An Ignored Flame

An+Ignored+Flame

Catherine Hernandez, Contributing Writer

What does it mean when a man like this one is president elect of the United States?

It means that, as with most affairs, people chose what they wanted to hear.

People don’t want to hear that problems in their country are caused by the country itself, so he blames them on the immigrants. People love a scapegoat, and what better person to choose than someone who wasn’t born here, who doesn’t speak the language, and who doesn’t know the culture? These same people often forget that a hundred years ago, the immigrants who were thought to be stealing the jobs were Irish, a nationality that 34.1 million Americans today claim as part of their ancestry.

People don’t want to hear about global warming. They don’t want to believe the scientists when they provide indisputable evidence that the Earth’s temperature is on the rise and sea levels are dangerously high. It’s scary. So they listen when he tells them otherwise.

People don’t want to hear that abortions are completely safe procedures and sometimes the only option for a woman. So they trust him when he says that abortions can be conducted nine months into the pregnancy without medical necessity, and cheer when he says he wants to defund Planned Parenthood.

People don’t want to hear that the man they support for president could have gotten himself out of paying taxes for his companies for up to eighteen years, so they hear him when he tells them that he is an advocate for the working man, the middle class, even though he has never been a member of it in his life.

People don’t want to hear that the man who they support for president has called women dogs, pigs, and slobs. That he casually stated he might be dating his daughter if he hadn’t fathered her. That he described the working woman as dangerous and he wants dinner on the table when he comes home. That he admitted on camera with explicit statements that he went as far to have sexually assaulted a woman. No one wants to hear that a man they trust has done such despicable things, so they believe him when he tells them that no one respects women more than him.

So when an ignored flame burns a house down, who is to blame?