An Apologia
To those friends, relatives,
and others who might have discomfort with my Facebook and blog postings before,
during, and following the election, an Apologia.
During my adult life I have
been on the wining side as well as the losing side of many elections here in
the US and earlier in Canada. OK, mostly the winning side. Some losses were not
serious, or at least not too serious and we moved through them with no
significant scars. Others were rough. They were painful. They had cost, such as
Regan’s dismantling of the mental health system when he was governor of
California. Or more recently, but still ongoing, Bush’s invasion of Iraq on
trumped-up charges. Yet in all cases there was generally a civility and a trust
of some sort that the ultimate system and the ultimate values of the country
would prevail. Prime ministers were defeated. Presidents were not re-elected.
Checks and balances, for the most part, kept power in check. And while there
might have been discord in Ottawa or Washington, back home we griped and moaned
and wrote letters to editors and turned out for protesting rallies and marches.
But, on the whole, we stayed pretty balanced, and we got over it.
November 8th
changed all that.
It wasn’t a win by one party
and the defeat of another. November 8th went far deeper than
partisanship. Parenthetically, although he ran on the GOP ticket, I do not see
Donald Trump a Republican, an opinion also held by many long time Republicans.
To say that some of us are winners and some of us are losers (“get over it;
stop-wining-losers”) is simplistic and misses the deeper issues at stake here.
It is far more than winning and loosing.
Also, the plea to give Donald
Trump a chance is, for me, a desperate plea for validation of a vote cast. The
too long presidential campaign exposed much, too much of Donald Trump’s values
and views, all which seem to be re-surfacing in one way or another since
November 8th and into his young presidency - - bathroom bullying of opponents;
white supremacy, blaming news coverage; desperately needing affirmation; lying about
the obvious; arrogant lack of transparency, both personal and business; and
much more. To plead giving a chance is simply naïve and ignoring the record.
(Campaign “promises” are always suspect, no matter by whom; values expressed
are not.)
No, the deeper issues for me
are the unspoken agenda of this new administration.
The selection of the cabinet
reflects some of the most polarized and polarizing choices ever imaginable: anti-public education, climate
change deniers, fiscal manipulators, disgraced military leaders (the big
exception being Defense), bigoted attorneys, incompetent administrators,
questionable diplomatic representatives, plus a sorry administration
spokesperson. Why is this, and how can it be, the core leadership of the
country?
Perhaps even deeper is the
inclusion of a publicly avowed racist and fascist, a man who embodies bigotry
and violence, as the senior consultant, an appointment that gave the white
supremacists great joy and a wonderful and powerful sense of empowerment.
Right now we have a
dismantling of the Affordable Care Act which affects close to 24 – 30 million
people, and ending coverage for preexisting conditions, veterans’ medical benefits, and
aid to rural hospitals. It affects my family, and will certainly effect yours. We read of over
700 hate crimes since the election, most commonly occurring in K-12 schools and
universities. We read of Latino children afraid to go to school, fearing that
their parents will not be there when they get home. We read of mosques being
torched. We witness the cruel and evil religious discrimination of Muslims with
the immigration executive order (yes, the
immigration order is religion driven, and, no, it is not a carry over from that
of the Obama administration, a reading of the facts simply don’t allow that
read), a order that also puts the lives of all US troops serving in the Middle
East in serious jeopardy. We hear of the leaders of other nations, close
allies, being insulted and international cooperative relationships threatened.
Somehow, those who initially
supported Donald Trump need to wonder what it is about this new administration
that has birthed such horrifying ethnic and racial discrimination and violence
throughout the land.
Somehow, those initial
supporters need to wonder what has caused such a vast outpouring and concern for
human rights and freedom and dignity: The Womxn’s marches across the country,
the largest ever in this nation’s history, as well as those overseas on every
continent, including Antarctica; the protests at airports; the numerous legal
challenges; the criticism by the United Nations, members of the British and
Irish parliaments, as well as many other nations’ leaders; major corporation
executives distancing themselves; the condemnation by the Christian community,
including the Roman Catholic Church, the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal
Church, and many, many other denominations and faith communities.
My deep concern is where
will this all lead us? I cannot ignore the history of 1930s Europe. I cannot
ignore the emerging directions of administration policy that seem to parallel that
time.
None of this is partisan
politics. To excuse this as such is to do oneself a great injustice. This goes
far deeper, into the very soul of this nation. It is these issues that, as a
citizen and as one who tries to be obedient to my faith to do justice, to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with God, impels me
I do not write, post, or
blog lightly. I do not wish to cause division. I say what I say out of deep
concern for my family, for my children’s and my grandchildren’s and their
children’s future, for my neighbor known and unknown, and for all those who I
will never meet or know who are vulnerable, but who like me, inhabit this
island home we call our earth.
I do this for the life of
the world.
1 comment:
Well said.
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