November 3rd — Good vs. Evil

 

My ten-year-old son, like many kids his age, often sees things in stark black and white terms. Good vs. evil, Iron man vs. Thanos. I often find myself telling him most things in life do not exist in such stark terms. Instead, everything is a lot more ambiguous and nuanced. I’ve always adhered to the idea there is no such thing as good and evil in real life, just gray areas in between. We all have it in ourselves to be raging assholes, though thankfully, we reign that shit in most of the time. I used to joke that I try to keep expectations low for my children and I’d be happy with how they turned out as long as they weren’t serial killers or Republicans. These days, I’m afraid this joke falls flat, as I truly believe it’d be an absolute nightmare for one of my boys to grow up to be a Republican. It would break this mama’s heart. Under the leadership of Donald Trump, the Republican party has managed to morph into the party of evil. Sure, if my kids grew up to be serial killers it wouldn’t be ideal, but I might learn to live with such an outcome. However, considering the current state of the GOP, I doubt I could ever come to terms with either of my sons becoming a Republican.

We are now less than two weeks away from election day, 2020. I can’t imagine being undecided between the two candidates for president, as they couldn’t be more diametrically opposed in what they stand for and in the content of their character. I truly feel like this election is pitting good vs. evil and its outcome will have a direct impact on all our lives. It is the epitome of the stark black and white situations I once thought so rare. It is a fight for the soul of our nation, as this race has become more about fighting for basic human decency than simple politics.

At this moment in history, doing good by society means voting Trump out of office. When it comes to this election, it’s simple — good vs. evil. Which side of history do you want to be on? The side that leads to the collapse of democracy and the rise of the Authoritarian States of America? Or the side that embraces facts, logic, expertise, science, inclusion, equality, human rights, dignity . . . oh the list goes on and on. Just reading those beautiful and amazing words makes me realize how lacking they have been these past four years under Trump, and how badly they’re needed now as our country faces the unprecedented shitstorm of a global pandemic, an economy in shambles and massive social unrest. We need a government that actually cares about and looks out for its citizens. A government that actually gives a shit that more than 200,000 of its citizens are dead. I can’t recall ever hearing the president saying anything resembling condolences towards the families who have lost someone to Covid. There’s been no national day of mourning. He demonstrates over and over again that he only cares about himself and only talks about himself. Most of the time it’s in one of two forms — steeped in hyperbole regarding how great he is and all the tremendously great things he has accomplished — or full of bullshit regarding how he’s the victim of _____________ (fill in the blank - fake news, the deep state, a witch hunt, etc.). I’ve never once heard him take responsibility for anything or admit to making a mistake. Ask yourself, how is that even possible? Even my 5-year-old will take responsibility for his mistakes once in a while and apologize. The buck stops with William!

The halcyon days of politics involving binders of women and baskets of deplorables are long gone. We’re now facing pails of white supremacists and vats of Nazis. In all seriousness, we’re at a point in history where our nation is teetering on the edge of fascism and a scary number of people — fellow Americans — seem to be okay with this. Or worse, they’re actively cheering it on. We are fighting against an administration that propagates fear, hatred and divisiveness. It feels like most Trump supporters are too far gone to be reasoned with, and honestly, are not worth the time and effort to attempt to get through to. I doubt most would bother reading my pleas written here, and if they did, they’d only scoff at them. But, if anyone out there reading plans to vote for the human piece of garbage who currently resides in the White House, please take a look in the mirror and ask yourself what kind of future you want for your children and grandchildren? If you support him, you support all that he stands for. All of it. And, seriously, how can you live with yourself? Good vs. evil, Iron Man vs. Thanos. The choice on November 3rd is that simple.

 

The Deplorables - Trump's America

Our Unprecedented Challenging Shitshow

NOTE: The following was written over the past few weeks as I struggle to keep up with the ever changing newscycle from hell. This is my brain throwing out various rants and raves about life in America right now. Not the most cohesive of writing, but I wanted to put it out into the world because it feels good to get it off my chest. 

Donald Trump is a malignant tumor growing on our democracy and he must be excised with great precision. I imagine this analogy has been made many times before, but I’d argue it’s a rather accurate depiction of where we find ourselves today. Once Trump the tumor is removed, any remaining cancer must be aggressively treated with everything we have in our democratic arsenal. Step one — get rid of the tumor itself. This takes place November 3, 2020. Step two — clean up the mess and repair the damage. Both steps won’t be easy by any measure, but I believe completing them is not insurmountable. Step one must involve an overwhelming electoral defeat of Trump — a resounding defeat that cannot be denied, even by the most cuckoo of cuckoo conservative Covidiot. Sadly, there seems to be no shortage of these FoxNews watching, MAGA hat wearing, conspiracy theory believing asshats and I worry that any Trump defeat in November will be met with denial and lead to the election being contested. I fear violence, especially since the far right nut jobs are the ones with all the guns. I’m sure their firepower far exceeds that of the “radical” left. Guess maybe we should have been more concerned about that second amendment. Oh silly liberals . . . AR-15’s are for everybody!

Defeating Trump in a landslide won’t be easy especially considering the divisiveness of our politics and the cult Trump has managed to build out of his base. These tried and true Trump believers are beyond being reasoned with. They have drunk the Trump Kool-Aid and as baffling as it is for those of us still living in reality to understand, we need to let it go. Facts, logic and science mean nothing to them and Trump can do no wrong in their eyes. In fact, they seem to take pride in their own ignorance and how far they will go to support him just to piss off those libtard snowflakes. So I say, fuck em’. It’s not worth our time or energy to give them the attention they so desperately want. Let them wear their racism on their sleeves — or in this case their hats — and let them wave their ridiculous flags. They’re a bunch of garbage people worshiping their great trash heap leader. Let them be on the wrong side of history, that is their choice. Sadly, I doubt they will ever feel the shame any reasonable person would when all things are said and done.

Trump is America’s abusive partner guilty of extreme gaslighting. America must leave him and leave him now. If America stays with Trump for another four years, I don’t doubt democracy dies. How does America get out of this abusive relationship? Simple — voters. It all comes down to voters. Our ballots are our weapons. We can guide America out of this toxic relationship by voting for Biden. Think of the Democratic Party as a democracy abuse shelter. It’s far from perfect — it has plenty of issues — but it’s generally full of good ideas and intentions and believes in creating an America that is safe and prosperous for all. It still holds on to the tenets of the Constitution. It will be a safe haven for America following four solid years of abuse at the hands of Trump and the GOP. The Democratic Party may need a lot of work and renovations, but it can provide a place for America to heal, recover and to eventually rise again to be better and stronger for every American.

The thoughts above were written over the past couple weeks, before Trump tested positive for Covid. The fact that he has been hospitalized with the virus doesn’t change a whole lot regarding the way I feel about his “leadership” and the upcoming election. What it does do is cast even more uncertainty into the unprecedented challenging shitshow of a situation we find ourselves in, with only a few weeks before the most important presidential election of our lifetimes. This leads me to ask, holy hell, what’s next? It seems a lot of people are struggling with how they’re supposed to be feeling at this moment in history. I see some people feeling guilty for wishing Trump ill, even wishing him dead. I’ve also seen the other side, someone feeling bad for not wishing him dead. Mind you, my Facebook feed is pretty damn liberal. I say, don’t worry about how you’re “supposed” to feel. Just feel. All feelings are valid and, if you’re like me, they’re also constantly shifting and changing. I oscillate from wishing him dead one minute and wishing he pulls through so he can be sent to prison after he loses the election. I even found myself wishing hell exists so he can spend the rest of eternity being punished for his crimes against humanity.

Will voting Trump out of office solve all our problems? Of course not, but it's a good start and I truly believe we cannot make it through another four years of his corrupt ass administration. I realize Trump is more a symptom of our country's overwhelming problems than the cause, but if the last four years has proved anything, it's the power one person has to exacerbate just about every problem our country faces, to sow divisiveness on every issue and to spread fear and hate among his supporters. I've had enough. It's time to vote him out and work together to create an America we can be proud of. Don't give up. It's not hopeless. Vote!