Only 1,446 Days to Go

Since the election last November I have fought the urge for what feels like a long time to write something that could be perceived as political. After all, when I started blogging it was mostly about family traditions, food, and the neighborhood. But what is going on right now makes it impossible for me not to speak out, if only to have my say so that my head does not pop off. It is getting too hard to watch the news, to listen to the radio, to read a paper without feeling a terrible uneasiness. I actually feel sick to my stomach at times. To all those who say “Give him a chance,” I say it feels like we have no choice but to do so. But, if I could take a pill to remove him from my mind and my reality, I would do it without hesitation. I am, of course, talking about our new president -- “he who shall not be named.”

This is no ordinary disenfranchisement between losing Democrats and winning Republicans. This goes way beyond party lines; this country has never seen the likes of this type of leadership and I am still having a hard time believing that this is happening.

The long list of adjectives that went through my mind on election night and the following day were along the lines of “appalled, shocked, distressed...” There were so many, that I had to jump out of bed and write them down before I could finally fall asleep. Being me, I have to admit that I had a good cry when President Obama welcomed the president-elect to the Oval Office. I did try to reassure my equally horrified older son that things would be all right. I decided to pray for an end to this terrible divisiveness and hope for the best. In my heart I knew, however, that I could never trust a man who said the things he said at his many rallies and debates, and whose egomania runs so rampant that there are no words in existence to adequately describe it. I predict that someday there will be a word incorporating his very name to describe such egomania.

Although I chose not to watch, I know there was a peaceful transfer of power with the niceties of President and Mrs. Obama greeting the president-elect and his wife. The inaugural speech, the inaugural luncheon with the hypocritical speeches and gift-giving, the parade, and the balls all seemed rather normal. Perhaps the new president would begin to act presidential and would surround himself with smart, experienced people. But instead of becoming even a little presidential, instead of reining in the rudeness, meanness, and pettiness, the president has just been on a manic whirlwind since he took office.

The things he dwells on -- like crowd size at an inauguration and nonexistent voter fraud when he has already been inaugurated -- are ludicrous. He is the leader of the free world and, just as I feared, things have become very volatile and very unstable in a very short period of time. Of course, people coming into this country should be vetted and our borders should be safe, especially in these times, but you first have to develop a plan and implement it. You don’t simply sign an executive order and impose a travel ban overnight. He has left students and green card holders stranded, jeopardized the safety of brave foreigners who have helped our military and who have visas to immigrate. He has slammed the door on refugees living in despair and left this country with a big bullseye on it. He has treated the Mexican president and the people of Mexico shamefully with his taunts about Mexico paying for a wall. And now we have a rift with Australia??!!

I try really hard not to be disrespectful but this president is the epitome of the Ugly American and his actions will only result in less goodwill and more hatred towards all Americans -- even those who are vehemently opposed to such actions.

Now, I don’t claim to be an expert on politics or the Constitution but I know the difference between right and wrong, competency and incompetency, and a leader and a showman. When a person I love told me that he voted for our new president because he “wanted things to be better for everybody,” I told him that I thought someone with his candidate’s demeanor and lack of qualifications, outsized self-aggrandizement, and bullying tactics -- and this list can go on and on, too -- would not be the right person to change things for the better. His vote had gone to a man who had insulted women, Latinos, veterans, John McCain, the Pope, and the patriotic immigrant parents of a Muslim soldier who sacrificed his life for our country, to name just a few. How could you possibly vote for someone who acts that way, who cannot take the slightest criticism without a verbal attack, and, to top it off, does not disclose his tax returns? Well, many people were so "okay” with all these things that were going off in my head like alarm bells during the whole campaign that they voted for him regardless, and here we have it. How much could you have possibly hated the supremely qualified Hillary Clinton to choose a man like him?

All of his supporters are angry at celebrities speaking out against him and about “bad” coverage in the New York Times and on CNN. Are they not angry or at least worried about his actions, his ridiculous tweets, his false statements? Are they not concerned with the inept people who surround him who think they can just go ahead and threaten the press? Since when did a fact have an alternative? How can diplomacy and decency be replaced by antagonism?

Freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble peaceably, and outspoken senators like Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, John McCain, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, and Elizabeth Warren are what keep me hopeful that sanity will abound and anything really wrong or possibly unconstitutional will not pass unchecked. But with the tumult of these past two very long weeks, I’m not so sure those things will be enough.

The new president is obviously a very wealthy man -- how wealthy, we’ll never know. From my experience working with wealthy (albeit far less wealthy) people in my lifetime, I realized that wealth may buy power, position, and advantage but it does not buy common sense nor does it buy integrity, compassion, generosity, or dignity. These all seem to be sorely lacking at the White House these days.

I am counting down the days until the end of this administrative circus. I’m also hoping that things just calm the hell down, and if they don’t, I’m praying fervently that impeachment may be a way out, down the road. (Not that I’m a fan of Mike Pence, but he does at least seem stable.) I sometimes feel so bad for my kids because they had to grow up in a post-9/11 world and I feel bad for them now, too. I am proud, though, that they have developed voices and awarenesses of their own. My older son attended the Women’s March on Washington, and my younger son, who cast his first vote for president this past election, told me that he, too, is praying for impeachment. As always, I have faith that there is more good in this world than evil. And, as I pray every day, may that goodness prevail.