I’ve Been Rendered Speechless

My silence since the election has not been intentional. For one of the few times I can recall in my life, I’ve been rendered utterly speechless.

After watching Trump’s 60 Minutes interview, I was prepared to do the whole “he’s my president, let’s give him a chance” thing. In truth, I never really believed he would follow through on his outrageous campaign promises and mindless rhetoric, mainly because he has no clue how government works and surely more sane minds would prevail. Then he started tweeting again…and again…and again. His appointments put white supremacists right inside the Oval Office as he surrounded himself with military leaders with wry smiles reminiscent of having conducted a successful coup.

As he brought the swamp inside the White House, I wondered if maybe that’s not quite what his base of middle-class white folks expected when he said he was going to clear the swamp. I fear this cadre of special interests now will proceed to dismantle all the progress made in the past 8 years, creating a country that, just in electing Trump, already is the laughingstock of the international community, apart from Russia.

Now that he has energized the fascist Timothy McVeigh element of nationalist extremism that had been seething under the surface of our country, has brought big money Wall Street into the corridors of decision-making and has made racism practically the 11th article in the Bill of Rights, I’m speechless.

And it’s just sickening to watch the sycophancy of Republicans I once admired and respected, lining up to lick his boots. He will steamroll them with the threat of his army of militia-styled anarchists and lock away anyone who disagrees with him in a room with Kelly Anne Conway, which is a sure-fire route to madness.

Trump is no more my president than was Richard Nixon as he committed crimes against this nation. Fortunately back then we had Gerald Ford in the wings to take over, not the conversion-therapist, far right-wing Mike Pence.

At some point I may regain my voice, but for now I’m reduced to saying, and praying, “God Bless America.”