All Depends on Who Said it

It's an unfortunate fact concerning our political intercourse that two individuals can make exactly the same politically incorrect claim, and the people hearing it will condemn one and not the other depending on whether the speaker has an R or a D after his or her name.

We're so blinded by our political and personal antipathies that it seems next to impossible to be objective and fair in our judgments.

An illustration of this shortcoming of our human nature was occasioned by a recent visit to American University by Campus Reform's Cabot Phillips who asked students their opinions on three quotes from President Trump on the need for stronger control of our borders. The three quotes were these:

1. “Illegal Immigration is wrong, plain and simple. Until the American people are convinced we will stop future flows of illegal immigration, we will make no progress.”
2. “We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented and unchecked.”
3. “I voted numerous times...to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in. And I do think you have to control your borders.”

One student called it “divisive.” Another called it “kind of hateful speech in general.” A third student called it a “rude” way to talk about illegal immigrants. A fourth student said, “there are racial biases kind of deep-embedded in there.” Other terms used to describe the quotes included jingoist, unacceptable, and dehumanizing.

But then Phillips told the students that it wasn't actually Trump who made these statements and revealed to them who did. The students seemed stunned.

It's an amusing video:

University students may be learning a lot during their campus experience, but one thing these students, at least, seem to be missing out on is how to think critically and objectively.

Hopefully, by the time they graduate they'll be better at it, but we probably shouldn't bet on it.