Conservatives: Are We Letting Emotions Get the Best of Us?
Editorial by Ann-Marie Murrell
This weekend a personally-written article, America: Land of the Feelings, Home of the Highly Emotional, was published in part because we’ve become a nation where feelings and emotions are ruling every aspect of life. Especially in politics, the phrase ‘sticks and stones’ is officially obsolete and it seems to be the opposite now–words are the only thing people are “hurt” by.
As a public political speaker, people often ask me how to deal with haters and personal threats (Google my name and read some of the comments, starting around 2011). It all goes back to my Texas upbringing where being raised tough, strong, and independent is a prerequisite. If someone is angry with you, the first thing you do is consider the source and ask yourself, ‘Do they have a reason for being mad at me? Did I do something to deserve it?’ If yes, an apology is given in hopes that you’re forgiven; if nothing was done to deserve their wrath, they are written off as unimportant and you move on. If these people are allowed to get under your skin you’re not any better than they are, hating someone based solely on emotions and feelings. Judging people based on their actions/deeds and not solely on how their words make me FEEL is the way to stay sane in the political world and in life.
It’s extremely easy to get emotional regarding politics, especially with the Evil Media Empire working overtime to stir up our proverbial conservative hornets’ nests. We’ve tried to divert some of this via PolitiChicks and our social media pages, but too often we’ve fallen for their sparkly, shiny issues directed at keeping us from focusing on the real stories of the day. Most recently this happened during the ridiculous McKinney pool party circus. When we first saw the headline (way before the firestorm hit) we posted how ridiculous it was and encouraged people not to get caught up in such a non-issue. But very quickly we did exactly what we were trying to stave off, posting story after story and helping the media keep it going. When we finally realized what we were doing we stopped.
Lately there seems to be more anger and frustration directed at Republicans against Republicans than Republicans against Democrats. Yes, there are some horrible politicians on our side, but (almost) none are as bad as the leftists we’re supposed to be fighting. Of course that’s exactly what the leftists are counting on, that we’ll destroy our own from within and they won’t have to lift a finger–which is what they/we did to Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, and more recently Conservatives in general. If the leftists don’t like our candidates, we can’t like them either. If the leftists don’t want us talking social issues, we’ll stop. If the leftists don’t like us talking about immigration, we do what they tell us to do. If the leftists don’t like…you get my point.
(By the way, the best way to gauge who the leftist media wants us to vote for is by the lack of stories about them. Or even more telling, the positive-leaning stories about left-leaning candidates on our side. You can also tell who the media wants you to think they are supporting. Remember in 2008 when they tried to make everyone believe Hillary Clinton would be the Democrat nominee, and “suddenly out of no where” Sen. Barack Obama appeared? Watch for the same thing to happen, because it will not be Hillary…)
The following best represents what we at PolitiChicks are committed to doing as we trudge toward the 2016 elections. This will hopefully spare us a few extra ulcers by using our collective heads instead of relying solely on our feelings and emotions.
1. Watch how each candidate personally handles the pressure when they stumble, blunder, make stupid statements, and/or get caught in scandals. We will try not to get too caught up in things like this because between now and the election something negative will happen to some, if not all, our favorites.
2. Watch how the candidates handle public scrutiny–or lack thereof–from both sides of the aisle. Is a candidate slinging mud all over the place or handling criticism like a decent human being? As tempting as it is to choose sides we refuse to get caught up in childish in-fighting and name-calling. If anything major happens, we will report about it as objectively as possible and move on. We will also ask ourselves following question: Why is the media focusing all their attention on Candidate A and not the others? Are they perhaps trying to divert attention away from something more important?
3. See if they are go-along-to-get-along politicians doing whatever necessary to win, or if they are willing to risk everything to do what’s right for the American people. We will watch for candidates who are truly hoping to save America and are listening to the American public. Does this candidate understand the threat of Islam? Will he strengthen our military and ensure our veterans are taken care of? Is this candidate ready to end the nightmare that is Obamacare? Will he strictly enforce and reform immigration laws? Is this candidate committed to ending Common Core?
4. Watch for signs of a true leader–someone who won’t bend so far backwards to appease our enemies that he/she ends up being one of our enemies. (Many of us have been Democrats–we know ’em when we see ’em and several “Republicans” are much more “them” than “us”.)
5. Wait until after the debates to offer our endorsement. The Presidential Debates are the best way to gauge how candidates handle being under the world’s largest microscope. We’ve all seen the most popular candidates completely tank with one simple blunder (“Oops” comes to mind…). With each debate, leaders emerge and the weaker candidates quickly fall behind. (We highly recommend that each candidate study Newt Gingrich’s performances because he was brilliant.)
6. In that same vein, we will not go overboard for anything the candidates have to say–good or crazy–at this early stage of the game. It’s tempting to cheerlead for a few of the candidates now, especially when they say or do something that best represents the principles of the GOP platform. We may publish their statements and perhaps encourage them on social media, but we will try to leave our personal feelings and emotions on the sidelines. At some point, every one of them is going to get caught saying something monumentally stupid because that is (and always has been) the 24/7 goal of the Evil Media Empire. We refuse to help them out.
7. We will not focus on polls. It’s only July 2015 and it doesn’t make one bit of difference who is ahead or behind at this stage of the game. Early in the last election, many thought Herman Cain would be the winner. Or if you judge by most of the recent CPACs, Ron Paul should be president by now. Unless you are one of the random people directly involved in a poll, it is completely out of your hands. We won’t waste our time or energy getting caught up in the feelings and emotions the press is trying to stranglehold out of us.
8. If our personal favorite doesn’t win the nomination but the chosen candidate represents the original Republican Party platform and not the Democrat, we will fight for and stand for him/her 100%! But even after the nominations are determined, we will also remember that the candidate is still a human being. Because of this, he will continue to make misstatements or say something you disagree with. Again, it’s the job of the Evil Media Empire to get them to stumble. Don’t throw away your candidate when this happens.
9. On the other hand, if the Republican nominee represents the Democrat platform more than the Republican, we will evaluate everything with logic and clear-eyed candor. PolitiChicks will not blindly follow anyone who believes that the only way to win an election is by being more like a Democrat. We won’t win any Democrat supporters this way, but we will definitely lose Republicans. (If you’re not sure about this, ask California.)
Ultimately as we head into the elections, we at PolitiChicks will stay as calm and cool as humanly possible. We are counting on the cream to rise to the top and we’re hoping Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s words come true: “The wrong shall fail the right prevail.” And when we get so wrapped up in single-issues that we can’t see beyond our feelings and emotions, we’ll remember Psalm 46:10: Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
