And Now It Hits Home

And now it hits home. A racist piece of shit stabbed three valiant heroes who tried to protect two girls riding on a MAX train in Portland. Two have died and one is still in the hospital. One girl evidently wore a hijab and the other was African American which was justification enough in this racist shitheel’s mind to begin hurling racial slurs and threats to both girls.

Ben Jacobs, a reporter from The Guardian, was assaulted by an asshole running for office in Montana. Of course the fuckwad won and rumor has it he included an interesting “apology” when giving his acceptance speech. But even if he goes to jail, the governor of Texas was heard talking about shooting journalists, so it’s all good. Not to worry, unless you’re a journalist, that is.

Trump rallies are famous for violence erupting against anyone who they decide is against their guy with Trump himself egging his supporters on. And it doesn’t make any difference if it’s voters or journalists, the response is the same. People get hurt.

No one is safe in this country. No one. Not as long as the so-called commander in chief gives cover to this violence. But then we can’t expect him to have the sort of integrity that Barack Obama had. He would have never put up with this crap from anyone. Even when supporters booed at a campaign rally, he would respond with, don’t boo, vote.

Decorum and civility has vanished, replaced with hate and vitriol with some violence thrown in for good measure. I don’t even recognize this country anymore. I’ve never seen a group of people so intent upon destroying the lives of so many. Everything they are doing is either destroying our social safety net or giving away classified secrets as bragging rights.

But to not be able to ride a MAX train in Portland without fear of assault as well as death? That’s just fucked up. Those girls were minding their own business when the worst thing happened and the lives of everyone involved will never be the same again. Portland’s diversity is one of the reasons it’s a beautiful place to be. This level of hatred that would cause a man to stab these saviors who were only protecting the innocent does not reflect who any of us are. Our country will never be what it can be as long as we see others as the enemy, this truth made all the more evident when a killer was willing to take a life or two on a MAX train all to protect his racist views.

Years ago when my husband and I had our karate school, one of our students was in a bad accident and he ultimately lost one of his legs below the knee. He was flown to Portland to a trauma center for the surgery and we drove down to see him while he was recovering. But at the time, there was a sniper who was shooting at random cars on the Banfield freeway, so we had to take a different route to the hospital. Our kids were with us and it was frightening.

So it’s not that Portland doesn’t have its problems but since the campaign more and more violence is happening and it’s hard to believe that it’s not related to the so-called new guy, particularly when he continues to hold campaign rallies where more nonsense occurs. He’s keeping it all going with no regard for those who are hurt.

Even in our area, would-be bikers hung out in front of our congressman’s office while little old ladies stood outside exercising their Constitutional right to protest peacefully. We can all draw whatever conclusions we want to about all of that, but I view it as harassment. The protesting seniors took it all in stride and resolved to return again and again. But I still think it’s shameful.

This us versus them mentality never leads anywhere positive. As long as we continue to view others who think or look differently as the enemy, the violence will continue.

I remember reading an article a few months back about an official following a woman back to her office and putting his hands on her. After all, if it was good enough for Trump, then it was good for him. He got in some trouble for that, and with luck the new guy in Montana who was charged with assaulting Ben Jacobs will do some time and lose his seat. But I’m not holding my breath.

Evidently, this is how Republicans now roll.

I became a Democrat in 2008 so that I could vote in the Democratic primary. I had always been registered as No Party Affiliation, but I had always voted for Democrats, so I felt comfortable making that commitment. I’m not saying that was a mistake necessarily, but if I had it to do over, I think I would have stayed neutral.

I don’t like the infighting. And I didn’t appreciate the division and vitriol between Bernie’s and Hillary’s supporters. Invariably someone on social media would try to pull me into their drama if I posted something about either one of them. I liked them both, but ultimately I voted for Hillary, telling because I’m basically a Democratic Socialist at heart. But I didn’t like the bullshit then and I don’t like it now.

Mr. Trump, you need to resign. And take that ridiculous Mike Pence with you. Odds are, if the charges stack up, you’ll both be doing time anyway, so I would suggest that you both spend what little time left you have left somewhere else. I’d suggest spending time with your families, but it looks like Jared might need a cellmate, so it might make for difficult dinner conversation. And with your wife reluctant to even hold your hand in public, she’s probably washed her hands of your sorry ass.

And Mr. Trump, as far as I’m concerned, whether the killer voted for you or not, you caused those deaths, you unhinged overgrown man-child, egging your supporters on like you do. You have no clue about how to govern and you can’t keep your mouth shut. You’re a braggart and a fool and that’s the last thing our country needs.

Mr Trump, our home is all we have so leave now, before you destroy anything else. The leaders of the world see you for the fool that you are and one can only imagine the number who are lining up behind Putin to manipulate your puppet ass. How much are you into Vlad for? That you won’t release your tax returns gives us all the answers we need until Mueller completes his investigation. Or maybe will it be the possible RICO charges in New York that sends you off to prison. Either way, it’ll be just desserts.

Not of the chocolate cake variety, but just desserts nonetheless.