During the 2016 election campaign I made it very clear on this blog that I did not support either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton for POTUS. On more than one occasion, I stated that choosing between either candidate was much like being asked if you prefer mustard or mayo on your fecal sandwich.
In a post from last April, I opined that Trump's narcissism was even greater than Obama's - which is off the charts. Trump is Obama squared. In one post, I even went so far as to call Trump - Benito Mussolini with (Bad) Hair.
However, with all that said, after Trump was elected, I was willing to give Trump a chance.
Others, on the other hand, have increased their anti-Trump rhetoric. Blogger Mark Shea has one of the worst cases of Trump Derangement Syndrome of anyone on the Internet. In a recent post, Shea maintains that Trump's ongoing battle with the Press shows Trump to be in the same league as Stalin, Chairman Mao, and worst of all, Richard Nixon.
Shea goes on to show how evil Trump is by posting a quote from Thomas Jefferson regarding the Press -
The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs thro’ the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people. The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” – Thomas Jefferson, 16 Jan 1787
Shea's use of Jeffersonian quotes is not unlike some folks' use of the Bible to prove whatever point they might hold. Just as you can find any number of contradictory quotes from the Bible to prove whatever you may believe, the same can be done with Thomas Jefferson.
Below are a few examples of Jefferson's disdain for the Press:
"From forty years' experience of the wretched guess-work of the newspapers of what is not done in open daylight, and of their falsehood even as to that, I rarely think them worth reading, and almost never worth notice." --Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1816. ME 14:430
"Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day." --Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, 1807. ME 11:224
"As for what is not true, you will always find abundance in the newspapers." --Thomas Jefferson to Barnabas Bidwell, 1806. ME 11:118
"Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." --Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon, 1819. ME 15:179
It's unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any antidote for Trump Derangement Syndrome in its advanced stages, such as the one Mark Shea is in.
No comments:
Post a Comment