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The political promises made by Trump (if you are listening) is to violate the constitution, violate the democratic process and structures, to punish anyone who he doesn't like, to divide us further, and to push anti-science policies. All of this is evident in his actions, executive orders, Tweets, and uttered words.
Before you start grumbling about this party or that, I have heard good things from some Democrats. I have also heard good things from some Republicans. I have been a Bernie Sanders supporter for years. I like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kamala Harris. On a more personal note, I cannot be more passionate about my support for Ayanna Pressley, who I have heard speak every year at the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) Walk for Change.
If we take all the positive things Trump has achieved, actual positive policies that helped the most people and not just corporate sponsors, his good is immediately overshadowed by his epic failures. First and foremost is his actions, words, and Tweets regarding COVID-19, that he xenophobically calls the China Virus (which has opened the door for attacks against the Asian community in America).
This one is serious because people died due to Trump fucking with the messaging. Rather than allow the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the medical experts to speak and set policy, he had to force himself into center stage and make a goddamned fool of himself (and by association, us).
His refusal to convey messages of unity and encourage safety measures shows that he is ignorant, callous, and uncaring. His refusal to ensure that states get the medical equipment and PPE that they need (treating supplies like an exclusive warehouse) and wanting only to help states that he likes further demonstrates his character as a person; a character that is not only distasteful but dangerous.
I can fill volumes of blog pages with Trump’s mishandling of the Pandemic alone. Do I need to mention that on a national forum with billions of people watching globally the president asked if there was a way to inject people with disinfectants? Trump’s apologists claim he was joking, but this is the same moron who wanted to send a nuclear missile into a hurricane to stop it.
Trump is not joking. He is dangerously stupid.
I can also fill pages of how he has exasperated race relations and violated civil liberties. People talk about the rioting and yet do not mention the peaceful protests. Nor do they mention the purpose for the unrest.
Trump talks about the protests the same way Nixon talked about the Vietnam War protestors and the civil rights protestors (which was fought on three fronts: people of color, women's rights, and the LGBTQ). Instead, Trump has implored governors to attack all protests. He stoked the flames of division between the police and protestors, between whites and people of color, between the haves and the have nots, and specifically along party lines.
I guess there are no longer very fine people on both sides anymore.
There have been some good displays of unity from the police. There has also been some fucked up shit that the police have said and done towards the protestors. We must de-militarize the police. We must have a better response to homelessness, addiction, and mental health, all of which are not exclusive issues; there is a lot of overlap. These are issues that, as a nation we can resolve if we really wanted to.
Instead we are being further divided. Through this we are seeing Trump show his true colors. I said it all along; Trump will reach a point in his presidency where he will draw distinct lines between himself and his supporters against anyone Trump has demonized as his enemies; Democrats, Liberals, Scientists, Socialists, BLM, the poor, homeless, and now, people who follow safety protocols and disagree with Trump’s snake oil cures for COVID-19 to name just a few. Some of those enemies are perceived because they said unflattering things or were critical of him.
Americans should not be thinking along party lines. When people say they are results-driven, they must see the results of America's COVID-19 response and the cause of many of the problems we face.
Likewise, when Americans say that they see illegal immigration as a problem, I see desperate people in trouble. When Americans say that they see riots and property damage with the BLM protests, I see a group of people who have been treated as less than equal, brutalized, and indiscriminately killed by police and the public since they were first brought here in chains. I also see a coming together of races as white, Asian, Latino, and Native American join the BLM movement. It is time for us to see the human beings behind the headlines and bumper sticker slogans. We must recognize that if we genuinely want All Lives to Matter, then we must see each other as vital, precious, and human.
I was poor for a long time. I remember what it was to be hungry. I also remember what it was like to have a police officer become violent towards me with unprovoked hostility. Even as recently as 2009, I was treated with hostility by a state trooper even though I was co-operating. Why, you ask? In that incident, I was driving to work at 4:00 am and he accused me of tailgating him (which is insane. Think about it, who the fuck would tail-gate a state at 4am?). It was not what I was accused of as much as it was the hostility towards me that this older officer expressed. When he asked me what the urgency was, he shut down everything I said mid-sentence and tried to force me to respond the way he wanted. It was humiliating and very intimidating. I denied tailgating him (and hold that stance to this day) but he did not care and wrote me a fraudulent ticket.
In 2002 a State Trooper pulled me over as I drove a U-Haul truck (my wife and daughters were in our minivan). We were moving to Upstate NY. My wife signaled for me to get in front of her while we were on route 495. Before we left, she said she did not know the way and that at some point she would have me lead. I was behind her just before the Mass Pike entrance when she waved her arm out the window for me to get in front. I changed lanes and then my wife flashed her lights for me to get in front of her.
After we both maneuvered to the right lane, I saw a state trooper weaving behind me (he was off the road and then back on it). I thought this was odd but kept driving since he did not have his lights on. Then he used his loudspeaker to demand that I pull over.
When I pulled over my wife pulled over too and parked in front of me. My wife got out of the minivan to talk with the trooper and he viciously screamed at my wife to get back into her vehicle. He accused me of driving the truck like a sports car and that he thought the mirrors were not adjusted correctly for me. I thought this officer was going beat me up in front of my wife and children. I was co-operating. I was not angry or emotional. It was completely unprovoked.
Those are two examples of more recent interactions with law enforcement that I experienced. When I was in my twenties, it was even worse. I was constantly pulled over for "routine checks", asked where I was going and where I was coming from, searched, had my license run for warrants, and then let go when they could not find a reason to arrest me. It is a humiliating display of intimidation.
These experiences taught me two things:
- When people of color talk about what happens to them at the hands of police officers, I believe them (and there is plenty of video evidence now to support their claims). Most white people think the police would never violate anyone's rights (and most do not) but some do. And those good cops turn a blind eye to it, at least in most precincts.
- I am alive today because I am white. Had I been anything other than white, any number of those cops who stopped me potentially would have falsely arrested me or worse. That is the definition of white privilege.
Understand that I saw the tip of the iceberg, so I know it exists. I am not fully white; I just look like I am. I have Blackfoot Sioux running through my veins too. As far as I can see it, Trump must go. He is dangerous and we are playing with fire if we allow four more years of his anger, thin-skin, ignorant, anti-science, unrepentant, uncaring, illegal actions, and words.
Trump will see that type of a win as a clear message of vindication. Those four more years will become eight more years, and then 12, then 16, until he dies. By then we will no longer have our Democratic Republic. The experiment will be over, and we will be living in yet another closed society.
Regarding the Biden ticket, Joe is older than Trump (but not by much) and Joe’s running mate can potentially become president within that first term. My take on that is that I can live with a Kamala Harris presidency (should Joe pass away). I would gladly vote for Harris for President in a future election if Biden wins in November.
I see Kamala Harris as a positive and intelligent force. She is what this country needs.