Not Only about Trump

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."  Abe Lincoln

The November 2016 presidential election affects us deeply. Donald Trump as President-Elect, his actions throughout time, and how his cabinet is evolving trouble me greatly. Some picks, like Jeff Sessions, would be excellent satire if not for their true tragedies.

50% of our citizens did not vote in this last election. It stuns me that our leaders are elected by such low numbers. I am upset with Americans who have been so angry and fearful that they voted for Trump and that only 25% of Americans elected this grandiose, dangerous man. I am sickened by corporate media’s constant and continual coverage of Trump throughout time, and I am distressed that the media chose not to highlight Bernie Sanders, a highly skilled and intriguing presidential candidate.

But, I am much more concerned about the daily issues that our country faces, that only partially depend on presidential and congressional politics.

I am speaking about American Values.  About our moral, civic and spiritual obligations to take care of the needy, poor, and oppressed peoples.  About our need to refuse to block the immigration of Muslims and others, all of us being products of past immigration.  About our need to focus on human and civil rights for all people and not just for the wealthy, the lucky, and those who buy our elections.  About quality health care coverage for all people.

I worry about Donald Trump being President because he is impulsive, arrogant, disgusting toward women, fickle (he loved Meryl Streep and her acting skills then reacted viciously when she spoke out against him), and a man who wants to illegally hold onto his businesses while governing our nation, thinking that he is above ethics rules and that nepotism is his God-given right.

But, I am far more concerned about our nation’s daily shootings, gun violence by police toward black and brown men and boys, guns in the hands of those who have extreme mental illness, some mowing down adults and children just because it is so easy to access weaponry in this country, weapons made for military action and not for hunters or for those protecting their homes and families. 

I am concerned about the fact that women’s reproductive rights and LGBT rights are being challenged to re-enter the early 20th century dark ages when women, LGBT people, African Americans and other minorities were frequently abused, lynched and/or killed just because of their gender, color of their skin, or loving their partners. That our culture began separating races, prompting European white people to feel so privileged that they could own other people or enslave them in correctional institutions for petty crimes, with money as incentive.

Lastly, I hope that Trump will be impeached and that Americans will become more active in their local communities, and in local, state and national politics that so that people like Trump cannot and will not be elected president again.