On March 8, 2019, I discovered a piece I wrote the day after the 2016 Presidential Election. The votes had been counted, the numbers had been tallied, and the results were in. Donald Trump had some how managed to prevailed, and I was stunned. Being the political junkie I am, I followed this thing from the very beginning and admittedly was one of the folks who wholeheartedly believed Donald Trump would NEVER win. Not a presidential election, not in this country. But he did, and I felt panicked.
After a night of very little sleep and mutual venting with friends and Facebooking, I knew I had to do something more to express the degree of angst paralyzing me. In my view, it was a day of mourning. It wasn't because my team lost. I knew what that felt like. My team didn't win in 2004 when George W. Bush won his second election. It was...disappointing, and I was upset. But I didn't feel a sense of despair. I can vividly recall feeling afraid when I learned Trump won. I didn't understand how in the hell it happen? How could we — as Americans — elect a reality TV star with absolutely no knowledge of even running a business, (as evidenced by his six business bankruptcies) let alone a country.
Suffice it to say, many of my fears came to fruition. Corruption, alternative facts, falsehoods are common expressions used with some degree of regularity in relation to this president. Recently, the term mob talk surfaced to refer to the way the president of the United States of America has been known to communicate with his closest confidants. How did we get here? When did it become okay for the president of the United States, according to a Washington Post article I read, to average 15 false claims a day in 2018 alone? With falsehoods, porn star payoffs, and dangling offers of pardons (just to name a few), I am rarely surprised. Still, even I could not have predicted how far left things would go...
Since the election, I've been reeling, trying to make sense of something that really is just senseless. I can't. Not even. I've watched the interviews with Trump enthusiast, gloating about their so-called "victory," and I can't help but think...does hate-fuel such a level of obliviousness that these supporters would be willing to turn a blind eye to what is apparent to the majority of Americans and what will ultimately bring great destruction and ignominy to not only our nation but each individual who let's say, don't fall in at least the top 20% income bracket? Do these oblivions believe that they are somehow inoculated from what this president and his cabinet and HIS Congress can and likely will do?
Query me these: Does being a Trump Supporter (henceforth known as TS) shield you from the dangers of pollution because he has already made it clear that he believes that climate change is a hoax. Does it say, exempt you, working-class, from inflation, preventing you from being affected by "stuff" being more expensive and wages remaining stagnant for the next four years, at least? Last I checked, Walmart pays on average, $10 an hour; that's not a living wage.
Will it help you when regulations are tossed out — regulations currently in place to protect the little man from all sorts of big business sure to pulverizing the little guy? That would be us. Will being a TS exempt your son from being drafted to go and fight in a war somewhere because your president consistently shoots his mouth off and is bound to set off another dictator; will it keep your child from the front line? Does being a TS prevent you from losing your health care, or better yet, the Medicare that takes care of your grandmother, mother, or even yourself? The very program enacted to be a safety net for those who don't have the resources they need to afford medication or medical treatment in general, because yeah, under Paul Ryan, this program too will be dismantled. Not just "Obama Care."
I could go on and on and believe me, he will, but news flash: We ALL have something to lose. As an African American woman, with two African-American sons and an African -American husband, my skin in this game is apparent, pun intended. But even if you aren't a minority, Muslim, LGBT, or any other marginalized group, you will suffer under this administration, and that's guaranteed because if you aren't wealthy, you're bound to get got in one way or another. It's the nature of the beast. I've heard it said, the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing people he didn't exist. Mull over that.
