Republican: I Am Dumb

Today, an attorney takes to the pages of a national publication to declare loudly and for all to hear that she is dumb, easily persuadable, and lacking in any genuine moral foundation whatsoever.

If you just saw Barbara Smith, a well-dressed attorney, walking down the street, you might assume that she is a rational person who makes important decisions about political philosophy by thoughtfully considering policy positions. This is not so. And Barbara Smith feels strongly that everyone in the world must know how shallow and self-serving her personal decisionmaking process is. So she quite naturally wrote an op-ed for the to explain in detail.

After the inauguration of Donald Trump, Barbara Smith got all dressed up and set out to attend an inaugural ball. As she was walking down the street, someone threw an egg at her. An unpleasant but ultimately minor occurrence attributable to a lone bad actor? Not at all. For Barbara Smith, this egging incident was a reason to boldly valorize herself and reform her world view to embrace an entire chaotic political philosophy. And she wants you to know it.

At best, I had been a lukewarm and silent Trump supporter, a Goldwater-Reagan-George W. Bush girl who had decided to attend the ball mostly for the opportunity to wear a fancy dress. But when my heels hit the sidewalk that second time, I committed: I would now back President Trump.

I don’t expect to agree with all of his administration’s policies or even the rhetoric that Mr. Trump employs to make his case. But being assaulted based on an assumption that I supported him had a way of breaking through my reservations.

I choose to stand with the ridiculed, the insulted, the belittled. I stand with those who voted for something new and different and a little scary. I stand with people who are tarred as bigots and misogynists—or even egged—simply because of their views on taxes, health-care reform or government entitlements.

Wow.