On various occasions, I have discussed in the blog how I have been mistreated and "unfriended" for real (I'm not on Facebook) because I am a conservative and/or because I voted for Trump. But this latest episode beats all the others. Last week I called one of the two guys I am (was) still friendly with from my college days. As I got his voicemail I left a message that I was calling to catch up. We live on opposite coasts, so we would email, text and talk periodically, and upon trips back east we would get together. Instead of a return phone call I received a text, telling me that he was bummed by my continued support of Trump and the Republicans because Trump is trying to overturn the election results. Therefore, he simply did not feel good about talking to me. Maybe sometime in the future that would change.
I did send a reply by email (no, I did not tell him to f... off as 3 friends suggested, not my style) advising that in my one post-election blog post I never said Trump should litigate the issue of the election. In fact, I said that on election night, days before any media outlet called the election, I had accepted that Biden had won. This requires some further commentary. One thing that I have noticed over the years is that people will read into my posts whatever their preexisting worldview tells them. As the saying goes, people will see what they want to see. On multiple occasions I have been accused of saying things that I never did.
Another thing. It is quite clear that I (along with all Trump voters) am personally responsible for everything that Trump says or does. This last point is important because every conservative I know has criticized the way Trump speaks. But we overlooked that because of the policy differences between Trump/Republicans and Democrats. I suppose that I could argue that any friend who voted for Obama is an anti-Semite, given Obama's attitude towards Israel. After all, if every Trump utterance and policy is held against me, then why shouldn't I hold every one of Obama's words and deeds against those who voted for him.
Here's another point. Regardless of whatever evidence there may be of election fraud, some commentators have noted that state and federal judges have changed the deadlines for mail-in ballot submissions. But the US Constitution is clear as to who gets to make election laws - "The Time, Places and Manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof," although Congress may change those state rules "except as to the Place of chusing Senators." Trump choosing to challenge some of these lower court decisions is lawful. It may not be wise, it may not produce the result he desires, but it is lawful. And Biden has not technically won until each state's electors have voted, and those results have been certified by Congress.
A couple more points. I discussed in the last post how many Biden supporters seemed to be "sore winners." Being unfriended post-election is yet another example of a sore winner. Besides, these types of efforts to overturn apparent election results are rarely successful. But let's say the Supreme Court did rule that lower court judges acted unconstitutionally in extending the voting deadlines in various key states. Do the Democrats not care about the Constitution any more? Also in the last post I discussed how Biden's call for unity needed to be heard more by Democrats than Republicans. And my former friend's text is another example of the accuracy of that observation.
In a November 12, 2017 post ("More Stories From My Youth"), I discussed my college buddies. "While we shared similar views in college, I have undoubtedly moved further to the right than they have. While some believe it is impossible to be friends with those who hold opposing views, I am not of that mind." I was partly wrong. Conservatives and liberals, classic liberals, can be friends. Leftists refuse to be friends with anyone but other leftists. My now ex-friend, like so many in the Democratic Party, went from being a liberal to a leftist, and could not tolerate opposing viewpoints - nor anyone who held such viewpoints.
In that 11/12/17 post I continued: "These two honorable men, of fine moral character, are men that I am proud to call 'friend.'" My ex-friend and I spent much time together in college. We both became attorneys. We are both family men. He and his family have stayed with us, and my family has stayed with them. I believe he is religious, as am I. When I say the prayer for those in need of healing, I have included him all the time for years, as he developed a number of health issues several years ago. But now, I am a piece of garbage, just another deplorable. But, he told me, maybe some day he will feel better about talking to me. What self-righteous arrogance. In my reply email I told him "good-bye." I explained: "I can't be friends with someone who can only be friends with me when he feels like it." As if I should wait to see if he thinks I am good enough to talk to again.
Also in the category of "sore winners" is the New York Times. In their 11/22/20 Sunday magazine is a 10 page article on Trump's "potential criminal liability." It is the cover story. And the inside table of contents about it tells us that the article discusses: "Financial Crimes, Election-Law Violations, Obstruction of Justice, Public Corruption and Partisan Coercion." Having attacked Trump for over 5 years and having pushed his impeachment, it is still not enough. As I said in the last post, there are those who want to see him and Jared and Ivanka "go to prison, rot in hell or worse." Never have I wished that an ex-President go to prison. When Ford pardoned Nixon I thought it was the right thing to do. And yes, I cringed when people at Trump rallies, egged on by Trump, yelled "lock her up" about Clinton. It is not the job of a presidential candidate to seek the imprisonment of an opponent. It is up to our justice system to make decisions on criminal culpability. I just cannot help but think that if we lived in a more repressive society, with more severe sanctions than our current "cancel culture," that this ex-friend would report me to the authorities for violating acceptable norms.
So, another lost "friend." This one of 50 years duration. I've said it before, the intolerance of such people - the unfriending of me and others - says far more about their characters than that of ours, of those of us who have been unfriended.
