PSY 1010 Unit V Essay: News Article, Agree and Disagree

News Article, Agree and Disagree

Columbia Southern University

News Article, Agree and Disagree

Tonight, on the nightly news, I saw a report alleging that President Donald Trump cheated during the 2016 presidential election. The report stated that he and his campaign members colluded with the Russian government in an attempt to brainwash voters into voting for him. I agree with this! All I ever see online are meme’s of Hilary Clinton looking bad and doing horrible things, such as misappropriating forces during the Benghazi incident. It’s as if someone is controlling what kind of information is being allowed inside my devices! I know that Donald Trump is friends with Vladimir Putin because I saw him talking to him on TV! There are reports all over the place that say Donald Trump is trying to do business inside Russia! There are even reports that say he wants to open another Trump Tower building in Moscow! Now there are even people going to prison over this! Donald Trump’s own lawyer was convicted of being a liar! I’m so upset at the fact that we have a Russian spy as the President of the United States!

Tonight, on the nightly news, I saw a report alleging that President Donald Trump cheated during the 2016 presidential election. The report stated that he and his campaign members colluded with the Russian government in an attempt to brainwash voters into voting for him. This couldn’t be further from the Truth! The election process is designed so that outsiders can’t effect the outcome of the election of public officials here in the United States, unless you consider the illegal immigrants that are not even supposed to be here, but still get to vote! When someone steps into that voting booth, it’s up to them, and them alone, to decide which candidate to vote for. There is no way on God’s green Earth that Russia could MAKE someone vote for Donald Trump! In fact, there are reports that say Hillary Clinton was the real fraud when she stole the democratic nomination from Bernie Sanders. When President Trump was seen on TV talking with Vladimir Putin, he was doing exactly what I voted for him to do. He was creating a civil relationship with the President of one of the most powerful countries in the world. A wise man once said “keep your friends close, and you enemies closer”. Now, I’m not saying Russia is our friend or enemy, but it’s always a good idea to be diplomatic when you’re dealing with two super powers. As it stands, the U.S. has a decent working relationship with Russia. Heaven forbid the U.S. and Russia ever consider each other actual enemies again.

There are vast differences in the two paragraphs I wrote. While I did find myself getting into the role of the democratic angle, I noticed myself pretending to be irate. I realized that my assumption was that all democrats get excessively worked up about things. I assume this is from what I see on the news programs I watch. I understand that there are some democrats that are rational thinkers and still come to the conclusion that President Trump is somehow colluding with Russians. My problem is that I always look at things rationally. There is no way that any Russian ad or meme would ever change MY vote. Since I know this about myself, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could be swayed by something so simple. I also consider all the dirty politics plastered all over the media during the election and can’t understand how one particular ad could be singled out as “the reason” President Trump was or was not elected.

One of the first psychologists to recognize the real-life implications of Pavlovian theory was John B. Watson, who founded American behaviorism and enthusiastically promoted Pavlov’s ideas (Wade & Tavris, 2017). Like the dogs in Pavlov’s studies, I too have been conditioned to react in certain ways based on simple signals in the environment around me. I like to think, however, that I’m a cognitive thinker, and I do know that cognitive dissonance affects me just as strongly, if not stronger, than most. I also, like to think that I can be open to the ideas of others. But, when I have done the research and have made my decision on a situation, I tend to stand firm with that decision. I don’t particular like people who are “flip-flopper” or “wafflers”. I appreciate someone who is adamant about their position and does enough research, in the beginning, that there isn’t much room for change, outside the introduction of new information. That being said, when the Mueller verdict was announced the other day, if it had been against the President, I would have been surprised, but I wouldn’t have continued with my same opinion. I would have admitted I was wrong. After the results were revealed, I saw plenty of democrats on the news that were amazed and able to apologize for their two year unwarranted criticism of President Trump, but I also saw plenty of democrats who still wanted to say that he did something wrong and there MUST be some kind of cover-up. It just blows my mind that people can honestly, and I mean honestly, say that this President is no good for the U.S. With the numbers in unemployment being the lowest in history, and his diplomacy that naturalized a very dangerous nuclear threat in North Korea, he should be considered to be doing a great job. Not to mention all the other amazing things he’s done in his first two years…and believe me, the list is long.

I understand how this assignment is meant to help us see how we are trained to think certain ways. I also understand that life is all about perspective. The fact that I was in the military for 20 years has established a deep love for the United States, and a hatred for anyone who would wish harm on the American way. I also feel that being brought up in Texas has given me a since of pride in ownership. I own the fact that I’m a Texan and thank God every day because I’m an American.

References

Wade, C., & Tavris, C. (2017). Psychology (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

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