Recently, someone I've known the majority of my life who I love and respect said something to me that challenged me to do some self-evaluation. They said they were a little vague about where I stand politically because my dislike of the President tends to obscure the message I am attempting to relay. I thought I have always been pretty clear where I stand, but after some contemplation I realized that may not be the case. At the very least I've, perhaps, done a poor job at conveying what my issues with the President are aside from my finding him repugnant as a human being.
So, I am going to list some of the reasons I do oppose him. Now, I understand in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter what I think. Most people probably could care less. I like to think I'm not a self-absorbed person and understand that. Frankly, I write these blogs and my Facebook posts because I love writing. I write about topics that interest me and I have a passion for. I write because I like and hope to spark dialogue and debate. Dialogue and debate are healthy. I like to debate. I don't like to argue. Arguing solves nothing because it inherently involves the need to get one's point across instead of listening to each other and discussing the differences and the agreements.
Again, I know my opinions are just that, opinions. I do my best to state informed intelligent opinions. Whether people agree with my opinions isn't as important as whether people can understand what they are and feel they're presented in a reasonable intelligent manner. With that being said here is why am what I am.
Admittedly, I am not a fan of our President. My dislike and distaste for him goes well beyond the moment he began running for president. I have found him to be disdainful for over 30 years. He has always come across as shady and creepy. I have always thought, despite his wealth and apparent success, he was a con man. He always seems to be "selling" something and I have never found that type of person palatable. Throughout the years it has become obvious to me he is amoral, unethical, un-empathetic, cruel, bigoted (at least), narcissistic and patently dishonest. I believed that as a kid 30 years and the passage of time has only confirmed and reinforced those beliefs.
So, when he announced he was running for president he already had two strikes against him in my book. Then, he came down that escalator in all his pompous self-aggrandizing glory and said Mexicans "are rapist and murderers". And, once again everything I believed to be true about him was confirmed. But, it is more than his character. Here are a few issues I fundamentally disagree with him (and probably a majority of my social circle) about.
Race- Let's just get it out of the way. I believe the President is at best a bigot and at worst a White Supremacist. Be triggered if you must. But, his rhetoric and handling of racial issues illustrate his views on people of color. His handling of #Charlottesville and his never-ending dehumanizing of Brown people are glaring examples. I make my feelings about bigotry very clear. I can't roll with racism and I sure as hell will not roll with White Supremacy or being apologist for it. I am about all people being treated equally and with dignity. When I say we are all God's children and are equal I mean and believe it!
Education- I will make this a bit all encompassing. First, let's start with literal education. I do not believe anyone who placed Betsy DeVos' "touched" self as education secretary is serious about education. The education secretary should at least sound educated and be well verse in basic grammar and mathematics. She obviously is not! Although the President loves to boast about his Ivy League education he doesn't seem the least bit interested in sounding educated (whether it be in person or on Twitter) nor does he seem interested in improving education for all of America's students. He obviously has little regard for the Department of Education as he is seriously considering merging it with the Department of Labor. The two departments really have nothing in common. It appears he's interested in abolishing both departments. I think education along with adequate healthcare and nutrition is the most important thing for the development of America's youth. We can't continue to compete with our industrial nations if we can't read, write and add. All you have to do is spend 10 minutes on social media, listen to the average person converse or shop to realize an alarming number of people cannot adequately read, write or perform basic mathematics. The President seems to be indifferent to this "norm" which is a crisis.
Environment- As with DeVos, the appointment of a scoundrel and grifter like Scott Pruitt plainly illustrates the environment is not even a minor concern. In fact, the deregulation that the President loves to brag about is doing and will do great damage to our environment. Pruitt doesn't care about the health of citizens. He cares about making money. I realize he's gone but his replacement is no better. All the focus was on Pruitt's trifiliness but the real scandal was the detrimental policies he implemented and the ones that were rolled back. Again, the President approved of the detriment to the environment and Pruitt's unethical, likely criminal, behavior. Call me crazy but I think clean air and water are important.
Climate Change- Simply, it's real. When all but two of the world's recognized top scientists say climate change is real I tend to believe it is real. They know more than I do and mostly everyone else. All you have to do is look around. The weather patterns are so crazy and backwards. The anti-climate change people say weather is cyclical which explains the unusual patters but have no proof to really back that up while actual scientists and meteorologists have shown proof that changes are due to climate change. I totally disagreed with the President removing the U.S. from the Paris Accord. The vast majority of his cabinet members opposed taking us out of the Paris Accord. But, the President did it anyway to appease his base and because he believes climate change is somehow taking money out of his coffers. Look, just because some folks took science in the 11th grade means they know more than highly educated extensively trained scientists.
Taxes- The tax cuts implemented in the beginning of the year are crap. They only benefited the wealthy. The "increase" in my paycheck has been miniscule. Starting next year me and everyone else making less than $75,000 a year will have our taxes raised. The President's concern is rich people get richer. Sorry. I'm not down. The middle class and poor in this country need to be looked out for and the President and Congress aren't doing that.
Healthcare- The President and Republicans systematically dismantling the Affordable Care Act is one the most atrocious things done in this country's history. Yes, it has problems and needs an overhaul somewhat. But, dismantling it in an attempt to repeal thus leaving millions of Americans without healthcare is just cruel. And, the fact is the main reason the President wants to dismantle it is because Obama created it. His petulant insecurity about Obama and wanting to erase everything about his legacy is so pathetic and petty.
Civil Rights- The President's Justice Department has quietly reversed several Civil Rights statutes and resolutions that provide certain environmental protections for low income people, homosexuals and people of color. The Attorney General has implemented policies that specifically target people of color. It's ironic that Jeff Sessions has actually enacted the President's agenda more successfully and comprehensively than any of his other department heads.
Justice Reform- Needless to say the President has shown complete disdain toward the concern for the ongoing unnecessary killing of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement. He has done nothing in the way of offering suggestions to help improve the relationship between the police and communities of color. He's openly ridiculed and demonized any displays of protests that attempt to highlight these issues. He has seemingly ignored the systematic unfairness in the bail system which discriminates against low income people and is in actuality a scam. There has been no real movement on the prison system and how the prisons are overpopulated with non-violent and petty drug offenders. Many of the prisons are privately owned making them money making machines. Like with healthcare incarceration should be about making lives better; not a profit margin. But, again, it is the rich who are looked out for.
Marijuana- It should be legalized! Both medical and recreational should be fully made legal. I don't say that as a smoker. I don't smoke it at all. If it was legal here in Oklahoma, I wouldn't smoke it. It's not my thing. But, it has tremendous medical benefit and is much safer than opioids. It's not a gateway drug like many want claim. The fact is many people already use it so why not make it legal. The government can tax it and make money. Look at the states it's been legalized. Their economies have improved and their opioid abuse has been reduced. Despite erroneous claims nobody has ever overdosed. Unless, you count gorging on Captain Crunch and Mountain Dew. I am in complete disagreement with Jeff Sessions and his archaic myopic views on this. The President has expressed an openness to federally legalizing the chron but has more often expressed an ignorant view of it.
So, there it is. Some of the things I feel strongly about which are apart of what shapes my feelings about the President and why I oppose him. I don't apologize for my disdain for him and I don't apologize for my convictions.
