Most urbanites living in the Pacific Northwest really, really dislike President Trump. Please note the qualifier “most.” There are some Trump supporters hereabouts, maybe enough to sell out a Saturday night line-up of pro wrestling matches at the local armory.
But it is almost incomprehensible how much most folks in these parts dislike the president. OK, the “h” word. They hate the president.
It’s not incomprehensible when you understand that they regard Trump and his supporters as the “r” word, racist.
How to put this? It’s like the way they hated President George W, Bush, pardon the cliche, on steroids. It is regional, and at the same time, an often-virulent microcosm of the pandemic dislike and hate that exists toward Mr. Trump on both coasts, in the major media, and within the Deep State.
A perfect example of this fear and loathing surfaced last week when a video editor at Seattle’s Fox affiliate Q-13 broadcast an orange-tinted doctoring of the president’s national address on the border crisis and resultant government shutdown. It is not clear at this juncture whether the doctoring of the address—which included a C-G-generated lolling tongue and over-sized head—occurred during the live feed from CNN or was grafted onto a re-broadcast clip. It is also unclear whether the staffer created the doctored video or just allowed it to go on air.
The station forthwith issued a regretful statement, and in a subsequent release announced that the video editor (no name, gender unspecified) had been terminated. Nonetheless, the episode illustrated the insane career-jeopardizing lengths some leftist urban professionals will go to express disrespect, revulsion, and raw hate toward our 45th commander in chief.
Strike the phrase “career-jeopardizing.” The individual responsible for the orange-tinted POTUS will probably get hired somewhere else, in media, in the Pacific Northwest.
So, what’s it like for an “out” Trumpservative living in the urban Pacific Northwest (in my case Portland)?
Careful, very careful.
I was castigated by some (and supported by others) in the comment section of a pre-2016 election piece I wrote at PJM stating that although I very publicly supported the Republican candidate, I had decided not to put a Trump campaign poster provided by my local patriot group on my front lawn. Hello? I am away from home all day on most days, and don’t cotton to the idea of coming home to thrown eggs, broken glass, or worse. Writing pro-Trump content for this national website was the hill I decided to fight on, not the front yard of my 1928 bungalow in a sleepy Portland neighborhood. Anyone who Googles me can know where I’m coming from, and then go stuff it.
Here’s the thing. While the widely covered violent protests that occur downtown against Trump and his administration don’t make it to the sleepy outlying neighborhoods, trumpeting my support for 45 with a lawn sign would constitute an unnecessary risk that during most hours of the day could not be countered. Although in the middle- and upper-middle class neighborhoods of Portland a general civilized politeness reigns, most of the residents here hate Trump almost if not as much as the rabid inner-city resistance rabble does. The difference is that these bred-to-the-bone progressives are polite about it. Icy polite.
Not to mention, posting such a sign would be ineffectual. It’s not like one Trump lawn sign on a street full of Hillary or Bernie signs is going to change hearts and minds. It would simply make my home a target. It’s a sad commentary, but the wisdom of my decision not to post a sign was borne out when numerous vandalisms against Trump insignia (including several vehicle torchings) occurred after the election.
Author’s note: Get inland from the urban corridor known as the Interstate 5 corridor and things turn very red, very quickly. Donald Trump swept the electorate in most Oregon state counties.
Beyond icy politeness, the Pacific Northwest’s civilized, law-abiding progressives fancy themselves nuanced and educated enough to leaven their Trump revulsion with a measure of pity for his supporters. The God, guns, missing teeth, deplorable, poorly-educated, and too dumb to know they’re voting against their own interest brand of pity.
How to survive all this if you’re a conservative (or even moderate right-winger) living in a progressive, Trump-hating nexus? For starters, keep your eyes on the national scene. Liberal enclaves like Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco (and pretty much the whole state of California) are frankly unwinnable for Republicans, and everybody knows it. Look to where the winning is.
Another sad commentary. The only way to fathom the hate that motivates a person to jeopardized a job or career by doctoring a presidential address to the nation can be summed up in one word, again:
Racist.
It is not a newsflash, but we need to periodically be reminded of the leftist conviction that President Trump and his supporters (all of the 63 million people who voted for him, I guess) are inherently racist, bigoted, and pathologically xenophobic.
That’s what makes orange-tinted Trump comprehensible.
For Trumpservatives living in the Pacific Northwest and other leftist enclaves, the strategery is clear: watch your back, stay tuned to the White House, understand that your neighbors are sorely afflicted and may be icy-polite or dangerous, and hunker down for six.
That’s six more years. IMO (and Michael Moore’s opinion, LOL) Trump will win again.
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