MAGA Hats; My own social experiment





MAGA Hats; My own social experiment

*WARNING!  This is a political post.  The views I express are mine, and I have no desire for arguments.  If my views on politics would anger you, then perhaps you may not want to continue reading.  Grin.

            My family and I just returned from our summer family vacation and had a great time.  We went to Washington D.C., Virginia Beach, and looked at a couple law schools that my oldest daughter has had on her radar for some time.   It was a good trip.  I loved seeing our Nation’s Capital as an adult, and Virginia has to be one of the most beautiful states I have ever visited. 

Some time ago I decided that I wanted to do this trip and conduct a bit of a social experiment.  With our nation in an overly sensitive political place of division I wanted to see what would happen if I wore “Make America Great Again” hats along our journey.  We have all heard of the crazy media stories of what happens when people wear their own hats.  What would happen if I and my family wore them?  What would we experience?  Is sharing my own views something I should fear? Or has the media painted a divisive picture that doesn’t really exist because of a few extreme cases? How skewed is the painting the media has painted? My family embraced the idea.  I figured the worst thing that could happen was either we got a slushy thrown on us or we could get my oldest daughters’ law degree paid for.  It was an experiment I was willing to try.  I bought our hats and we set out on an adventure.  In all of the places we went to, someone in my family was wearing their hat, if not all four of us. 

Throughout our journey we did have a couple stories that I would say were “kind of negative.”  One woman at a rest stop in Pennsylvania mumbled under her breath that she “wasn’t going to say anything.”  At the Pentagon Memorial an older woman was ranting against our President, and suddenly she saw my family.  She stopped mid-sentence and just watched us walk by.  Later while we were in the Capital building I heard some young kid joke with his friends if we’d bought those hats on sale somewhere.  I can see how some young high school kid would think that was funny.  We were wearing semi matching hats, but “No, you little whipper-snapper I bought them off Amazon.”  I wasn’t offended. 

However throughout our journey we had some great responses. We got into a great conversation at the Pentagon Memorial with a Veteran who had been in the Pentagon on September 11th. One older gentleman who I guess was a Vietnam Veteran stopped to give us all fist bumps at the Vietnam Wall.  He just wanted to thank us for being bold enough to wear them.   It was right beside the Wall just months ago that the media made up some drama about a teenager and an Indian.  The media blew it way out of proportion, and smeared this teenager’s name.  The last I heard he was suing the media for running an untrue story.  He should be.  The media is trying to divide people and have stopped caring about the truth.  Another woman stopped us at The Spy Museum and shared with us her concern about our nation and some of the choices it had made.  We had a pizza delivery guy deliver our pizza and thank us for our boldness.  All in all it was a great experience.

In our journey we saw people from every nation, and heard languages from around the globe.  That is what America is about.  It’s ok that we all have a different background, and different opinions, but ultimately we come together and work together.  That is a great nation.

I think that the media is painting several pictures that aren’t true.  They are owned and operated by very liberal and left wing people.  As a whole this supports that same agenda.  The idea of the media being unbiased doesn’t exist anymore.  They want people to believe that no one supports a particular party.  Believe us because “everyone is doing it” is a peer pressure tactic straight out of bullying high school days.  They want to paint a picture that people who are conservative should be afraid to share their views and values. They are painting a false picture of those that voted for Trump. They are trying to bully the right wing Conservatives into silence.  In the words of Phil Robertson, “Our culture has accepted 2 huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe and do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

People we mustn’t fear the ‘smoke in mirrors’ the media has painted.  We mustn’t fear standing up for what we believe in.  There are so many people out there that need to see that there are still people out there that support Godly values. We must not allow this liberal agenda to paint pictures that aren’t true. 

This election isn’t just about personal opinions and who said what, or who is offended at whom.  It’s about the unborn babies being murdered daily in our nation.  It’s about continuing to have the right to educate our children the way we see fit.  It’s about legal immigration and continuing the journey our forefathers began in the Constitution.

As 2020 approaches let me be bold enough to say it now.  I voted for Trump the last election and I will be voting for him again.  The man is not perfect.  I really wish he’d get off Twitter.  I assure you there will probably be more sex scandals because the media thinks that sells more papers.  Like the Kavanaugh case, I don’t even believe their true anymore but an attempt at a smear factory, which is sad for those who have really been victims.  It’s cheapening the truth.  I love what Kevin Sorbo (man who played Hercules) tweeted “If women are upset at Trump’s naughty words, who bought 80 million copies of 50 Shades of Gray?” . . . but I guess I digress.  Trump isn’t perfect but I stand behind him.  I will not allow the media to bully me into a corner.  I will proudly wear my hat.  I love my country, and it’s time that as a nation we stop allowing the smear tactics.  Because beyond this election I am concerned where our nation is headed.  I see such division everywhere.  It’s okay that we all have a difference of opinion.  Perhaps both sides need to remember that. 


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