Just watching the news it seems like the world is “spinning apart” as VP nominee Mike Pence likes to say. Police shooting civilians, civilians shooting police, racial violence at home, a coup in Turkey and a terrorist drives a bus into a crowd killing dozens. A Gallup Poll finds a 12% decrease in American’s satisfaction with the way things are going, down to just 17% nationally. Many of the speakers at the Republican National Convention have taken a very dark and dim view of the current state of America, siting the recent violence and gnashing their teeth at what is seen as a weakening of our country.

Donald Trump was no exception in his speech last night. “I have a message for all of you. The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon – and I mean very soon – come to an end,” he said. ”The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life,” he said. 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records “are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens,” he said. America is more dangerous “than I have ever seen and, frankly, than anybody in this room has ever seen,” he said. “At our convention, there will be no lies,” he said. “We will honor the American people with the truth and nothing else,” he said. Well I don’t buy it Mr. Trump, and neither should anyone else.

Saying that “crime and violence will come to an end” is a moronic and patronizing thing to say, and does a grave disservice to the intelligence of the American people. Saying you will end crime and violence is so delusional and patently impossible on its face that Donald Trump should apologize to the American people for thinking that they are so stupid.

Trump invoked the illegal immigrant boogeyman, insinuating that 180,000 illegal immigrants are “roaming free,” raping and murdering upstanding white citizens at will. In reality, immigrants are more law abiding than natural born citizens. Illegal immigrants in particular have a vested interest in keeping their heads down. Don’t forget that crossing a border illegally alone is just a misdemeanor. While violent criminals in this country illegally should of course be found and deported, Donald Trump is using this tiny subgroup of immigrants to whip up his white constituency with tales of a nightmarish racial dystopia.

“America is more dangerous than I have ever seen,” Trump said last night. WDTLAY has already covered this lie, but here is the short version. Historically, crime is down. Way down. The violent crime and murder rates are less than half of what they were in the crime wave of the early 90s. There has been an uptick of violence in the last 12 months which has largely been attributed to crime being so low that it has nowhere to go but up. Unless of course Trump makes good on his promise to abolish violence and crime, of course.

The economy is not doing badly. This month the Dow Jones Index had seven record high closes in a row. Unemployment is below 5%. While GDP growth slowing, our economy is growing steadily. Much of this is do the quick gains the US economy has made in the wake of the 2008 recession.

Lastly, as WDTLAY has already covered, we are not living in dangerous times, historically. In fact this is one of the most peaceful times in human history. 2008 was called the most peaceful year on record, though the wars in Syria, Ukraine and Tunisia, as well as ISIS, have raised that level in recent years.

It is scary to turn on the news this month. I’m afraid to look at my Washington Post notifications because it seems that every day there is a new police shooting, terrorist attack or coup. But don’t buy into the hate and negativity of Donald Trump. He has nothing positive to offer and sees his America of white privilege slipping away, so turns to fear mongering and doom. Dividing America into an US vs. THEM mentality will only serve our real enemies of ignorance and hate.

Sources:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/193832/americans-satisfaction-drops-sharply.aspx?g_source=Politics&g_medium=lead&g_campaign=tiles
http://www.salon.com/2016/07/22/trumps_terrifying_speech_fear_and_xenophobia_become_the_gops_official_platform/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-the-candidate-of-the-apocalypse/2016/07/21/b8ae8fbc-4f7e-11e6-a7d8-13d06b37f256story.html
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/14/gary-johnson/mexican-immigrants-more-law-abiding/
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/20/us-stocks-open-higher-as-investors-cheer-better-than-expected-earnings.html