Some readers insist that I am not being fair to Donald Trump, that I haven’t given him an opportunity. I accept the fact that I have not given him an opportunity. I also accept the fact that I have no respect for him, although some insist that my lack of respect for him is tantamount to hating him. I oppose his hateful politics and thus I oppose him is my answer to everyone. Some readers insist that I must be fair to him on my blog. As hard as I try, it is just not possible to write supporting posts about him.
Soon after he was elected, I received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) informing me that I must pay a penalty in my tax return for 2016, and “likely” for 2017 as well. The penalty is still much less then what health insurance costs me, by a substantial amount. As such, I am not purchasing health insurance because it makes no economic sense for me.
I realize that Donald Trump has embarked upon ridding the country of the health insurance mandate. I could applaud him for that because I believe that ObamaCare is a significant tax imposed on those of us who are self-employed and financially unfeasible for those in my tax bracket. In addition to the 20-to-30% tax burden, the social security and Medicare taxes, and the insurance mandate adds another 15-to-25% bite out of our income. It just makes no financial sense. More than 35% of my income in taxes is just not feasible.
I had planned on applauding Trump for ridding us of that misguided burden (yes, I know, now another big chunk of my readers is now mad at me!), but when I was about to publish that post, it was revealed that Trump threatened to deploy troops to México. That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Instead of writing pieces pointing out problems in Trump’s agenda, I decided it was time to actively oppose him.
This bring us back to the notion of being fair to Trump. I am, but not in the way Trump supporters believe I should be.
I have always extended an open invitation to those who want to post Donald Trump support pieces. Frequent guest writer, Barbara Carrasco, has done that. My invitation still stands and reiterate it again now. Anyone is invited and encouraged to write support posts for Donald Trump and I will consider them for publication.
For me, that is being fair. Expecting me to write Donald Trump supportive posts are not fair and would betray what I stand for. The fact is that, in my opinion, there is no redeemable quality in Donald Trump.
So, please, stop expecting me to write nice things about Trump. Other than him resigning there is just nothing I see that would compel me to write something nice about him.
Notice that I did not write fair because I believe I am being more than fair. First, I allow opposing viewpoints in my comments section and I publish opposing viewpoints. Second, I have not posted any information that is not backed up by other sources. In other words, I am not spreading fake news or false information. I comment on what has been verified or generally accepted as accurate.
Furthermore, this notion that Donald Trump should be given an opportunity is plain wrong.
Donald Trump has been in office for less than 20 days and in that time, he has put México and the United States on the verge of a damaging trade war. Trump has alienated a close ally, Australia and is the subject of official debate at the United Kingdom Parliament, another formerly close US ally, about whether Trump should be allowed to speak before them. He is being challenged by the judiciary over his recent travel ban. And, he has been the subject of significant and ongoing protests across the country.
There is no doubt that a significant portion of U.S. voters and, not to mention US citizens, oppose Donald Trump today. Trump has the lowest approval rating of any U.S. president during their first days in office. Trump’s approval rating nationally is below 50%. Clearly, Donald Trump has not only alienated other countries but he has also alienated almost half of the country. The unprecedented protests prove this.
The United States is a divided country – all thanks to Donald trump.
The Kindest Thing Happened to Me
Even through all of this, the kindest thing happened to me yesterday. Yesterday, as I was walking back from lunch, I encountered a group of protestors protesting Donald Trump and his public policy agenda. Normally, I look and move on, but I wanted to see who organized the protest. It was organized by U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (Florida-D). I introduced myself to the organizer of the protest as “a Mexican citizen currently living” in Orlando and was about to continue, when three-to-four people next to us, chimed together, and said, “welcome”.
Welcome, such a nice word that to me, meant so much during this difficult time of hate.
I was taken aback to the point that I stopped my introduction mid-sentence and looked back at them and thanked them.
It was the kindest thing I have felt since Donald Trump started to attack immigrants, México and me.
I know that there are many U.S. citizens that oppose Donald Trump’s continued hate. The airport protests prove that. I realize that Donald Trump does not represent the collective nature of the country, regardless of what he tweets or his surrogates espouse through the news media.
However, it has been a constant drain on my sanity to listen to all the hate against México and immigrants and those kind words renewed my hope in the United States is a country that I choose to live in.
So, to reiterate, no I do not hate Trump but I oppose all that he stands for. Those that support him are welcome to chime in through the comments section or by submitting editorials for me to consider publishing on my blog. But, please, stop trying to convince me that I must give him a chance. That is not going to happen.