People often ask me are there any issues where I disagree with President Trump. Well yes, there are several. Expecting a politician you support to back you on every single issue is kinda nuts. That’s not usually possible. After all, if you wanted a pol who supported you on everything, perhaps you should run for office yourself. I spelled out my reasons for supporting Trump over a year ago, right before the Iowa caucuses.

Still, there are areas where me and The Donald part ways.

If you read any mainstream mentions of me or this site, you will find us labeled as a far right-wing. That’s convenient for the media’s narrative, but it’s not actually the case. In fact, I’m an independent who still believes in things like the social safety net, the legalization of all drugs, the legalization of prostitution, worker’s rights, limited abortion rights, and many other causes one might call left-wing. I also want to build a wall on our Southern border and stop unfettered immigration. Oh, and I’m not a fan of modern feminism (understatement), plus I am a free speech absolutist. The last one used to be a leftist ideal, but that’s another column altogether. In short, the Democrats and the left abandoned me, not the other way around.

Of course, Trump is the most left-wing Republican president we’ve had in my lifetime, media slander notwithstanding. President Trump supports the safety net and he even made overtures during the campaign to some sort of universal healthcare system like they have in Canada or Scotland. Even though Trump has moved away from that position a bit, I also favor some sort of universal healthcare. That’s one reason I don’t like Obamacare, because it is like the worst of all worlds. But again, that’s another post.

What leads me here today is the recent “travel bans” enacted through executive order. Longtime readers will know I have issues with blanket bans of entry. For instance, call me delusional, call me naive, but I have never favored completely shutting down Muslim immigration in response to terrorist attacks. I wrote a column defending this point of view in the wake of the Bataclan Massacre. I also published a take from our own Christi Junior that outlines his reasons taking the opposite position. I have no issue with people who disagree with me on this, as things like that are bound to happen. As I said in the open, you can’t expect a politician to hold to your every view. The same can be said of friends, fellow travelers, and yes, site contributors.

How boring would life be otherwise?

Now, before I go any further, it must be stated that the 90-day travel bans (which include 7 countries and is further explained here) that are now in place are not Muslim bans. If they were, it would include countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Egypt. They aren’t included, for myriad reasons. I assume many of those reasons have to do with military cooperation and geopolitical concerns, but it also has to do with the fact that Congress and the Obama administration had already singled out the countries that were temporarily banned on Friday.

So, the media is pretty much completely misrepresenting Trump’s policy. That much is clear. But they’re also up to something more sinister, namely trying to troll him into expanding it. Yes, the same media who has been pillorying the president for the last 48 hours is actually trying to goad him into adding countries like Pakistan. In fact, Reince Priebus, the White House Chief of Staff, was basically bullied into saying they might be adding Pakistan this morning on two separate political talk shows.

I found a couple tweets that explains what’s going on now.

https://twitter.com/im_PULSE/status/825759122285027328

https://twitter.com/phonycian/status/825404118776815617

Again, this is the same media who compares Trump to Hitler and this travel ban to cancer, yet they’re besieging his staff to add more countries! Scott Adams has a take on this as well. I think it’s pretty spot-on.

But lately I get the feeling that Trump’s critics have evolved from expecting Trump to be Hitler to preferring it. Obviously they don’t prefer it in a conscious way. But the alternative to Trump becoming Hitler is that they have to live out the rest of their lives as confirmed morons. No one wants to be a confirmed moron. And certainly not after announcing their Trump opinions in public and demonstrating in the streets. It would be a total embarrassment for the anti-Trumpers to learn that Trump is just trying to do a good job for America. It’s a threat to their egos. A big one.

The media is completely sick. To further illustrate this, let’s look at what’s happened since I began writing this column. At the outset, it was reported that dual-nationals would be temporarily banned under this order. That means someone who held both a British and Iraqi passport, for example, would not be let into the United States for 90 days. With the talk of adding Pakistan to the list, and my fiancee happening to be a dual-national who holds both Pakistani and British citizenship, I was a slightly concerned about the future state of play.

Well, as it turns out, that’s not the case at all. The entire episode has been completely misreported.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/presidential-executive-order-on-inbound-migration-to-us

So, now I can rest easy. Someone asked me whether or not I myself supported the temporary bans we’ve been talking about. I don’t think the implementation has exactly been smooth, although you could probably blame much of that on the Democrats slow-walking Trump’s nominees (like the incoming Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson). And it might not have been the way I would have went about it. But, yes, I think I can support it, as its both temporary and it isn’t a Muslim ban. Plus, as we’ve just seen, dual-citizens are not affected.

Basically, at least half of this firestorm has been completely fabricated by the media. I know that comes as a complete shock to all of you. Fake news, indeed.