I avoided making a current events post for a while, but then the riot at the Capitol hit. I checked the news between classes, so I was aware of it unfolding while I taught. None of the students mentioned it, so Geometry continued unabated.
The short of it:
Trump continues to claim that he won the election and fights the good fight. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar and enemy who is trying to steal the election. He's continued to call on his supporters and played the narrative until it boiled up and over into a riot.
The long of it:
Trump has been claiming he's won since election day. He's happy to call out anyone who doesn't agree with him.
No matter how many of Trump's claims are shot down or proved fraudulent, he continues on. Texas tried to sue Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court shot it down.
Trump appointed 3 of the 9 Judges on the Supreme Court. If there was going to be a bias, you would have expected it to be in his favor.
Unless you're a consipracy theorist. Which Trump has certainly been.
Some of the more liberal sites I read noted that Trump was putting a lot of pressure on Mike Pence to declare the results of the election invalid. The more conservative sites claimed Pence should use his power to fix the wrong. I think that the idea of letting the sitting Vice President pick who won an election seems un-democratic, but what did Trump think? Was there any way to hear his unfiltered opinion the subject?
Twitter.
For better and worse, Trump's presidency has given me the ability to read news articles about him and then I can check Twitter to see what's coming out of the horse's mouth.
There was a rally in front of the White House the day of the certification. Trump called out Twitter and called on his supporters.
Did he realize what would come next?
People who claimed "Blue Lives Matter" ended up with blue lives blood on their hands. One officer was killed and many others were left black and blue.
Meanwhile, Trump posted a video on Twitter. I watched it even if I pulled
this quote from here: "This was a fraudulent election, but we can't play into the hands of these people,\We have to have peace. So go home. We love you; you're very special."
To me, that reads as "You're right to be mad. I'm saying this to cover my own ass."
I wasn't the only one to think that either. Fox news tends to support Trump, but...
...but the updates they were putting out weren't very flattering.
They posted words from George W Bush condemning Trump's words and actions, too.
CNN was much quicker to call the riot an insurrection.
Sadly, I'm inclined to agree.
So what will happen next?
The Inauguration isn't until the 20th. My crystal ball (and ability to backdate posts) allowed me to get this screen shot: Trump isn't planning on attending.
W Bush handed the reigns to Obama. Obama handed the reigns to Trump. Trump plans to leave the reigns and a mess for Biden to pick up himself.
Of all the presidents in my lifetime, I bet Trump will have been the one to do the most damage to the United States.
And it's not like it wasn't predicted. Many Republicans spoke out against Trump while he ran for President. Only they changed their tunes once he was President. Our government is supposed to be founded on a system of checks and balances and I waited for them to check him several times.
Trump: You won't fund my wall? Well, I'll just pull funds from elsewhere!
Republicans: ...
Me: Do you really want to let him set that precedent? Because all future presidents, whoever they may be, may say "He did it, so I can, too!"
But it's not like anyone heard me. I'm not a political expert.
For me, it comes down to this: Trump refuses to concede anything. He's unable to be wrong. Some of his supporters seem to love him for it while I see it as a dangerous character flaw. A flaw that played heavily into what happened yesterday.
There's plenty of blame to go around. Individuals are responsible for their own decisions. Sadly, there are people dead and wounded from what happened.
I will give the news a special call out: Their biases that turn everything into a battle may be great for raiting, but they don't promote unity or healthy discourse.
I'm sure if I were to call one side out, they'd say something like "We had to say what we said to cancel out what the other side said!" In some cases, they'd even be right, but someone has to make the first move.
An example of competing headlines (with the time on my phone showing I took them back to back). Here's CNN about the COVID-19 death toll...
And the counter headline on Fox.
Also with matching timestamps, Fox says Trump is upset with the COVID relief bill Pelosi sent him.
Whereas CNN says the House GOP voted against a larger bill.
Are they both telling the truth? The House GOP could vote against more money and Pelosi, as Speaker, could still be said to have been the one to pass on whatever the bill was. Hmmm....
The most consistent I've seen the news channels with each other was during the coverage of the Nashville bombing.
Headlines looked the same. Articles read the same. They were probably getting all their initial news from the same sources (and maybe even the same journalists!).
There were follow-up articles, but not too long after I didn't see it on either Fox's or CNN's front pages anymore. I guess it didn't fit into either's political narrative and there was so much other 'entertainment' going on they dropped it to further down.
But even after calling out the media, it still comes down to individuals. Do you read multiple sources for your news? Do you only click where you can see the most drama? Do you only read news that you agree with? Are you willing to listen to someone who disagrees with you and not label them an enemy?
Yes, there are deal-breakers. You don't have to listen to pure evil and give it the same courtesy as someone who differs on how to make America a great nation. Someone who tries to argue that Whites are a superior race or that murder is fine and dandy? Doesn't deserve your time. Someone who has a different view on whether or not gun control makes your country safe? Give it a listen.
I would think that's obvious, but based on how people yell at each other online....Then again, I'm pretty sure that's happened since the internet became a thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment