations have seized a combined nearly 3 million pounds of drugs since 2017.”

“A Missing and Murdered Native American women and men taskforce was created, and seven new regional offices were opened dedicated to solving cold cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous men, women, and children.”

My opinion: Actions speak louder than words. Trump’s policies affecting African-Americans aren’t racist. He is clearly anti-illegal immigration and his policies leave many innocent immigrants out. That being said the numbers show that there is a crime and drug problem that is being effectively dealt with through his actions. If you read the Platinum Plan, you will see that part of his proposal includes prosecuting the KKK as a terrorist organization and while the media says he refuses to condemn hate groups…that’s simply a lie. For his efforts to make living in the U.S. more beneficial to ethnic minority groups I believe the standing president does not exemplify true racism. I believe the policies of someone who was truly racist or even indifferent, would look different.

3. Is Trump a Dictator and Will Electing Him Lead to the Persecution of Any People Groups, the Removal of Our Liberties, and the Destruction of Our Planet?

Facts:

“The president signed an executive order that placed a five-year ban on lobbying and a lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign countries for federal employees.”

The Trump Russia Collusion was introduced by Hillary’s campaign in order to distract the public from her use of private email servers before the election.

While Trump has indeed threatened to invoke the insurrection act (last used legally to quell riots in 1992), he hasn’t, instead relying on the permission of local governors for federal support.

Opinion: I believe Trump’s motives are for the good of the nation as a country. I do not believe that his presidency is in his own interest for power. Two more facts: 1. He donates his pay as president to charity. 2. His net-worth is in decline since he took office. It is my opinion that Trump will not act as dictator in the future…and as of yet, I am not convinced that his moves are for his personal power, rather that they are for the power of the nation as a whole.

4. What you Probably Haven’t Heard a Lot About.

Trump successfully negotiated denuclearization of the Korean peninsula amidst media promoting fear of WW3.

He has brokered two peace deals with Israel and neighboring Palestinian/Muslim countries.

Three Nobel Peace Prize nominations.

5. The Covid-19 Virus and Trump’s Response.

CARES Act.

Not an action of Trump’s but curious just the same: a relative of mine is a first responder in San Francisco and has seen firsthand that deaths are categorized as due to coronavirus if the victim had Covid, even if the death was due to something else.

Honestly, this, is the most controversial topic on here. People are really REALLY passionate about this. Because the truth is, a lot of people have died, and it comes across as complete lack of empathy to argue against the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic. My observations?

Observation 1. The promotion of fear.

Observation 2. Is it strange to anyone else that Trump left the hospital after being in for only four days due to coronavirus?

Judge me if you want for being a terrible human, my insight tells me that things don’t line up. Digging up all the answers for this one goes deeper than I want to go in this article…but I can leave you with this article, and this video (scroll down). If you want to go deeper, here are some tools. Know what side you’re on.

6. Biden…Is That the Best We’ve Got?

Opinion: If we’re all so anti-Donald, why the fuck is Biden our best foot forward? My best guess? Honestly? because I think the man’s a puppet. That’s what we’ve always been presented with: these liars, these politicians. We ignore the shit that goes down in government because they keep slowly boiling our pot while we don’t notice it; they keep gradually enslaving us. I think Donald Trump is the best shot we’ve had at peace and freedom since JFK.

If I’m wrong, please give me some evidence/clue that I am. We believe what we want to believe, myself included. As of present, the evidence I have weighs stronger on my discernment than any theories saying otherwise. I wouldn’t say that it is crystal clear necessarily…rather just that everything confirms it, sometimes subtly, sometimes loudly. If the media acted the way with Trump that it did with George W., you know, mocking him, pointing out what a dumb idiot he is, sorta not really focusing on the fact that he took us to a war that’s lasted so long there are soldiers fighting in it who weren’t born yet on 9/11…well then I wouldn’t think twice about this, but it’s been a barrage; it’s been a foaming at the mouth cry to get this guy out of office the moment he stepped in and the tactic I’ve seen the most is fear. And the things they don’t talk about? All good! You know what that makes me think? It makes me think that Donald Trump is not a puppet. It makes me think that he might be the last chance we have at everything good. A last chance at freedom, at healing our planet, at peace, at safety, at privacy, at protection, at embracing diversity, and at speaking our truths and what we believe in. Why else would they be so intent on seeing him hang and trying everything to get him there while simultaneously hiding and ignoring how much he’s done? EDIT: I know that there’s a lot I’m unaware of, but one thing I’m sure of, is that the attempts to frame Trump don’t tell the whole story and are largely falsifications and distortions of the truth. I can only assume that the real reason they don’t want Trump to get re-elected is something the public is largely not aware of. #walkaway

P.S. I listed only a few things that Trump has done in each of my topics. He’s actually done a lot more.