An encounter with a Trump supporter

Last weekend, I went to a Long Island golf course that I used to belong to. I wanted to donate a set of clubs to their First Tee Program which provides encouragement for underprivileged kids to learn the game. While I was there, I ran into a number of old golfing buddies including a pro with whom I had becomes close friends over the years. He taught my son how to play and he has invited me to play in several Pro-Ams, a couple of which we won.

As we were chatting, he began to make political comments. In itself, this was unusual. There's an unwritten rule of etiquette that the two things you never talk about at the golf course are religion and politics. I chose to say nothing but he went on to praise all of the great accomplishments Trump has brought to the U.S. After a couple of minutes, I asked him where he gets his news information. Unsurprisingly, he said he watches Fox News. His comments illustrated that he was somewhat disconnected from reality. He also went on to praise Trump's golf courses. I played three of his courses before he announced his candidacy: they suck and they're ridiculously expensive.

My response to his comments was three-fold. First, I told him that Fox "News" had admitted in court that they were not a news organization but an entertainment outlet. Second, I told him that he was foolish to vote as if he were in the 1% when he's nowhere near that level of wealth. I reminded him that he could not have afforded his double-knee replacement were he not covered by the ACA, also known as Obamacare, (I wanted to needle him a little). Lastly, I scolded him for violating the unwritten rule of etiquette regarding religion and politics.

He responded by saying he was surprised to learn that I was a liberal! He also apologized for bringing up politics.

I like this man and he's been very generous with his golf talents. But it baffled me to see and hear him spouting such utter bullshit and assume that I would be in complete agreement with him.

It's become increasingly clear to me that there are 40% of Americans who are clueless, stupid and/or evil. As a country, we're in for a rougher ride, I'm afraid.