On Your Inauguration

20 Jan 2017

Dear Mr. Trump,

I never thought this day would come. I never thought enough people would see you as an appropriate choice for a leader.

I too want to make America great, but not just for the rich. Or the white. Or the straight. Or the Christian.

When I think of making America great, I think of taking care of each other, not mocking them. When I think of making America great, I think of leading in finding ways to be good stewards of the environment, not ignoring our destruction of it. When I think of making America great, I think of working to ensure genuine access to great education and healthcare, not only for the rich.

Maybe you'll surprise me, but it would be the biggest surprise of my life. More likely, if you saw my words, you would mock me. You would make fun of me for what I wrote or what I looked like. Because that is what you do, Mr. Trump. You mock and ridicule any thought or argument or person who does not agree with you. 

Maybe your goal is to see how far, how crazy, and how hateful your rhetoric can become and still have the Republican Party support and back you. Maybe you placed a bet with a friend over pocket change (as you pull out a few million as easily as most of us pull out a twenty) to see how quickly you could take down education, or speed up climate change, or diminish our standing in the world. Maybe this is a joke to you or a bad dream for me. Maybe you'll get to laugh or I'll get to wake up.

20 Jan 2017

on the day of his inauguration