A little cheerleading

Yesterday, in response to my moaning about the fact that it looks as if Hillary is going to win, commenter Pangur wrote:

I hadn't realized that Just One Minute was my one stop shop for defeatist, depressive conservadad talk. Sack up ladies.

(He got the name of the blog wrong, but otherwise I couldn't really argue.)

About the same time, I got this email from a friend, Ed:

What a bunch of ‘Eeyore,’ glass half empty bunch of whiners on your blog -- and I'm throwing you in that bin too.

'Trump’s not smart enough. He’s not prepared enough. He uses the same words too often. He could have been less offensive.'

Compared against: He smashed through the Republican establishment, and won the nomination on a populist, pro–common man agenda. When was the last time the US saw a Presidential candidate as independent from political corruption as Trump? The establishment, represented by Hillary, is clearly terrified – the media is off the rails with its crazy attacks on Trump every day.

The most recent national polls indicate the race is tied. Trump is on the brink of pulling this out.

I read an analysis that showed polling organizations have no idea how to poll this race – because the patterns are totally unlike any race they’ve tried to predict. I agree, and I believe on voting day it will break in Trump’s favor.

I view Trump supporters resigned to defeat as a real negative.

I replied:

What you say is true; but what I've said on the blog is also true. I certainly hope I'm proven wrong on election day, though I doubt I will be, especially with the amount of fraud I suspect will happen. 

Ed wrote back:

Its not that I disagree with most of the negative things you say about Trump – but that I think there is far more to praise about the man than there is to criticize. And now is the time to deal Trump all the praise in the world. Almost the entire media is eviscerating the man every day – both for valid reasons, and for completely imaginary reasons. ‘His own’ shouldn’t, in my opinion, be denigrating him now.

I sense a mindset from a lot of people commenting on your blog that is too negative, and not nearly appreciative enough for what Trump has already accomplished politically and for the opportunity in this election.

Ed has a point. The media's conniptions over Trump demonstrate how terrified they are that they might lose control over the parameters of the national dialogue. Trump has scoffed at their political correctness, and a lot of people have responded positively.

And maybe I should sack up -- I certainly don't want to discourage Trump supporters from voting.

But the idea of this blog from the start was not to be an unbridled id like Chateau Heartiste, nor to preach to the converted (which is inevitably what sites like this end up doing anyway), but to influence those who might conceivably be swayable. And if you don't admit your own side's faults, you lose credibility, and won't sway anyone.

And, frankly, it's a lot more fun -- and interesting -- to be honest. If you're going to accuse the media of being one-sided and dishonest, it's incumbent on you not to be the same way, and not whitewash anything. (I meet people all the time who always say whatever it is they think they're supposed to say, and I can never get away from them fast enough.)

Anyway, Ed's and Pangur's viewpoints have merit, and deserve airtime.

And, in case I haven't made it clear enough in the past, I am rooting for Trump.