A lot of readers responded to my column MY TRUMP ADDICTION (6/26/19) with requests that I go away. Retire. Afraid not. Not gonna happen. I’m not going anyplace. Just so you know.
Guessing these angry folks have been inspired by our disaster-in-chief in the White House bullying the press. Trump’s petulant rants haven’t made the media stop calling him out every time he lies. And they sure won’t make me stop.
Suddenly, it’s become acceptable to try to get rid of those with whom you don’t agree. Progressives are guilty of it, too. Especially, students on college campuses. Disinviting any speaker who threatens to challenge their views. I don’t agree with their attempts at censorship, either. There was a time when college campuses were safe places for competing ideas. Not so much anymore. Rutgers disinvited Condoleezza Rice. When Condoleezza Rice is not in your safe zone, you’re letting the world know that you have no respect for free speech.
A bunch of the non-love letters even trash THE VIEW! Oh my goodness! That Joy Behar woman is practically subversive. Where’s Elizabeth Hasselbeck when we need her? Why should we have to listen to Meghan McCain defend her dead father? Enough is enough. Shut them down! (How about changing the channel?)
I just reread your comments regarding the way I’ve written about the Trump presidency. Go away, you write. Hang it up. Your main debating point consists of tossing around the word “liberal.” You don’t argue policy. You don’t even try to defend the actions of Donald Trump. I give you credit for that much because too much of what he says and does is indefensible. No, you just whine and shout “liberal” and tell me to disappear. Sorry as hell to disappoint you. I’ve been doing this thing for longer than most of you have been on this earth. 56 years. I’ve lived through the darkness that sometimes envelops this great nation from time to time before some of you were born. Heard the anger when I turned against the tragic war in Vietnam. And the disastrous presidency of Richard Nixon. Back then, the Neanderthals tried to shut me up by calling me a communist. Nowadays, “communist” has been replaced by “socialist” as if the two are interchangeable. And you think “liberal” is an insult, do you? Well, think again.
I took a lot of heat for disagreeing with Frank Rizzo when he was mayor. Some of my best friends disowned me. Rizzo was supposed to be off limits because he was Italian — I was Italian — some of you were Italian. But a lot more than ethnic pride was going on in those days. Congressman Tom Foglietta was also Italian, but somehow he didn’t get the same love as Rizzo. Neither does (Italian) Speaker Nancy Pelosi today. Wait! Foglietta was a liberal. Nancy Pelosi IS a liberal. Could that be why? My father came up on the force with Rizzo. Knew him personally. If my father could tolerate my views, I figured I could take the heat that some of you in South Philly were dishing out.
In my old neighborhood, supporting Trump has somehow become associated with being Italian. Huh??? Trump wouldn’t know a San Marzano tomato from a KFC chicken tender. You want to support Trump, go ahead, that’s your unfortunate business, but tying him to our ethnicity is a freaking, insulting joke.
Mayor Jim Kenney is another target of many supporters I hear from. There’s a lot you can debate about the Kenney administration. I get it. Big cities have crappy problems without many of the resources to solve them. That’s why you won’t see a big-city mayor become president any time soon (that means you, too, Bill de Blasio). Nobody loves their mayor — that’s why Rizzo was so unique down here. I disagree with Kenney, myself, sometimes. But calling him a “liberal” — accurate as that label is — does not close down the debate. And while I’m at it, here’s what really grabs me — you think all liberals are dumb.
Some of you support Trump but think Barack Obama is stupid — an example of affirmative action gone wild. Yet, many of you bought into Trump’s birther argument. Some of you still do. You deny climate change. You still believe Trump is going to build a wall with Mexico footing the bill. You think he’s going to replace your Obamacare with better coverage at a lower cost. You think the liberal media — not Putin or Kim — is your enemy. You think guns don’t kill people — even the ones with magazines that can fire off 100 rounds in a minute. White supremacy? Not a threat. Trump says so. So our president changes his mind every news cycle. No problem there. And you say liberals are dumb?
Not everyone who doesn’t support Trump is a “liberal,” by the way. There’s much more disagreement about the issues among so-called liberals than any I’ve seen among Trump supporters. In fact, the next time I see a Trump supporter post a criticism of the president on Facebook will be the first time.
And here’s where you make your biggest mistake. You think liberals are “snowflakes.” I’ve got news. This snowflake is not going to melt and go away. I’m going to be here every week so long as they let me. My skin is thick. My passion still drives me.
Just so you know.
Tom Cardella will co-hosts Monday Night Kickoff beginning Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. on wbcb1490.com, 610 AM and Facebook.
