I really didn’t want to see the CNN video below but was curious about its headline: “Trump supporter claims stun CNN Anchor.” So I saw it.
Sigh…
Look, its easy to knock the woman in this group for the absolutely stupid things she claims are true. I suspect the others in that group, though not much footage is offered of their opinions, are also Trump supporters.
The reality is…I feel sorry for her. I truly do.
It’s so easy to prey on people’s fears and/or desires and whip up their emotions with bogus stories and alarmist fare. Clearly this woman has lapped it up, believing that a) millions of “illegals” voted for Clinton in California and b) that somehow President Obama encourage these “illegals” to vote.
Her proof? She claims it was on the news and, to be fair, the CNN anchor did find a bogus “news” story that presented the second claim on (where else?) a Fox News report.
Yet I stand by what I say: I feel sorry for this woman. She views the news (apparently any news) as something that is truthful in its presentation when, sadly, this is becoming less and less and progressively even less the case.
I’m not saying all news lies, but one has to judge the news from multiple sources.
The fact of the matter is that if President Obama had actually encouraged “illegals” to vote, don’t you think that would be smeared across all news networks? The fact that it appeared on only one (discredited) news article should make you skeptical of it at best.
Yet for some this will become a truth and when its in your head its difficult to remove it.
The other day there was a “hot” video presented a Trump supporter in Florida (why does my state seem to be the focus of so much weird stuff?!) getting incensed because the barista at a Starbucks wasn’t giving him his coffee quickly enough.
The Trump supporter went off on her and, well, see for yourself…
So your immediate reaction is: This guy is a jerk, right? When the anger died down (somewhat) we have this…
Note a couple of things in the above news video:
First off, the man is a lot more level headed and offers an apology for his behavior, even though he still feels he was discriminated against (hey, that’s his opinion and if indeed he did wait 20 plus minutes for a coffee and it wasn’t delivered, I’d probably get angry too, though I doubt I’d jump to this being caused by discrimination).
Secondly, as the report ends, it is noted the man suffers from some kind of issue (mental? Who knows) and admitted to the reporters he was off his medication at the time of the confrontation.
So I’m inclined to give the guy a pass. I very much think he’s wrong in assuming he was “discriminated” against. I mean, come on, does he have a “I supported Trump” tattoo on his forehead? How the hell did the barista know his political tendencies?
It’s so much easier to chalk his anger being related to just plain old poor service, something everyone can relate to. That being the case, he did apologize for acting on that. But to use a loaded term like being “discriminated” against?! That’s victimization example “a” in your all-too typical right wing hot air handbook.
In a very long, roundabout way what I’m saying is that I can understand people being guided by misleading -or outright lying- in the media or in right wing sources, many of which create a reality about them that doesn’t exist. What scares the crap out of me is when decent people (again, the man above did apologize and it looks like he was genuinely ashamed of his reaction…either that or I’m completely misreading him) fall prey to these emotions and act out on them..
I can’t help but feel these people helped elect a man who will prove himself to be completely unfit for office and, ultimately, a detriment to the very people who voted for him.
Having said that, I’m willing to give him at least a little latitude to prove me wrong.
Which is more than I can say about the latitude many gave President Obama when he was twice elected. And I say this as someone who did not agree with all the things he did/is doing during his term.