When all the rationalization has died down, when the alleged
importance of Benghazi and death panels have been forgotten about, one truth
will remain to haunt you: you have voted for a monkey. When Hillary has received
her just desserts, either in this life or the next, there will still be the
undeniable evidence of what you have done.
You cannot evade responsibility for this, it is on your
shoulders. Sure, you hated Hillary, you hate the corrupt government we have had
for many decades. You hated the trade deals that sent jobs to other countries
and left large factories abandoned and cities gutted of their economic hearts.
You witnessed wars that were supported by both parties that did no American any
good, and you have seen our society’s morals disintegrate.
You have seen everything your father, grandfather, and great
grandfather fought for trampled underfoot by forces that have no interest in
you or the things you valued, and so you decided to do something—anything—in order
to shake things up. The problem is you did not react in a mature fashion, you
reacted like a six-year old throwing a tantrum. And you justified it because
there were a lot of others doing the same. It felt good to be in with a group
of children who were throwing their food around the lunchroom, not caring about
the poorly-paid lunch ladies who would have to pick up after you.
You cannot say this was a rational decision based on the
long-term interests of not just your segment of society but of Americans as a
whole. You know deep in your hearts and cannot deny that the administration you
elected is going to dismantle every safety net program that helps the poor, the
sick, the elderly, all of those who realistically are not capable of taking
care of themselves. You know that the environment of this and every other
country is going to be raped for whatever short-term economic interests can be
harvested from it, taking from your children and the children of others what we
all hold so very dear. Whatever platitudes Donald Trump spoke regarding unfair
trade deals, you know—must know—that he is one of them and not one of us. The
evidence is overwhelming that when the opportunity to make a buck by manufacturing
product overseas, Trump never hesitated. For him to argue against unfair trade
deals on the campaign trail did not make him the champion of the working
people, it made him a hypocrite. It made him a politician. You should have run
away as quickly as possible.
Sure, he said things other politicians would never say, but
that was not because he was honest and principled, it was because he had no
boundaries and no shame. It was nice to hear him say many of those things most
politicians keep quiet about because both sides are complicit, but you had to
realize there was no honesty behind anything he said. What he said that pleased
you one night, he would say the opposite the next night in another city. He
would say anything, literally anything, in order to see what resonated with the
audience.
But you heard what you wanted to hear and you put the best
possible spin on the rest. You projected your hopes and your fears on him, in
the same way liberals did with Hillary Clinton.
They—Clinton supporters—saw only what they wanted to see. But
you knew better. You saw the liar behind Clinton’s façade, you knew better than
those liberals who voted for a fraud. Only you were no better. You simply voted
for a fraud that spoke your language. You believed because you wanted to
believe. You believed despite all the warning signs. You chose to ignore or
interpret those instances when he made fun of the disabled and the former
prisoners of war. You are responsible, no one else.
But the responsibility most heavily and undeniably weighing
on your shoulders, is that you have permitted the final veil of decency and
maturity to be stripped from the political process. Sure, it was more or less a
charade, but there was still a standard candidates needed to adhere to. Yes, it
was a weapon the media used to keep politicians in line with or else ruin their
careers if deemed necessary, but it is a basic element necessary for a
civilized nation, and you tore it away. You threw away basic human decency,
manners, self-respect, every standard your parents tried to instill in you,
because you enjoyed the way the monkey made monkeys of those you disliked. You
stooped to a level so low it’s debatable whether our nation will ever recover.
This is the role model you hold up for your children. They
are watching you and modeling themselves after the way you behave. This is what
you tell them is acceptable behavior. And this is where you will have to start lying
to them and becoming a hypocrite—the very thing you despise—because you will
try to tell them it is okay for some people to behave like this but not others.
You will try to explain that it is okay in certain situations or for certain
reasons to abandon good manners and basic respect for others but not in others.
And every time you point at a person behaving badly you don’t approve of, they
will think it is because they are not of the same color or share the same
political beliefs as their daddy and mommy. Morality will mean nothing to them.
Fairness will mean nothing to them. They will accept hypocrisy just as you
have.
I know why you did it. I know that the hypocrisy involved in
politics had gotten to the point where it needed to be exposed. But it needed
to be exposed by a man of principle and integrity, not by a monkey. There are
men out there like that, you should have found one. And if there was no one out
there of real integrity and honesty who supported your principles, then it is
time to seriously start questioning your principles. Perhaps, just perhaps,
your principles cannot be championed by a man of integrity who speaks
truthfully. Perhaps they can only be uttered by a fuzzy-thinking narcissistic
primate who cares more about establishing himself as the alpha-monkey than he
does about dealing realistically with the issues our society faces.
Let me speak to you in a language you understand:
responsibility. Donald Trump has none, you know that and I know that. He has
never been responsible to anyone in his life, he is driven only by ego and a
desire for wealth. If you have evidence to the contrary, please share it with
me and I will give it consideration. It is not because I disagree with his
politics (I still don’t know where he stands on most issues) but because every
bit of evidence I have seen thus far indicates that he is completely
uninterested in standing for anything. All I ask is that before you blame me
for my biases you first look into your own motivations.
Responsibility. Hopefully, you and I share a deep appreciation
for the word and the idea. It is a burden adults are willing to bear, it is
what makes us adults rather than children. If you have voted for Donald Trump,
you are responsible for what you have done. You cannot blame Hillary Clinton,
or Barack Obama. You cannot blame Rachel Maddow or Oprah Winfrey. You did it.
You.
As my mother used to say and I’m sure yours too, if you don’t
have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. In that spirit, let me
say that if you have nobody nice to vote for, don’t vote. You have four years
to explain why you thought voting for a draft-dodging, tax-evading,
cripple-mocking, egotistical, vulgar, immoral, money junky who has never shown
the slightest interest in the well-being of others. I would like to hear an
honest explanation that does not involve blaming others, I really would.
P.S. I didn’t vote for Hillary.
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