A retort to a retort

Mr. Stephenson, I read your guest commentary (“A retort to Mike Kaplan’s commentary,” Jan. 9, 2017, The Aspen Times). I really did. But I found myself, as I went along, enumerating all the ways you were wrong as I did so. In fact, my original response was over 2,000 words before I thought to check the Times’ submission guidelines. So, I’m going to limit myself to one point that really bothers me about people with your world view, the proud use of the term “deplorable.” It’s a personal complaint, but one that shows just how little we should take you seriously.

Had you bothered to actually read or listen to Secretary Hillary Clinton’s quote, you’d know that she was referring to a very specific portion of Trump’s supporters as the deplorables. That segment was exclusively the “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic” portion of his supporters. She didn’t cast someone as deplorable for supporting Trump; she cast those who have those views as deplorable. So for you to boast about being “deplorable” means one of two things: 1) You didn’t actually read her fairly simple statement, or 2) You are in fact a racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and/or Islamaphobic. Neither of those lend much to your credibility.

I could posit a long argument debunking each of your points, but I don’t have the time. But here are some quick things.

Climate change is real. You seem to have no idea how the refugee process work. Nor do you have any real concept how a “melting pot” works. You also have very little idea of just how intolerant the right has been toward Obama (there were and still are Obama’s not my president signs/shirts. Did you completely forget the tea party?) and the disgusting behavior Trump supporters have exhibited following his election.

Seriously, look up “Day 1 in Trump’s America — Twitter.”

You might support the cinnamon nightmare that is our president-elect, but I don’t trust him to have our country’s best interest in mind. Nothing he’s done since November has eased my fear that things are about to take a disastrous turn. I hope I’m wrong. But I expect I will be proven correct.

Sean Braisted

Snowmass