I’m still coming to grips with the election results; even writing “President Trump” depresses me. I’ve been watching the protests around the country against his presidency with the chants of “Not my president” and marches on city hall. I read about a pro athlete who is staying seated during the national anthem at football games out of protest. But then the article revealed this guy hadn’t voted! (In my opinion that takes away every right to protest from this guy, but that’s another story.) 
I saw several protesters carrying signs saying “Ashamed to be an American” or variations on a theme; a friend of mine on Facebook posted that she thought these demonstrations even un-American (he did win the election, even though Clinton won the popular vote; that’s how our system works, right or wrong). I also read an opinion column from one of the big papers (I think Washington Post) that echoed that sentiment; Trump is in fact our president (elect) and pretending otherwise is a waste of time.
And I get that. But I find myself feeling the same as the protestors: Trump is not “my president.” Not because I deny the legitimacy of the election, nor am I going ostrich, but because he does not represent my values, my sense of right and wrong or my hopes for the future of this country. I want to be able to respect the President. So far that’s not been possible with Trump. Many (including me) have pointed out how profoundly unqualified he is for the mantle of the Presidency. I can’t tell if he’s truly as stupid as he sounds; he’s done nothing to convince me otherwise. People touting his business acumen give him credit for building a fortune when in fact he would have much more money if he’d invested what he got from his father in the market and left it alone. He had no idea what the nuclear triad meant, and he shows no interest in listening to experts in anything. Others have done a better job of creating a list of his inadequacies (and it’s a LONG list), so I won’t belabor that point here.
He ran the most divisive and nasty campaign in history, initially against his own party. Go back and listen to what he said about Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorini Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John McCain and many others as a quick reminder; the fact that any of them are willing to pretend they support him is more a testament to their political ambitions than any “no worries; it was all in good fun!” attitude. While I am not a fan of most of them, it’s because I disagree with their policies, not because I think they’re unattractive (as he said about Fiorini) or little in stature (Rubio). Read up on your logical fallacies: it’s pretty universally understood that if you go straight to ad-hominem attacks it’s an indication you’ve got no substantive argument.)
After the primaries, his boorish bullying came out in force against Hillary and the press, to the point of implying that “the Second Amendment folks might be able to do something about” Clinton ( said to have caused the Secret Service to have a chat with him about inciting violence against a Presidential candidate). And now he’s assembling a freak show of sycophants as his staff and Cabinet; selecting Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist as a first step. Lest we forget, Bannon is the Executive Editor of Breitbart, the voice of the “Alt-Right” hate group. Until this election, no one outside of a few far-right wingnuts and conspiracy loons paid any attention to Breitbart or the alt-right, but Trump seems prepared to continue to give them a national platform to spew their vitriol to the world.
Kelly-Ann Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, said it was Obama’s and Clinton’s responsibility to put an end to the disturbances and protests. That is particularly ironic, since it was Trump’s deliberate stirring up of xenophobia, misogyny, religious intolerance and hatred that got him to the White House.
He created this nightmare, and now wants someone else to be responsible for cleaning up the mess. He says he wants to be “President for all Americans,” and then picks a rabid hatemonger for his chief strategist. I think I can see how he’s going to conduct himself for the next four years.
So far, there’s not one single thing I’ve seen that engenders respect for Trump in me. So: no, he’s not “My President” either.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
Not my President
I’m still coming to grips with the election results; even writing “President Trump” depresses me. I’ve been watching the protests around the country against his presidency with the chants of “Not my president” and marches on city hall. I read about a pro athlete who is staying seated during the national anthem at football games out of protest. But then the article revealed this guy hadn’t voted! (In my opinion that takes away every right to protest from this guy, but that’s another story.)
I saw several protesters carrying signs saying “Ashamed to be an American” or variations on a theme; a friend of mine on Facebook posted that she thought these demonstrations even un-American (he did win the election, even though Clinton won the popular vote; that’s how our system works, right or wrong). I also read an opinion column from one of the big papers (I think Washington Post) that echoed that sentiment; Trump is in fact our president (elect) and pretending otherwise is a waste of time.
And I get that. But I find myself feeling the same as the protestors: Trump is not “my president.” Not because I deny the legitimacy of the election, nor am I going ostrich, but because he does not represent my values, my sense of right and wrong or my hopes for the future of this country. I want to be able to respect the President. So far that’s not been possible with Trump. Many (including me) have pointed out how profoundly unqualified he is for the mantle of the Presidency. I can’t tell if he’s truly as stupid as he sounds; he’s done nothing to convince me otherwise. People touting his business acumen give him credit for building a fortune when in fact he would have much more money if he’d invested what he got from his father in the market and left it alone. He had no idea what the nuclear triad meant, and he shows no interest in listening to experts in anything. Others have done a better job of creating a list of his inadequacies (and it’s a LONG list), so I won’t belabor that point here.
He ran the most divisive and nasty campaign in history, initially against his own party. Go back and listen to what he said about Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorini Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John McCain and many others as a quick reminder; the fact that any of them are willing to pretend they support him is more a testament to their political ambitions than any “no worries; it was all in good fun!” attitude. While I am not a fan of most of them, it’s because I disagree with their policies, not because I think they’re unattractive (as he said about Fiorini) or little in stature (Rubio). Read up on your logical fallacies: it’s pretty universally understood that if you go straight to ad-hominem attacks it’s an indication you’ve got no substantive argument.)
After the primaries, his boorish bullying came out in force against Hillary and the press, to the point of implying that “the Second Amendment folks might be able to do something about” Clinton ( said to have caused the Secret Service to have a chat with him about inciting violence against a Presidential candidate). And now he’s assembling a freak show of sycophants as his staff and Cabinet; selecting Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist as a first step. Lest we forget, Bannon is the Executive Editor of Breitbart, the voice of the “Alt-Right” hate group. Until this election, no one outside of a few far-right wingnuts and conspiracy loons paid any attention to Breitbart or the alt-right, but Trump seems prepared to continue to give them a national platform to spew their vitriol to the world.
Kelly-Ann Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, said it was Obama’s and Clinton’s responsibility to put an end to the disturbances and protests. That is particularly ironic, since it was Trump’s deliberate stirring up of xenophobia, misogyny, religious intolerance and hatred that got him to the White House.
He created this nightmare, and now wants someone else to be responsible for cleaning up the mess. He says he wants to be “President for all Americans,” and then picks a rabid hatemonger for his chief strategist. I think I can see how he’s going to conduct himself for the next four years.
So far, there’s not one single thing I’ve seen that engenders respect for Trump in me. So: no, he’s not “My President” either.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.