We have lost a few friends recently who have said they proudly voted for Trump and don’t want to hear a dissenting view. We are experiencing a level of dishonesty —“hate is love” , “War is Peace” , ” Guns equal safety” that it cannot be cheerfully ignored.We are past the point of being polite in the presence of intolerance, racism and fantastical thinking.
HOW YOU VOTE DEFINES WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU BELIEVE
They say friends are the family you get to choose for yourself. Facebook has made it possible to do that by including in your circle of friends those who live their lives committed to fairness, truth and values like racial equality, access to reproductive health care for women and reducing gun violence.
The recent presidential and Congressional elections in 2016, offered an opportunity to see the stark differences that exist in our country with respect to these fundamental values. President Trump openly mocked racial minorities, and the disabled, attacked the press, and bragged of sexual assaults on women. The Republican party in their platform and on the stump called for restrictions on reproductive health care for women, more guns, and the repeal of environmental laws among other retrograde positions. They have since voted to do all those things.
Actions, such as voting for these policies speak so loudly, one cannot hear protestations that, “oh, I don’t really believe this stuff.” People clearly do believe this stuff as polls show that those who voted for Trump continue to support these policies and would vote the same way again.
So, why would I want to have as my friends, people who share these values and act to see them become law? Life is short. I want to live my life supporting fairness, truth and equality.
Supporting science, and fact, decency and kindness not lies, ignorance and legislated cruelty.
Global warming is not a hoax. Fraud on wall street is real. Health care should be available to children and adults in the richest country in the world at least to the extent it is now in all other industrialized countries. Tax avoidance and off-shoring of profits by companies that pay no taxes should be stopped. Increasing the deficit (i.e. borrowing from our children and grandchildren) to give more money to the wealthiest families on the planet, is fundamentally wrong.
For all these reasons, I will not continue to “friend” those with Trump and Republican values. And, I will do all I can to change, the composition of Congress in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020.
Jerry Scribner November 20, 2017
