Trump Did That

Possibly the only current pro-Trump article on Medium. Dare to be courageous. It’s not that bad.

I’m new to Medium and I have to admit, I am very surprised at the hatred on this platform when it comes to politics. It’s clear to me that there are many intelligent, educated, well-spoken people here. But when it comes to discussing Trump, many of you leave your faculties and manners at the door.

For example, I’ve read several stories now on how some have had to deal with family members who are Trump fans. The articles themselves are generally logical and coherent as they describe the infighting and challenges and sometimes the heartache in dealing with family members on the “dark” side.

Then I read the comments and OMG. “Trump is idiot,” “a fascist.” “Trump and his children should be arrested.” “Everything he does is evil and wrong.” “Hate consumes Trump supporters,” “Trump’s a liar.” “…there is only the Cult of Trump.” And I’ve lost count how many times I’ve seen “Trump is racist.”

All of these quotes are from the comments in just one article, “Confessions of a Trump Supporter’s Daughter”. Here are some longer comments from the same article (last names removed to protect the guilty):

• Alexandra says “People that vote for Trump are racist, transphobic, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic bigots. Point blank, if you vote for Trump you vote against human rights — and that is the reality.”
• Leslie says “…facts which are kryptonite to a Trump supporter.”
• Michael says “People who believe in Trump, did not form that mindset through logic and facts.”
• Another Michael says “Trump is a fascist…. He lies to the people, directs government funds into his own private accounts, and is trying to prevent people from voting.”

If you’re reading the comments on any Trump article you find a lot of the same comments.

Soooo, let’s take a deep breath, shall we? Another one.

All that negativity is so unhealthy and stressful. Let’s take a more calm approach and remember a few things.

Remember not long ago when ISIS was conquering the Middle East deserts at will. They had gained control of oil-rich lands and their wealth and power grew immensely. They were beheading Western journalists on video, burning people alive in cages and lining up prisoners in orange jumpsuits on some beach for gruesome bloodshed. ISIS gained so much confidence that they declared a caliphate to bring Islam to the world by violence.

Then someone came along and changed the rules of engagement and unleashed the real power of the US military. Generals and commanders were given authority to make decisions on the spot, instead of feeding the decision up and down the chain of command. New weapons were dispersed. Ammo was stockpiled. Pay raises were given to all military personnel.

Result: In just a few short months ISIS lost 99% of their territory and the great caliphate was reduced to a few sand huts in the desert. And we’ve hardly heard a peep of any more atrocities. In case you forgot — Trump did that.

Remember back in the 1970’s when the OPEC oil embargo created long lines at the gas station, and I mean looooong lines, like 30, 40 cars waiting to fill up. It was then that President Carter started talking about the need to become “energy independent”. Then it was Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr. who all sang the same song because it made sense, and most everyone agreed that energy independence would be a good thing. But it never happened.

Then someone came along and promoted the same talking point, and we said, “Yeah, we’ve heard that before.” But this time he actually did something about it. He lifted regulations that were strangling energy exploration and development. He fast-tracked the permitting, production, and transportation of Liquid Natural Gas as part of an “American First” energy policy, quickly making us a contender in the global market for LNG. He opened up millions of acres of barren Federal land in the West, as he also did in the Northern most parts of Alaska, for energy exploration. He approved the right of way for the Keystone pipeline to transport oil, which is the safest and quickest way to transport oil.

Result: After 4 decades of meaningless talk about being energy independent, America is now a net exporter of energy. Our goal has finally been achieved and Trump did that.

For a long time now, criminal justice in America has been a broken, corrupt system. There are too many opportunities for lawyers, DAs, prisons, and law enforcement to profit from creating criminals. So innocent people are too often jailed and some guilty people are punished with long sentences for minor crimes. One testimony I heard on the Ear Hustle podcast (great podcast, BTW) was a gentleman who was serving 25 years for unarmed robbery of $40 from a convenience store. In anybody’s world, that ain’t right.

A big reason why it’s so bad now is we’re operating under the 1994 Crime Bill that was signed by Bill Clinton. (Interesting fact: it was Joe Biden who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee who put the legislation together.) This law provided compensation for incarcerating illegal aliens and mandatory sentencing, including for young offenders. Many States have also passed 3-strike laws that convict minor crimes with harsh penalties.

Then someone came along and saw the injustices that were happening and thought he could do something about it. He didn’t fix the entire justice system by any means, but he has started to make a difference. He has currently freed over 1,100 convicts who were unfairly sentenced (91% are black) and reduced the sentences of thousands more. That is what the First Step Act did. And while many Democrats refuse to give any credit to Republicans because it was a bipartisan bill, I might remind everyone that the Republican Senate could have held it up in committee and Trump certainly didn’t have to sign it into law. But Trump saw it as the right thing to do, so yes, Trump did that.

Remember a few years back when our men and women who had fought against totalitarian dictators and terrorists were enduring long lines and poor health care at the VA hospitals. Nobody seemed to care until the neglect got so bad that some were unnecessarily dying while waiting for treatment.

Then someone came along with permanent changes to the Veterans Administration with the Mission Act, which provided choices for non-VA health care. Then he signed the Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which allowed poor performing administrators and employees to be fired if necessary. In the first month alone, over 500 administrators and employees were fired. That’s how you hold government employees accountable and Trump did that.

I remember when I was blissfully ignorant about sex trafficking because the media so seldom ever talked about it. I thought 99% of these missing children reports was just parents taking their kids away from the other parent, because that is what the media was saying. Now, thanks mostly to social media, it is becoming known just how bad the sex trafficking has been and still is.

So someone started doing something about it. Executive Orders were signed to fund the fight against human trafficking and shut down web sites that predators were using to lure victims. Another story reports his administration arrested over 1,500 pedophiles in the first month he was in office. This was the start of a nationwide campaign called Operation Broken Heart. Yet, the MSM is still silent. In the second quarter of 2018 alone, over 2,300 victims were rescued. No other president has gone after these sick pedophiles so aggressively, but Trump has and still is.

Finally, let me do a rapid fire list of accomplishments that most Liberals ought to appreciate:

• He passed a major Public Lands and Conservation Bill expanding National Parks and adding 1.3 million new acres of wilderness, the biggest bill of its kind in 10 years.
• He restored funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and simplified FAFSA applications to pay for it.
• He signed the PACT Act that makes extreme animal cruelty a felony.
• He has secured the release of over 50 American hostages unfairly held in 22 countries; some have been held captive over a decade.
• He’s not started any new wars. In fact, we could argue he calmed what looked like a coming war with North Korea. Kim Jong Un’s saber rattling has calmed down and test rockets are no longer flying over the Sea of Japan.

S o now I ask, how many of these accomplishments would you consider to be a good thing? How many have you never heard of until now? Did you find yourself saying, “I didn’t know that.”? If you’ve never heard of these accomplishments then that’s a clue that perhaps you’re living in an echo chamber where these good things are never discussed. Or, if they are, they’re dismissed or given ulterior motives, and then it’s right back to the hate.

I know it happens. I’ve talked to people who still don’t think the Wall is being built, who don’t think the riots are happening because the media and Jerry Nadler said so. Others think the whole Trump family are criminals even after 4 years of spying and investigations trying to illegally find a crime. I’ve talked to people who still believe the Russian hoax or that Trump was peddling influence in a Ukrainian phone call. They believe all this nonsense because the media is THAT biased.

But now the evidence is coming out and we’re learning that the dossier was fake and the Ukrainian phone call was fine, but they used it to support investigations and fake impeachment for 3 years. Wouldn’t it be wise to remember how the media was trying to stuff those lies down our throats. Shouldn’t we weigh that against the new evidence? I think maybe we shouldn’t be drinking the Kool-Aid if it’s got poison in it.

If media ONLY talks negatively about Trump and NEVER talks negatively about Democrats, shouldn’t we reflect how their bias is effecting politics? It’s clear to me that the media is negligent and no longer the purveyor of truth. They are no longer the voice of the people, but have an agenda and a narrative that is very one sided.

Look, Trump supporters don’t support him because he’s perfect. Even Abraham Lincoln wasn’t perfect, and I’m sure most of you would agree that Clinton and Obama weren’t perfect. And believe me, most conservatives cringe when Trump tweets stupid things, or presents himself poorly as he did at the first debate a couple weeks ago. But we remember that old adage about politicians, it’s less important what they say and more important what they do.

I’m sure most of you still won’t like half, or most of the things Trump has done and this won’t influence your vote. But if you have a hate-filled reflex to say “I don’t like anything he’s done,” if that’s true, I would ask that you take another deep breath and calm yourself. Because if you don’t think destroying ISIS is a good thing, or becoming energy independent, or enacting justice reform, or fixing the VA, or locking up pedophiles — if none of those are good things to you, then maybe your hatred for Trump is more about the character of the person in the mirror who’s been caught up in the echo chambers of a lying, hate-filled media.