2/18/17
I’m
about to attend my first President’s Day event and it happens to be a “NOT my
president” rally. In full disclosure, I’m not just attending this rally, I was
one of the first to suggest that Move Forward New York should hold a local
event, similar to the one happening in NYC. I knew immediately that speaking
out on President’s Day was important, even before I could articulate why.
What
is it about THIS president that makes me feel this way? Is it just the person,
the policies, BOTH? I’ll admit I have a hard time understanding what folks
didn’t “like” about Barack Obama. I can understand disagreeing with a policy, I
didn’t always agree with him (heck, I didn’t even vote for him in the 2008
primary). But some people had (and continue to have) truly hateful things to
say about him...that continues to confuse me. What did he do (besides be HIM)
to warrant such negativity? Nothing, as far as I can tell.
Those
thoughts have me examining my own visceral response to djt. For some reason, I
can’t even fathom attaching the title “president” to the person I call “djt.”
It literally makes me physically ill! Why? I know darn well I’m not a “sore
loser.” I also know that this isn’t “partisan politics” either. I was a
democratic Deputy Town Supervisor working for a Republican Supervisor. I have
voted for local Republicans, when their policies were favorable for my town
and/or region. I lived thru Reagan and two different Bushes, and never once did
I feel like this. I disagreed with their policies, but was not deeply offended
by them as people. Sure, I wouldn’t have wanted to go hunting with Dick Cheney,
but come on, GW seems like the kinda guy you could sit next to at a BBQ and
actually enjoy for a while. They didn’t frighten me! They didn’t REPULSE me!
Republicans
will say “get over it” and “move on” and, worse, lately people have said that
“this” is the “new normal!” But I can’t “accept” this blasphemy, this
desecration of what should be a revered position. I’ve interacted with djt
voters who have said their “main concerns” were jobs and the economy. For some
reason, they believe that a serial swindler has the “golden touch” and will …..
do what? That’s where they lose me! But what about “all that other stuff,” I
have asked them, “how can that be overlooked, even IF he was the business
genius he says he is?” Personally, there is no way I CAN overlook any of it!
Not the grabbing, the mimicking, the disrespect, and the tantrums. Not the
cronyism, and collusion, nor the destruction of the basic tenets our country
was founded on, like civil and human rights!
No,
djt does not represent me…both in that I could NEVER get “on board with” any of
the things he stands for, and, in that he clearly, based on all the things he
has said and done, is not interested in being “my” president. As a woman, as an
educator, as the spouse of an immigrant, as a Muslim, as someone who has spent
a lifetime supporting the rights and freedoms of others….no, djt is simply NOT
FOR ME, and you know what? That’s ok, maybe he isn’t “for you” either. WE don’t
have to lower our standards, or our expectations. We can stick together, and
vow to do our collective BEST to push-back against oppression, to shine light
where it is dark and to show love where there is hate. WE are the citizens of this
great land, who, with truth and justice as our guiding principals, will come
together to stand against tyranny where ever it blocks our way!
If
ever there was a time to become politically active and rise up, that time is
now. Here is to the uprising.
Join the uprising at www.moveforwardnewyork.org
Join the uprising at www.moveforwardnewyork.org
Note
that the views expressed herein are expressly the views of the author and are
not necessarily the views of Move Forward New York as a collective entity.
