The Ones You Just Can't Reach

Robert Slager

The Ones You Just Can't Reach ...

There will be no kumbaya moment between now and the presidential election. There will be no sudden epiphany for die-hard supporters of Donald Trump. They are truly a cult now. Any source you use to challenge their claims is reflexively labeled "fake news." Any fact-checking site you quote is immediately called "biased." They will double-down when proven wrong. They will call you names. They will post silly memes. They will deflect and deflect because their egos will not allow them to accept the possibility that they might be wrong.

Those people are beyond reach now. Trying to change their minds is a waste of time. They are hopelessly, helplessly trapped in a world of binary thought. They were rather believe that the president is the victim of a world-wide conspiracy designed to make him look bad rather than even consider that they got played by a con-man. They will never understand how badly they've been manipulated by government propaganda in the guise of right-wing media.

I spent about an hour yesterday asking Trump supporters what I thought was a simple question. I reminded them that Donald Trump's 2016 campaign pledge was to "Make America Great Again." I then asked them to tell me specifically when America was great, when did it stop being great, and what made it change.

A few people said America was great in the 1950s. They told me life was more simple then. When I reminded them that the 1950s weren't so great for African-Americans, women and gay people they called me a libtard.

Some people cited the Greatest Generation. Yes, it difficult to deny the heroism on display during World War II .There is no more noble cause than fighting against the forces of fascism in the world. But those were five years in the life of a 246-year-old country, five years that included the development and detonation of the only two nuclear bombs ever used in the theater of war. That may have been necessary, but it is not cause for celebration.

Most of the Trump supporters told me America was great before Barack Obama took office. They said he was a Muslim from Kenya who tried to bring Sharia Law to this country. They quoted numerous insane conspiracy theories. They said he divided this country by race when he told people that black lives matter.

I asked them why such a statement upset them so much. One of them told me that there was no racism in this country until the "Marxists" elected a black man.

These people are completely out of reach.