The Thinking ‘Kat: Why is so Difficult to Trust Conservative Republicans?

Recently, I read an interesting ‘exercise’ from Tom of Citizen Tom, where he went through a list of his own concoction as to why people shouldn’t trust Democrats. Of course, this is unfortunately a demonstration of conservative thinking; there is no means to justify the various antics and failures of the current Republican government, so instead let’s attack the opposition with all sorts of bias.

Granted, we all have various forms of bias. It’s human nature. However, it seems that conservative Republicans, particularly conservative Republican Christians, are remarkably good at disguising their bias and denying it. They do not see the hypocrisy in their stances and arguments.

Take for example Tom’s complaints that Democrats are against freedom of speech. It’s not Democrats that are censoring books. It’s Republicans that have seen fit to stifle the expression of the LGBT community, racial minorities, and women. For reference, check out several resources on the subject, to be found here, here and here. These book bans are hardly evidence of a political entity that values freedom of speech.

Nor is this the only form of example. Universities in Republican states are being censored. There are threats against the media if Trump whimsically decides they are not being nice to him. Indeed, Trump has been very happy to wield the threat of lawsuits against those he perceives to be his critics, which is hardly an environment that fosters freedom of expression, least of all when Trump is abusing his executive powers to do so.

Tom bemoans how Democrats are opposed to voter ID. He thinks Republicans support this measure to make sure only Americans vote. However, this is a recent development which has dispoportionately hampered the rights of minorities, and just because they are minorities this does not mean they are not American! This is clearly a heavy-handed measure that Republicans hope will let them more easily manipulate the outcome of elections, and this is not the only policy that Republicans have indulged in along such lines.

There has been a systemic bid to poison the well by Trump and his Republican cadre, often a preemptive bid. Consider Trump’s whining that if he did not win the 2020 election, there had to have been fraud taking place. Consider Republican gerrymandering efforts to stack the deck in their favour. Trump now wants to have Republicans take control of voting at a national level, which isn’t shady at all…

Tom believes Democrats have no problem with open borders. Aside from how claims about immigrants and immigration are greatly exaggerated by Republicans, it is worth noting that recent Democrat administrations did more to remove illegal immigrants than the Trump administrations have managed, and whilst Tom complains Democrats have been interfering with efforts to control the border, he conveniently forgets that Trump had his cronies veto border control measures, for the sake of getting reelected. In other words, Trump cared more about his political power than border control.

Tom complains that Democrats do not follow the science, despite saying people should. Well, Republicans don’t follow the science where vaccinations and medical care are concerned, as evidenced by the shambolic Tylenol situation, and Robert F Kennedy’s ignorance-based assertions about autism. The anti-vaccine campaign spearheaded by Trump’s health secretary is deeply ignorant, and now diseases previously eliminated, such as measles, are making a deadly return. Proposals to cut support for those with autism and disabilities are also deeply cruel, which rather rubbishes Tom’s remarks that Democrats lack compassion.

Indeed, when considering and comparing what Democrats and Republicans aim to do for children, which party is more willing to develop policies that protect families from economic hardship? Republicans claim to be all for life, but care nothing for changing a system that squeezes the average family harder and harder, so that the wealthy can prosper. Republicans are more likely to campaign against reasonable gun control measures to protect children at schools. Despite these realities, Tom prefers to focus on what he believes to be a failing education system, when in actual fact, the US education system generally compares favourably to many other countries.

Perhaps Tom’s true objection rests in how the US education system does not teach what he believes to be right, but what is interesting is the states ranked best for their education standards are Democrat-leaning states, so if there is a downturn in standards, it seems its Republicans that are generally letting the side down. Then again, it seems that on many key metrics, Democrat states score higher than Republican states.

It’s also worth noting that under Trump’s tariff policies have dented the farming industry, and the automotive industry. Meanwhile, prices have generally risen under Trump.

On top of all of this, there is the matter of the Epstein files, and Trump’s association with this. Trump wants people to shrug their shoulders and move on from this terrible, awful situation, despite how so far, no one has actually been prosecuted. When coupled with his various cruel, nasty and sexist remarks and behaviours, is a Trump-led Republican government really deserving of the blind faith so many conservative Christians place in it? In light of the evidence of Republican failings and hypocrisy, should they be trusted?

Disagree? By all means, present your case to refute the evidence.

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