The Perception of President Trump
By Bob Branco
January 25, 2019
I guess it depends on who you talk to. Most supporters of President Trump and his policies will tell you that he would never take any federal subsidies away from people who deserve them. After all, that’s cruel, so what President of the United States would ever think of doing something like that. On the other hand, whenever most haters of the President hear about a federal program that might be in jeopardy, they blame it on him. They say things like, “It’s all Trump’s fault. He’s a bad President. He’s heartless. He has no compassion for persons with disabilities, the elderly, or anybody else who qualify for such assistance.” Some of these Trump bashers even resort to calling the President names that I can’t repeat. What’s even more incredible is that one side can’t seem to convince the other.
Several days ago, I received a phone call from a friend of mine who vehemently despises our President. My friend has been getting food stamps on a regular basis. That day, he learned that the people who administer food stamps are sending out next month’s money immediately because there won’t be any more money left to distribute until further notice. He’s even afraid that President Trump is planning to get rid of supplemental security income, also known as SSI. My friend blames it all on the partial Government shut down, meaning that President Trump is behind it. I never heard anything about this on the news, but as long as my friend saw it on a web site, then it must be true. It may be, but that’s not the point I’m making.
After my friend told me this horrible news, I called Barry Richard, a local radio talk show host. I asked if he heard anything at all about the food stamp crisis. Barry said he never heard about it, and that it was all a bunch of bull crap. I told my friend what Barry said, but my friend insisted it was true. I called Barry back, and he said he checked numerous web sites and couldn’t find anything about food stamps being in jeopardy. When I told my friend this, he asked if Barry was a conservative talk show host. Why does that matter? If someone can’t find information on line, what difference does it make whether the person is conservative, liberal, or any other social position?
This is one of society’s problems. Too many people are so anxious to label others based on their actions or attitude. Someone else recently accused me of being a liberal because of information I sent out that many believe would only be circulated by the Left. In all honesty, I don’t classify myself as either a complete liberal or a complete conservative. In fact, I do not support any political parties. I am just a free thinker. I take each individual issue as it comes and evaluate it separately from any other.
If President Trump is responsible for putting the food stamp program in jeopardy, that would be one of the worst things any President could do. If he’s doing it because he’s holding our Government hostage over a wall, I have news for him. Though I understand the concept of a wall and why people think it may solve the illegal immigration problem, there are dozens of other ways for illegal immigrants to come here. They can fly, come here by boat, swim, or dig a tunnel if they’re desperate enough. The entire northern, eastern and western borders of the United States will still be open no matter how long the wall is.
If President Trump has no intention of hurting persons with disabilities or anyone else on fixed incomes, then I will commend him for that. I would be more convinced that he is trying to keep one of his campaign promises, which is to help make America great again. I think America has always been great. I’m just pointing out a campaign promise.
If we have serious problems in this country, the best thing for our society to do is ban together, work together, and support one another during these difficult times. We might find more solutions that way. It wasn’t long ago that major rallies were organized when consumers were unhappy. It seems as though many people don’t want to step up today. In 1978, citizens of New Bedford were unhappy about their taxes. At the blink of an eye, there was a major march around City Hall organized by a well known talk show host. The problem was solved. I’d like to see more organized, legal and peaceful protests against all this bad stuff, no matter whose fault it is. We may find that we will have a much happier ending.
About the Author
Robert T. Branco resides in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and is the author of five self-published books. He is a community organizer, tutors persons with visual impairments, has written columns for local and international organizations, and publishes a monthly online newsletter, The Consumer Vision. Bob’s website, with full information about his books, is http://www.dldbooks.com/robertbranco/.
