Nancy’s notes: Goodbye, Trump

I’m not the biggest Biden fan. He was toward the bottom of my list of choices for president. I don’t like to label myself as one political party or the other, because both sides have agendas and lie. I think some politicians really do try to do what’s best, but so many fall by the wayside. However, I do find my views to be left-leaning moderate. Truthfully, I am independent in nature, and sometimes I even vote Republican. I don’t care what someone’s political party is. I have friends and family on all sides of the political axis line. I can actually have intelligent discussions with some of them. With others, we have found it best not to discuss politics at all, which makes me happy because, in all honesty, I detest politics.
All of that being said, I cannot express the sadness and frustration I feel for our country. Over the last few weeks, I’ve wanted to write a column about what happened with the storming of our nation’s capitol, but each time I thought about it, I felt a sense of hopelessness. I felt like my small voice would be drowned in a sea of anger among the masses, like my words won’t make a difference. Maybe they won’t, but I feel compelled to speak now.
A sitting president telling his angry masses to storm the capitol over his false claims of a fraudulent election was the most disgusting display of anti-Americanism I have ever seen in my life. I imagine this mob thought of Trump as a modern-day Mother Jones, rallying the union coal miners to fight for justice by any means necessary. Or perhaps they likened him to Alexander Hamilton, determined to be free of British rule, no matter what it takes. Here’s the difference: Hamilton and Jones had legitimate claims against tyranny, while Trump is the tyrant. He said he wanted to “drain the swamp,” but he is the swamp.
Trump isn’t only responsible for that one day he incited a riot that led to five deaths. Over the course of his presidency, his rhetoric has turned legitimate news into “fake news,” and the heavily biased, conspiracy-theory news into “real news.” What has this done? It has brought confirmation bias to an all-time high, causing us to be more divided than ever.
Confirmation bias is believing, recalling, and interpreting information to fit your views. If you’re getting information from sources that constantly attack one side, you’re not getting the most accurate news; you’re being led down the path they want you to go to further their agenda. The left and the right both do this. Everyone has confirmation bias to a certain degree because we’re human beings. Even reporters are human beings (at least I think we are).
What happens when you start following extreme-bias news? You start following a rabbit hole, but this rabbit hole doesn’t take you to Wonderland; it takes you to dangerous conspiracies that only strengthen your bias. Why is this dangerous? Remember Pizzagate? It was a 2016 conspiracy theory that prominent high-ranking Democrats had a child sex ring at a pizzeria in Washington, D.C. Alt-right, conservative “journalists” spread this conspiracy theory, riling up readers with strong confirmation bias, and it led to a man storming into the pizzeria and firing a gun to break a lock to a storage room because he was convinced he was rescuing some imaginary children.
It is difficult to find a reporting service that is 100% non-biased, but they are out there. This is my opinion column, but when I actually report on news, I do my best to get every side and not sway the reader’s opinion. Next time you read or watch the news, try to find out the bias rating of the company. You can do this by visiting mediabiasfactcheck.com, where they have strict guidelines for determining bias in media. Also, when you read something, make sure the writer has cited their sources.
Not all of the “fake news” can be attributed to Trump’s rhetoric, though. Russia has played a large part in creating fake social media pages that pander to certain groups and deliberately spread misinformation. What better way to tear apart the United States than to confuse its people? And when you have the highest-ranking official in the land to go along with that misinformation, you have a recipe for disaster that culminates in what happened on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol.
If there is any humor to be found from that appalling day, it is that Trump told his supporters (mob) he would be there with them, marching to the capitol. He wasn’t (quelle surprise!), nor did he pardon those who were arrested. The coward was watching it unfold on TV, laughing to himself, knowing how right he was when he said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” But make no mistake, there is no humor in this situation. Trump has the blood of five people on his hands.
I think the worst of it is so many Christians believe him to be a Christian. He is no such thing. I have friends who are atheists who act more like Jesus Christ than the man who had law enforcement use tear gas and other riot control tactics to forcefully remove peaceful protesters from D.C.’s Lafayette Square so he could pose for a photo op in front of a church, holding a Bible I’m pretty sure he has never tried to read. As Matthew 7:15-16 says: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them.”
I do believe most politicians are opportunists and con men, and there are many on the left who are “ravenous wolves,” but Trump is the king of opportunists. He is the king of con men. He is anti-American. And, thank God, he is gone.