Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Trump: My Worst Nightmare


 Tuesday, November 8, 2016 will forever stand out in my mind (and not for any good reasons).  During the 2016 presidential election cycle, I naively brushed off the notion that Trump might win.  I ran down a laundry list of reasons why he would not win: (1) he is not qualified; (2) he is racist, sexist, and misogynistic (I’m sure I left off a few other descriptors); (3) Republicans won’t support him because they too see that he is not a worthy candidate; (4) he was a reality star—doesn’t that exclude you from running?; and (5) “the hair.”  I was sure of my position; I knew I was right.    

   The week leading to the election, I started feeling differently.  I had the same feeling in the pit of my stomach when I knew the principal called my dad to tell him about my behavior at school.  I knew an ass whooping of epic proportions was soon to come.  Either way, I listened to political pundits, I watched interviews of the candidates, and I read articles written about both candidates.  All of these acts made me feel worse.  I distinctly remember one interview that made me realize that Trump might win.  In this interview, the interviewer discussed a phenomenon called “lean in.”  Lean in is all about the voters who were not proclaiming to the heavens that they would vote for Trump.  These were the closet supporters of Trump. If you asked them whom they were planning to vote for, they would say something like: “I don’t know; both candidates are bad.”  Or, they might lean close to you (yeah, in your personal space) to say: I’m voting for Trump.  This phenomenon has forever changed the face of American Politics and the world as we know it.

     Trump is a narcissist.  He is arrogant.  He is overtly racist.  And sexist.  His campaign centered on these hateful concepts.  Trump ran his campaign as the Anti-Obama candidate.  In every interview, Trump distanced himself from President Obama, and his administration.  He was resolute to prove that he is not a politician and that he will “Make America Great Again.”  He insulted women, Muslims, African Americans, disabled folks, President Obama and Hispanics.  He talked about grabbing women by their vaginas.  He spewed rhetoric about Muslims being terrorists.  He repeatedly stated that African Americans live in the “inner city.”  He blatantly mocked disabled citizens.  He refused to acknowledge that President Obama was born in the United States of America.  He talked about building a wall to keep Hispanics out of this country. Sadly, this type of rhetoric enabled him to accomplish his goal.  This is an indictment and conviction of this country.

    Trump focused on only one segment of the population: White men.  He did not even make a half-hearted effort to appeal to minorities because he knew he did not need their vote in order to win.  He knew that if he could get the bulk of the white male population, which represents 31% of the U.S. population, he would have enough to win.  He knew that if he could get this group to support him, they would be able to have some influence over their wives, sisters, and other women in their lives.  It was truly a white wash strategy, which happened to also be a winning strategy.  It showed that Trump does not intend to unite this country along party lines, racial lines, or any other line.  To use an analogy: Trump went through 200 million packs of Starburst and only ate the pink ones.  He did not even open or taste the yellows, or the reds. You know why?  Because he did not have to.

    So how bad can Trump really be?  I believe he can be historically bad.   He will have the power to pen Executive Orders.  He will be able to veto bills.  As the Commander-in-Chief, he will have passcodes to our nuclear warheads.  He can roll back the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare (ironically, he is already backing off of this position).  Because his party control Congress, it should be much easier for him to assert his influence and power.  That said, I still do not believe that republicans will go for any and everything that he might propose.  One of the biggest concerns many people have is that he will be able to appoint at least one justice to the U.S. Supreme Court.  This appointment of a conservative justice has the potential to change issues that impact minorities such as: voting rights, abortion and affirmative action.  Because justices are appointed for life, Trump's appointment(s) could be the gift that keeps on giving (Heavy sarcasm).  Stay tuned.

     Despite the many political fires Trump’s presidency could ignite, many people are more concerned about social issues.  Because Trump ran his campaign as the Anti-Obama candidate, many of the most hateful, racist and evil people have rallied around him.  These people are emboldened and feel that they are taking the country back from the hands of its first African American president.  Since Trump won the election, I have seen many examples of overt racist acts.  These acts have been perpetrated against the very groups Trump criticized and disregarded during his presidential election. 

To generalize, I guess these people feel that if the president elect can make racist, sexist, homophobic and otherwise discriminatory comments, why can’t they?  One thing this group of people better realize is that this is not 1865, nor 1945.  People in this country have been enslaved, raped, brutalized, beaten, wrongfully imprisoned and murdered for the right to be treated with respect and dignity.  It would be a huge mistake for these people to think that folks will be terrorized.  These folks better remember that the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment acts as a shield and a sword for all citizens.  In laymen’s terms: they better get some Act Right about themselves because we are never going back to the Jim Crow Era, and we are certainly not going back to slavery.


Peace

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