I am putting this in a blog because it is all opinion. So leave now if you don't want to hear it. And based on my news posts on Facebook, you can probably guess the tone. But I will ask you to consider your principles. Read on at your own risk.
Principles. Those pesky things that guide us when all else fails. For some, they are intertwined with religious values. For others, less so to varying degrees. I ask you to consider your principles. What makes you believe in this country, the US of A, in democracy, in We the People. What makes you go vote, or not. What makes you get up on a Sunday to go to church. What makes you volunteer. What makes you do your job each day. Do you have those in mind?
How does the current government administration mesh with those values? Wait, don't confuse policy with principles. Policy is about how we practically enforce principles and it can look many different ways. I am not asking about affirmative action in college admissions, or "welfare" reform, or immigration policy. I am asking do your core principles mesh with the core principles of the actions - Executive Order, or House Bills, or Senate Investigations - of the current administration in power.
My answer is no. I live in hybrid world. My spouse, one of my children (maybe two), and my work environment scream "Trump! Make America Great Again!" But my gut, my historical knowledge, my concern for the future cry, "No!!!!" Not just no, but hell to the F*****G NO! This A**HOLE doesn't know WTF he is talking about. (Pardon the crudity.)
Granted, I am a Universal Coverage fan. I admit this upfront. Not necessarily Single Payer, Medicare for all though. The ACA is flawed, and states like Texas that didn't expand Medicaid are part of the problem and the promises of a panacea were ridiculous. That bias claimed, AHCA or TrumpCare, is not even a health plan. It is a tax cut disguised as as a health plan. It is mind boggling at best and malicious at worst. It will hurt the most vulnerable among us - the elderly, the disabled, the young. Maternity care will be pre-existing. But the rich will have more money.
Granted, I am not a Trump fan. I want America to succeed so in that sense I want him to succeed but otherwise, I would be okay if a random heart attack hit him after a steak dinner (with ketchup). But then Pence would be President, and have you seen Handmaid's Tale? Did 45 really fire Comey in the midst of an investigation that may involve his campaign? Really??!! I am no Comey fan, so I don't know that I mind but I do wish he had done it 3 months ago - back when Trump thought Comey was doing a good job.
Granted, I am a "progressive" whatever that means these days. The Trump tax "plan" and it's support of the wealthy and corporations makes my stomach churn. They are blowing up the lessons our society learned from the Gilded Age and the Great Depression and for what? So Trump Co. and Kushner can create a kleptocracy? It is disgusting on so many levels.
What is your answer? Are you pro-life? Then how do you support an administration that would cut the sick and elderly out of healthcare? Are you pro-America? Then how can you disregard our Founding Fathers, the Constitution? Are you pro-"little guy"? Then how can you support the tax "plan" Trump proposed?
I honestly don't understand. I know good, hard working people whom I suspect supported Trump. How do they sleep at night knowing they unleashed this fungus into our system. It will be pervasive like a fungus, like any good pharma ad will show you. And some just don't seem to think - or want to think. They claim those of us who are upset are socialists or hysterical as they argue policy about which most don't understand. When do you sound the alarm? I worry that my progressive echo chamber drowns you out but I honestly don't see what there is to support or why you are screaming from the rooftops.
Now is the time act. Contact your representatives. I think they have all lost their minds in some sort of Tea Party Haze. Again, this isn't about policy. We can argue later about the merits of tax cuts, of the 10th Amendment later. Those are valid concerns. This is about the FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY at stake. Maybe that is hyperbolic. But that is from the heart.
And that, dear friends and those who have read this far, is why I wrote this.
