As I watched this video, I knew I needed to write a comment that might help ease her obvious pain. In doing so, it helped me understand the need that many of us have had to share our despair in the era of trump. Unlike his supporters, we don’t cry over being denied a Frappucino or not being allowed in Walmart. We cry and share our despair in an attempt to comprehend a hate-filled America that is fairly incomprehensible these days, and help one another find our way through this darkness.
I’m sharing this with her permission. My response is below.
My comment:
Watching this reminded me why I share what I do on Twitter, Facebook, and my own blog.
I’m not trying to convert anyone, because that’s not going to happen. And I’m not trying to preach to the choir, because there’s no point in doing so. The point of why we (you, me, John Pavlovitz and many others) post these things is that it’s our means of coping with an America that makes little sense to us.
With respect to the people in that caravan you described, their America is one of hatred for others and a presumed greatness because of their racial heritage. Or it’s a presumed greatness because of a fictitious notion that because the stock market is doing well, that means we’re all doing well (even if they have nary a single stock of which to speak). Their America cares about nothing other than the desire that they do better than the ‘other’ guy; whatever ‘other’ means to them.
That doesn’t make me sad.
Like me and many others, your tears aren’t from sadness at not getting our way. They’re tears borne out of a frustration that this just CAN’T be the America we were brought up to believe in: an America filled with so much hatred for so many fellow Americans, and an incomprehensible need to create legislation based on that hate.
It’s not just incomprehensible, it’s also gut-wrenching.
If Biden doesn’t win, I believe we will truly be at “the end times” for this American experiment.
I hear you. Theses organized trump parades are in different cities around the country. Nevermindcthat they drive in these groups on the highways endangering others. Nevermind what they represent. Mind that there are enough of them that vote and want to keep the rest of us forced to pay attention to their simplistic childishness mixed with religious zeal and reflects a leader who encourages them and really doesn’t care about them or us. He just wants to continue the ego trip that is the trump presidency. His appeal is to the baseless of his base.