I have tried to see the good in President Trump's works, and tried to understand why supporters use Fox News talking points to defend what are obviously poor thought
- rally statements,
- TV interview commentary,
- Rose Garden announcements,
- decisions and
- choices and tweets.
I am amazed when very smart, I thought, men support Trump where he is obviously doing something stupid and self-serving.
Here is an example of an actual "smart" rocket scientist supporting Trump with what appear to be Fox News talking points.
I recognize my friend's emails may not serve to give all the details he would if pressed, but more times than not I think he doesn't have or know details to support his remarks. My friend is, it seems, impulsively supporting Trump and using Fox News talking points.
I take the argument my friend provides with a grain of salt, hoping my friend has real facts to support them.
Here it begins:
"As far as politics, we’re definitely on opposite sides of the equation but that’s okay since we’re all products of our experiences and life encounters. I believe the Democrats have brought much harm to this country from the Affordable Housing Act [Is this Absolutism from a scientist? Could the Affordable Housing Act have been a starting point for the huge recession? It may have been a contributor, but it was not the cause. Many educated economists make that clear so my friend is wrong.] which led to the mortgage meltdown [This point is debunked in many, many expert analyses. It was NOT the AHA that led to the mortgage meltdown. Fannie Mae did NOT cause the recession. The mortgage meltdown is discussed and analyzed in many insightful articles. It's easy to find where my friend gets his point, however, the "expert," Peter Wallison, was wrong, had an axe to grind, gave a biased view, was wrong.] and recession in 2008, Obamacare in 2010 which made healthcare un-affordable or un-accessible for so many working Americans ["So many?" This is an incomplete story, which my friend was willing to convey in many other emails. There were negatives, but many positives in the ACA. More Americans had access to health care, period. Pre-existing conditions were not longer allowed tovoid insurance. This notion fails to address the full set of facts.], to Obama’s OMB-led sequestration which decimated our military capability ["Decimated" the military? The DoD is our biggest welfare program wasting billions every year!!], to the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria [George Bush started the war and also negotiated our withdrawal, not Obama. Trump has done no good in Syria so why go back in history to Obama's mistakes in Syria?], to Obama’s over-regulation [Possibly true, but who is to say what the long run would be if allowed to save a few lives from toxic waste?] and taxing of our economy [Complicated statement - deserves some thought. However, in the long run the trends were all upward, just too slow for some impatient people like my friend.] which led to his eight straight years of <2% annual growth (the first time since WWII for any President) and the fact, to top it off, that he doubled the national debt in his tenure.
As far as the wall is concerned…my experience in Israel [No experience with the "Wall" built in Israel matters; that is a 150 mile obstacle built to keep our terrorists, not migrants, across a flat, easy to defend flat terrain.] and other countries [Egypt and Spain? Not the same there either, especially as those countries do not espouse American values.] is that walls really do work very well [Walls do not work everywhere, do not have the same purpose or meaning everywhere, and are stationary / do not move. Desperate migrants from Central America will move anywhere they need to get into our country. Legislation is our "national emergency," not the Wall] and in fact, where we have constructed them along the southern border illegal immigration has been cut by >90% [Percentages are meaningless. Deceptive point, useless in fact. This 90% is meaningless. Migration thru the southern border has DECREASED - a fact!]. Is this a national security issue? [No the border situation is not a national security issue. This is a case of a smart person being dumb on purpose, a man who worked deep in our National Security is acting dumb! Climate change, death by gun (including mentally ill who commit suicide), domestic extremist terror, the opioid crisis, our nation's infrastructure is crumbling, all these are ALL worse than the "border crisis." Trump is fear mongering. My friend is fear mongering - all the items I listed are worse than Trump's border "crisis."], Obama believed that global warming was a national security issue so maybe [Maybe?! Climate Change is a national security issue!] it’s not too far-fetched to believe that illicit drug trafficking (>90% of the heroin comes across that border [Thru Ports of Entry, NOT thru the fence!!!]), unwanted criminals (>90% of the violent non-citizens in our prisons are here illegally [Fake fact! Crime by illegals is NOT higher than citizen crimes.]), drain on our economy (67% of all illegal aliens receive US government support [Illegals add to the economy too!]), etc. ["etc." - I see this as a cop out continuation.] National security begins with having a “nation” [Uh oh! Here comes the Fox News talking point.] and if we don’t have manageable borders [OK, where is the legislation to manage the border? The Wall will not "manage the border!], we don’t have a nation. It’s really that simple [No, it is not simple, it is complex, and "it," border security, REQUIRES COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REPFORM! The GOP had a chance to pass the needed legislation twice and failed to do so.]. In fact, nearly all of the Democrats opposing the wall, supported the concept wholeheartedly just a few years ago. [Yes, this is true, and it is still true that Dems support Border Security, they just do not want to waste money on Trump's Wall. Also, it was interesting to me that in later email exchanges my friend said Dems wanted open borders. My friend doesn't keep his story straight.]
Apologize for the long email but as you can tell, I am extremely worried about this great country and the path the left [The path the "left" wants to take? What is that? TRIBALISM!] wants to take. The most distressing aspect about the 2016 and 2018 elections was the rise of socialism [This is my friend's biggest blind spot, trading on a dog whistle word few Americans really understand. America has plenty of socialist policies and programs, so don't try to make Americans think the Dems are trying to bring "Socialism" to America, and get rid of our Constitution. Trump and my friend are fear mongering "Socialism." Pubic schools and roads, Social Security, Medicare, subsidies for farmers, subsidies for Corporations, tax breaks for corporations like Amazon - all "socialist."] support among our young folks and they don’t even know the tremendous harm it can do. [My friend belittles our intelligence. Americans want socialist ideas where they make our lives better, period. Does my friend think we have avoided "Socialism" all these years with all our socialist programs by accident? Americans have accepted socialist programs where they work for us, period.]
"List of government social programs"
https://www.marketplace.org/2013/03/20/list-government-social-programs
"Head Start
Social Security Disability
Social Security Retirement and Survivors Benefits
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Medicaid
Medicare
Welfare (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or T.A.N.F.)
G.I. Bill
Veterans' benefits
Pell Grants
Unemployment Insurance
Food Stamps
Government Subsidized Housing
Home Mortgage Interest Deduction
Hope and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
529 accounts (qualified tuition programs) or Coverdell education savings account (Education I.R.A.'s)
Earned-income tax credit
Employer subsidized health insurance
Employer subsidized retirement benefits
Federal student loans"
These did not make American government "Socialist."
