In Plain Sight

We are 76 days out from the November election and I still have this aching thought on my mind…

How can there be anyone in my life who still aligns their support with the Trump administration. I could not, even if I tried to, wrap my mind around any excuse as to why one could feel they are better served under the current “elected” official. What is your America? What are the ideals that you feel with such sacredness, that you need to hold unto? How can it be that you have chosen dollars over democracy?

There are so many questions I have for you. At what point did your life become so fractured, that you are no longer able to remove the rose tinted glasses you placed upon yourself, to excuse your choices as being what is simply best for you?

I guess perhaps that is what I do not understand. Because I do not make choices for myself. I think about tomorrow and the world around me. The world I want to live in, the life my lineage will have. I think about these things because one day, when we look back on these moments, I would like to say I made the right choice, I was on the right side of history and I fought to be on that side. Not just because my life depended on it, but because of the many other lives that depend on it as well.

What choice did you make? You chose a tax break? Got it. I wonder how you’ll pave the road to your future with the money you lined your pockets with along the way.

You chose a return to “Law & Order”, to “Your America“…

So what is “Your America”?

“My America” is, working twice as hard to never get as far, because society gave you a break it has yet to give me. “My America” is watching the never-ending patterns of racism, misogyny and injustice that weigh like chains on people of color, and any chance we have at progression. It is the disparities in black and brown communities with everything from incarceration rates, to the rate at which we are likely to die from a pandemic that “Your America” has done little to rectify after it found out that “My America” is the most effected. It is the lack of funding, the lack of opportunity, the lack of empathy.

That is “My America”.

When you paint this picture of “Your America”, what are the ideals of it? The morality? Because that seems to be another factor in your decisions, from what I hear and what I am told.

Let’s compare.

You have someone who has no commitment to religion, aside from photo ops and poorly crafted speeches. That perhaps has visited a church only as required, but still rarely. That has had three wives and cheated on all of them. That prefers a younger woman, to one a bit more equal in age. That opts for playground nicknames and insults and has never really worked for anything a day in his life. So between porn star pay outs and under the table deals, you have your picture of “Your America”, painted as clearly as the light of day.

Now on the other side of things, the portrait that you have begun to pick apart, the one you refuse to hang on the wall, because it does not fit the so-called aesthetics of your surroundings, is a new America. One that isn’t splattered with cruel words and daily scandals.

We are comparing, so let’s continue…

Here is a man who is devoted to his faith, his family and the framework of our constitution. He is average, from humble beginnings to the house floor. Here is a man that has faced tragedy but always let his compass point forward. He has been married twice, but we all know how the first story ended. So you have someone who understands commitment, what that word really means. And he is not perfect, no one is. He has perhaps lent his voice to pass bills that at the time seemed to fit but no longer do. And maybe his speeches do not always flow as planned. He knows that too.

What I see is a difference of character, an ability to acknowledge and admit mistakes, to compromise for the betterment of the people.

I see this in one and not the other.

What I also see, as of late, is how quick people like to place assumptions and opinions on women coming into power. And as a black women, brace yourself because the judgement will be far worse.

Lately, I have seen jokes, and I will be candid to admit, even from a member of my own family to refer to the democratic ticket as “Joe & the Hoe”. Why? Because she is a woman? Because she is a black woman? Because she, prior to meeting her husband had a life? Gasp. Because she dated someone a little older? Wow. Because she is a women in power that dared to be anything other than your assumptions?

Well, I guess you can give me the same label, because aside from being in power, I’ve done same things. And so have so many woman that have been so quickly labeled as such, simply because they lead the same life men lead so freely, except when a man does it, there is no label or assumption.

And what about the current VP? A man whose only belief is that there is something inherently wrong with loving who you love and being who you are. Because you religion says there is something wrong with being anything other than the perfect couple: Adam & Eve. Your religion also says of Pigs “You shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.” Leviticus 11:8, but oddly enough here is a Tweet from none other than the religion “role model” himself, Mike Pence, on the timeless “tradition” of throwing around ye old pig skin:

So let’s take a step back and ask the question again:

What is your America? What are you voting for? Family, Religion, Morality, Money… Explain it to me, like a child because I have attempted to have the intellectual, long, extensive conversations with you to fully comprehend how there is a comparison between VP Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris and the incumbents Trump and Pence. I have tried to avoid discussing politics with you because maybe you’re family or a “friend” and my time in greek life taught me to always avoid religion and politics in conversation. But I refuse to overlook your commitment to what is an imminent threat to our democracy all for the sake of your taxes or loose religious ideals.

Last week, your person in office suggested that he be in office for another four years after he “wins” this term.

1) He won’t win and 2) this is a democracy, not an autocracy.

Last night, Former First Lady (forever in my heart) Michelle Obama, made the request to vote like your lives depend on it. Because it does. Because if you think that the remark made last week by Trump is a joke, then you are asleep at the wheel and will take all of us down with you.

Because not voting or voting third party is a vote for Trump.

Because we will not have any recognizable version of “Our America” if we end up with four more years of this administration. This is a fight for the soul of our nation. And if you prefer to stay on the sidelines, then you are more like Trump than I thought, avoiding battle for bone spurs and bullshit.

Our democracy is not perfect, just like any candidate is not perfect. Perfection does not exist. There will always be work to be done, changes to be made. We will continue to evolve as a country and as a species. But if you think that progress will be made by aligning yourself with someone who is tearing apart our Postal Service, drilling into our Wildlife Preserves, dividing our nation based on race and sexuality, and the list could quite literally go on, than it is not just the white supremacist or conspiracy theorist that are now standing in plain sight.

If you choose to not vote, vote third party or vote for Trump, than what will be standing in plain sight is the demolition team of our democracy, with you alongside all the others mentioned above, lined pockets, and drill in tow, ready to turn a blind eye but helpful hand to the end of our, these UNITED States.