Dear Trump Supporters in my Life
I know we don’t see eye-to-eye and we haven’t for a very, very long time. I’ve done my best to keep quiet about our political differences for the sake of keeping peace.
But now it is time to talk.
When I read the news today about mothers getting tear gassed by federal agents while trying to protect protestors in Portland, I lost the last shred of hope for our country.
Our nation is in dire distress. If you still support Trump, you’re on the wrong side of history.
A recent poll suggested that 49% of white Americans still plan to vote for the current president again in November. The Trump presidency has caused three preventable attacks on our American ideals. Voting him in again will make these attacks normal, and lead to many more. I cannot condone that, and can no longer forgive it in others.
ATTACKS ON LIFE
Currently, a public health crisis rages uncontrolled in our country. For five long months, the leadership of America has ignored infectious disease experts. This is currently causing hospitals to be overrun and the death toll to soar, leading the US to be the worst-affected country in the world, with 4 million total cases as I write. If left unabated, as it is trending now, we will reach 219,864 dead by Election Day.
Part of this will be because Trump has directed all hospitals to bypass the CDC and send their reporting to the Department of Health and Human Services, meaning many state and local governments will be unable to access data that will allow them to protect you. I’ll repeat that: the federal government is preventing you from being protected from Covid-19. Trump is killing American people.
ATTACKS ON LIBERTY
Since mid-July, unidentified Federal officers in Portland, Ore., have clashed with peaceful protestors, making arrests without reading constitutional rights, and throwing them into unmarked vehicles with coverings over their heads. For context, this is also happening in Belarus, which is the last dictatorship in Europe, which is also facing an upcoming election. America should not be the same as Belarus.
As I mentioned before, a “Wall of Moms” stood peacefully between the protestors and the officers, only to have tear gas rained down on them.
A former Navy officer approached the officers to talk to them about the consitution, and they beat him so badly they broke two bones in his wrist. Even the Mayor of Portland was tear gassed while trying to meet with protestors.
Here’s a list of recent leaders who have ordered uniformed men to attack their citizens: Bashar Al-Assad, Saddam Hussein, Colonel Gaddafi, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump.
Add to this the ongoing Civil Rights Crisis our country is experiencing where somehow it is a question if Black Lives Matter. Gentle reminder to Trump supporters: this doesn’t mean all lives don’t matter. What this means is that if your house was on fire and the fire department sprayed the house next door instead because all houses matter, you’d be pretty angry. This is what our Black friends and family have experienced for generations.
The liberty of other Americans is under attack, as well. Attacks on Asians in America have risen since the Covid crisis was referred to in racist terms by Trump. The Anti-defamation League has reported anti-Semitic attacks have risen to the highest rates recorded since 1949.
ATTACKS ON THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Someone you know will lose their job, if that hasn’t happened already. 1.4 million people filed for unemployment benefits in the last week, bringing the total number out of work to 17.8 million. There is no safety net for our family members and friends who are affected as this administration is fighting congressional efforts to increase assistance packages. Nearly all of those filing for unemployment will also lose their employer-provided health insurance, which, if they are also affected by Covid, will mean it is more difficult to get treatment.
I know many Trump supporters and I know that you care about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; those unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence. To be very clear, Donald Trump does not represent these ideals.
I am drawing a line in the sand. I am no longer willing to accept that either opinion is valid. If you vote for Trump, you are wrong. I know this may upset people I know and love but I welcome anyone who wants to have a conversation with me about their vote.
German pastor and theologian, Martin Niemoller, originally supported the rise of the Nazis but when they wanted to control religion he publicly opposed them. He was sent to the Dachau concentration camp as a result. After being released by the Allies in 1945, he gave a speech which inspired this poem. I leave you with these words.
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
