"Deplorable" comment fueled perceptions and resentment

Caution: You might find the next few hundred words deplorable.

 

Not that I am trying to get one last needle at Hillary Clinton after the election. We got in enough of those to go around from the end of the Democratic National Convention up through Tuesday, when Donald Trump did what few believed possible.

For her part, Clinton’s concession speech Wednesday morning might have been the best she’s ever delivered. She was gracious, urged her supporters to continue fighting for what they believe in and pledged to work with Trump for the betterment of America.

A tip of the hat to her for such a statement after such a devastating loss.  It was classy and needed.

There have been a thousand different theories as to what happened Tuesday, most carrying some validity. For my money, when she called half of Donald Trump’s supporters “deplorable” and “irredeemable” back in early September, it threw gasoline on an already simmering fire. It exploded Tuesday.

Even though she later said she regretted using the words, the fact that she said them in the first place is one of the biggest reasons Donald Trump will be taking the oath of office on January 20.

Undoubtedly, there were other factors, but in that one sentence, Clinton summarized what many believe to be true in Washington. It’s an attitude of “We are better than you. Your deeply held values no longer matter to me or those around me. You are obviously intellectually inferior, so do as I say."

There was already a deep resentment that Clinton got off with careless handling of emails back in July. Whether criminal intent was involved was not the question. The perception was obviously that Clinton was going to get away with a crime that would have most members of the military facing a court martial.

Whether the perception was warranted is not the point. The description of those who did not support Clinton fit nicely with the idea that Washington’s attitude was beyond caring and was now to the point of disdain for the people it was to serve.

"Deplorable" took off and became a bit of a badge of honor among those opposed to Clinton’s agenda. 

I voted for Trump. However, that decision was not solid until the day before the election and I still have reservations about someone who has never held elective office leading the country. But, as I blogged Sunday, his pick of Mike Pence as his running mate was the high point of the campaign.

Trump won, though, when he tapped into the perception that Washington had totally lost touch. 

That’s because it has.

From my little corner of the world, I have grown weary of an insurance system that has seen my deductible skyrocket and has forced me to fight for more than two years to have needed knee surgery.  I’ve grown weary of a system that treats unborn children as a simple mass of tissue until the time they emerge from the womb and I am even more tired of being told I am wrong for believing life is precious.

I’ve grown weary of an education system that tries to silence mentions of one’s faith, but openly promotes an evolutionary system that at its core denies the existence of God.

I’m beyond angry at the notion that I am wrong when I believe that a boy who wants to say he’s a girl – or vice-versa – needs mental help instead of being told that it’s OK to go to a bathroom or locker room where he feels comfortable.

I’m beyond angry at being labeled a bigot when I say I just want my teenage daughter to be able to go to the bathroom in peace and practice modesty as she has been taught. 

I’ve grown tired of going through the checkout line at Kroger or Walmart, seeing people pay for their food with EBT cards then buying beer, candy, dog food and everything else under the sun with cash. And I’ve grown tired of seeing free cell phone tents dotting the landscape.

I’m even more angry when I, and people like me, are called bigots for believing these ideas are not progress but are the very things contributing to a decline in our country. I grew weary of the assertions that those who opposed Barack Obama were racist or those who did not support Hillary Clinton were sexist.

How about the truth: Most who oppose their policies do so because they believe they were bad for the country. Period.

Accusing people of being something they are not simply because they see things differently really is, well, deplorable.

For some reason, I believe there are millions of people who feel the same way who spoke loudly on Tuesday. And if the Republicans lose sight of this in 2018 or 2020, they will be voted out the same way.

I’ve also gotten tired of a liberal media machine that likes to portray those who hold those same values as being “uneducated” and love to spout those statistics.  On my home office wall, I have papers framed telling people I have completed the work for both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree but they don’t make me smarter. They just say I did the work and was introduced to some complex concepts.

On the other hand, I have nothing there showing the wisdom I have acquired while going through the school of life, but I also know life has taught me more than any institution. Many of the smartest people I know only have an education from that school of life.

I felt frustrated, alienated and yes, angry, when I went to the polls Tuesday morning and know I was not alone.

Now it’s time to heal. Trump, Clinton, Obama and many others have made their statements about working together to heal our country. They are right in doing so.

A start is when those in power, whether in Washington, state capitals and city governments acknowledge the problem is not with the American people but with those who expect to be served, not serve.

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We got ourselves into this election mess

I’m writing this less than 36 hours before the polls open in Kentucky for what I believe could be the most crucial presidential election in my lifetime.

I’m not excited. I’m actually not even looking forward to voting for the top office in the land.

But sometime Tuesday, I’ll vote. Too many people have given their lives and the stakes are too high to stay home.

Playing hooky was never really an option Tuesday. There are several other races that are important and have competent people seeking to serve in public office. My hat is off to them, regardless of their party. Given the climate and possible consequences of this year’s race for the White House, those offices will carry more significance than most of us can even begin to understand.

Let’s just say that the common utterance about the genius of the country’s founding fathers being seen in the checks and balances of the Constitution are correct.  That, in itself, makes the races for the Senate and House important every election, maybe never more so than this year.

But back to the race that has burdened us for the better part of two years.

My politics lean heavily Republican. I proudly cast my first presidential vote for Gerald Ford in 1976, plastered my car with Ronald Reagan stickers and wept when The Gipper died. While I did not always agree with either President Bush, I have long admired what I believe to be their genuine decency and kindness.

I’ve never missed a presidential election and have supported the GOP every time.

I have crossed over to vote for Democrats several times in other races, including voting for Kentucky’s late senator Wendell Ford more than once. I’ve crossed party lines for races ranging from local offices to governor. 

But to label me as a Republican who believes in compassionate conservatism would be accurate.

Because of that label, I don’t really want to vote for Donald Trump. While I agree with some of his main talking points and believe Washington needs a major shakeup, I still question his readiness to lead the nation. While he’s selected some good people to be around him – the pick of Mike Pence has easily been the high point of this election in my book – there are too many unknowns about Trump for my liking. It’s scary.

I won’t vote for Hillary Clinton. No way, shape or form. Let’s just say you’d have a better chance of surfing in the Sahara than to see me voting for who I believe to be the most corrupt person to run for President in my adult lifetime. 

I felt that way long before a similar phrase became a standard line of Trump’s speeches. If you need a recap of why so many feel the way I do, you have not been paying attention. She’s terrifying.

Ultimately, though, the finger-pointing needs to be at ourselves for allowing the situation to come to this.

Think about the things Trump was saying in the primary, such as “We’re going to build a (border) wall and make Mexico pay for it.”  Really?  Enrique Pena Nieto is going to just write a check to the USA? I guess I am just one of these guys that believes a nation is sovereign, so I just don’t understand how that statement took such deep root.

(For the record, as a Republican, I voted for Sen. Marco Rubio in the caucus. I loved his personal story and enthusiasm for what I believe to be the American dream.)

As for the Democrats, I wonder how anyone could ignore the cloud of corruption that has followed Hillary and Bill Clinton for more than two decades. Even though the FBI has decided again to not pursue criminal charges – again – for her handling of classified material, is there not a problem with such recklessness? Again, I don’t understand.

I could go on and on and on and on about the problems with both candidates but you should know them anyway.

What’s especially troubling is the majority of people I have talked with concerning Nov. 8 have said the same thing, regardless of which candidate they support.

“I am voting for the lesser of two evils.”

When that’s the number one reason for voting for President – it has been supported by several national polls – we are in serious trouble as a nation.

You can blame the party hierarchies, blame the media, or point fingers in many directions but ultimately the predicament we are in on Tuesday is because of an electorate unwilling to pay attention, more interested in style than substance and getting far too much of its information from Facebook memes instead of actually paying attention to what is really going on.

We won’t come to the same conclusions, but I would bet we would not be in the predicament we are in.

Emotional tribute of 'To Joey, With Love' provides challenge to the faithful

I should have taken a handkerchief when I saw “To Joey, With Love” Tuesday night.
 

I knew the movie would be a sad story, but I pride myself in being a tough guy who rarely sheds tears. As I watched the story chronicling the final two years of country singer Joey Feek’s life, I wanted to cry.

My wife, Stephanie, could not hold back the tears as we watched the film, which was created, written and directed by Rory Feek as a tribute to his wife, who died in March after a courageous battle against cancer.

The husband-wife team had become extremely popular with their mix of classic and modern country along with a down-to-earth persona showcased on their successful cable TV show.

At the height of their success, they decided to take a year off from traveling while Joey had the couple’s first child. They would document it on film.

Little did they know what was ahead.

The baby girl was born with Down’s Syndrome. The family quickly accepted that the child, named “Indiana” after Joey’s home state, was the one God wanted them to have. 

At her 12-week checkup after giving birth, the doctors found that Joey had an abnormality which turned out to be cervical cancer. After surgery and aggressive treatment, doctors declared Joey to be cancer-free only to have the dreaded disease return in 2015. Despite more surgeries and treatment, the cancer could not be contained.

Joey and Rory went to live life to the fullest in the time she had left. 

Watching Joey’s physical decline on film could only make one wonder how he would respond if placed in that situation.

The story that began with Joey giving a life took the most dramatic turn possible and continues today, even after her death. That is what a true witness is.

It’s more than singing a song or wearing a big smile. It’s knowing one’s eternity has been sealed by Jesus Christ.

I accidentally became a fan of Joey and Rory several years back. I’d been watching The Marty Stuart Show on RFD-TV and somehow had been distracted toward the end of the show and left the room. When I returned to the couch, Joey and Rory had come on. I was immediately hooked on their music and their unwavering devotion to Jesus Christ.

I told my wife to check them out and she was quickly a bigger fan than me. The just seemed like genuine people, thankful for what they had accomplished and giving God the glory for everything.

We regret we had a scheduling conflict the last time Joey and Rory performed at Renfro Valley, our favorite concert venue. Very soon after that show last September, the couple stopped touring.

Their witness, however will remain strong through their music.

The film, which is being shown on a limited basis, can only enhance that outreach.

As the crowd slowly filed out of the theater, the sounds were few. A few sniffles here. Some whispers there.

I wonder how many were thinking the same as me: Is my faith so strong that it will inspire others. Through a time of pain and death, would I, like Joey, be able to sing? Would I be able to smile and encourage others?

Her voice was weakened, but still distinct.

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul

Thank you Joey for your powerful witness.

Thank you Rory, for a wonderful celebration of her life.

And for making me examine my own life.