Portrait Of A Deplorable

 

In the 2016 Presidential election, Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying that Trump supporters were ‘deplorable’. Though I certainly do not have access to every comment posted on the internet, I don’t recall seeing outrage or people screaming down the street demanding safe spaces to hide from such an egregious insult. My impression was that most folks, who felt the derogatory comment referred to them, were honored to be counted as such. 

I know I was. Sticks and stones…sticks and stones.

Four years later, however, watching in grief, as cities burn, businesses are forever closed, lives ruined, (a large number of which include Black Americans), under the dubious excuse of protesting for social justice, it occurred to me that the contrast between what was redefined as deplorable and what actually is deplorable, is profound as well as revealing.

Perhaps the intent wasn’t meant to redefine what deplorable stands for but rather just a specific qualifier that declares any and all people who support Trump are, well, just disgraceful, dishonorable, shameful… period. However, historically speaking, and it stands to reason, once an English word has been reassigned significance, it becomes a one way street. 

So, if you are a Trump supporter you might …

… count yourself among the numbers who are now deemed deplorable because  you support the concept of the American dream of free enterprise, free speech, religious freedom, and the fundamental right to pursue happiness. If so then there are distinct differences between you and those who wish to see all these fundamental rights be eliminated.

If you are deplorable, by the new standard, you will likely be one who has worked most of your life, perhaps spending many years getting an education that you might have to continue to pay for into your middle age. You are one who does or has worked long hours at your job, perhaps having had to prove your way up from the bottom. 

You might be entrepreneurial and have risked everything to start your own business, doing without, sacrificing comfort, in order to make your dream come true. You might farm the land to contribute to the food supply. You might be one who works long night shifts, responding to save other humans from health crisis or horrific accidents, fires, or crimes committed.  

You are likely to be one who loves the concept of family and plan to form one. If you have a family you are likely willing to defend your tribe by any means necessary so you are a supporter of the second amendment even if you don’t wish to  own a gun. 

You understand the basic difference between right and wrong. You know that purposefully hurting someone else or destroying their life’s work is wrong. You know what common courtesy is, and how civilized society is founded on humans treating each other with respect. Odds are that you hold to the long held fundamental standard that all lives matter, especially that of human babies. You might even wonder how this foundation of humanity has been reinvented to represent women’s rights. 

You may or may not believe in God but you accept that everyone has the right to be able to choose either way.

You support the concept of law and order and believe that such a condition could not be possible in a state of anarchy where anything goes, and there is no trained/skilled entity, like the police, to intervene.

You are not inclined to break laws or assault a stranger on the sidewalk and call it a Knock Out Game. You pay your taxes, even though you know they are often misused by those in charge of spending them. 

You usually avoid confrontations with those who think you are deplorable but in those times you feel strongly about the threat of your God-given rights being taken away if you gather with others to rally to express your support, you do not set things on fire or smash windows and rob the merchandise from businesses. You do not scream obscenities at those who are gathered to oppose you. You wave the American flag, cheer on those who are speaking and hope others enjoy the encouragement of likemindedness. Then you clean up after yourself and go home.

If you contribute to a charity it is not likely to be a fundraiser for a thug or career criminal who has been temporarily elevated to sainthood to represent the opposite of the new definition of deplorable.

You might be disappointed that society is now willing to vilify a business that stands by a religious conviction even as other businesses are allowed to take political or social stands, including refusing to sell to police officers (think Walmart and Starbucks).

In an age where good is deemed bad and bad is good, the label DEPLORABLE can be hijacked by anyone who has celebrity status and then wielded like a weapon to cast aspersions, devise false narrative, determine that those who disagree with the new woke stream of consciousness is just flat dumb and ought to be silenced and cancelled. But just because one is smart, talented, educated, experienced or credentialed, does not mean that one is wise. Those who are wise know who they are, what they stand for, what is at stake in this mounting war that feels more and more Biblical every day. 

The new definition of deplorable, as applied to those who still believe in what America was founded on, should now be added to Webster’s Dictionary as:

de·plor·a·ble

/dəˈplôrəb(ə)l/

adjective

adjective: deplorable

1. Not one who destroys. One who builds. Individual of integrity. One not defined by race, creed or ethnicity. One of high principals.

For Him,

Meema