{"id":5254,"date":"2017-06-06T18:14:10","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T01:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/?p=5254"},"modified":"2017-06-07T16:59:29","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T23:59:29","slug":"trump-touchstone-or-rorschach-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/?p=5254","title":{"rendered":"Trump: Touchstone, or Rorschach Test?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Brunette here.) I’ll admit, initially I wasn’t a big Trump fan. I didn’t take serious interest in the Donald until after the Wikileaks Podesta emails<\/a> (and Pizzagate\/Pedogate) had broken. I’d never had much reason to think about the man, pay attention to him, take him seriously. But I’d always disliked the Clintons, and after watching the Clinton Cash Film via Breitbart (it’s still available to watch free here<\/a>) I couldn’t stomach the prospect of another Clinton administration. OK, still no reason to get excited about Trump, but I did start to listen to his speeches — even followed the presidential debates online, which I hadn’t done in ages. I liked much of what he had to say. He began to intrigue me . . .<\/p>\n

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In the wake of the Podesta emails, I decided to remain neutral regarding Trump, held my nose and (not being a registered voter) pray for him to win, hoping for the best. Neutrality was impossible as far as the Clintons and their ilk were concerned — THANK GOD (I am not religious, but I DO believe in God) that corrupt gang are not in the White House! With a wait-and-see attitude, I’ve observed Trump and grown more and more pleasantly surprised by the man. He does not strike me as power hungry, or greedy despite his great wealth. He may seem a bit brash, but he speaks from the heart. His moves may seem inscrutable, but I get the impression that much (if not all) of what we see in the press and media is pure theater. His love for the American people seems heartfelt; his concern for the Western world (particularly America) is well founded, and he’s undeniably a brilliant businessman. And he takes clever advantage of the buffoonish perceptions so many have of him. He effortlessly makes fools of those who obviously consider him a fool. Kathy Griffin, for example<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He seems to be having the time of his life, at that. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Will Trump prove disappointing as president? Possibly, but I doubt it. That remains to be seen. I think he’ll be remembered — fondly so — in the light of history. Check back with me in 100 years or so . . .\u00a0 maybe 1,000. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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Scott Adams described Trump as a Master Persuader<\/a>, and I began to concur — he’s an extremely persuasive speaker and an excellent communicator; he actually listens to people. (Imagine that!) And not just wealthy, important donors: Ordinary people, rural people, veterans, grieving widows and parents, “forgotten” folks in “flyover country.” No doubt he heard many of their grievances concerning government, and regulations — inevitably imposed by out-of-touch liberals in distant blue bubbles — strangling their communities, small businesses, and industries. Trump convincingly conveyed a sense of concern for them, and a strong impression that he genuinely wanted to “Make America Great Again.” And by God, . . . it worked!<\/p>\n

I’m not really sure when I first decided (this startled the heck out of me, too) that Donald Trump was genuine. Not just sincere or smart or well meaning, but authentic . . . exceptionally human. Especially admirable, too, since he’s taken on what appears to be a thankless task — wrangling with the establishment “elites” on both sides — on behalf of the American people. Or, as he succinctly put it — draining the swamp!<\/p>\n

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Before you conclude that I’ve fallen off the deep end: One thing I should stress is that I strive to view every person first and foremost as a fellow human<\/strong>. (That includes Donald J. Trump.) I’m fascinated by the man and his methods. The Democrats flung their worst at him, but nothing stuck . . . and no doubt they did their darnedest to dig up dirt to embarrass him and shame his supporters. Then Hillary Clinton herself probably handed the man a sizeable number of votes with her callous “basket of deplorables” remark. Not only did he let the abuse slide right off his back, he inspired his supporters to do likewise. Vin and I now wear our “Les Deplorables” T-shirts with pride. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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And I can’t forget Pedogate: I’ve heard other people say that researching P-gate made them sick, or had shaken them to the core<\/a> — it had much the same effects on me, evoking dim and depressing territory from childhood I’d prefer never to explore. In addition, P-gate for me came on the heels of several months spent trying to comprehend Islam (please do NOT read “Muslims,” Muslims are human beings — individuals — and Islam is an ideology) had already wrung me inside out. Forget all the other reasons to support Trump, the mere thought of a likely bunch of pedophiles ensconced in and\/or near the White House should make anyone shudder. So too, the idea that Hillary wanted to UP the number of potentially hostile Islamist migrants\/refugees Obama had flooding into the country should horrify anyone with a tad of common sense.<\/p>\n

If this detour into Islam seems off-topic, it’s really not, since it’s a crucial piece of the larger Trump picture puzzle. One thing that now inspires me about Trump is that he seems to be fully cognizant of the pitfalls of Islam, but he’s also open to a brighter future for all Muslims . . . not to mention everyone else. (If Islam is old terrain for you, feel free to skip down a few paragraphs — though you might like to check out the links. No doubt, you’ll also understand why I feel it necessary to go over it yet AGAIN. Oh, and if you’re one of those people who’s tried to have a productive conversation re: Islam with liberal friends\/family — an exercise in head-banging if there ever was one — David Wood NAILS the responses<\/a> here. Dumb me, I hadn’t recognized before that it’s an actual talking-point template of some sort . . . where does that come from? I’ve heard practically identical responses from a relative, pretty much in the same order. Weird.)<\/p>\n

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I weary of reactions from people who say, “I know some Muslims, and they’re nice normal people!” Well, of course . . . they’re people<\/strong> (again, individuals.) No doubt a vast majority are peaceful, and decent people. But Islam as an ideology is complex — it took me weeks to really begin to wrap my head around it, and by then my head felt like it would explode. And something in my heart felt shattered, too. My mental model of the world required serious revisions . . . but I’ve always thought it best to revise as need be, and move on with a broader perspective.<\/p>\n

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To ignore the fact that Islamism poses serious dangers to the western world and its cultures, is naive and irresponsible. That does NOT mean Islam is all bad, I do not believe it is (for example, I just found Imam Tawhidi<\/a> — Imam of Peace<\/a> — on Twitter. (Breitbart article about him here<\/a>.) And there are many other courageous voices for Islamic reform such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali<\/a> and Nonie Darwish. Doubtless many potential others as well, who may be afraid to speak out but whose voices we need to hear. It’s appalling to see them shouted down as “Islamophobic,” but that happens a LOT. Muslims aren’t free to criticize their own religion, that’s heresy; they’re not allowed to leave their religion, because the punishment for apostasy is death. Where’s the protection for THEIR freedom of speech and conscience?<\/p>\n

Islam is a powerful influence on billions of people in the world; it’s not going away . . . but reform can only happen from within, and I do believe that’s happening<\/a>. It’s always darkest before the dawn. Ultimately, neither bombs nor candlelight vigils are the answer . . . increased awareness, a deeper understanding of the issues, and open channels of communication are essential. My sense is that we can expect to see rapid changes in the world, and many of them for the better, including international relations — particularly between the U.S. and forces of moderation in the Middle East. I choose to be hopeful. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

However, Americans ought to practice situational awareness in regard to the HUGE risks inherent in importing immigrants and refugees from cultures that: A) we fail to understand (or even to scrutinize appropriately), and B) may not in the least WANT to understand Americans; people who have been taught to despise us and our western (so-called “liberal,” pretty much a useless word these days) values and traditions, and may have ZERO desire to integrate into our society, but instead aim to colonize the west by stealth (“civilization jihad<\/a>“) and impose Sharia law (i.e., the Islamic system of law and governance.) I find it tremendously encouraging that Donald Trump gets<\/strong> all this<\/a>, as he seems to . . . too few do<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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If you’re not familiar with Islam as an ideology, visit David Wood<\/a> and listen to his incredibly moving testimony<\/a> — then onto his often wry videos concerning Islam<\/a> — or if his being a Christian offends you, try the Religion of Peace website<\/a> or the Political Islam website<\/a> for some basics. A rudimentary (better yet, balanced) understanding of Islam is an essential survival tool for anyone living in the West . . . let’s not become like Sweden, now the “rape capital of the West<\/a>” and where “freedom of speech is dying<\/a>” (hint, the two are related.)<\/p>\n

Many in America can easily turn a blind eye to Islamism, but it’s impacting people and countries all over the world. And many of those who suffer — the majority — ARE Muslim. Are. Muslim. PEOPLE. (Individuals, need I say it again?) One could say, many many babies, not to be thrown out with the Islamist bathwater they were bathed in from infancy. Toss the dirty bathwater, by all means . . . not innocent people! And David Wood (see above) is hard at work, doing just that. He’s AMAZING, and funny too. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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If Twitter is more your style, check out Peter Sweden<\/a> and\/or the wonderful ExMuslim TV<\/a> — here’s one post I found very poignant<\/a>. “I see God in the flowers, and you see him in the graveyards. That’s the difference between me and you.” — Omar, murdered ex-Muslim.<\/p>\n

Whoever maintains the ExMuslim TV account<\/a> is truly doing God’s work; in half an hour spent there you can watch 15 short clips easily and learn more than by spending days reading. I highly recommend it, and wish I’D found it sooner . . . nobody can explain the trouble with Islam more capably and eloquently than former Muslims. Is that why the left continually wants to stifle their voices — and ours, too — with bogus accusations of “Islamophobia?”<\/p>\n

OK, I’ve rattled on about Islam long enough. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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What do you see in this image, and what might it say about you?<\/p><\/div>\n

Thomas Wictor, whose Twitter feed<\/a> I enjoy (quietly, as I don’t have a Twitter account) says that “Trump is a touchstone and a diagnostic tool<\/a>” (or see “Trump did not shove the Montenegro Prime Minister<\/a>” video). I’d been thinking more along the lines of Trump as a Rorschach test<\/a> . . . how else to explain the wildly divergent (and often startlingly irrational or overly emotional) reactions to Trump? . . . so I think Wictor’s right. Touchstone is probably the better image. So exercise caution in evaluating Donald Trump — a bit of discernment is always in order, and it seems people’s reactions to Trump may inadvertently reveal a great deal more about THEM than they realize. (Mirror, mirror, on the wall . . . )<\/p>\n

Thomas is also a source of interesting insight in many areas, and notably the Middle East<\/a>. Maybe I don’t see eye to eye with T.W. on everything, but that doesn’t diminish the value his tweets (especially his numbered series, where he tells wonderful stories) hold for me. Other threads, here (read to the end, 1-38)<\/a>, and here (ditto, 1-40)<\/a>, and here a funny story (1-26<\/a>). He has a fresh perspective on all sorts of things . . . prepare to be surprised by him, maybe shocked or stunned; but frankly I think he’s a bit of a touchstone himself. Despite some significant differences (on the Seth Rich matter, for one) I’ve encountered with T.W., I think it’s largely that he doesn’t want to be bothered with whatever trendy topics happen to have Twitter (and\/or the internet) in a tizzy. Probably a very sane approach to take. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

(If anyone’s been paying attention to Trump’s recent viral “covfefe” tweet, don’t miss Thomas Wictor’s take on it<\/a>. Here’s another possible answer<\/a> . . . by no means do I think it’s just a crazy typo.)<\/p>\n

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My profound sense is that we are living through a spiritual battle; it goes beyond right vs left, beyond politics — it’s a battle for the future of humanity, or as Catherine Austin Fitts<\/a> has said (I think it was this interview with Greg Hunter<\/a>), whether we remain a human society or become an inhuman one. I’m praying for human. May the good in each of us triumph.<\/p>\n

A while back, while doing busy work that required only my hands, I listened to part of a livestream that Tim Pool<\/a> had done at a free speech rally (no time stamp, sorry. It’s LONG<\/a> — I lasted less than two hours IIRC). Tim found the free speech people (many of them Trump supporters) happy enough to talk on or off camera. However, Tim tries to be a balanced and fair reporter — so he also approached the leftist counter-protestors, some of them Antifa. They seemed insistent on knowing “which side” he was on, and didn’t seem to believe it could simply be unbiased journalism. Most reacted with suspicion, a few with outright hostility or threats, and with a few exceptions perhaps, almost none wanted to appear or talk on or off camera. Eventually, he wandered off back to the free speech rally sounding exasperated — “they don’t want to talk, they don’t want to listen,” he concluded. Yep. I could’ve told him that. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Earlier in life, like the rest of my family, I’d have identified as a “bleeding heart liberal<\/a>.” Later, for several years, as a libertarian<\/a>. Then, for a long time, as a peace-loving anarchist<\/a>. Now, I suppose most would consider me a conservative, but I’ve outgrown interest in such labels . . . fact is, they’re not helpful and serve to squelch dialog of the sort that needs to occur in a free society. I’d rather not have labels define me, thanks very much — any more than I want to squeeze my feet into shoes that don’t fit (or aren’t comfortable) anymore. Why so many choose to conform to labels that no longer fit, is a mystery to me — why not just ditch the labels and do YOU? Why not renounce ideologies that cause us (and thereby others) to suffer illusions about the world?<\/p>\n

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Decency and shared humanity require our compassion and understanding, don’t they? Wasn’t that once common knowledge, at least here in the west? What the heck has happened to our culture, when so many sneeringly stone others with epithets instead of attempting civil conversation . . . wanting to shut down communication rather than expand their own understanding of the world, and how others see it? Listening to other people can be highly educational, and honest conversation can resolve even intractable differences, but only if it’s a two way street. Let’s hope the one way street people have had their day, and reached a dead end. I believe Donald Trump intuitively understands all this, and most of his supporters do too.<\/p>\n

Nasty labels like “racist,” “Nazi,” “Islamophobe,” serve nearly exclusively to derail needed conversations. So too, use of more innocuous labels — “democrat,” “republican,” “person of color,” “white privilege” can often serve as a signal to others: “I am (or am not) interested in talking to you<\/em>; your viewpoints do (or don’t) concern me.”<\/em> And too often, the message is: “Our differences — be they grievous or petty — are more important than getting along; I’d rather punch you for thinking differently than have a pleasant chat to work things out<\/em>.” Sad. It takes effort to try to see the world through other sets of eyes, but I’ve always found the effort worthwhile (if at times horrifying, yet sometimes quite delightful.)<\/p>\n

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Over-reliance on labels is a problem on both sides; currently most pronounced on the left, but people on the right do it too. Frankly, I’m thinking an awful lot of people on the left are re-thinking their alliances after the riots in Berkeley and elsewhere, the Antifa violence, and over-the-top performances like Kathy Griffin’s Trump beheading<\/a> photo shoot stunt and subsequently blaming the Trumps for bullying HER. Congratulations on red-pilling the masses, all you “I’m with HER” zealots and harpies. You’re reaching people who might never have listened to other points of view, who had to hear it (or more importantly, SEE it) from their own. Take a bow! \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n

Maybe Americans can get back to the business of being reasonable adults and friendly (but diverse) neighbors again? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Oh, and focus again on what matters most . . . FREEDOM! (Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And love to all.) \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Brunette here.) I’ll admit, initially I wasn’t a big Trump fan. I didn’t take serious interest in the Donald until after the Wikileaks Podesta emails (and Pizzagate\/Pedogate) had broken. I’d never had much reason to think about the man, pay attention to him, take him seriously. But I’d always disliked the Clintons, and after watching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[63,69,21,77,31,82,84,61,75,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-election","category-brunettes-rants","category-free-speech","category-islam","category-middle-east","category-pedogate","category-politics","category-religion","category-terror","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pWqFl-1mK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5254"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5355,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5254\/revisions\/5355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}