I’ve turned my Facebook feed into a battleground recently. I’m angry at America right now. Trump is the answer to that question – did the terrorists win? Yes, they did, and I cannot remain silent. When Trump and his isolationist, war-mongering, fear-mongering, white supremacist, misogynistic ways become the norm across the land – the terrorists have won. Since 2001, under different Presidents, we’ve sold our values and our rights and our freedoms for the illusion of security and conformity with a white ideal that never really existed. This is what we’ve become.
Anyway, here’s the text of my “coming out” on Facebook.
You’ve probably noticed I’m more vocal about my political opinions nowadays. I’ve reached the point where I can not sit quietly by and let the core values of our country get eroded further. And before you jump in and say I’m “just” Trump-bashing, take a moment and consider who I am.
- When Obama killed American citizens on foreign soil without due process, I was loud and vocal.
- When the TSA stomped all over our Fourth Amendment rights, I cried foul long and hard.
- When the NSA overstepped their bounds and conducted warrantless spying on the American public I rallied, called my representative, and railed against the machine.
- When the search for a terrorist shut down and entire city, with the rights of citizens stolen “for their safety,” I hated it and said so.
- When the Patriot Act emerged after 9/11, I resisted, fought, cried, and screamed, because I know that rights and freedoms are easily given away in times of fear and hard to take back when cooler heads prevail.
So for those of you who accuse me of just jumping on a “Trump-bashing” bandwagon – you don’t know me very well or are just attacking me because my opinion differs from yours. I have been patriotic and political my entire adult life and today is no different.
So why am I more vocal now?
Because there’s need. Trump threatens the very bedrock of our democracy. Trump, and his administration, are at war with the media, at war with the judicial branch of our government, are baiting the international community, are threatening the separation of Church and State, promoting white radicalization, hatred, bigotry, racism, and misogyny. He is not championing mediocrity – we could only wish. He is the champion of the brutish, the boorish, the anti-science, and anti-intellectual.
You may think “it’s ok – he’s getting things done,” but what he is doing is ripping apart the fabric of our democracy – and some of you are applauding him. You’re laughing, clapping, and crowing at “libtards,” as if Trump is actually representing you and your interests. He is not; I assure you. But you don’t care – you’ve chosen a side, like the Presidency is a football game and you’ll root for your team no matter what.
I get it. Not a single one of my Facebook friends who are Trump supporters are people of color. Or Muslim. Or homosexual or gender fluid. No – you’re all white and Christian. Every. Single. One. Of. You.
And Trump makes you feel important, like you matter in a world that is getting more diverse and leaving you behind. He makes you feel safe. His brand of hate is the extreme version of the “uncomfortableness” you feel every day as you look around you and see a country that has more color and diversity than ever before – as you see a country where white Christian supremacy is no longer assured.
Trump’s dehumanization of anyone and anything that challenges him appeals to you because he is able to say all the things you can’t, or won’t. His bumper-sticker approach to the Presidency draws you in – he thinks everything is simple, can fit on a tweet or a bumper sticker; and if it can’t it must be a lie. He thinks his “common sense” trumps science and reason – and that just feels “right” to you.
He a populist President and he says all the right things to the scared, white, population who is losing relevancy.
Enough is enough. Trump is not making us safe. He is doing the opposite. He is creating such animosity in the world against America that it’s reaching levels not seen before. And he’s fomenting so much hatred inside our borders that it’s beginning to look a lot like 1942 – when we shamefully interred 120,000 American citizens for the crime of being of Japanese descent. This is not the spirit of our Great Experiment – of our Melting Pot. It is the antithesis of this.
Trump’s action will put us in an unnecessary war. And it won’t be me, the middle-aged guy, who fights. The blood of my children will pay for this war. And the blood of yours. Think about that for a moment as you consider the man who holds the highest office in the land.
Trumps actions are pitting our citizens one against the other. He marginalizes women and PoC – he dismisses the law enforcement crisis in our nation and instead demands more respect for authority instead of accountability. Instead of building bridges, he’s building walls. And walls are for small-minded cowards who don’t mind losing the spirit of America as long as they can endure under the illusion of safety.
Enough is enough. I will not be silent. I will speak my mind on social media, in person, to my representatives, with my vote, and with my pocketbook. I will stand up and march with my fellow citizens who see all-too-clearly the dystopian America we are heading towards.
I love America. I am patriotic. I look around me and know that this is not the America we should be.
So yes, I am more vocal now. if you don’t like it when I call your poor thinking and logic to task – start learning how to think and how to communicate. If you don’t like what I have to say, go somewhere else. If you think Trump will make “America Great Again,” I pity you – because America has always been Great and now, for the first time, we’re in danger of NOT being great – because Trump.
If you want to really change America, look at the Green Party and learn what they represent – they might surprise you.
Welcome to #MyAmerica. I will not be silent.
