By Josh Moon
Alabama Political Reporter
President Obama has been an unmitigated disaster for America.
We don’t know much in Alabama, but we know the above statement is true. Or, I guess I should say, the majority of the voters in this State know that statement to be true.
Flip on a conservative talk radio show. Scroll through the Facebook timeline of your conservative Alabama friend. Engage the average Alabamian in a political conversation.
You’ll learn quickly that ol’ Barry O has been terrible for this country, set us back decades, ruined our global reputation, destroyed the economy and upended race relations.
That’s not their opinion, mind you. They know it.
For the rest of us who reside in real world such commentary is a tad bit … how to put this delicately … crazy. (I was never good at delicate.)
Because the fact is you – and I mean that in the collective sense – are better off today in every measurable way than you were in 2008.
Economy? Better.
Foreign relations? Better.
Healthcare? Better.
Two wars? Better.
Jobs? Better.
Workers’ wages? Better.
Consumer confidence? Better.
Crime? Better.
These are not opinions. These are things that can be proven with data and facts.
Things like a stock market at an all-time high, with record investing. Or 15.8 million new, private sector jobs in 82 months, including a reduction of over 350,000 government jobs during Obama’s presidency. Or more than 100,000 US troops not stationed in a war zone. Or workers’ wages that are climbing at their fastest rates in 15 years. Or crime stats that show all crimes, including violent crimes, at 50-year lows.
Facts.
And yet, so many people in Alabama refuse to believe these things. They look out of their windows, see the same world and believe that it is teetering on the brink of chaos and destruction. All because of Obama.
This is what happens when one side effectively distorts reality and suckers a group of voters who – let’s be perfectly honest here – are easily suckered.
You can argue this point about being suckered if you like, but I live amongst you people. I see the things you do and hear what you believe. For God’s sakes, a good number of you started building survival bunkers and bought some of the gold bars Glenn Beck, the portrait of sanity, was peddling for the post-economic crash Obama was surely bringing about.
Fooling all of you wasn’t really that hard. All the GOP had to do was convince you that facts don’t exist anymore – an utterly insane task, but one they’ve been able to effectively achieve.
And here’s how I know they’ve achieved it: When I listed off all of those things above, conservatives viewed those indisputable facts as merely political opinions that can be argued. Not to win the argument, mind you. But to get to a point where they can dismiss the whole thing as a difference of opinion.
That difference of opinion allows them to continue believing the erroneous nonsense they did before they were confronted with the facts, at which point they can dismiss the facts altogether.
All that’s left is opinion. And when that’s all that’s left, no one is ever wrong for what they believe.
That’s why a good chunk of the country can’t spot an actual fake news story (people actually believed and shared a story about Obama tossing out the election results) and certainly can’t tell when they’re being only slightly misled on facts.
And you know whose fault that is?
It’s yours, Trump voters.
Instead of relying on the journalistic standards of real news organizations that actually go and talk to sources and cite facts and data from reputable sources, you let emotions and what you wanted to believe lead you.
Which is the reason you believe that a president who has only made your life better has been bad for you.
Since Obama took office, Alabama has received three federal dollars for every tax dollar. Despite this State’s fight against Obamacare, more Alabamians have health care today than at any time in the last two decades. Despite our stupid economic efforts, the success of the national economy has lifted Alabama’s, cutting our unemployment rate in half. And it is only through Obama’s education plan – and ultimately, his Department of Education – that outright and deplorable cheating in our education system has been exposed.
The reality is this State is better off after Obama’s eight years.
And that’s no opinion.
