by
Zeno
Potas*
I
think those of us on the left need to take a long look in the mirror
and have an honest conversation about what’s going on. I
was
active part of the Democratic Party apparatus during the first decade
of this century.
I was one of those Democrats who considered anyone who voted for
Trump a racist. I thought they were horrible (yes, even deplorable)
and worked very hard to eliminate their voices from my social
media
by unfriending or blocking people who spoke about their support of
him, however minor their comments. I was too influenced by the news
media and the books and articles I had read over the years. I watched
a lot of MSNBC, was convinced that everything he had done was
horrible, that he hated anyone who wasn’t a straight white man, and
that he had no redeeming qualities.
During
the early years of the Obama administration I saw firsthand how the
optimism and hope that brought Obama to office soon began to turn to
resentful hatred of conservatives and worsened as time went on.
Nowadays this new visceral hostility has led many on the left to
paint even the most mundane policy action by Republicans as “racist”
or “killing people.” This was a standard liberal talking point.
I’ve seen almost every Democratic candidate in person and noticed
that their messages were almost universally one of doom and gloom,
not only focusing on the obvious disagreements
with Donald Trump, but also making sure to emphasize that the country
is a horribly racist place.
When
I stopped to take note of the sheer magnitude of hate coming from the
left, I started to question everything. I started making a proactive
effort to break my echo chamber by listening to voices I thought I
would disagree with. I wanted to understand their perspective,
believing it would confirm that they were filled with hate for anyone
who wasn’t like them. That turned out not to be the case. The more
voices outside the left that I listened to, the more I realized that
these were not bad people. They were not racists, nazis, or white
supremacists. We had differences of opinions on social and economic
issues, but a difference of opinion does not make your opponent
inherently evil. And they could justify their opinions using
arguments, rather than the shouting and ranting I saw coming from my
side of the aisle.
I
started to question everything. How many stories had I been sold that
weren’t true? I had heard about #WalkAway movement but MSNBC told
me it was fake and a bunch of Russian bots. What if my perception of
the other side is wrong? I started to meet real people who had been
Democrats and made the decision to leave because they could not stand
the way the left was behaving.
How
is it possible that half the country is overtly racist? I watched
town halls they held with different minority communities and I saw
sane, rational discussion from people of all different races,
backgrounds, orientations, and experiences. I joined the Facebook
group for the community and saw stories popping up daily of people
sharing why they are leaving the Democratic Party. This wasn’t
fake. These people are not Russian bots. Moreover, it felt like a
breath of fresh air. There was not universal agreement in this group
— some were Trump supporters, some weren’t — but they talked
and shared their perspective without shouting or rage or trying to
cancel each other.
So,
I had to ask myself the biggest question of all and it was this: Was
it possible that Trump derangement syndrome is a real thing, and had
I been suffering from it for the past three years? Did
I hate Trump so much that I wanted to see my country fail just to
spite him and everyone who voted for him?
I have gotten away from the pablum of the party and it's supporting media. I have opened my eyes to critical/analytical thinking and have come to a rational conclusion. The
Democratic Party I see today is very different from the one I knew
and worked for in my younger years. It
is not the party of hope, it is the party of negativity. Instead
of seeking support from the center of the political spectrum it has
moved ever leftward, embracing positions that leave millions of
Americans feeling left out.
I no longer want to be as negative, support rioting and violence, be disrespectful, pretend to be patriotic while subverting the laws of the land, protect illegal criminal immigrants, and
support Democrats, who I helped elect to Congress, who are
not working for the people but are working for their own personal
gains. If they really cared about the people, they would try to work with
the Republicans and help make America great again. I am not surprised
by the negative response President Trump has received when
he asks for unity for the American people - it is
expected from the Democrats as they continue to destroy themselves.
It
took 36 years for me to see through the Democratic
mystique of what the Republican Party is. As
the late Democrat Daniel
Patrick Moynihan famously said, "Everyone is entitled to his own
opinion, but not his own facts."
*As
told to the American Constitutionalist
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