“A straw man is a common form of argument and is an informal fallacy based on giving the impression of refuting an opponent’s argument, while refuting an argument that was not advanced by that opponent. One who engages in this fallacy is said to be “attacking a straw man”.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
Today I’m not going to attack a straw man, I’m going to attack an actual man. The Columbus Dispatch recently published a letter to the editor. The arguments presented are representative of many people who support President Trump. I’m not going to suggest they are representative of the smart thoughtful people who support President Trump.[1]
I’m going to quote the letter one sentence at a time (marked “L”) and provide a short comment about each sentence (“M” for me).
L – It’s time to support our president.
M – No, it’s not. It never is, except in times of war that threaten the existence of the Republic. Instead we should support our president when we agree with his policies and we should oppose our president when we disagree with his policies. Moreover, given the tenor of the rest of the letter, it is apparent that the writer did not support the previous President.[2]
L – Ever since President Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, the Democrats, media and old-school Republicans have done everything they can to discredit our President.
M – There is no doubt that “the Democrats, media and old-school Republicans” have not gone out of their way to help President Trump. Why should they? That isn’t their job. Politicians are supposed to help govern the country in the best way possible, not to blindly support a President whose policies they disagree with. The media is supposed to report the news. With very few and relatively small exceptions, they have done little more than expose reality. With very few and relatively small exceptions, the President has caused himself more problems than the media has. Reading his twitter feed is like watching a six-month-long train wreck.
L – He won and will be our president for the next eight years.
M – There is no doubt that President Trump won the election. I haven’t heard any credible commentator question the result of the election. I hear lots of supporters of President Trump endlessly repeat that he won, as if that justifies everything he has ever done or will ever do. He won, he is President. Move on.
The last time I checked the Constitution of the United States, Presidents serve four-year terms.
L – The media and their willing sycophants drum up fake story after fake story and come up with nothing.
M – As far as I can tell, more fake stories are generated in the White House than in the “media,” which also included conservative outlets. Yesterday the White House Communications Director accused a White House staffer of leaking his financial disclosure information “which is a felony.” It’s not a felony to publish information contained in a public document. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jul/27/anthony-scaramucci/it-felony-leak-financial-disclosure-form-anthony-s/ The accusation of “felony” was fake news. And it’s among the Communication Director’s more reasonable comments in the last couple of days. At least it wasn’t vulgar.
As for coming up with nothing: at a minimum the media have caused Jared Kushner’s memory to improve each time they uncover something else he was legally required to disclose. Recently, that included 77 assets valued at $10 million or so and more than 100 meetings with foreign contacts. The omissions might not be illegal, might not even be important, but they most assuredly are not nothing. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/343250-kushner-updates-financial-disclosure-after-omitting-dozens-of-assets
L – They spend thousands of broadcast hours trying to get the public to think the president actually did something with the Russians to defeat Clinton.
M – I have not heard anyone suggest that President Trump “did something with the Russians” during the campaign. Many hours have been devoted to what Paul Manafort, Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, Michael Flynn, and others did with the Russians. Whether that something was illegal, collusion, or intended to “defeat Clinton” has not been established and may never be established.
A fascinatingly revealing poll suggests just how loyal the President’s base is. Even though Donald Trump, Jr. has admitted that he met with a specific Russian attorney during the campaign, a poll indicates that 45% of people who voted for President Trump don’t believe that Donald Trump, Jr. met with her. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-jr-russian-meeting-poll-majority-supporters-dont-believe-it-happened-despite-son-admitting-it-a7847636.html
L– — These investigations, costing untold tax dollars, have come up with no factual evidence.
M – No doubt the investigations cost money, but it’s not exactly a budget-busting amount. As for “no factual evidence”: I would suggest that the writer is one of the people who doesn’t believe that Donald Trump, Jr. met with Natalya Veselnitskaya.
L – I did notice that the fake media never mentions our former president inserting himself into the Israeli elections and his reported efforts to defeat our friend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
M – How is this relevant to anything? If President Obama might have broken the law, he should be investigated. If he didn’t, he shouldn’t.
L – Now we have the Obamacare fiasco, a bill that will implode on its own in due time.
M – As I have stated I don’t really understand the various complexities of Obamacare. I doubt the letter writer does either. I suggest that there aren’t many major bills that won’t “implode” eventually – because the world is dynamic. There is no question that Obamacare has flaws. Some are inherent, some are the result of changes in the world since the bill was enacted. Some of the flaws could have been addressed by Congress, but it has collectively refused to address the flaws, choosing instead to attempt to throw it out wholesale.
L – The problem is that when it does implode millions will lose their insurance.
M – That is why Congress should address the flaws or implement a new health care plan. Thus far it has had neither the votes nor the courage to do either.
L – Some rogue Republicans, Sen. Rob Portman among them, presently refuse to support a new health-care bill.
M – Apparently any Republican who might put the interests of his or her constituents above those of the Republican Party is “rogue.”[3] Portman, by the way, voted for the “skinny” repeal of Obamacare last night. That bill was so flawed that most Republican Senators wouldn’t vote for it until they were assured that the House of Representatives would not approve the bill as presented.
L – We finally elected a non-politician for president, giving him both houses of Congress, but we did not count on the four or five Senate prima donnas who listen to fake news and misleading TV advertisements for their votes.
M – I agree that President Trump is not a career politician and that his party does have control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. I doubt the letter writer has any evidence that, whoever the prima donnas are, they relied on “misleading TV advertisements” when deciding how to vote. As for the “fake news”: shouldn’t we use that term only when it truly applies, not to refer to anything reported that is contrary to our own personal politics?
L – Those against the new bill are either not informed or stand to make millions as long as the current health-care law remains.
M – “Not informed” refers to many members of the Senate, several of whom indicated that the bill was not widely distributed for their review. As for “make millions”: well, it’s just a stupid thing to say.
L – Our president has an agenda, which includes building “The Wall”, income-tax reform, a new health-care law and upgrading our infrastructure.
M – No argument from me. Those are things that President Trump has indicated he would like to do.
L – It’s time for the Democrats to stop stonewalling every appointee, and for the media to get on board for the good of the country.
M – I’m not sure the Democrats have stonewalled any appointee. They don’t have the votes. The real problem regarding political appointees is that not enough have been nominated. According to Money, as of early June, President Trump had nominated only 111 appointees to fill 1,100 top-tier positions. That is not the Democrats’ fault. http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/07/news/economy/trump-staffing-vacancies/index.html
I’m not sure what the media are supposed to “get on board.” Does the letter writer want slavish advocacy for the government’s policies? If so, I recommend that he read Russia Today or People’s Daily. They are the official mouthpieces of their respective governments.
L – Trump has been in office for only seven months.
M – I agree, in principle. It has been slightly over six months – even if it seems longer.
L – It will take him many more months, even years, to undo what has taken place in the past eight years.
M – Classic generic partisan rant. Who knows what the letter writer is referring to? Does he want to undo the increase in GDP? I’m against that. Does he want to lessen the huge increase in the federal deficit? I’m for that. Does he think we should return to the 8% unemployment rate that greeted President Obama? I doubt it. We know he wants to get rid of Obamacare. Maybe that’s enough for him.
That’s the end of the letter. As I mentioned, I have many smart thoughtful friends who voted for and continue to support President Trump. I do not believe that this letter represents their thinking. But I do believe that this letter represents the thinking of many (most?) of President Trump’s supporters. Sad.
[1] I know many smart thoughtful people who voted for and support President Trump.
[2] The letter writer believes in “do as I say, not as I do.”
Definition of “rogue,” the adjective
- (of an animal) living apart from the main group, and possibly dangerous
- behaving in a different way from other similar people or things, often causing damage
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/rogue_2
Great commentary! I too am curious what your intelligent friends who voted for Trump think about him now, given his recent actions – like the tweet about transgender people in the military, the speech at the Boy Scout jamboree, his treatment of Sessions (who still should be treated somewhat respectfully, even though I think he’s a jerk), etc. etc…
I like that you ended it with “sad”. You should send it out as a series of tweets.
I’m curious what your intelligent friends who voted for Trump think now. Maybe a topic for your next post.
The letter writer is typical of many on both sides of the Rep/Dem divide. They just parrot the talking points without researching, analyzing, or even thinking about what they mean.
Sad!