I will admit that there is a strong voice in my head wanting to shout at the top of my lungs: “I TOLD YOU SO!!!” So many of us shared that same pit in our stomachs when we watched the tv on election night and again on Inauguration Day. Contrary to what many Trump supporters claimed, this was never about Clinton losing and Trump winning. This feeling of dread was always about Trump, who he is, what he represents, and the damage we feared he would do to our society and our government. I don’t know a single person who would have felt this way had Kasich, Carson, Bush, Christie, Rubio, Cruz, or any of the others had won. We may not have agreed with them on policy, but none of them brought fear into our hearts the same way that Trump did. We saw the way he encouraged the Alt-Right. We heard the racist things he said. We cringed when we heard him talk about women. We knew who he surrounded himself with and we knew what the cost would be to the things we hold dear: healthcare, the environment, equal rights for ALL, the integrity of our government, and the security of our Democracy. Never before had a U.S. President been met with protests throughout the country. Never have before had so many calls been made to representatives asking them to take action against Trump’s appointments or his actions.
As the news has unfolded the last several weeks, I know many of us have experienced the same twinge to say, “I told you so,” but, if you’re like me, anger and sadness are the overriding emotions. I’m pissed that Trump and his associates and whoever else is involved put our country in this position!! I’m furious to find out that it looks like several prominent Republicans suspected that Russia was involved months before the election and chose to keep it quiet. I’m seeing red over the fact that they continued to support Trump even when the need for an independent counsel became obvious in order to retain Americans’ faith in our system.
But mainly, I think I’m sad. I still can’t believe that this country elected Trump. I can’t believe that someone so heinous sat in the Presidential chair for even one minute. He has tainted the position and brought forth a lot of negativity in this country that I never knew existed to that extent. He made it very apparent that racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia are still very much a part of our society and that we have a long way to go for equality for all. Trump’s election and Presidency have also made it obvious that wealth and power can easily threaten our democracy and way of life. Our system of checks and balances is not as infallible as we had hoped.
We are ordinary citizens who united to protest against the injustice we saw in the Trump administration. We’re not politicians. We’re not reporters. We are normal, everyday moms from different parts of the country who came together with a common goal: to not be silent; to stand up for what is right; to support one another and whoever we could reach…and we will continue to do so in the coming months. We are thankful for each other and for all of the people “out there” reading our posts. We hope we have given you an outlet for your feelings and helped you feel like you’re not alone in your outrage with this administration.
Stay strong, keep being loud and stand up for what you believe in!!
Concerned Mother of 2, New York