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Writer's pictureGregory N. Austin

Truth Trumps Ideology

We respectfully ask the backers of Donald Trump to list the qualities that would make him a better president. Lay out his qualities that we may have missed. We will listen, but we need reasonable proof to support your arguments regarding his qualifications.

Reason and truth are bound to each other. Meanwhile, ideology and cults do not always square with truth, no matter how loud it is presented. Truth has a continuous trail, while ideology often can burn out because it was created on emotion without the foundation of reason or reliable sources.


I watched a gentle, sophisticated, elderly lady, softly speaking at a public hearing, regarding the 2020 election results in Arizona. A study commission had been set up to investigate whether fraud was involved—it was not. The “big lie” could not be substantiated by this commission. Yet this gentle lady rebuked and castigated the findings of the commission without a shred of evidence to back her position that the election was stolen. She had bought into the blind cult beliefs that turned her into a mob member, searching for satisfaction to assuage her false conclusions. She may never realize she was standing on shifting sands over the big lie! But she is probably a good harmless neighbor, simply caught up in the tide of fake politics.


Societies go through this phenomenon ever so often. For several years before World War II began, the U.S. was gripped by the “America First” ideology, which suggested Adolph Hitler was no threat to our democracy. That lie cost us plenty by slowing down preparation for the war that was coming against Germany and Japan.


Groundless opinions are bad for the market place and can do expensive damages to a just society. That is why reason and truth must be the armor plate of good government.


I voted against a second term for ex-President Trump because it is proven how often he lies. He was sued 3,500 times in his real estate ventures. He paid a $2,000,000 fine for abuse of his family Foundation. He paid $25,000,000 to Trump University claimants. He passed a tax bill his first year in office that saved the already rich and allowed them to become richer. He ended his term as president over a 7.8 trillion Federal deficit, a record amount for a first term president. During his tenure in office, he continuously showed envy over the power that Vladimir Putin had over Russia. I simply could not reasonably vote for him for the above reasons. Those that did used something less than reason and truth, in my opinion. Their loyalty to Donald Trump was a cult like admiration. To broaden his appeal, shouldn’t his followers try to reason with us and attempt to win us over?


Fox News—Tucker Carlsen, Sean Hannity and the “pillow guy” also have an emotional cult like admiration for ex-President Trump, displayed so often on their broadcasts. Behind the scene is a different story. They have admitted a not so glowing opinion of the ex-President. The Fox audience are such loyalists towards Trump, as they thrive on the ideology and cult like attachments. Fox behaves as if they are duty bound to feed hostility and hate of their opponents to please their listening audience. "Raw meat" thrown out, seemingly every night. If their audience does not receive that program of exaggeration and innuendo, Fox fears sales of soap and pillows will decrease. Their bottom line financially seems to embrace a continuous need to distort. They are afraid to detract from that position because of the profit motive, it seems to me.


We need Fox News and the backers of Donald Trump to tell us in plain English just what are the qualities that would make him a better president? What has he done to grab the mantle of power back? I voted against him. Tell me why I should change my mind. Lay out his qualities that I may have missed. I will listen, but I need reasonable proof of your arguments over his qualifications.


Thomas Jefferson wanted truth to flood the political arena… and he said there was no truth out there that he was afraid of.


So, my fellow Americans and opponents, help me know your political position better.


Lastly, there is a quote from one of my favorite writers, Mark Twain:

“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as much as you please.”



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Guest
Apr 25, 2023

Greg, well said. The only fact that conservative Catholics will respond with is that Trump changed the supreme court and other lower courts with judges who are anti-abortion. These conservative Catholics argue this is the most important issue. Yet, they look the other way when Trump supports violence and lies that harm so many people. When Trump lied about those two women counting votes and named them on social media, he literally ruined their lives. The one woman had to move to another town because she was being harassed by Trump followers so much (and I believe she lost her small business as well. She testified at the January 6th hearings). She feared for her life. How could a president…

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