Weekly Opinion Editorial
BASKET OF
DEPLORABLES?
by Steve Fair
On Friday, former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said at a fundraiser: "To
just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I
call the basket of deplorables. Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic,
Islamaphobic, you name it." Clinton made the comments before introducing Barbra
Streisand at an LGBT fundraiser in downtown New York. where it was estimated Clinton raised over $6
million dollars. On Saturday, she apologized for the comment
saying she regretted saying that ‘half’ of Trump’s supporters were
deplorable. “That was wrong,” Clinton
said.
Trump came out quickly and condemned
Clinton’s remarks stating that while Clinton’s supporters might never vote for
him, he ‘respected’ them. He said
Clinton’s remarks showed a ‘shameful level of disrespect' for millions of hard
working Americans. Even liberal news
outlets said Clinton’s comments were inappropriate, which is probably what
prompted her to apologize.
Webster defines deplorable as: a person or object deserving of strong
condemnation, shockingly bad in quality. People or objects that are
deplorable are not worthy of consideration. If someone looks at someone else as
deplorable, they are not likely to work with them, communicate with them,
interact with them or respect them.
Evidently in Clinton’s world, anyone who honestly disagrees with her
position on same sex marriage, abortion, and gun rights is deplorable. Clinton’s comments reveal how all too many
political types- Ds and Rs- view anyone who doesn’t support their campaign;
they are misguided deplorable people whose views and opinions must be ignored
for the furtherance of their agenda. America
has become a very politically polarized country. Elected officials, at all levels, brag about
ignoring those who supported their opponent, even if they are a constituent. That is deplorable! When a person is elected to a position, they
should equally represent every constituent, regardless of whether that person
voted for them or not. They may not
agree with the position of everyone they represent, but they should be
respectful and recognize the American form of government allows for the right
to disagree. You have to at least
appreciate the honesty in Clinton’s remarks.
She truly will not represent those who agree with Trump on the
issues.
Last week, I spoke to a civic club about
the presidential race. During the
Q&A session, I was asked how America got in the current situation; out of
control government spending, growing government, and elected officials- on both
sides of the aisle- ignoring the citizens?
The short answer is because less than 5% of Americans are paying
attention to their government. The vast
majority of voters base their voting decision on the propaganda sent out by
candidates, not on the issues. The best
candidate doesn’t always win- the best organized or best marketer wins. The amount of money in politics has grown
exponentially in the past twenty years.
A candidate could run for Congress and mount a competitive campaign for $200,000
in 1996, but now it costs millions. A
huge industry of political consulting has exploded in growth in recent
years. Their goal is to tell the voter
what they want to hear so the voter will pull the lever for their client. Until the general population takes equity in
their government, we can expect more of the same.
Being an informed voter takes work. It means showing up at political Party meetings
and listening to elected officials explain their votes and holding them
accountable. If a person does that, you
could risk being branded a deplorable person.
Change will only happen when the average citizen truly comes to the
point they believe that getting involved in their government is important to
them and is critical for their kids and grandkids future. Has that time come for you?
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