Once again, I've gone a month without writing anything here. My anxiety over the election has given me writer's block, and every time I sit down and start to type, I have a hard time not going all political on things and quickly end up abandoning whatever I've started.
I've decided, though, that my concerns about who becomes our next President aren't at all political and have very little to do with what happens on November 8th - they're grounded in the realization that decency, compassion, and respect for humanity don't mean squat to almost half of the U.S. population as evidenced by the malignant popularity of Republican candidate, Donald Trump. I am comforted in the knowledge that a good number of self-identifying conservatives have spoken out against the hateful, horrible, un-American platform and policies Trump espouses and wouldn't vote for him if their lives depended on it, but those who remain firmly in his camp seem to be willing to accept whatever he says and does, no matter how disgraceful or vulgar it is.
Trump has vilified entire groups of people - Hispanics, African-Americans, Muslims, climate scientists - to the delight of his followers. He has mocked and insulted Gold Star families and the handicapped, and his treatment of women, as described by his own words, includes demeaning, denigrating, and sexually assaulting us. His business practices, touted by those who support him, have resulted in seven bankruptcies and the exploitation of the law to avoid paying income taxes for the last twenty years. The "leadership" he wants to bring to our country is that of an unrestrained, unrepentant schoolyard bully who grew up surrounded by enablers and hangers-on, who never held him accountable for his words and actions and whose cruel narcissism threatens the reputation of our country in the global community and the life of every American citizen. He cavalierly proclaims that he and he alone is the answer to the myriad problems we face as a county without regard for the expertise of those who understand the root causes of those problems. He makes grand promises without so much as a hint of a plan for how to accomplish those things, and his followers eat it up with a spoon.
He has created a cult of fear, hatred, and divisiveness and a dangerous environment wherein our friends and neighbors crow about how once Trump is elected, people who disagree with him - with them - will be subject to both persecution and prosecution for our opinions. While he screams about how he's bringing freedom back to America, he promises to punish reporters and others for speaking the truth and limit the rights of Muslims and others to worship as they please, two of our country's founding principles. He's vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act and leave millions of Americans, including me, without insurance coverage and dismantle the protection women currently have in making their own reproductive healthcare choices.
He promises to bring back jobs in coal and steel and manufacturing, but those are gone for good, and while he's spinning such yarns to voters in the Rust Belt, he outsources his own clothing line to workers in Mexico and Asia and builds his hotels with bottom-dollar Chinese steel. He advocates for gun ownership and open-carry, using dog-whistle language to denote which kinds of Americans should be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights and which Americans should be viewed suspiciously by those people.
At his most dangerous, Trump has disgracefully soiled the very foundation of our Democratic governement, promoting the lie that widespread voter fraud is a problem in our country when hard evidence proves that of millions of votes cast in 2012, only thirty-one fraudulent ballots were cast, and encouraging his supporters to intimidate and threaten voters at precincts where the majority of voters are minorities and people of color in the name of keeping the voting process "fair."
Donald Trump is the most appalling, incompetent, unqualified, ignorant candidate for US President in my lifetime - maybe in history - and try as I might, I can't help but feel personally insulted when his supporters echo the hateful rhetoric directed at people like me and altogether enraged when they tell women to "grow up" and assert that being groped, harassed, and treated disrespectfully is an expectation - a reason to feel flattered, even - when one is a woman in the presence of a powerful man.
I am hopeful - beyond hopeful - that reason, thought, and respect for competent leadership will prevail on election day and deliver a crushing blow to Donald Trump, his narcissistic bullying, and the kind of destructive, dangerous rhetoric he spews. I am also hopeful that once Hillary Clinton becomes President and Democrats regain the Senate, we - all of us - experience the kind of meaningful progress and change that will help our wounds heal.
Peace be with all of us.
