By Gary Bennett
I’m so sorry it has come to this. I do love my country, I do. I swear.
But I don’t think my country loves me back. At least not the red part. How else to explain that my president sees people like me as enemies to be vanquished? As anarchists and thugs to be dominated? As wishing to end America, not improve it? I can scarcely believe such words can come out of any president’s mouth. But out they come from this one. Mind you he’s not talking about far-away, foreign terrorists. That I could understand. He’s talking about fellow Americans.
I can remember not so long ago that presidents would say that good people can disagree about what the best path forward for America is. We may be democrats or republicans but we are all Americans, all patriots. But no more. I seem to be a second-class citizen now in the eyes of my president. I keep waiting for people from the president’s party to say enough is enough. This is not what America is. These ‘others’ are our friends and neighbors. But no. Mostly I just hear deafening, depressing silence.
It seems all those Supreme Court and appeals court justices and the tough cultural talk is worth it to red America. It would not be for me. I’d like to think that if a democratic president spoke this way about the other half of America I would speak up and say this is not acceptable. I hope I would do that. I think I would do that.
It has now been proved, of course, that Colin Kaepernick was right all along. You’ll remember he was drummed out of the NFL for kneeling for the National Anthem to protest police brutality against blacks. The NFL has apologized and most of America seems to understand now. Patriotic songs? They’re just songs, so I’ll be happy to take a knee and show my displeasure with how things are going in America right now.
Land of the free and home of the brave?
Not so much. Minorities do not share in the promise of freedom and never have. There is nothing brave about killing unarmed people just because you have a badge or never, EVER pushing back against Russia no matter what they do.
Sweet land of liberty?
I don’t think so. Not right now. Exercising your right to pack into parties and not wear masks thereby endangering the more vulnerable among us is nauseating and the very definition of selfishness, not liberty.
God shed His grace on thee?
If He did, He must be quite sad that it didn’t stick. There is nothing graceful about how this president has fanned the flames of bigotry and purposely driven division for his own personal benefit.
It’s hard to live in a land that treats its fellow citizens so poorly. Before you tell me to leave, ask yourself why I should. Since when is wanting America to live up to its lofty potential and strive to become a more perfect union un-American? I don’t think we’ve strayed so far off the righteous path that we can’t get back on it quickly. But another four years of this president and the path will be overgrown and unrecognizable.
There is hope, however. The potential replacement is popular, genial and a moderate. The polls look promising and democrats will not take that for granted like they did in 2016. More and more republican office holders can see the writing on the wall and are beginning to speak out and distance themselves from Trump and his more hateful, bigoted speech. His white supremacy stance is out of step with this moment in America. Twitter and Facebook are pushing back. All but the most sycophantic governors have filled the leadership void left by Trump during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is beyond me, knowing what we know now about this man, that anyone would vote for him in 2020, much less 38 percent of America that polls are now showing. But that would signify a landslide, and I will take it. I’m betting that many who supported him last time are too embarrassed to admit they made a terrible mistake that is costing America dearly. The come-to-Jesus moment will occur in the privacy of the voting booth or more likely when filling out the election form and mailing it in.
Four more years of this? I hope not. I’m not sure I can get through four more months.