I’m beyond
depressed.
I’m depressed,
I’m angry, I’m afraid.
I haven’t felt
this way since 9/11. And, if you think I’m being melodramatic, world markets
are bearing me out. The Dow fell 600 points at the mere possibility that Trump might be the next president and world
markets are following suit.
Maybe it’s hard
for a straight, white, able-bodied man from middle America to understand how
Donald Trump poses a threat to other people’s very existence. After all, he’s
openly disrespected women, gays, Mexicans, Muslims, and disabled people. But,
hey, tough luck for them, right?
Eight years of
progress are about to be rolled back. Everything we progressives fought so hard
for: gay marriage, reproductive rights, immigration reform, single payer/public
option, gun control. Not just for our own benefit, but for the entire country’s
benefit.
Kiss them
goodbye.
And the sad thing
is that Trump is reaping the zeitgeist that Bernie tapped into.
Believe me, I
should know. Demographically speaking, I should be a Donald Trump supporter.
I’m a middle-aged
white man without a college degree (I had to drop out—even though I had a full
academic scholarship—because I used up the maximum I could borrow in student
loans). I’ve been unemployed or underemployed for over a year and am in danger
of losing my apartment. I only (barely) have health insurance because of
Obamacare, and now that’s about to be
taken away from me, too.
But if you’re
poor or working class, Trump is not the man who’s going to save you. Trump has
never had a thought for anyone except himself his entire life. We’re talking
about a man who inherited $14 million, stiffed his employees, declared
bankruptcy four times and used his charitable foundation to pay his debts!
And you think
this is the man who’s going to help you?
I don’t
understand how people can be so willfully stupid. I don’t understand how people
can overlook his racism, homophobia, misogyny and religious intolerance just to
“make a point.”
But don’t
demonize Trump voters, I’m being told.
OK. There’s lots
of blame to go around.
The media, who
built Trump up for ratings, didn’t hold him accountable for his lies, treated
him as a joke, and then so completely misread the electorate that his victory
caught them by surprise.
The Democratic
Party, which had Hillary as their anointed choice from the get-go and never
gave Bernie a fighting chance, even though it’s now abundantly clear that he
would have been the better candidate.
People who
thought voting for a third-party candidate would be a good idea in such a
critical and close election.
People who didn’t
show up to vote at all.
I really don’t
know where we, as a country, go from here.
I don’t know how
people can have such hatred in their hearts.
I’m not a
religious person, but right now I’m praying for our country’s future.
And my own.
