Donald Trump’s opening for his speech to the joint session of Congress may apply to anyone who does not support socialism.
“I look at the Democrats in front of me,” Trump said, “and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud, nothing I can do. I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations, or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded, and these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won’t do it no matter what.”
For all the calls I hear to be bipartisan, to tell both sides in my column, there is nothing I could say that would satisfy those people who have no interest in moving an inch toward the middle. Their goal is to only get me and others like me to move entirely in their direction while they stand still.
I’m not opposed to listening to those with different views. I do it with regularity. I watch a variety of news sources just so I can say with confidence just how they are reporting the news.
And that’s what concerns me — how they report the news. I couldn’t care less about judging their opinions. Everyone has a right to share their vision from their own point of view.
But tilting the news is unacceptable from any point of view.
The newest example is CNN’s Jake Tapper writing a book about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline after spending four years claiming it did not exist.
Tapper even chastised Lara Trump for suggesting Biden had cognitive decline on his show, claiming she was not a medical expert and could not make such a determination. But he, who is also not a medical expert, has now authorerd a book on the subject.
Completely disgraceful.
I watched the response to Trump’s speech from MSNBC’s perspective and how they said it was despicable for Trump to share the story of 13-year-old DJ Daniel who survived brain cancer and wanted to be a police officer. Rachel Maddow then injected her view into the news by saying “as if Trump somehow had something to do with it.”
Yet, Trump never said anything about the cure or the young boy’s medical miracle after being given a six-months-to-live diagnosis more than five years ago.
What Trump did was to make Daniel an honorary member of the Secret Service. Trump highlighted the boy who wanted to be a police officer, to serve his community by helping fight crime and keeping the peace.
And when the young boy was given his Secret Service credential by Sean Curran, the head of the agency, Daniel grabbed Curran and gave him a hug.
Did this moment illicit any support from the Democrats in the chamber that night?
No.
If Democrats are good at anything it is sticking together no matter what, and since they made the predetermined decision to sit on their hands the entire night, moments like this which should be celebrated by every American were met with deafening silence from the Democrats. No ovation. No applause. Not a word. Crickets.
They will say Trump was using the boy, and that goes back to how Trump exposed their plot in the beginning. No matter what he would do, even recognize a cancer survivor in the House of Representatives, the Democrats would not join the rest of America in celebrating Daniel’s story of survival.
If you follow this column on to social media you’ll see several of those same lemmings continue their barrage of attacks on me or this paper or Trump because that’s what they do. They feel completely justified in ignoring Daniel because somehow he must be an ally of Trump, and by the Democrats’ definition, that made this cancer survivor an enemy to them.
What will probably be even worse for this little guy is that he happened to be Black, and that will give Democrats another reason to hate him. Not only was he appearing to support Trump, but he was selling out his race as well. That’s how Democrats see the world.
But my column is the problem, they say. I’m not telling the other side, they chide.
I just did.
Nancy Pelosi didn’t have a written speech in her hand to shred this time. Her party has been stripped of the gavel by the American people. But that didn’t stop her from making faces, piercing her lips and sharing her vitriolic hate with her facial expressions.
Another MSNBC reporter said she hoped Daniel didn’t become an officer and have to settle a riot at the nation’s capitol or commit suicide afterward.
This is who we are supposed to work with to try to find some middle ground?
The problem is they only operate in one direction — Left Turn Only.
If they won’t even stand up for a 13-year-old cancer survivor, how in God’s name are we supposed to try to govern with these people?
The backlash has been stiff. Even some Democrats have spoken out against this obstinate approach. They are putting their political careers on the line, because the far left fringe running the Democratic Party will more than likely primary these people to get their seats flipped to a more radical member.
I never expected them to support Trump’s economic plan or immigration plan or foreign policy or even his defense of women to not have to compete against men in sports.
But I never expected them to ignore a young child over politics. That’s a new low.
Earl Watt is the owner and publisher of the Leader & Times in Liberal, Kansas. Watt started his career in journalism in 1991 at the Southwest Daily Times. During his career, the newspaper has won a total of 17 Sweepstakes awards from the Kansas Press Association for editorial content and 18 Sweepstakes awards for advertising. Watt has been recognized with more than 70 first place awards for writing in categories from sports and column to best front pages, best sports pages and best opinion pages. Watt is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and is the descendant of several patriots who fought for America's freedom and independence.
