Is anyone else experiencing a glitch in the matrix?
I feel like I’m trapped in a surrealistic nightmare that would carve a smile onto Salvador Dali’s face.
2017 is over. But what inexplicable horrors await us in 2018?
Before diving down that rabbit hole, I think it’s necessary to reflect on the past 12 months and the choices that have led us to what Carl Bernstein refers to as America’s “cold civil war.”
Like George W. Bush, President Donald Trump lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. Yet Trump’s presidency appears more akin to Richard Nixon’s tenure in office. The main difference between Trump and Nixon is that the Democrats controlled Congress during Nixon’s term.
Instead of bashing Trump’s numerous flaws, let us give him credit for igniting an inferno within our own social consciousness. Without the notorious “Access Hollywood” video, the women’s marches, and the outspoken victims of Trump’s sexual misconduct, we would probably not have immediately embraced the #MeToo movement.
Despite the fact that many powerful men, including Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, and Matt Lauer, have lost their jobs and credibility, Trump remains in office. Choosing party over personal integrity, the Grand Old Party has blatantly sold their souls for political donations (bribes) and a chance to gut government programs that many U.S. citizens depend on for survival.
By repeatedly defending Nazis and other white supremacists, Trump brought to attention the fact that racism is still alive in America and across the globe. What is the point of hating a group of people over the color of their skin?
Many of our ancestors were responsible for enslaving their ancestors. When football players took a knee during the national anthem to protest against disproportionate police violence against black people, Trump spun the facts into a false argument against the military.
Yet what is the end game for white supremacists? Kill all the Jews, Catholics, blacks, gays, etc. Then what? Do they expect to live in a Protestant paradise composed of huffing glue, snorting meth, and killing each other for no justifiable reason?
It’s time for our government, various boards of directors, and other authority figures to embrace the melting pot that made our country great in the first place. And there is no reason to exclude women from a seat at the table.
We cannot take an introspective look at ourselves in 2017 without addressing the accused pedophile in the room. Although the statute of limitations prevents the judicial branch from prosecuting former senatorial candidate Roy Moore, public opinion is not restrained by such legal arguments.
Evangelical Protestants in Alabama revealed their true colors by vehemently supporting a sexual predator responsible for actively pursuing teenage girls throughout his legal career. Along with many members of the Republican party, Trump had no qualms throwing in his full support for the alleged child molester.
But despite the hypocrisy from several of Alabama’s religious and political leaders, the people of Alabama voted against Moore. It wasn’t simply a moral victory. Moore’s loss proved that America still remains a bastion of hope.
Our education system is inadequate, our wealth inequality is perverse, and our military budget is over-inflated. But our moral integrity continues to evolve with each passing day.
In the beginning, “We the People” openly excluded blacks, Native Americans, women, and impoverished whites. But we have the chance to correct that mistake.
Due to Trump’s hopefully ephemeral term in office, we have placed a magnifying glass over the social inadequacies that consume our souls.
Women have a right to be heard and respected. Pedophiles do not belong in the U.S. Senate. And Nazis are not “very fine people.”
COMMENTS