Election Day Brings Moment of Truth [OPINION]

In one of the uglier periods of political atmosphere in the United States since at least the Vietnam War days, our collective judgement is once again called into question.

The Republicans (for the most part) have gone with an overly frank, impulsive-speaking Donald Trump as president. He defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton just two years ago, and the difference in the direction of the nation has had near G-force effects since Trump took the reins from President Obama.

The indignant Democratic Party has been all-hands-on-deck, in an all-out attack on the White House ever since.

The president has also been in unabated and nasty arguments with members of the media who are undeniably unfair to him. Granted, he causes a lot of the criticism and grief he gets by responding the way he does. Using Twitter to swipe at CNN is not exactly conventional use of office. Trump is willing to go blow for blow, swipe for swipe against any and all detractors.

While presiding over the government that is enjoying some real successes in terms of the economy, defusing a long standing enemy in North Korea, decimating the Islamic State and reversing many of the illogical ways our Customs and Immigration Enforcement agency has been used, millions are still very much supporting Mr. Trump.

He has decided not to distinguish between mainstream media and the Democratic Party. He is smart to piece them as one. If you're being honest, there can be no denying the disparity in how the liberal media treats the presidents.

The attacks on Trump were started by rivals in the Republican primary during 2015 and more so in 2016, but were escalated by the Democratic Party and news outlets who were overtly in support of Secretary Clinton. Trump's own indulgent past was indeed fair game and brought (back) into the spotlight.

Infidelity, merciless capitalist practices, impulsive statements made by him in the private sector and even one terribly sexist rant while being recorded by Jeb Bush's cousin, Billy Bush, for NBC News were all thrown in his face. Most (not all) had to do with things that took place in the late 1900s or when George W. Bush was still in office.

A very dubious opposition research dossier, financed by Hillary Clinton's campaign, was passed on to the FBI who used it to spy on Trump early in the summer of 2016. Porn star Stormy Daniels was offered instant credibility with her stories of his infidelity. The media lunged toward her with microphones and notepads held by reporters who were ready to believe.

It didn't stop Trump. People were far more fed up with the Washington establishment than they were with candidate Donald Trump's past. He was pointing out things that were wrong in America, things that everyone else was afraid to point to, while running for the highest office. He resonated. He converted doubters into believers.

We were told early in November of 2016 that Hillary Clinton had a 99 percent chance of winning the White House. The supportive media was the source of this forecast, so Trump supporters doubted the polling. America's trust in mainstream media is not much better than the trust offered to Washington.

The political novice Donald Trump with his hand-picked, musical chairs of in-and-out management ended up shocking the world. The smartest minds in the Democratic Party were outmaneuvered, frankly by more cunning and smarter Trump campaign members.

He won in states such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan and Wisconsin. Those were states penned in as Electoral College points for Hillary. It was an Electoral C ollege landslide, with Trump garnering 306 of the 538. It wasn't close.

The angry Democrats were quick to begin the assault on the Electoral College model. After all, Hillary Clinton got 65,844,610 votes, compared to Donald Trump's 62,979,636, with a difference of 2,864,974. She won the popular vote. But should the popular vote be how we decide?

In the state of California, Clinton got 4,269,978 more votes than Trump. So for the rest of the 49 states, Trump won by 1,405,004 votes. Should one state dictate over the collective will of the other 49, based on population alone?

But I digress. Trump began to put a lot of concerns to rest for economists, conservatives and labor. His Supreme Court picks were solid conservative choices under anyone's perceptions. Manufacturing has returned in a big way, despite President Obama's June 2016 promises that this would never happen here again. Union wages, and all wages, have seen the steepest incline of increases since 1968. The promised catastrophe has not come to fruition.

Despite all the successes the president has been present for, the media has done a fairly decent job at burying a lot of it. When Bill Clinton was in office, the slogan for him and the media alike was "it's the economy, stupid."

Not now, though. The media, in particular CNN and the New York Times, would rather promulgate torrid sex affairs from 2006, and a very flawed and suspicious investigation regarding Russians helping Trump to win the White House and with his awareness, through some unknown agreement.

Trump's last Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, went through perhaps the most shameful character assassination by the Democratic Party and the liberal media in history. His confirmation seemed to be the very last straw in the succession of heavy liberal losses. The way he was treated awakened an otherwise slumbering Republican base, which had been far more likely to stay at home today and not vote prior to that.

"Believe Women." Kavanaugh was attacked with accusations by Dr. Christine Ford which were impossible to defend. She claimed he sexually assaulted her at a place she could not name and couldn't even definitively identify the year, but came up with an "educated guess" of 1983, 36 years ago.

This came to light after the Judiciary Panel's confirmation hearings came to a close, and the Democrats knew they had no real reasons to deny him. This was a rabbit punch, a horrible miscalculation by the Democrats to demonize Kavanaugh using Ford and several other alleged victims who also claimed they were either sexually assaulted or raped by him.

Dr. Ford's testimony was compelling while she testified. Almost anything that could be looked into damned her words. Her account was torn apart, and instead of the media sharing this awful news for their viewers who had invested in her, they instead pointed to a 36-year-old tax issue in Trump's past that his lawyers deflected with ease.

The story was dragged out to provide political cover for the nasty Democrats in the Judiciary Panel who absolutely accused Kavanaugh of being guilty. As the facts came in, they were down to trying to dismiss him from consideration over a loose story of Kavanaugh throwing ice at a young man in a bar in 1984 in New Haven, CT.

The Democratic Party and the mainstream media tried to destroy this man and his family, in order to keep the Supreme Court from becoming more conservative. It is criminal, and people should face sizable prison terms, but that won't happen.

Ok, so, Trump gets stuff wrong. Stats, some comparisons exaggerating his accomplishments, how great he is at this or that. He also obviously lied about extra marital affairs back in 2006 or longer, but almost anyone of you reading this has done so or has a family member that you love that has done so. Has he been unfaithful while in office? Has he made a pivot into becoming a better human being, husband and American? He is trying to convince us that he has, but in his way.

It has been 30 years since a newly elected Republican president was not accused by Democrats of stealing the elections. Do you believe that is the case?

These clumsy fibs, white lies or forgetful recollections of numbers are not typical of Presidents of the United States. Typically, the others were very careful when they constantly lied to us. Trump's faux pas are something that his supporters will easily forgive, knowing that he is just winging stuff off the cuff. He recently said, "I try to tell the truth when I can." Now that to me tells me nothing. It tells his detractors that Trump will lie when ever he wants, which is always.

After the Russian dossier fiasco and the Kavanaugh disgrace, who is it that is really the big fat liar, though?

As a private investigator, I have always been taught this: The truth wants to be known.

Soon enough, we'll know the truth of the next step we all take together.

Predictions:

Democrats (narrowly) take the House of Representatives.

Republicans keep the Senate.

Massachusetts: Baker wins with ease (69 percent)

Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren defeats challengers. Warren (D) 58 percent, Diehl (R) 40 percent, Shiva Ayyaadurai (Independent) 2 percent.

Ken Pittman is the host of The Ken Pittman Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Contact him at ken.pittman@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @RadioKenPittman. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.