International Affairs

Yep, It’s As Bad As I Feared

/ bperica / Leave a comment

I wrote the following on November 6, 2024, after Trump was elected the 47th POTUS.

These are my gut reactions, overreactions, and, in italics, what I now think about what I wrote then.

Honestly, I’m not sure how any dad with a daughter could cast a vote for him. Pretty much, still feel this way. Sorry, not sorry. I don’t know what else to tell you.

Trump voters just voted to give Ukraine to Russia. Untold thousands will now die in that war because of what Trump won’t do. Well, perhaps an overreaction here, that is if Ukraine does remain a sovereign country through this scam of a negotiation process, which, so far, has excluded Ukraine. We always knew Trump liked and respected Putin, but what Trump did this week behind Ukraine’s back was worse than I thought. I sort of saw US support for Ukraine completely drying up, the war continuing, and Russia eventually grinding down what’s left of Ukrainian armed forces. Russia gains complete control over Ukraine. The end.

Some of my worst fears now: a countrywide law banning abortion beyond 6-12 weeks, Vance running and winning in 2028, the climate and Earth not having any sort of advocate anymore in any branch of our government, the way women are thought about and treated in this country getting worse, worry for minorities, corporations getting even bigger tax breaks, including the top 5% income earners. As for the nationwide abortion ban, I am not ruling it out. Vance running in 2028 is a strong possibility. I feel the same about the future of women and minorities under this administration. It’s abundantly clear, more than I thought possible on Nov 6, that corporations are going to rule this administration, more accurately, their CEOs. As for tax breaks, we are already living under Trump tax breaks, which were passed in 2017. I suspect he wants further tax breaks for his super wealthy friends. As for everyone else, he doesn’t care.

You can praise Hitler and get elected. Still in strong agreement here. It’s worse than we could have imagined. Elon did the Nazi salute and there was no uproar. Only morons argued that he was trying to show that his heart goes out to his supporters.

History made, first convicted felon elected to the Office of the President. Accurate.

Trump has a lot of trust in our election infrastructure when he wins. Same.

I fear that Trump will be very successful in increasing the power of the executive and limiting the checks and balances the other branches of the government supposedly have on executive power. This has also been way worse than I could have imagined. There is no one in power making a great fuss like I would expect. I’ve been very disappointed in the Democrats response to the first month of Trump’s term.

I am sad for London and Kate. So many women out there did not vote for Harris because they think a woman can’t handle the job. Yep, still true.

I heard people say they liked Trump more because they got stimulus checks in the mail during his first term. Enough said. These are not critical thinkers.

A Little Remorse

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I am just one of many Harris voters who know people who voted for Trump. They are in my family. They are friends. Some of them are acquaintances. I know people who abstained from voting because they could not bring themselves to vote for any presidential candidate. Odds are, if you voted for Harris, you know these people too and, there is a very good chance, you find yourself completely dismayed at the absolute silence from this crowd, like I do.

Not a peep from anyone about this gem from yesterday: Federal cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program have resulted in a 23% reduction in the agency’s staffing and could put 9/11 survivors at risk, critics said Tuesday. New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have already reached out to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., demanding the “insulting” and “un-American” cuts to the program be rescinded.

The people who have done this have made a living off of, and risen to power on, calling anyone who does not support them or their views un-American. Yet, this is maybe the most un-American thing I have seen in the news this week and, if you haven’t been paying attention, there have been a lot of un-American blockbusters lately.

How about this one: Trump claims Ukraine started the war with Russia. Do my family members who follow Trump on Instagram or who think Tucker Carlson is a journalist recognize how dangerous appeasing Putin is? I grew up in an America in which people did not aspire to be Neville Chamberlain. If you have to look that name up, you’re part of the problem.

As far as I know, Trump supporters in my life enjoy the outdoors, including our National Parks, but their support of him has directly led to extreme staffing shortages at nearly all parks and monuments. Already, hours of visitor centers and other outposts within parks have had to limit their hours of operation. To be fair, many parks faced a staffing shortage before Trump took office the second time around, but now, things are about to get much worse… “The only locksmith at Yosemite National Park in California, the sole EMT ranger at neighboring Devils Postpile National Monument, an experienced sled dog musher in Alaska’s Denali National Park. These are just a few of the several thousand national parks and forests employees abruptly terminated last week by the Trump administration, in what some are calling the “Valentine’s Day massacre.” You better head to a park soon. Otherwise, no one can tell you for sure if they will be open this summer or even have enough staff to welcome visitors.

I have been sharing my outrage on social media almost every day since Trump was elected. I have dozens of friends who have lost their jobs or are expecting an email at any time of day to let them know they have been fired.

Yet, not one word of regret. Not one public expression of worry for democracy, federal employees (their families, livelihoods, health insurance), air travel safety, a prepubescent Elon disciple fiddling with your SSN or bank account numbers, or the rampant McCarthyism spreading into every corner of our government.

A friend told me, “I want the people I know who voted for him to admit they made a mistake, but they’re watching a news station [Fox News] that consistently tells them they’re winning.”

I so want this too. Even if it’s not regret. I would take, I voted for him, but now I am really concerned about this or that…. That would be so refreshing to hear. Show us you care. Show us hesitancy.

But we all want to be right all the time. We hate to swallow our pride and admit a mistake. Like we can’t be against something until it directly bites us in the ass. That is how Trump supporters are, I guess, forging ahead. I mean, that, plus cognitive dissonance and the Fox News IV drip.

Rising above the din of American democracy and institutions crumbling is the loudest sound of all, the silence of those who are watching it all burn down.

A Vote For Decency

/ bperica / 1 Comment

For the last three election cycles I have heard, “This is the most important election in modern history.” The first two times I did not believe it. If anything, in 2008 and 2012, it was political hyperbole from both major political parties, expressing fear of their opponent winning and desperately trying to spread that fear among on-the-fence voters, hoping they would agree and fall in line.

This time around, I believe this is the most important election since I have been voting. (I am 33.) It has come down to the most unpopular nominees since polling began, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. One nominee, from a political powerhouse, the Clintons,  wildly adored, untrusted, and loathed by huge swaths of American voters. The reasons for which I will not get into because there is nothing I can add to the discussion to persuade you one way or another and the other reasons were fomented in the editorial room of Breitbart (which is now, figuratively, the same thing as Trump HQ) or in the dark, hideous pulse of a Trump rally.

The Clintons are indeed measured, calculating politicians. This election cycle, when Hillary stands up against a know-nothing, fascist sociopath, her deserved or undeserved labels pale in comparison to Trump. She is at least sane. And that is what this election has come down to. Sanity.

In 2016, a vote for Trump or, just as bad, an abstention, is a vote for insanity. It is a vote for a person who is “characterized by a disregard for the feelings of others, unchecked egocentricity, and the ability to lie in order to achieve one’s goals.” It is a vote for a need for stimulation, a need to live on the knife’s edge of nuclear warfare. It is a vote for conspiracy theories. It is a vote for having no concern about wrecking others’ lives and dreams en masse. It is a vote to affirm the idea that since you have spent the last four years watching cable news or reading jingoistic slop disguised as fact you know as much about international relations or economic policy as someone with advanced degrees in such fields, or as much as a former Secretary of State.

It is a vote for a bleak and volatile future, one that I, voting now as a father for the first time, am terrified for my daughter to possibly have to face.

In the last three presidential elections, I at least had the comfort of believing that our liberal democracy would continue if my candidate did not win. I cannot say the same this time around. Trump is not just a threat to his political opponents, but a threat to the idea of America, something that the five former presidents still alive today appear to agree with as not one of them supports Donald.

Hillary Clinton enjoys the support of some voters who would otherwise vote for the Republican nominee if said nominee was not a racist buffoon. That said, I have heard of too many Republicans drawing a false equivalency between the two big party nominees. Many of these Republicans are abstaining or throwing their vote away on Gary Johnson, a man who, in this case, they know only one thing about: that he will not win. Johnson provides an out for these aforementioned Republicans so they can say that they voted but they did not vote for Trump or Hillary, while simultaneously pretending that by voting for Johnson they have disguised the fact that they prefer Trump over Hillary. This is disgusting and fools nobody.

The same can be said for Bernie supporters who have refused to support Hillary and have thrown their support to Johnson or Jill Stein.

If a voter was already in the Johnson or Stein camps before the primaries concluded, then good for them, but all the latecomers to these alternative candidates are putting this country at greater risk than I feel they are aware of. A vote this late in the game for Johnson or Stein, or an abstention, is a vote for Trump and all of his rabid base.

I began this post weeks ago, intent on writing a lengthier piece on why I think Clinton is the best choice for this country. But since I started, even worse revelations about Trump have come to light, specifically his bragging to Billy Bush about sexually abusing women. I have heard this talk defended by Trump, Trump surrogate Ben Carson, and many others as locker room talk, with Carson going as far as telling Neil Cavuto that he has heard much worse in locker rooms. I have also witnessed the rape talk defended on Facebook under the ridiculous guise of “he who is without sin cast the first stone.” No one is saying we have not sinned and we have all made mistakes, but is there no expectation of decency in our leaders? Are there no standards? During the last week of the campaign these have become rhetorical questions.

I am quite afraid of the Trump base if he loses next month, but my greater fear is of a Trump presidency. If there were any doubt about Trump’s respect for his opponents, or simply ideas not one-hundred percent in agreement with his, the last week has certainly shown Trump’s true colors as he has admonished his own party’s leaders and veterans, threatened his primary opponent with imprisonment, lambasted the entire media establishment (minus Hannity, I guess), and had to deny multiple allegations of sexual assault, while implying one woman was not even attractive enough for assault to have taken place.

As a human being I am disturbed by the way he speaks about other religions, races, and the opposite sex. But I am not just voting as a human being next month. I am voting as a believer, as a husband, and as a father to a little girl. All of these roles have further convinced me that the most important thing we can do in November is to make sure Donald Trump does not become our next president. To vote for Trump would be to abandon all of those roles and everything I have been raised to believe in. Lastly, a vote for this man would be to abandon my human decency. Thus, I have had a very difficult time not judging those who are still standing with Trump, who are still abstaining, or who are still supporting Johnson. Because unlike in previous elections, these people are supporting a man for presidency who would have been fired from McDonald’s by now for the things he has said. Yet, these people think it is okay to give this man the nuclear codes merely because they have loathed the Clintons for decades? Or because they just cannot support a Democrat?

Just swallow your pride for once and keep this country alive. Then, in four years, you can have another go, but if Trump wins, I am not sure America’s future lasts that long and that will be on you.