Trump and the biased objector

It is very possible that your view of Trump is affected by a bias toward him, either of your own making or one acquired. And that even before you’ve seen him, listened to him, examined him, debated with him. It is possible that you have your pet views not so much about Trump but about other factors of the election that will affect you. Either a factor that affects you or some issue you care about which causes you to take a side against him. It is possible that you are just going with what the majority predicts. It is possible that you don’t even have a reason but just hate the man. If so, then this one’s for you.

There are always two sides to a story. That’s why there is a portion of Scripture that goes: the first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him. Now this doesn’t mean there are two stories, for there is only one: the truth, the reality. And to find out what exactly happened and why, especially as with an accusation, one must take time to weigh several factors before drawing a conclusion. Some of which are, how did the accusation surface, when did it surface, are there hints as to the motivation, how reasonable/believable/credible is it, what is the argument/proof, what are the defences by the accused party, how consistent/credible/believable is the defence and probably numerous others. Now all of this doesn’t mean that every case needs to be exceptionally hard to judge. For sometimes the defence maybe blatant denial when every pointer hints at a violation. And there might actually be hard cases where although there might be pointers to culpability, there is just as much credible argument in defence (or even something lame about the charge). So, cross check whether you have actually given Trump a listening ear about his defences.

If you have already made your decision even before you allowed him a defence, nothing he says will convince you. The most complete argument will fall on deaf ears. The most sincere statement will look suspicious to you. Do check how credible your conclusion is.

It hardly makes any sense when your view of Trump is not even connected to the person at all(!), but actually to some other election/political factor connected to you/yourself! E.g. you are an immigrant and fear that voting Trump might actually affect your status and therefore you’ve opted against Trump. Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have your preferred option, but then you must also stick only to a genuine argument (and that only if you have any!) related to your area. E.g. there is very clear evidence that he hates/despises immigrant people of a certain race and has systematically functioned against them (even one stray argument/fight he may have had with a person of that race may not prove your point). You cannot take a no-holds-barred plunge into a disconnected area of Trump, say his morality, because you are worried about Trump’s stance on immigration and just choose to ‘believe’ something because it works for your other concerns (yep I mean that only when there is no genuine moral charge against Trump). That would be totally unfair and deceitful of you to work out your private agendas at another’s expense, and that when you assault them without credible reason/evidence especially when it regards character.

I have come across this very enlightening quote: A man is known by his enemies. Study Trump’s enemy: Who they are, how they operate. Why has the media united against Trump? Could there be some other benefit/vested interest other than Trump himself as the factor? Also study: Who is Hillary, how she is perceived generally, what are her accusations, what are the accusations about her, how credible/defensible they (both types of accusations) are, what strategies has she employed in her battle against Trump, how legitimate these methods are. All these should give a clue about Trump. If Trump’s honesty (and consequently possible punitive action or a loss of significant leverage to these parties from Trump’s victory) is a great source of distress to these people, then it’s another statement on the man (a good one!).

Are you opting a side because everybody at your office, at the coffee bar, at the gym, or wherever is going anti-Trump? If so, then that’s also not just a bit stupid (as in it is completely stupid!). That’s called herd-mentality. Again I do not mean a majority group on one side is automatically wrong, but am concerned how properly fleshed out that argument is. For without reasons, just harping on a tune that everybody else is harping on would be akin to jumping into a well just because others were dropping in. Don’t be a slave to mob mentality. As some Sidney Harris immortally put it: I am tired of hearing about men with “courage of their convictions.” Nero and Caligula and Attila and Hitler had the courage of their convictions – but not one had the courage to examine his convictions, or to change them, which is the true test of character.

Finally, without even a reason, is it fair to dislike a person/candidate? Well that’s like saying you choose to believe the sun rises in the West and sets in the East, just for the pure heck of it!! Fanciful though it may seem, it won’t be without its consequences. For the cycle of the day works a certain way, Nations follow the clock a certain way, your life operates a certain way. Your false belief will either stay an unhelpful, useless, shelved belief, or if you actually seek to apply your warped belief it will interrupt all of your life. Likewise only an informed decision will ultimately work, for that’s how life is designed. So you must either work out your reasons, defences, arguments to be sure what you believe and only then proceed to apply it (whether recommend/object a candidate as in this instance) or if you’re not too sure, then it’s better to avoid trying to ‘live out’ an unclear belief. For an ill-informed, incredible, baseless argument that’s stray (without any support) will not just make you out to be a fool, but actually contribute to a mess somewhere in larger life and it might just be in ways you don’t yet perceive. Avoid blind beliefs.

So happy weighing!

How Hillary lost the media game to Trump

Hillary’s game with Trump using the media has been a long and disastrous one. Here’s how:

She has failed to factor in that Trump’s entire life is so closely wrapped up with media. He inherited millions (which must have been an attraction for media back then) which he converted to billions (the perfect transition of scale for the drama to continue today). And tied to that is Trump’s own media presence. The reality of this is that media isn’t unfamiliar territory to Trump at all. He knows just what twists and turns come with it, what route highlights take, what keeps media buzz alive and just how it ought to be surfed, much like a wave is surfed.

Hillary’s desperate efforts have continually catapulted Trump to the top of media buzz. Enough for Trump to occupy and preoccupy the minds of people, and that without much effort from his own end. Tied to that was Hillary’s unfortunate sick spell that came as a perfect aid to Trump. By then Trump had the media with enough cud to chew, creeping along past Hillary with his poll ratings using people’s curiosity about him for his personality and policies, his rallies at a much higher pace than hers.

And every carefully-timed release of Hillary’s shock value stories of Trump has been steadily losing its effect. Quite like a dose of drug loses its proportionate effect over time and therefore needs greater and greater amounts to produce the same effect.

This strategy has become too well worn that it neither affects the people anymore nor produces for her the desired effect of inciting hate against her opponent.

To be honest, this one apologetic response from Trump has put to rest all potential accusations. In his apology Trump has openly admitted that he has never made claims to be morally good at any time, well aware how he has lived his life. Also that he has been deeply humbled by the expectation and trust people have in him (from his meetings with them during the rally travels) to take the country forward – forward in a course that none other has demonstrated ability for thus far. He has also said he sincerely feels sorry for his misdoings and promises to turn over a new leaf his current preoccupations being the wellbeing of his nation.

Such a simple apology has been well received by the people seen from how it has been widely circulated among them. The nature of their acceptance of it has clearly showed on the social networks. This is not any media report on the peoples’ response but the actual response from people itself! (Check out his fb or twitter accounts to believe it.)

For Hillary however, this is only compounded by the fact that her team (and predictably so) refuses to move along from their accusations. That’s probably because the very raking up of it never quite lay in any detail connected to either Trump (himself) or his fellow companion who shared that indecent conversation or the womanhood involved or even the tenor of his comments as much as in the intent to tarnish just the opponent’s image (whoever it was, this was in coming, this time Trump happening to be the target). This surely must have been Hillary’s modus operandi all along, for it is widely admitted that she is a fighter, and I suspect meaning that she will descend to any extent, to any cheap strategy to keep her ambitions afloat. For it was always a known fact that Trump was a womanizer. And knowing fully well who he was, the Clintons chose to befriend him and enjoy his company, much like the possibly good number of her other donors’ lives or ideologies could be even right now – donor moralities that Clinton never cared about, except that it delivered her the desired little limelight when she was with them or the cash that came into her coffers from their end. Even now the whole sex talk around Trump is likely to subside immediately should Hillary get any lead from it, which must hint that the attack on disqualifying her opponent was her sole aim and not any of the actual issues on hand born of the expose, which appears a buried matter for her already and that quite unfortunately for her.

Added to this, media as a phenomenon seems to have eclipsed Hillary’s estimation. She has underestimated that media is one of the chief means to titillate the masses. That it is media which plays to the deepest deviances of people, and therefore (quite contrary to her expectations) circulating Trump’s stories might at the most leave people more amused than appalled. That’s because those are the very type of story lines people expect to enjoy at the push of the remote button possibly even right after Hillary’s expose of Trump on some news channel! Those are what today’s entertainment industry thrives on. Hillary has failed to think deep about her strategy. Most frightfully, in private most people are also quite what Mr. Trump was found speaking in the released clips. It might have been better had Clinton avoided this whole strategy altogether.

It is also high-time Clinton found a stuffy accusation on Trump in policy related matters. Already she has lost precious time looking in gutters for arrows, it’s time she switched to a better place.

It makes a lot of sense also to note another most disastrous plan Hillary hatched in buying media networks against Trump. The unanimous ostracizing of Mr. Trump was thought to favour Hillary, but it appears to have backfired with just the opposite of all she ever wanted: the complete unification of people to Trump right under his own thumb, without having to sort through media as a neutral agent, at his social network. Another disastrous blunder that she will pay for with nothing short of her own bid to the White House.

All in all Trump has become to the people one of their own with flaws, warts and all. He of course is on with a new beginning, for it is even Scripture that “through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for,” put differently, people are willing to forgive when someone seeks to make amends for his ways by pursuing love and goodness where he once pursued hate and evil, and kindness and decency where he once pursued disregard and indecency. But there’s no redemption for Mr. Trump if he intends to continue in his past direction, but an open and unabashed apology hints at a new beginning. The struggle up will be hard but he must persevere, and what better proves this than the words that follow the very ones quoted above from Prov. 6:6, ‘through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.’

But poor Hillary lingers with her unforgiven load and failed plots!