On November 8, 2016 I was sitting at the bar at the Barnacle in Marblehead. The TV was showing the election results. The initial reports looked good for Hillary Clinton, however CNN swiftly charted the collapse of democracy as old Democratic stronghold in the Midwest fell into Trump’s electoral count. By dawn victory was declared by the reality TV star and America was firmly in the hands of the GOP, despite Bill Clinton’s wife having spent over $700 million on her campaign, nearly $600 million on political hacks.
Trump’s motto MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN had resonated with the voters from the religious right to the Hassidim community and white suburbs threatened by equality and fearful of the War on Terror.
I walked away from the Barnacle, thinking, “We are so fucked.”
In the morning my beloved Aunt Sally and Uncle Russ admitted that they thought the same, although they were too polite to use bad language, but we walked up to Fort Sewell where the view only changed with the light.
In the following weeks I scoured the results in suspect congressional districts without finding a blaring example of fraud other than the traditional suppression of black voters throughout the USA.
Turkey day came and went without incident.
We knew nothing was right and nothing stayed right for the following four years.
Trump was evil.
My friends believed in their god/king. I stopped speaking to most of them.
Separation of children of illegal immigrants, travel bans against Muslims, pardons of white-collar criminals, praising Putin and the North Korean dictator, anti-marijuana policies, attempts to repeal health care, tax cuts for the rich, deregulation of environmental protection, the Trump Wall of Mexico, attacks on Yemen, condoning white supremacists and terror against African-Americans, threats against Iran, support for fundamentalist terror of Saudi Arabia, Covid rejection ad nauseum delighted the Trumpards.
But Trump wasn’t really American.
To him BLM was evil.
Defund the police was evil.
Old motherfuckers like me remember history.
2017
Trump paid $750 in income tax.
He scared the Germans.
2019. He practiced pardons.
2020. He lost to Joe Biden by seven million votes, but declared the election results were changed by theft.
His followers believed his claims and his legal teams attack everyone without success.
He was a loser, yet called on his followers to reject the truth.
On January 6, 2021 they attacked the Capitol Building, where the Senate and Congress were completing the tally for the Electoral Congress.
Chaos.
Mayhem.
Death.
And still the GOP called for fraud investigation.
Fuck them and the pigs they rode.
Because Gettysburg proved one thing to these scum.
“Fredericksburg. Frederickburg.”
One defeat does not mean victory.
ps Fuck 12.