Trump supporters: The far from right

There is a place in our society and politics for conservatives, just as there is a place for the more liberal minded. However, the far right has claimed the mantle of utter stupidity and what concerns me most about them is just how much of the populous buys into their nonsense. Two recent examples drive this point home, however, they are just two of a flood or reasons why we might want to rethink whether or not the far right is mentally fit to own drivers licenses, much less gun licenses.

Ann Coulter: To hear her on countless shows, most of which are on FOX News, you’d think she was a victim of a horrible crime. It turns out, her presence on the campus of UC Berkeley has sparked a massive uproar, so much so, her planned talk has been canceled, rescheduled, and canceled again (By the time this goes to press, it may have been rescheduled and canceled a few more times).

Hard to believe a sizable number of students and faculty at a liberal college in a very liberal town do not want the Queen of Hate to speak, even if it is to a small group of young conservatives meeting in a campus bathroom.

Given the outbreak of violence when Milos Yiannopoulos visited recently, it is safe to assume there would be a repeat with a Coulter gab fest. This was precisely what all parties involved wanted, other than university officials, because for some odd reason, the far right and far left are spoiling to throw punches, beer cans, bottle rockets, stones, as well as insults at one another. The only bad press coverage is no press coverage.

With FOX desperate for ratings, it only makes sense to drag the wicked witch of the right onto every show possible and let her vent about how her right to free speech is being taken away by the far left. Here is where Coulter and the far right are far from right; her freedom of speech is not being denied and there is no war on free speech by the left. There may, however, be a war on hate, which is what Coulter has made her living spreading any way she can.

Unfortunately, unless you are Coulter and bank on your followers’ stupidity, the far right soaks up her arguments like a drunk soaks up booze. They really do believe Coulter and her kind when they say protesters do not have a right to protest, so much so they have no idea protesting is a form of free speech. They think she is telling the truth that protesters are an affront to our democracy when in fact, based on their numbers, the protesters represent what the majority on the Berkeley campus want. If Coulter wants to spread hate, go speak at Liberty University where an appearance by her would go unnoticed for the most part.

Coulter and other leading members of the far right do not care if violence breaks out at clashes between their supporters and detractors. They love it in fact because it allows them to cement their base which is built on two foundations; hate and ignorance. You might not be able to fix stupid, but people like Coulter can sure profit off of them.

Trump’s Numbers: Last night, I saw the same report all over Facebook: 96 percent of Trump’s voters would vote for him again if the election were today. The accompanying story fails to mention his declining national approval ratings or points out how Trump lost the general election by over 3 million votes. In fact, this great 96 percent figure being boasted again by FOX just means if the election were held today, Trump would lose the popular vote by four or five million given the four percent who would not vote for him.

Here is what really concerns me: people actually chimed in and used this number to explain why Trump has won over so many people who did not vote for him. Are you kidding? What it really means is Fox, upon carefully selecting who they polled, used a figure more bloated than Donald’s desired military budget to paint a false narrative about his presidency.

One hundred days into his first term and all Trump has accomplished is getting his choice for the open Supreme Court seat approved and that took a rules change to accomplish. He’s failed on health care. He’s failed to drain the swamp. He’s flip-flopped on China. He is itching to go to war in North Korea. He’s played musical chairs with his appointments. He is on pace to spend more on personal travel to Mar-A-Lago in one year than Obama spent in eight years. He is under investigation for his ties to Russia. He has yet to release his taxes. He ignores laws and hires family members. Despite all of this, 96 percent of those who voted for him simply do not care because they don’t know what they stand for so why should they care if the guy they voted for doesn’t know either.

I am amazed people are shocked over the Trump administration’s desire to destroy public education. People who have ruled with a reliance on developing hate by some toward others have always relied on the ignorance of the people they appeal to. Ignorance is bliss if you are a leader of a movement that seeks to destroy others and then deny them the rights you really only want applied to your way of thinking.

To this end, Trump’s followers eat up his promotion to buy products made and sold in America while not wanting to have to think about how the man pushing this mantra made his fortune on the backs of illegal immigrants and overseas sweat shop workers. That might require some thought, and lets face it, the dumb are driven by emotion and one of the most powerful emotions is hate which is why it will always be the cornerstone of the far right.

I know I lost the Trump supporter somewhere between this article’s title and the end of the first paragraph. Trump has now, and mostly likely always will, a solid core of 40 percent of the voters in his pocket. He knows he has plenty of surrogates at his disposal as well as his thumbs to unleash an endless barrage of hate toward anyone who thinks differently than him. The danger of this is a nation of voters who grow numb to it all and stop thinking of it as anything less than normal. A constant barrage of hate spread via media outlets, mainly FOX and conservative talk radio, and then driven home by false and misleading social networking posts can make Trump seem normal in just three years time when he is gearing up for re-election.

It is vital newer and younger voters see through all of this and refuse to buy into this thinking. To not do so only increases the chances of him wreaking havoc on our values and democratic principles for eight years and by then, we as a nation might not be salvageable.

Top photo: YouTube screen shot of Tucker Carlson and Ann Coulter on the Fox News program “Tucker Carlson Tonight”