After stress eating for two weeks leading up to the presidential election, I finally decided that I had had enough. I wondered why I opted to direct the rage, anger and disappointment I felt about white Americans choosing an insurrectionist for President toward myself.  I didn’t vote for the convicted felon. I voted for Vice President Kamala Harris, the candidate who actually had the credentials and wisdom to lead this country out of the past and into the future.

 

For the people who voted Trump into office not once but twice, for those people who didn’t come out to vote, for those who switched teams, you will have to live with the fact that you are now an accomplice to the downfall of democracy. You’ve given Trump unchecked power to rape and pillage this country. His American Nazis will soon target immigrants, people of color, Jews, trans, gay, old, disabled people, and ANYONE who does not bow to their MAGA point of view. The racists, the conservative religious right and the billionaires who will never have enough power and money who support Trump will watch with detachment as our freedoms are obliterated. One only has to view Trump’s cabinet picks to recognize that American democracy is under siege by a Trump kakistocracy.

 

We live in a racist, misogynist country and as I look back on our history, which is being slowly erased by Republican leadership across the country with the banning and burning of books, I see the truth.  America has always been racist and misogynist. White people, even the most liberal, are in denial of this fact. We have been privileged for generations and our inaction to eradicate racism speaks volumes about our collective will to support white supremacy even if it means turning our country over to an insurrectionist who has no regard for the rule of law or our constitution.

 

GREED and the unquenchable thirst for power have become the new Gods. There are those who hide behind the banner of religion quoting scripture yet their actions are hateful towards those who don’t share their religious beliefs. We have the right to worship or not how we choose in this country and local government should not control a woman’s right to choose what she does with her body. USA Today reports ten percent of America’s top earners own 60% of our country’s entire wealth and if you subtract social security from that figure the top earner percentage rises to 70%. What you can put your trust in is that Trump will target your social security and all that I mention will soon play out in real time. People are struggling to survive and feed their families and both parties have failed them. The same corporations that are price-gouging people are Trump’s biggest supporters. I mourn the death of the America that was far from perfect but once held promise for the world. During Trump’s presidency it will only hold promise for him and the billionaires who put him in office.

 

The only silver lining in all of this is that we can rebuild whatever Trump and his minions attempt to destroy. Our first priority in regaining our democracy must be to dismantle systemic racism on a national level. Corporations must be held accountable to pay their workers a wage that they can survive and thrive on. Black Rock and Wall Street investors must be banned from the housing market which is now unaffordable for the masses. Only then can America begin to live up to its hype. Democracy and the freedoms that come with it are worth fighting for. Buckle up -- there is turbulence ahead. Let us direct our collective energy to ensure that this shameful point in our country’s history is short lived.