So here is a little social experiment.
- Take a political wedge issue
- Use your own basis for your opinion
- Ignore the basis for the opposition opinion
- Then judge that opposition opinion based on those variables.
Example. The wall. I might support the wall because the Border Control Agency says that it will reduce the amount of criminals, drugs, and guns that enter the country. If I ignore whatever the basis of your competing opinion happens to be, this allows me to suggest that you are against the wall because you are in favor of criminals, illegal drugs, and illegal guns.
This is a form of projection. Not exactly the same projection where someone who is rude might constantly demand that others are rude (the classic projection of your faults to other people). But rather the projection of your way of thinking, as you judge the actions of someone who might think differently.
This particular social experiment might take place where a conservative (such as myself) demand that a liberal (who might oppose the wall) does so because they would like to see more crime, especially sexual crimes against children (because statistics show that illegal immigrants who cross the border are seven times more likely to commit a sexual assault and do so frequently against minors).
Let me tell you, a liberal being told he doesn't want the wall because he wants to see children sexually assaulted causes all sorts of things, including threats to take you to court and sue you for libel.
But the reality is that this form of projection (using my reasoning to judge your actions) is no different than what liberals tend to do with people who (for example) decide to wear a MAGA hat. Just because "you" believe that Trump is a racist and that the MAGA hat is a symbol of that racism, doesn't have any bearing what-so-ever as to why the person in question might support Trump or decide to wear a MAGA hat. The person wearing that hat should be judged on their reasoning for showing that support (not yours).
I personally know many, many Trump supporters. Some even own a red hat. Not a one of them is a racist.
In a nutshell, the person wearing the MAGA hat is no more a racist, than a person who opposes the wall is a promoter of sexual assault against children. In both situation that person is being unfairly judged because others are projecting their own opinions onto the person, and then judging those actions based on that projection.
But in 2019, when the liberal media is 99.99% against Trump, projection (even at the national cable and print news level) is running rampant. Because the liberal media is a big circle jerk, and no outside opinions are every let it, they are not able to see the forest for the trees on this one. So they will continue to blame people like the Covington Students for run-ins with liberal activists, because they share the liberal activists projection that the MAGA hat is racist.
The concept that an adult cannot prevent himself from being a complete ass to a child, because the child was "triggering" the adult by wearing a red hat would be an amusing concept if it wasn't so mainstream. This behavior is ultimately defended as acceptable and sometimes even applauded as a positive action by those who are willing to allow the stereotypes and bigotry to overpower common sense.
The rare case (like the vape shop worker who was fired for not serving a Trump supporter) where these actions are seen for what they are (bigotry and hate mongering) are few and far between. In fact, had it not been for the fact that the vape store was a chain that could ultimately lose business over the fiasco, who knows if anything would have been done there. You also had to go look for the video, as nobody in the MSM thought this situation was even worthy of a story.
The overall plan is clear. It amounts to nothing more or less than a widespread collective systematic social means of bullying. They label, they stereotype, and they ultimately judge others based on their own personal opinion. In fact, they will tell you that even his campaign slogan is racist, and you are racist if you don't agree with them. Ultimately, the left doesn't like the fact that Trump is President, and they are willing to smear and attack anyone who dares show support for the reality that Trump is President.
Keep in mind. Unless you want to admit that your opposition to the wall is because you support sexual assault against children, you should be careful when you demand that you can better identify someone else's motives than the person in question.