By Dr. S
My country just elected a convicted felon president. And not just a felon, but an adjudicated rapist. A racist, liar and a thief.
What am I supposed to feel? Pride?
He’s wasn’t even an unknown quantity. He was president before, so the fools who voted for him knew he was incompetent. His public appearances were so bizarre that they knew he’s lost in the throes of dementia. They knew he never showed even a rudimentary understanding of public policy, world affairs, or economics. They knew his understanding of tax law was limited to how to break it. They knew that, even on his best days, he never displayed a moment of understanding, concern or compassion for literally anyone.
He’s a convicted felon who is awaiting trial in two other cases, while a third navigates the appeals process. Thanks to the fools who chose him, he likely will never be held accountable for any of his myriad crimes.
I despair for my country. I despair for our future. I despair for the four years of progress we’re about to lose as we exchange plans to advance and grow for strategies for how to avoid having our lives turned upside down.
I despair for my daughter, who voted in her first election. She and her friends watched the returns with such giddy excitement, such hope, only to see a criminal, a sexist, racist, Nazi sympathizer elected to the highest office in the land. To see their youthful enthusiasm crushed, to see a generation that was going to lead our country to a more tolerant, enlightened future disillusioned in a matter of hours wrecked me. That there is no justice is a tough lesson to learn, and I wish I could absorb all the hurt my little girl feels.
I resent my fellow citizens for what they’ve inflicted on the rest of us. For years we were told that the way to reach them was through patient seeking of common ground, not recrimination. We had to be gentle so as to not offend them, because if you speak harshly — meaning in the manner adults speak to each other, they’ll become emotional and dig in. We had to offer them an elegant way to acknowledge his unsuitability for office, and let them save face by believing it was their idea.
Well, fuck all that. He gave them thousands of opportunities over the years to elegantly acknowledge his unsuitability. It should have been done when he said “grab them by the pussy.” It should have been done when the many pictures of him partying with a notorious child rapist emerged. It should have been done when he mocked a disabled reporter. It should have been done when he called Nazis “very fine people.” It should have been done when he barred American media from an Oval Office meeting with Russian officials and revealed classified intelligence. It should have been done when he tear gassed peaceful protestors so he could stage a photo op. It should have been done when he called dead soldiers “losers” and “suckers.”
It should have been done when he sided with Vladimir Putin over the American intelligence community. It should have been done when he suggested bleach and sheep soak over vaccines. It should have been done when he incited an insurrection. It should have been done when he stole classified documents. It should have been done when he was found civilly liable for sexual assault. It should have been done when he was convicted of 34 felonies. It should have been done when he desecrated Arlington National Cemetery. It should have been done when he claimed immigrants were eating people’s pets.
So, yeah, when I call them fools, of course I fucking mean it. But that’s not the reason they stubbornly cling to a destructive aspiring dictator. They’ve chosen to do that thousands of times since 2015.
And if you think that’s divisive but electing an incompetent bigot who vowed revenge on his enemies isn’t, fine. I don’t care. I claim no common cause with a man who embodies every loathsome human trait, nor with the fools who inflicted him on the world.
