Paying a Price

I’ve sat through a lot of poll briefings over the years and gotten a lot of surprises. But two polls last week – one on CNN, another on Fox – surprised me more than most: Both said most people opposed bombing Iran’s nuclear sites.

Now who on earth would want to let Iran have a nuclear weapon?

It seems the answer people gave to that poll question wasn’t really about whether Iran should have a nuclear weapon – it was about something else entirely: How they felt about the man who made the decision to bomb Iran.

Of course, that man was Trump – so Republicans and Trumpsters overwhelmingly said, Yes, bombing Iran was right. While people who didn’t like, or trust, Trump said No. And since more people dislike than like Trump the No’s came out on top.

We’ve landed in an odd place: How people feel about Trump matters more to them than issues, like Iran having a nuclear bomb. But that leaves us standing on shaky ground: Some things are right and others are wrong and how you feel about Trump shouldn’t determine what you believe is right or wrong.

If we don’t put doing what’s right ahead of politics, without letting politics blind us, a day’s coming when we’ll pay a price.

*******

Telling stories, in his memoir Carter Wrenn follows The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics from Reagan to Trump. Order his book from Amazon.

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Carter Wrenn

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Paying a Price

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I’ve sat through a lot of poll briefings over the years and gotten a lot of surprises. But two polls last week – one on CNN, another on Fox – surprised me more than most: Both said most people opposed bombing Iran’s nuclear sites.

Now who on earth would want to let Iran have a nuclear weapon?

It seems the answer people gave to that poll question wasn’t really about whether Iran should have a nuclear weapon – it was about something else entirely: How they felt about the man who made the decision to bomb Iran.

Of course, that man was Trump – so Republicans and Trumpsters overwhelmingly said, Yes, bombing Iran was right. While people who didn’t like, or trust, Trump said No. And since more people dislike than like Trump the No’s came out on top.

We’ve landed in an odd place: How people feel about Trump matters more to them than issues, like Iran having a nuclear bomb. But that leaves us standing on shaky ground: Some things are right and others are wrong and how you feel about Trump shouldn’t determine what you believe is right or wrong.

If we don’t put doing what’s right ahead of politics, without letting politics blind us, a day’s coming when we’ll pay a price.

*******

Telling stories, in his memoir Carter Wrenn follows The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics from Reagan to Trump. Order his book from Amazon.

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Carter Wrenn

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