My fellow Americans: Who the hell are you?

When Donald Trump won the 2016 election, I was shocked. The choice was so obvious: an experienced woman versus a lying narcissist. It was hard to wrap my head around.

But, I told myself: “Well, she won the popular vote, so there’s that. And, he became president because of a few thousand votes in three states, and our archaic Electoral College put him in. Maybe people just wanted a change, and he captured that. Perhaps he won’t be too bad.” (Fat chance, as it turned out.)

When Joe Biden won in 2020, my overwhelming emotion was relief. Finally, someone normal, someone with honor and honesty, someone with a steady hand on the tiller of state. And over the next four years, I saw my hopes realized (for the most part) as Biden brought back the FDR approach to governing: significant public works, a boost to the middle class, and direct confrontation of fascist designs on Ukraine.

And yet, Trump still got millions of votes 2020, and instead of going away, he continued to overshadow the entire political world, as well as swallow up his own party. The party of Eisenhower had bent the knee to Ol’ Bone-Spur to become the party of Trump, and he wasn’t going away.

Finally, in 2024, the choice was even more obvious than in 2016. One candidate was eminently qualified, ran a strong and inspiring campaign, and was ready to continue building on the idea and vision of America. The other candidate was obviously declining in health, both physically and mentally, and spent his campaign talking about Haitians eating cats. His candidacy was rejected by every expert in economics, science, the military, and pretty much every reasonable pundit. I assumed he would lose bigly, and we would finally be done with him.

Instead, millions of my fellow Americans continued to vote for him, joined by enough other Americans to help him not only win the Electoral College, but the popular vote as well. (Even Hitler never got a majority in an election.)

They decided to give the leadership of the country, as well as the nuclear codes, to a convicted felon, an accused rapist, a liar, a grifter, and a traitor. They knew about his stealing of classified documents, they knew about his ongoing support of our enemies, and they knew about his promise to be a dictator. And still, they elected him.

So now, I have to ask of my fellow Americans:

Who the hell are you?

• What part of “fuck around, find out” do you not understand?
• What part of “be careful what you wish for” do you not get?
• You couldn’t vote for a woman, and surely not a Black woman? So you sold your soul and your country in order to “own the libs”??

In 2016, I could justify your voting for such a man by telling myself “well, he’s an unknown quantity. They were just fooled.”

But now, there is no excuse. What Donald Trump is, what he thinks, and what he plans on doing have been obvious for months. And you chose anyway.

THAT is the biggest cause of grief for me – that millions of my fellow Americans could knowingly choose hate, and fear, and misogyny, and racism. That millions of my fellow Americans could be given a choice like that, and willingly, indeed gleefully, pull the lever for fascism.

So to those who voted for Trump, I say again: Who the hell are you, and what the hell were you thinking?

I hope at some point you come to your senses. I hope, at some point, that you realize what you actually chose. And I hope, sincerely, that you come to that realization on your own, and not because of what Trump does to you.

Because make no mistake: If Trump has his way, we will become a fascist country. The “rule of law" will be a joke. The wealth of our nation will flow upward to the oligarchs, and the lives of everyday people will get worse – possibly much worse.

I don’t have to understand your choice. I only have to do all I can to stand against its result.

And I hope that, at some point, you will join me.

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