I was just out taking the dogs for their evening walk when we ran across a neighbor also out taking his dog for a...

I was just out taking the dogs for their evening walk when we ran across a neighbor also out taking his dog for a walk. James (the neighbor, if you didn't pick up on that) is a nice enough guy who moved into the neighborhood around December first. We've spoken a few times and the dogs get along great. His dog (who's name I can never remember) is three, very friendly and just wants to play.

So, when I saw him this evening I invited him to walk along with us and he took me up on the offer. As we're walking and talking he brings up his work again. He's an independent general contractor, usually subbing out from larger GCs. Every time he's brought it up, which is every time we speak, he starts blaming illegal Mexicans for his lowers rates; usually some variation of, "Damn contractors keep hiring the illegals so they can drive their rates down and not pay me a real rate."

Naturally, he brought it up again today, then went off on the GC company he's been working for, making all sorts of claims.

Okay, whatever. He needs to let off some steam.

Then we pass a van that both of us acknowledge as having never seen in the neighborhood before. On the back panel of the van are numerous bumper stickers with phrases like "Don't call it your country if you're not willing to go to war for it," "Guns, God and [something] created this country," "Only a wall will save our economy."

Okay, some of those are paraphrased. Maybe I'll go back out there and get a photo of it in a bit.

Regardless, the owner of the van is obviously a Trump supporter. So, naturally, I said something like, "Wow, this guy (the van owner) is a wackado." My neighbor, James, responded with, "I don't think so," then went on a tirade about how #DonaldTrump is the savior of this nation, how he's already stopped World War III from happening and how he's going to fix the economy by building the wall and kicking out the "illegals" that are (presumably) keeping him from demanding more pay. He continued with statements about how it's the Democrats who are hiring the illegals to clean their houses and keep their lawns and that's why we have illegal immigration. He tried to claim MS-13 was a Mexican gang filled with illegal Mexicans, but I put a quick stop to that. MS13 is comprised of South Americans, not Mexicans.

I kept trying to counter with facts, but he just brushed them off, telling me I've been brainwashed by propaganda (ie: mainstream media). I assured him I'm not. While I'm not as current on my political research as I used to be, I am still fairly well read. As a guy with a political science degree I know things aren't always as they appear and many times the reasons policy decisions are made aren't necessarily as simple as the average person would like to believe.

I told him to stop listening to Alex Jones and reading Breitbart because he's sounding just like those conspiracy theorists. He retorted with "I don't read Breitbart, I watch it." As if that makes a difference.

It went on from there. Not long, just a few more minutes, but he was obviously getting angry. He kept telling me I was blinded by propaganda. "Propaganda!" he kept yelling at me. He was just like all those other alternative-facts believers: if it didn't come from his sources it was obviously propaganda and the majority of Americans who get their news from mainstream media are all brainwashed.

Needless to say, I don't think we're going to be walking the dogs together anymore.