It's been a nasty campaign, goodness knows. And there 's no secret as to which side I've been rooting for. What I wasn't prepared for was this latest salvo regarding sexual assault in all its various forms. The gloves are off and I don't care who thinks what or who unfriends me or what the consequences are any more. My button has been officially pushed.
It was forty years ago or so, but I was assaulted by someone I thought was a friend, someone much older, and in a position of power. And now that humiliation, that pain, that shaking feeling inside, feels as though it all happened yesterday. That's why it "takes all this time to come forward" for these women. It's not that we are making it up or that we want to give Hillary's campaign a boost. It's because we push it down deep, hoping these awful feelings will never surface again. That somehow we've gotten past it. But we didn't. And we don't. And we won't.
The complete disdain Donald Trump holds for anyone who is not a white male, not "of use to him", makes me ill. His throwing protesters out into the cold last winter and insisting they not be given their coats, his mimicking a reporter with physical challenges, his treatment of prisoners of war, of Mexicans, of Muslims, all of these things make him completely abhorrent to me. This latest "revelation" (because it's certainly no surprise to anyone) is just the last nail in his coffin for me. For all the "progress" I thought we'd made since the 60's, in feminism, in race relations, in open-mindedness, I have been sadly mistaken. It's like walking in a pretty garden and turning over a rock to discover the maggots and slugs have taken over just out of sight.
I am stunned and saddened at all the people who still think that "immigrants" are to blame for their own lack of success. Facts are irrelevant to this group. We are all immigrants or descendants of immigrants, except for the Native Americans, and we all know how they were treated and how they continue to be treated. It's a national disgrace.
And it just occurred to me that that may be the real reason I cannot stomach Donald Trump. Because he's not the only one. He has just made it public how much hatred has been simmering on the back burner in this country for years. He has exposed the pettiness and greed, the lust and ignorance of a whole chunk of people. We are luckier in this country than almost anywhere else on earth. We have more than we need for the most part. He fans all the fears that we won't have enough, that we won't "get ours" if anyone else is treated with compassion. And a great many people whom I love and respect have bought into his fear of others, to my complete surprise and confusion. I'm OK with different opinions. I have voted Republican in the past and would again, presented with the right candidate. I don't need my friends to reflect my every thought. I have mirrors at home for that. But I will not vote for hate. And I hope you won't either.
It was forty years ago or so, but I was assaulted by someone I thought was a friend, someone much older, and in a position of power. And now that humiliation, that pain, that shaking feeling inside, feels as though it all happened yesterday. That's why it "takes all this time to come forward" for these women. It's not that we are making it up or that we want to give Hillary's campaign a boost. It's because we push it down deep, hoping these awful feelings will never surface again. That somehow we've gotten past it. But we didn't. And we don't. And we won't.
The complete disdain Donald Trump holds for anyone who is not a white male, not "of use to him", makes me ill. His throwing protesters out into the cold last winter and insisting they not be given their coats, his mimicking a reporter with physical challenges, his treatment of prisoners of war, of Mexicans, of Muslims, all of these things make him completely abhorrent to me. This latest "revelation" (because it's certainly no surprise to anyone) is just the last nail in his coffin for me. For all the "progress" I thought we'd made since the 60's, in feminism, in race relations, in open-mindedness, I have been sadly mistaken. It's like walking in a pretty garden and turning over a rock to discover the maggots and slugs have taken over just out of sight.
I am stunned and saddened at all the people who still think that "immigrants" are to blame for their own lack of success. Facts are irrelevant to this group. We are all immigrants or descendants of immigrants, except for the Native Americans, and we all know how they were treated and how they continue to be treated. It's a national disgrace.
And it just occurred to me that that may be the real reason I cannot stomach Donald Trump. Because he's not the only one. He has just made it public how much hatred has been simmering on the back burner in this country for years. He has exposed the pettiness and greed, the lust and ignorance of a whole chunk of people. We are luckier in this country than almost anywhere else on earth. We have more than we need for the most part. He fans all the fears that we won't have enough, that we won't "get ours" if anyone else is treated with compassion. And a great many people whom I love and respect have bought into his fear of others, to my complete surprise and confusion. I'm OK with different opinions. I have voted Republican in the past and would again, presented with the right candidate. I don't need my friends to reflect my every thought. I have mirrors at home for that. But I will not vote for hate. And I hope you won't either.
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