The basis for every conspiracy theory is that somebody is lying about something and that the people tasked with holding people accountable are a part of the conspiracy. Hence, in Trump’s Russia connection, we cannot believe Jake Tapper from CNN but we must believe Alex Jones, the king of conspiracy theorists. Tapper is out to get Trump while Alex Jones is simply telling the truth. Anyone who voted for Trump and/or believes that Washington D.C. is a swamp of corruption needs to believe that Tapper is the enemy and Jones is a truth-teller.
Criminal conspiracies exist. So do political conspiracies. My point is not to deny the obvious. My point is to raise a concern between conspiracy theories and objective truth. There often is a difference between what we believe and what is true. There also is often a difference between what we know and what is true.
A central concern over a Trump presidency for me always has been this notion that the only person we can believe is Donald Trump. If you disagree with Trump, you are an idiot or a liar. There is an evil to the strategy employed by Trump and Steve Bannon in discrediting anyone asking them for accountability.
Here is what I know: Donald Trump is often the idiot and liar. His worldview is not mine. His manner of business is not how I would conduct business. You would have to be deaf, dumb and blind to miss the connection between Trump and Russia. He did business with Russians throughout the recent Great Recession because that is where the money was to fund his business projects. Honestly, I do not doubt that Trump feels some loyalty to America. I just think he loves himself more and money is Trump’s standard of objective truth. The more money you have, the more truth you own.
Trump is hip deep with the Russians. And, yes, so too are the Clintons. Again, that is where the money is. The question for Robert Mueller has to do with collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians to influence an American election. The first objective truth is that Russia is an enemy of the United States. If you do not believe that Russia is an enemy of the United States, there is no reason to worry about alleged collusion. Another objective truth is that Russia sought to influence an American election. If you believe that Russia’s influence was worth it to get rid of Hillary Clinton, you will roll your eyes at anything Mueller reveals. You also would be an enemy-in-spirit of the United States.
There is no objective truth in the rhetoric to drain the swamp. Draining the swamp is an act of deep cynicism and inherent disregard for our political processes. To believe in draining the swamp you must believe that our entire system of American democracy and elections is corrupt and that the only actions left to undo the corruption is to blow up the place. This is Bannon Politics 101. But the whole concept lacks objective truth. The best way to drain the swamp is regular order in our political processes, not abandoning that order.
Congress is a lot of things but if nobody can trust Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan to do their jobs in the best interests of the American people, there is no America left to protect. To think replacing McConnell and Ryan will drain the swamp is juvenile if you truly believe there is a swamp. The swamp, by its very nature, is the entire system of democratic processes. The only way to drain the swamp is to overthrow those processes – which activity, might I remind us, is treasonous.
The only way to rediscover and reclaim objective truth is first to believe it exists and second to trust democratic processes to reveal it. If you really want to know who is corrupt or not, let the processes play out. If you only want what you want, just keep listening to Trump, Bannon, Alex Jones and Fox News.
I’m Paul Mero. Thanks for listening.
Paul Mero is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Round and round we go. Seems to me if “Russia is the enemy” as Mr. Mero states, then why the witch hunt by either American political party? The real bad guys are not on our soil but are rigging our elections from across the sea on social media. That’s the truth and it matters Paul.
Obviously the truth doesn’t matter to many.
John 14:6New International Version (NIV)
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
That’s the truth that many ignore and disbelieve. It’s the only truth that matters. It’s the only truth that can change your life. It’s the only truth that can turn a blind man into a seeing man. It’s the only truth that can turn darkness into light. It’s the only truth that can redeem a sinner. It’s the only truth that matters.
God bless y’all
I have applaud Mero for having the persistent integrity to stand up and critique Trump, and Bannon. He is right about the “blow it up” mentality are words Bannon has explicitly used in reference to agenda.
I don’t necessarily have a ton of faith in Congress in the short run but I do believe in the systems of our republic and their ability to function properly in the long run. The type of power politics Trump and Bannon represent is a new low for politics, not the same of governance, and we need folks on both sides condemning such strategy.
One such strategy is constantly undermining the role of a free press in an attempt to makes themselves the sole authority on truth. That strategy of authoritarianism is inherently unAmerican and threatens the integrity of a democracy (Obama already had an abysmally low rating around free press but nothing resembling the scale and and content of Trump’s rhetoric). Throughout history there have moments of post-truth ideology but rarely have we seen the POTUS build an entire platform on foreign ground. Our founders protected the fourth estate because they recognized the importance of holding our representatives, especially our executive, to high standards. Trump and Bannon have been smart enough to recognize how much unilateral power can be wielded by intentionally undermining trust in our journalist.
I am willing to wait and see what connections are found to the Trump campaign and Russia and if any is criminal. I hope the DoJ maintains independence and integrity, Trump came out swinging yesterday about its intentional isolation from political influence, to do a proper job to serve justice.
For years I supported the rare voices within the DNC critiquing the abuses of the Obama administration so its refreshing to see those on the right doing the same.
Really bikeandfish? I don’t know when it’s ever “refreshing to see an abuse of power”.
Interesting use of a fake quote.
But if you are trying to say the wording in my sentence is conveying something different than I intended then I appreciate the concern. I make mistakes in editing my comments as much as the next person.
Maybe it should have read *refreshing to hear the voices on the right critiquing their own president.
Mero does not define draining the swamp. To me it means getting rid of persistent government waste and abuse. It means doing something about the revolving door of those the government tries to regulate and those in government doing the regulating. It does not seem to matter who is in the White House or who controls Congress; there are endless stories of overruns in the DoD, overcharging Medicare, and billions spent on ineffective social welfare and other government programs. How have the Wars on Drugs and Poverty worked out? The swamp seems immune to the political processes.
It is not that our entire system of democracy and elections is corrupt, it is that the system does not seem to deliver what it should. I don’t believe we need to blow up the place, but some serious changes need to be made.
Even putting aside Trumps serious personality flaws can he do it or does he (and his administration) even know what needs to be done and how to do it? Is the current Congress capable or even seriously interested in helping? Would changing control next year make a real difference ? I am not optimistic.
The truth hasn’t mattered for a long time now as it’s all about party lines. Politics have destroyed this country. Sad.
You can argue with Trump’s style but it’s hard to argue with his results. Every parameter that is measurable says he is doing well with the economy, security and repatriation of America.
Global socialism under Obama is being reversed. Part of Marxism is making people feel like victims. This is being addressed. Overpaid and underperforming bureaucrats (swamp) are slowly being weeded out of Washington.
You may hate the Trump style of governing but the quiet narcissism of BHO was a much greater threat to freedom. Give me bluster and transparency (tweets) over a covert hidden agenda. Imagine paying $100K to hide your previous life from public scrutiny.
America is back on track so hate the man if you feel threatened but respect the progress.