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| The blunt-spoken confusion of Archie Bunker, or ... |
No real surprise here; most of us don’t think much of the Trumpster – only a 41 percent approval rating in this poll. By comparison, the Gallup Organization’s daily tracking poll Friday had Trump at 38 percent approval.
THE
BAD NEWS for Trump goes further, as people were asked whether various terms
applied to Trump’s presidential performance. Those included “arrogant” (77
percent), “reckless” and “not willing to admit mistakes” (both 60 percent),
“strong leader” (43 percent), “knowledgeable” (41 percent), “has the judgement
needed to be president” (34 percent), “trustworthy” and “steady” (both 32
percent).
But
then, there was the term “patriotic.”
To
which 53 percent of those people surveyed by this particular poll said “yes”
(34 percent said “no” and the other 13 percent presumably are clueless and
can’t make up their minds).
That
just strikes me as a bit of a contradiction. Someone whose performance is so
negatively thought of can also be thought of as “patriotic?”
NOW
BEFORE ANYBODY starts sending me their rants, I realize that the ideological
right has done a number with the concept of patriotism – spinning the idea of
love of one’s country as being the same as supporting their social issue
ideals.
Even
though one could argue that many of the people with different ideals are trying
to make this a better, more fair country – and in some ways one more closely
tied to the ideals written into both the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of
Independence.
That
is a statement I don’t doubt will offend many of those conservative ideologues;
that their rants on social issues aren’t what this country is supposed to be
all about.
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| ... the 'Vulcan logic' of Mr. Spock? |
That may well be what is being reflected by the idea of people thinking that Trump’s political trash talk makes him a “patriot.”
IF
ANYTHING, PEOPLE have a questionable comprehension at times of the
Constitution. Such as that esteemed political philosopher of 1970s television,
Archie Bunker (played by actor Carroll O’Connor) who once in a discussion about
gun control responded to wife Edith (actress Jean Stapleton) who thought the
Second Amendment referred to not making graven images by saying, “That ain’t
the Constitution, Edith. What you says is the Gettysburg Address.”
Before
you denounce the point as being that of a fictional character from four decades
ago, famed television producer Norman Lear who created “All in the Family” has
said that Trump shows “utter contempt” for the Constitution.
All
of which makes me question how we’re defining the concept of “patriotism” these
days. Is it really nothing more than blind faith to someone no matter how
absurd the utterances from their mouth in public become?
Consider
that the same Morning Consult poll showed 58 percent of people think Trump’s
decision to share classified intelligence information with Russian government officials
was “inappropriate” and that 50 percent think Trump was wrong to try to sway
former FBI Director James Comey to end an investigation into former National Security
Adviser Michael Flynn.
ARE
THESE REALLY the actions of a patriot? Or do we really not fully comprehend the
concept of supporting one’s’ nation?
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| TRUMP: 6 percent say he's patriotic & don't like him |
Writing
that last line reminded me of yet another cinematic moment; “Logic clearly
dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” As in dialogue
from the 1982 Star Trek film “The Wrath of Khan.”
Perhaps
Trump, and many in our society would be better off if we’d pay heed to the
words of Mr. Spock, rather than Archie Bunker!
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