Commentary
These days it’s not unusual to find extreme hyperbole used to describe political candidates.
We’ve all heard repeated the claim that President Donald Trump said that the white supremacists and neo-Nazis at Charlottesville were “very good people.” While that remark can easily be
debunked, the left has construed it to show that President Trump is responsible for all of the hatred in America today, easily ignoring the Occupy Movement protests, the
huge increase in mass killings, and
the rise in anti-Semitism during the Obama years.
Obviously, it’s easier to just accept all the hyper-partisan talking points. It’s easier to believe the things we hear from the people we trust or who share our views than to really delve into complex issues. We want a hero to lead us, and we want his opponents to be evil, so we make them that way and refuse to consider the actual facts, think deeply, consider opposing points of view, and then make informed decisions.
We may not understand that we’re doing this, but in this election, there’s an easy way to determine whether we’re thinking things through or simply repeating partisan hyperbole. This partisan test involves only comparing the two major candidates for president, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
President Trump has
used crude language. Joe Biden has
used crude language. If you think that Trump is disrespectful and not presidential, but Joe Biden is just a plain-speaking good ol’ boy, then you’re a partisan.
Donald Trump has been
accused of sexual harassment. Donald Trump has denied those allegations, none of them have been corroborated, and the ones that have gone to court have been dismissed as false. Joe Biden has been
accused of sexual harassment. Joe Biden has dismissed those allegations and none of them have been corroborated, but none have yet gone to court. If you believe that Trump is a sexual predator, but Biden is just an old-school kind of guy who hasn’t yet realized that times have changed, then you’re a partisan.
President Trump has been
accused of nepotism. He elevated his daughter, son-in-law, and his sons to significant advisory positions within his administration. Joe Biden has been
accused of nepotism. His son was given high-paying, high positions on the boards of major international companies while Biden was vice president. Joe Biden
admitted to influencing the Ukrainian government to fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma Holdings where his son held a board seat. If you believe that Trump should not be promoting his kids into positions of power, but Biden was simply being a tough diplomat and coincidentally assisted his son, then you’re a partisan.
Donald Trump has been diagnosed by
amateur and
professional psychiatrists as being a psychopath. Joe Biden has been diagnosed by
amateur and
professional psychiatrists as having dementia. If you believe that diagnosing Biden’s psychological condition without a psychology degree is insulting guesswork, and you believe that professionally diagnosing Biden’s mental health without having met with him and done tests is a violation of professional ethics, but you also believe that Trump really is a serious nut case, then you’re a partisan.
In too many places to reference, President Trump has been called incompetent by his opponents, and Joe Biden has been called incompetent by his opponents. If you dismiss all the other partisan hyperbole, examine their policies in office, consider their experience, investigate their political platforms, and come to a decision about who will best represent your ideologies in office, then you’re the rare person who is not a partisan.
Otherwise, I suggest you question your beliefs, because they’re not based on facts but partisan rhetoric.
Bob Zeidman has a Bachelor of Art and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. He is an inventor and the founder of successful high-tech Silicon Valley firms including Zeidman Consulting and Software Analysis and Forensic Engineering. He also writes novels; his latest is the political satire “Good Intentions.”
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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