Relative Something

Most U.S. political opinions in 2024 are locked in two opposing camps with very different views of reality. On Sunday morning, CBS presented a segment with Ted Koppel that was recorded at a rally in Pennsylvania back in April. Koppel and crew provided a handful of supporters of the Republican candidate for President an opportunity to express themselves without challenge.

It left me with questions. These are not new questions for me, but each time I re-hear the heartfelt lamentations of people who sound so aggrieved, I become more curious about what is causing their suffering.

Bless CBS’s media heart for not asking for explanations. I can only imagine how quickly they would have lost willing interviewees among the crowd if they had displayed any judgment about the group’s logic.

When asked why they would endure cold and windy weather all day long to support their candidate, one person expressed, “We want our freedoms.”

My question: What freedoms are being denied them? They freely gather at a rally where they freely speak their minds. What rights have they lost in the years since their candidate lost the 2020 election?

“Nobody cares about the working class. …You want your ratings on CBS and you want to lift up that idiot in the White House. …You have been lying to the American people long enough.”

My question: Nobody cares? What is their candidate doing to help the working class? Does this interviewee know anything about The American Families Plan announced by Biden in 2021? What is the media lying to the American people about?

The rally interviews were recorded long before the 34 New York guilty verdicts were announced but Mr. Koppel asked about opinions regarding the trial.

“He’s not guilty. If anybody is guilty, it’s Biden.”

My question: Out of anybody, what is it they believe Biden to be guilty of?

Not being able to ask for a logical explanation of the emotional gripes held by people who seem to approve of the violent January 6, 2021 insurrection leaves the same bad taste as listening to the inflamed untrue rhetoric spewed at the rallies that become media sound bites with little in the way of verifications for accuracy.

Luckily, I don’t lose too much mental energy to these types of questions because I’ve got more pressing immediate issues that remain unanswered. Case in point: When will the ground around here dry up enough to stop my riding mower from leaving behind muddy tire tracks?

One of these days, I hope. So many questions that might never be answered.

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