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# Editor’s Memo: Take Him Seriously, Not Literally
November 17 2016
Written by Ken Draper.
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CITYWATCH TODAY—It’s obvious that Americans see Donald Trump in distinctly different ways. Mark Shields … PBS News Hour … reminded us of that a few days ago. Trump opponents, Shields said, take Trump literally but not seriously. Supporters, he offered, take him seriously, not literally.
Why is that difference important? Because it says, in effect, that his supporters think he sort of means well but the truth in what he says is highly suspect. It also means that a whole lot of Americans think it’s okay to lie. And, I’m wondering how that happened to us.
I’m not suggesting that there’s a human among us that hasn’t messed with the truth a few times in his/her life. I am suggesting, that as far back as I can remember, lying wasn’t okay. As recently as this week, a TV detective I was watching was suspicious of a ‘person of interest.’ When asked why he was so upset he said, “I just don’t like being lied to!” Damn, he was having none of it. But a goodly portion of American voters didn’t seem to care about Donald Trump’s lies. Or, lies from most of the politicians running for office including Trumps opponent, Hillary Clinton. When did we start liking ‘being lied to?’
Because, that’s the issue separating many of us in this post election season. It’s not the losing, it’s the betrayal. They can’t get passed President-to-be Trumps words … which if taken literally are … literally … too painful to forget. And, it probably slipped up on them too. When we passed that ‘we don’t like being lied to’ line and millions of Americans apparently got the memo, while millions did not. I hope President Trump makes America great again. Like it was … not when politicians didn’t lie … but like it was when we didn’t think it was okay for them to do it. Because it wrong. Because we ‘just don’t like being lied to.’
Jill Richardson covers this issue in her ‘Sorry, I Can’t Give Trump a Chance …’ article in Today’s CityWatch. Check it out. That and more. Let us know what you think. We’re good listeners.
Ken Draper-Editor, CityWatch
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