Who Speaks for The Majority?
By
George Mitrovich
On Sunday, June 24, Jeremy W. Peters of The New York Times, wrote 1,891 words on how 90 percent of Republican voters embrace Donald Trump; not just embrace him but are furious because media abuses their president, misrepresents their president, is unfair to their president, and lies about their president — never mind that “their president” has told more than 4,000 untruths since assuming the Oval Office.
The glaring error in Mr. Peters article was his shocking failure to mention that Republicans are only 24 percent of registered voters (according to the poll I favor), so why give that minority such major play in the world’s greatest newspaper?
Not only 1,891 words of coverage, but The Times ran color photos of three Trumpians, Gina Anders, Daniel Arnold, and Jeff Butts.
Think of the irony. The Times giving that kind of expansive coverage to three people and others who hate The New York Times, who despise its Jewish publisher and his family, its editors and reporters, who loathe those Ivy League elites —which all Trumpians equate with “fake news.”
If The Times’ editors believe by lavishing such coverage on Trump’s supporters will mute their criticism, The Times’ editors err.
This element of our population cannot be won over by facts or logic, their minds are made up — and cannot be unmade.
None of this should surprise us, this “element” of our citizenry, has always been with us.
They were there while the American Revolution was taking place, loyalist to George III; they were there during the Civil War, align with the South in defense of slavery; they were there supporting William Jennings Bryan when he argued against evolution; they were there with Charles Lindbergh and American First, supporting Hitler and the Nazis; they were there backing President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Supreme Court in the imprisonment of Americans of Japanese ancestry during WWII; they were there supporting Senator Joe McCarthy and his destructive campaign to expose alleged “communists” in the State Department; they were there supporting Presidents Johnson and Nixon, who told them it was “un-American” to oppose the Vietnam War; and they are here now for Donald Trump.
Whether the Trumpian element is more enraged is difficult to quantify, because before these other moments and movements in our history, there was no social media, no 24/7 news, no Rush Limbaugh, no Fox News, all of which has dramatically changed the politics of our time — and brought shame on America.
When Mr. Peters wrote his article, not only did he ignore actual party registration and its verities, but his article is absent any reference whether these Trumpians are “Evangelicals.” Because if they are and he failed to ask the question, then he committed a second glaring error.
Why?
Because those media describe as “Evangelicals” are in fact, Fundamentalist.
Which means, they believe in a literal Bible — the theological term is “Verbal Inspiration” — that every word of every verse of every chapter of every book, Old and new Testaments, is literally true.
Which means, further, that they are overwhelmingly “Calvinists.”
Which means, they believe everything that’s happened has been ordained by God before the foundation of the world (see “Institutes of the Christian Religion” by John Calvin).
Which means, they believe Donald Trump is president because God ordained him to be president.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “That can’t be true.” Trust me, it is.
If you haven’t had that conversation with a Fundamentalist, do. Ask them, as I have asked, “Do you believe Donald Trump is president because God put him there?” They will tell you they do.
(In a sidewalk conversation I had with a lady in our neighborhood, she told me Trump is president by God’s design.” When I asked her if she had been a citizen of Germany during the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, would she have believed, subsequently, that God made Hitler chancellor? She didn’t answer.)
Further, I write from the perspective of one who’s been involved with Youth For Christ, Campus Crusade for Christ, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Navigators, and was president of the San Diego County Ecumenical Council, when it comprised 125 Christian Churches, including the Catholic Diocese.
My ire over this imbalance of reporting, this failure to even acknowledge the 65-70 percent of us who believe Trump is an unmitigated disaster for our country and our world, is constantly renewed due to mainstream media’s difficulties in getting the story right, as Mr. Peters failed to do; not alone in failing to write that Republicans are a distinct minority, trailing both independents and Democrats in voter registration, but screwing up the Evangelical/Fundamentalist dichotomy, because they are abysmally ignorant of it. (And when I have suggested to journalists they read my op-ed for the Huffington Post on “How Fundamentalists Became Evangelicals”, my guess is, they never have.)
Going forward, it’s fair to ask The Times, does the newspaper have any plans of featuring a comparable article of those who oppose Trump with that of his supporters? And if they do, will it feature three color photographs of those who believe Trump is wrong for America and wrong for the world.? Was that even discussed in editorial meetings?
Or, is The Times going to continue this fraud by media of focusing on Trump and his Kool-Aid drinking followers, while ignoring We The People?
Oh, I had this afterthought, do any of those interviewed ever read The Times?
I think those of us who are regular readers of The Times — 54-years in my case —should ask the newspaper, do you ever interview people who read and support The Times?
I think we need to tell The Times we expect balanced coverage.
I have.
Will you?
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George Mitrovich is a San Diego civic leader. He may be reached at, gmitro35@gmail.com
Category: National News
