I was exhausted, I lay down, I was nearly asleep. Then I remembered that Trump existed.
That was two hours ago.
I am consumed with the resolve that Trump must lose this election. I believe that we all were guilty of electing him in 2016. We didn’t take the threat seriously. We may have voted against him, but clearly, we as a nation didn’t do enough to prevent him from entering the White House.
This week, the Supreme Court Trump put in place has decided that he is immune from prosecution for criminal acts done in “official” actions. Justice Roberts said that he is “at least presumptively immune from prosecution” for trying to bully Pence into throwing out the results of the election.
I repeat: Trump places Judges, Judges say the President can tell the VP to ignore the actual voice of the American people. Since it’s part of his “official” work to tell the VP what to do, that he can tell him to do treasonous things.
Further, to decide whether his manipulation of State officials, harassment of private individuals, and rabid tweets telling people to attack the White House is, y’know, not cool, “requires a fact-specific analysis of the indictment’s extensive and interrelated allegations” to discover if it was “official” business or not (and if it’s official then it’s totally fine that he did these things.)
What I cannot fathom at the moment is that there are still people muttering about Biden.
He’s not my ideal candidate. He’s not anyone’s ideal candidate. We get it - he’s old, he did things wrong. Whatever you have against him, you’re right, and I agree with you. But I am not only voting for him, I am campaigning for him.
I have trouble looking Trump in the face and hearing his voice. I do much better seeing his quotes in print. If you’re like me, check this out. Here is every lie he told in his four years as President. Click the link and pick your topic. Read what he said, from his speeches at formal occasions that he twisted into attacks on his enemies, to his tweets screaming poison directly into the minds of the American public. He claimed he’d broken records, did things no one had done before, completed his goals, or even just that his policies were popular, over and over and over, the same lines, the same claims, adding up to thousands upon thousands of lies that distorted reality as people absorbed them.
Fifty-one years ago, you had Roe v. Wade, and everybody wanted to get it back to the states, everybody, without exception, Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives. Everybody wanted it back. Religious leaders. And what I did is I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court, and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade and moving it back to the states. This is something that everybody wanted.
Trump, Presidential debate, 6/27/2024
The truth-distortion field he creates has infected every layer of politics, right down to the school board races in our backyards. Its lingering effects are much more dangerous to our democracy than one day of red-white-and-blue lunatics trying to take down our federal government with a few guns.
Is there anyone reading this that thinks we are out of the woods? That Trump’s ability to destabilize our country is not a problem anymore? That because “I live in a blue state I can’t do anything about it”? That “all politicians are the same”? That “we need a better candidate”?
The idea that we need a better candidate is absolutely preposterous. Donald Trump is a fascist. He has made an absolute nightmare list of promises in his current bid for office. It’s everything he tried to do in his first term, but now with the full power of the Republican party behind him. Everyone who tried to call him out has disappeared. He has not only the same monstrous concepts he had 4 years ago, he now has the clout to make them stick.
Don’t tell me you need to be excited about an opponent to vote for them. Don’t tell me that you are unhappy with things Biden did. Don’t tell me that Biden hasn’t earned your vote.
Those were the things we said about Clinton in 2016. I felt the same way. I didn’t love her, so I didn’t do anything for her. I did vote for Clinton, but she hadn’t earned more from me.
There were consequences. We cannot pretend those consequences don’t exist. We can’t claim ignorance this time around. I’ll tell you what motivates me in the upcoming election:
I am excited to not have Donald Trump as President. I am happy to keep all of Biden’s issues because it means we will have none of Donald Trump’s. Biden has earned my vote because it will ensure that Donald Trump isn’t elected. I will do everything I can to get people all across America to vote for President Biden because it is the only way to definitively prevent a second term from President Donald Trump.
If some still aren’t convinced, I’m wondering what it would take? What kind of candidate would be destructive enough to spark the need to take action? What level of racist, fear-mongering, power-grabbing, anti-reality, traitorous cruelty would it require for everyone to notice that this isn’t a normal election?
We have borne witness to Trump’s terrible legacy and the promise of more to come. We waited and waited for someone or something to save us from Trump, but none of them have, and none of them will. The Supreme Court won’t stop him. The House and Senate won’t stop him. The “rules” of general common sense and decency won’t stop him. The Republican Party won’t stop him. The checks and balances of the Constitution won’t stop him. The only thing that can stop Trump is the Vote.
A mystical “perfect candidate” isn’t going to ride in on a white horse and sweep the country off of its feet. We all know this. We all know what we have to work with, so it’s time to do the work.
If we don’t do everything we can to prevent another Trump administration, we will not only have to deal with the consequences, we will bear the responsibility for them.
I just ordered my first batch of postcards to send to battleground states. I’m wondering how many cards I can fill out ahead of the October mailing date. Even if I work slowly I’ll be able to give hundreds of Democrats a personalized nudge to the ballot box in the places it matters the most. This isn’t just about the presidency either, this is about down-ballot voting too.
It’s 4 am so I’m slowing down, but I still don’t know if I’ll be able to stop my spinning brain. Are you also losing sleep over the election? What is it that energizes you to get politically active?
Thanks for listening.
Definitely non-negotiable. What will happen to our country? What will happen to our children, grandchildren, everyone?
I will vote blue.