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Donald John Trump is the President of the United States. Breathe, wait for it…The five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance—are a part of the framework that makes up our learning to live with the one we lost, or in this case the election. Now, it’s time to put our big boy and big girl pants on and suck it up. Time to move on because, without divine intervention, it’s a wrap. Now, let’s put a bow on it.
I have never seen the masses so angry, so inherently pissed off to the extent that people are really out of control on this one. People have gone mad. I get it, I understand it. I was, in fact, one of you. But there are bigger concerns: we have to worry about human rights., about who we are as a people, about what “we” want to project as a united people. Trump hit the ground running hard; we have to keep up, we have to think ahead.
Social media is ripe with anger and, personally, I have stopped posting a lot of negative things about Trump because I came to the realization about in week two of his Presidency that his rise to the most powerful seat in the land is not a shock. It’s essentially nothing new. In many instances, those of us that have always felt disenfranchised in America are the very same people who failed to go out and vote in the last election, so the outcome was kind of inevitable. Many Blacks and Hispanics feel as if they are not part of the system and our vote means nothing (as long as there is an electorate college overruling the popular vote, that phrase is true.)
As a registered Democrat I have accepted the fact that “we lost” because the party I trusted with my vote failed because it was smug. The party took my vote for granted; it totally forgot about the poor and disenfranchised (white and black) and essentially took a possible Trump win as a joke. The joke is now firmly planted on us for 4 years, it isn’t so funny anymore because in the first week he: (a) attacked women’s reproductive rights (1, 2); (b) angered several foreign countries; (c) muddied the swamp with pipeline deals that he has an equity stake in; (d) pushed aside a civil rights agenda with a “law and order” stance (3,4); (e) and selectively placed cohorts at the top of agencies that they seek to control directly from the Oval or dismantle them systematically: EPA, DOE, the State Department and others (5,6,7); and (f) he has dismantled the foreign policy held in trust by several administrations. His version of a Great America will be the vision for 50% of us (8,9,10,11). So in my best therapist voice, I ask you, “How does that make you feel?”
So in my best therapist voice, I ask you, “How does that make you feel?”
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It’s time for us to take the makeup off when we look into the American mirror at ourselves. We own Trump, whether we voted for him or not. He is “ours” because we let it happen. We as a people allowed the Republican Congress to disrespect and disavow a good and decent man as our President. We as a people were complacent, we were comfortable with the suffering of others as long as it didn’t affect our manicured lawns, or didn’t affect our evening drink at the pub with friends. It was O.K as long as the water came out of our faucets with “acceptable levels of lead”.
Some people may really hate me after I say this, but it is very true, essentially we wouldn’t even be discussing women’s rights, race, the environment, healthcare or the needs of the poor or the working class without his intervention.
Welcome to the purge, a purge of spirit, of truth, honesty, and clarity as to who we really are as a people. Because most of what Donald has done is OK with most as long as it doesn’t hurt you…well, personally. It’s almost like having cancer and then beating it, and if you’re lucky enough to survive it you will live a better, fuller, richer life afterward. We took those issues for granted and let our guard down. Without Mr. Trump, everything would be pushed under the rug because we as a people have become complacent. He has exploited the loopholes and has been true to himself and won on his terms alone. Isn’t that kind of behavior that America has always admired? In my opinion, Trump and his cabinet represent everything that America believes about itself embodied into his thought and ideology. Stick with me here: He is true to himself. Don’t hate the player; hate the game.
Mitch McConnell has said:
“We put Obamacare repeal on the President’s desk. He vetoed it. Donald Trump would sign it. We passed a bill to finally build the Keystone pipeline. Obama vetoed it. Donald Trump would sign it. We passed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood. Obama vetoed it. Donald Trump would sign it. And on that sad day when we lost Justice Scalia, I made another pledge that Obama would not fill his seat. That honor will go to Donald Trump next year.”
You can’t blame a group for knowing “their guy” and what he will or won’t do.
To his credit, he loves his family, and he may avoid nuclear war if he knows there is a chance that they will be hurt too, so I take comfort in that (unless he has an exit plan that includes a few private jets strategically placed where his family is, just in case). His family is well educated, tall, blonde, and filthy rich, everything that America desires and worships. We worship success, accomplishment and total domination. So yes, Mr. Trump has arrived and is about to take the helm of a nation with more weapons than most of the planet. And America is OK with that.
Hating him at this point is a complete and utter waste of time. Resistance, however, is not futile. And if we are fortunate enough in a twist on the words of Gil Scott-Heron “The Revolution will not be televised;” instead, it will be Facebooked and tweeted.
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As men, we need to observe his behavior and decide what kind of men we want to be now, at this particular moment in time. We need to be by the side of the disenfranchised and the disrespected assisting them in their struggle. Black and White men need to show up for issues that affect the rights of women or our own right to walk down an American Street and not be shot or frisked. We need to look at the businesses we own and ensure that we hire and promote freely, not just based on color, but based on diversity and the ability to generate profit with divergent minds working towards a common goal. We need to hire people who have been to jail, give them a chance, nurture them and allow them to re-enter society with respect, remembering that they paid their debt. We need to create opportunities to level the playing fields for all and ensure that opportunity isn’t only for the “old boy” golf playing set. We need to ensure that Venture funds and Investment Banks back ideas by women and brown people who look like most of the world, but don’t have the power that the greater 1% have mastered in the civilized world.
We need to support companies and industries that create opportunities and wealth for new generations that desire a clean environment and to financially hurt companies and politicians who don’t have the best interest of those of us who have a desire to support an America that isn’t spelled with KKK. We need to understand that EVERY man has the desire to provide for family and self with dignity and opportunity, and none of us in that construct desire to hurt or take advantage of others.
“We need to stop looking to politicians to make our world better. Politicians don’t make the world a better place. Everything that’s ever made the world a better place has come from inventors, engineers, scientists, teachers, artists, builders, philosophers, healers, and people that choose love over hate.” — Don Freeman
We need to stop looking for the great American savior that will lead us out of the darkness. That savior is in your living room, at your dinner table the savior is you….it’s me. That is what we need to do. I am doing my part, are you doing yours?
Thank you, President Trump, for splashing ice-cold water on our collective faces and waking us up out of the slumber of the Matrix: “You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” (The term red pill refers to a human that is aware of the true nature of the Matrix. Video clip here.)
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Photo credit: Creative Commons
Franklin, You voice what I’ve been feeling, thinking, and saying. This is the wake up call this country has needed. We’ll either answer the alarm, put on our big boy and big girl pants and get to work, or go back to sleep. I’m joining those who are alive, awake, and ready to make things happen to improve the life of all the people, not just the 1%, everyone.