Dear Friends,I voted early. Tomorrow, November 8th, I've got sinus surgery to correct what's apparently been the root cause of my recurring troubles throughout my adult life, including sinus headache and ear infections. Put simply, I'm all jacked up in there. Since I'll be sleeping through the whole thing, that means that I won't be on hand all day for the election coverage. This is probably a gift to me, from the universe. So. Some thoughts on the eve of what will surely be an insane Tuesday.
First of all, I know I'm not the only one flat-out astonished that it's come to this. That Donald Trump ever became the actual real life Republican candidate. Do people understand the whole Trump...thing? I guess not. I guess just the fact of being on TV means...something...to...certain people? Maybe so, I mean parents are triggering new outbreaks of measles and mumps because some rando hair-do on TV told them to, so...USA! USA!
Look. I grew up in Connecticut, the part that's pretty close to New York. Here's the thing -- that part of Connecticut is a kind of woodsy enclave what they call a "bedroom community," meaning close enough to the city so people could drive or take the train. There, you talk about going into "the city" and doing some shopping. It's the Connecticut that roots for the Yankees (not the Sox), and we'd go to baseball games. Get some Italian ice in Little Italy, my parents saw a ton of Broadway shows and sometimes took us to Saturday matinees. I saw West Side Story with Rita Moreno as Anita. We listened to Howard Stern every morning before school. A lady named Liz Smith wrote a gossip column where "The Donald" and Ivana were always in her column for some glitzy reason or another. I'm saying this dude was around a lot, for us, and you know something? He was always a joke. There was never a time when Donald Trump represented anything smart, charming or admirable. He was this tacky society idiot that showed up on Howard Stern and tried to be funny. We cracked up, but if memory serves, Howard was just egging him on so we could all laugh at him.
New York in the 1980s:
Howard Stern was a king. Donald Trump was a fool.
My working class family happened to be friendly with a number of rather affluent people. Very wealthy. Sprawling homes and land. They had homes in New York. They traveled the world, spoke several languages, played tennis and kept horses and that kind of thing. Lovely people who were nice to us, who seemed just comfortable and I guess what you might, today, call "woke." I have stories. But let me tell ya, I cannot recall knowing a single affluent person in my life that ever looked, sounded or acted like that crass, crude, blowhard Donald Trump. Money cannot buy grace. Dollars do not equal class. Plenty of people have money and gravitas. You can become obscenely rich without becoming obscene, but not that guy. And now he's running for President? How the f...?
And that is the primary problem that I have with Trump supporters. What exactly are they supporting? He doesn't know anything about anything. "He's a business man" is the top thing I hear these people say, and that is dumbest thing ever. First of all, what does that even mean? When I hear the "businessman" crowd cheering, I want to ask for a specific list of actual skills. Secondly, even if Trump were in possession of an outstanding business mind—he isn't, in fact it's well known that he's a straight-up crook—that quality does not meet the minimum requirements of the damn job. That's like saying your garbage man would make an excellent baker because he gets up early in the morning. There is no correlation.
Next problem I have with Trump supporters is more personal. You see, Hillary Clinton wasn't my favorite a year ago. I've got essays here in my blog that say as much. But over the past six months or so, I've done deeper digging, into her record, but truthfully, digging mostly into my own reasons for disliking her. I came up with dick. Nothing, zero. Just a vague feeling. So basically I was being ridiculous. I was an idiot.
Newsflash:
You Don't Have To Feel Warm Fuzzies About Your Representatives
Without going too deep into a whole litany of findings, I'll just say that through a combination of research and contemplation, I'm all in for Hillary now. I'm with her. The fact is that she has been working her entire life since law school towards this day, and her record is stunning. Outstanding. More qualified a candidate, I don't think we have ever had, and I mean that sincerely. It isn't up for debate. Put her CV side by side with any other candidate. It's a fact -- she's the right person for right now. She might be the best POTUS we've ever had, flaws and all.
Finally, I want to make a point about the difference between conservatives and liberals. Being liberal means unconditional acceptance of, and empathy for, and if possible fellowship with people that aren't the exact same as you, thoughtful attention to preserving the planet's natural resources and limiting and repairing the impact of our our human footprint, and warmth and charity to shore up those less fortunate. That's the "liberal agenda." But this litany of hopes and dreams for the people of our country is what gets you the moniker "libtard." A brutal insult, and for what? For learning? For trying to be a decent person? I don't understand how it's bad to want everyone to be safe, educated, have enough food to eat, a home, clean water, clean air...how does decency and equal rights and sharing become the evil thing, while people are applauding and supporting corrupt billionaires and politicians out for personal financial gain with no regard for anyone or anything? I guess if you squint...no, I'm sorry, I'm having a really hard time understanding, and I have tried and tried. I think that the reason these deplorable haters have been so far able to keep waving their signs and spewing just terrible, awful things is because "libtards" keep right on supporting their right to write those signs and say those things. We say hey, we may not agree with what you're saying, but we defend your right to say it. We say this even as they're calling us nasty libtard bitches. "Hang the bitch" and all the horrifying chants, and we're over here saying well, that's free speech. You know what? It's hate speech, actually. That's different. And I, for one, am done tolerating this hate. I retract my support. So I suppose I need to accept the label: I'm a libtard bitch, hi, how are you? Is it just me, or can I invite to go fuck themselves anyone who can't understand what's really going on here?
So, in sum, I'm pretty angry right now. Really, really angry. They've called me and my sisters nasty libtard bitches long enough now that, congrats Trumpers, you've summoned the seether, who is all in for Hillary, and I'm all done tolerating your ignorance, racism, misogyny and blind faith. Just so you know. That's where we're at, here. Because my bucket came up dry the last time I reached down for tolerance for the Trump fans, the 3rd party people, and the "anyone but Hillary" and "never Hillary" peanut gallery. This is important and you are blowing it. So say "Benghazi" or "emails" to me one more goddamn time, I fucking dare you.
Friends, good luck to you tomorrow. Good luck to me. Good luck to all of us,
Yours,
md/lk
@SuperLowBudge
Related: What Did I Miss?
