Right Wing Insults

I see far too many right wing people who are downright rude and insulting about people who are left of center. That is frankly disturbing, but sadly there is not much I can do about it. I am decidedly left of center and will make no apologies for that. I’ve spent years reading and listening in building my political views, but I do not dismiss others based on their politics.

I will disagree with policies that I think are misguided. I will condemn actions that I feel are harmful to others or to society as a whole. I want to be civil in my views however and not be insulting to people who don’t agree with me.

Frankly, there are conservatives whom I respect. I may often disagree with their positions, but I can respect them because they are thoughtful and civil in how they present their views. Among pundits I respect David Brooks and George Will, along with Charles Krauthammer, who passed a couple of years ago. I also respected William F. Buckley, who passed some years ago.

There have been several Republican presidents who I’ve had a great deal of respect for, including Dwight Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. More recently, I think Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush were good men, though not necessarily good presidents. I have some respect for Mitt Romney and had respect for John McCain, though I voted against each.

For all his faults, and he had many, Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency and opened relations with China. I disagreed with many of his policies, but Ronald Reagan was not a hard core ideologue, and was willing to compromise. I was not at all fond of George W. Bush, though compared to Donald Trump, he was a shining beacon of light.

We now have a Republican president who lies constantly, who insults anyone who disagrees with him, and who seems determined to enrich himself and promote his ego at the expense of the country as a whole. He is enabled by a GOP Senate that largely rubber stamps anything that he wants. He also seems to encourage and excuse bigotry and violence among his supporters.

There was a time when we had bipartisanship. Republicans and Democrats could work together for joint goals for the betterment of the country. That has basically disappeared. You can try to blame both sides, but it seems the GOP is quite unwilling to compromise at this point. They seem to have placed their party and Mr. Trump above the good of the country. That is sad.

I won’t get into my policy positions at this point, but on the whole, there is little or nothing in Mr. Trump’s agenda that I could ever support. Because of my views, I’ve been called a libtard, a snowflake, and a moron, among other things. I cannot find common ground with anyone who would so blithely resort to insults.