I want to thank Donald Trump. I want to thank him for showing us how easy it will be to lose our democracy and our country. Of course, Donald Trump is just the front man; the talent. Left to his own devices, he would have never dreamed of a life in politics. It looked like too much work. Donald would never stand for that.
I have a special place in my heart for the American flag. As a Boy Scout, I learned how to properly handle the flag and to show it as much respect as possible. You might be thinking of it as a big deal, but Donald Trump hugging the flag is not a show of patriotism to me. It is a sign of deep disrespect for the American people and a complete disregard for what has made this country great. Thank you Donald for showing me how much we have lost respect for the flag.
Instead, we have those who truly want to change this country into something that the Founding Fathers would have never imagined. These are the individuals who believe that wealth is the indication of success in life. They place power over compassion. They realize that this is a land of abundance which they want all to themselves. Thank you Donald for showing me that I should not care for my fellow American. I should only care about enriching myself at whatever cost.
They have no respect for freedom of speech or freedom of thought. They want to control the media and the messages that are disseminated. If you’re a journalist that shows any form of disagreement with the administration, you will have your access taken away. In other words, you will be denied the oxygen you need to survive professionally. Billionaires control what we are allowed to hear and know. Local news outlets, either television stations, radio stations or newspapers, are being purchased by a small group of people with a fixed ideology. Thank you Donald for confirming the warnings I heard as a child about Big Brother and how the Soviets (and the Nazi Germans) used propaganda to mislead the populace. You showed me how Mao was able to control the minds and bodies of a billion Chinese.
These people presuppose that the United States is respected and feared around the world. They threaten to end diplomatic relationships because we do not need anyone else. They make outlandish statements that bewilder our closest friends. In quiet corners, the laugh at the U.S. and wonder why we have chosen this path. Thank you Donald for showing me how easy it would be to discredit America and to shame it in the eyes of our needed friends.
In 1973, Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian journalist, wrote a piece entitled The Americans. This article was written as America lived in the shadow of Watergate, the Spiro Agnew controversy, and a war in Vietnam that had dragged on far too long. I would encourage anyone to listen to a recording of the message. He speaks of how America had been a world leader, one that could be counted on in a crisis. Now America appears to be turning its back on the world, or, worse yet, offering it a middle finger. We are better than this.
I have a difficult time imagining that Gordon Sinclair would be so quick to re-write his article today. Thank you Donald. You have shown me that my country can and will be taken away from me if I am not alert and ready to stand up for the freedom and democracy that so many have fought and died for.
