The title to this post came from a Facebook friend's page. At first, I simply chuckled, and, then, I pondered it a little while and came to align with her. It has indeed been a very odd and strange week, the first week of a new administration.
Who did you think we were going to get as a newly installed president in his second non-consecutive term? Is he doing the things you had hoped he would do when you pressed the button on the voting machine? Or, is he behaving differely? Worse? Better?
Those last questions may merit some parsing. If we are what we eat, then, are we also who we vote for? This opinion will offend some, but my own answer is "I think so." If the current president won by some small percentage, and if the third party voters added 1.06% to the mix, then he got a small number of Americans to align with him. At the same time, he garnered the support of white, conservative, evangelicals, and not a small number who are not well educated. I ponder then and think about my family and friends, how could they vote for him, twice impeached, stirred up an insurrection, raped a woman and has to pay a ton of money to her for that event and for her disparagement of her, lied and knew he was lying about the stolen election, demands loyalty or you'll experience the wrath of his revenge, a convicted felon, one who pardons criminals who killed people or maimed people and spread feces on the walls of one of the People's buildings as he watched, a serial adulterer, and the list can go on and on and on and on.
If that guy is president, am I in some way reflected in what and who he is?
I think so.
Look at what he is doing now that he's in office. Those values continue unabated. Deporting millions of people, vowing to make groceries and gas cheaper, nominated some wealthy and lacking in character people for key positions (think Hudspeth and you've got it narrowed down quickly), closing NIH and research down for some undetermined time, ceasing economic support to our neighbors around the world for 90 days, and the list goes on and on. I supposed that some things you expected, if you voted for him, and I suspect that he is doing some things that you did not know he would do.
All that he is doing is consistent with his character, or lack thereof. And all that he is doing is consistent with you, the people who voted for him.
At least we don't have Kamala Harris as president as one of my long time friends wrote this morning. I find that comment both curious and disturbing.
A while back, I asked my friends on Facebook to tell me back-channel, not for public viewing or commenting, how their theology informed who they would vote for, Harris/Walz or Trump/Vance. Know how many independents/democrats informed me? Somewhere close to ten, give or take. Know how many republicans informed me? Zero. None. Zilch. That caused me to stop and think as to why none would comment. I know some. I know a lot of them. They pick on me on FB. They are family and they are friends, long term and short term. Maybe I am not trustworthy with their opinions. Maybe they didn't have the time to comment. Maybe they simply didn't care to comment. Or, maybe, just maybe, they do not have a theology that informs their voting habits or voting in this election.
Either direction, I thought that was pretty telling.
This isn't the time nor the place, but choosing Trump over Harris is pretty indicting within and of itself. I am like a lot of researchers around the country. America would rather have a guy who fits the description up in that long paragraph rather than a Black woman. We've already had one Black president and that was enough. Yes, we are sexist and we are racist. Only white men need apply.
Kamala Harris grew up in a historically Black Baptist church along with an unnamed temple. I suspect that she reads her Bible, and that she prays, and that she ponders the connections between her spiritual values and her political views. I'm not so sure about President Trump. I suspect that his faith and his politics are safely boxed up in separated boxes, some of which he may not even know.
As an aside, I appreciate what the United Methodist Church did. They developed and then released their theology of voting. Vote for the common good. That's what I did. I did not vote for Trump because I know what he did to the Office of Civil Rights during his first term. He dismantled it the way Reagan did in 1983. A dismantled OASCR is impotent in pursuing and mediating complaints of discrimination against Black farmers by white officials at the county level. That's just one illustration.
The most disturbing event of the week was the church service last Tuesday morning. At the end of her sermon, she gently and respectfully requested that President Trump have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now. And, sad to say, they have every right to be scared. To be scared makes sense. It is wise. It just may protect someone from further harm. Here is that sermon. I thought it was brilliant. The nonverbals of President Trump and Vice President Vance are pretty telling.
Later, President Trump on his page on Truth Social issues a scathing rebuke of her and her sermon and demanded an apology. I'll not put his vitriolic page up here on my page. However, you can read about it here at this URL. Or, a simple google search will give you more information than you want.
I would like a president who has reasonable policies. I do not want a president who is mean-spirited, who has thin skin and who will respond with venom against anyone perceived to be his enemy. I do not want a vengeful president, one who will wreak havoc on those who disagree with him. I do not want a president who denies the seriousness of J6, plans to indict the members of the J6 committee, and has now exonerated those who committed violence and murder and lesser offenses. They surely feel justified and Trump has released them on America.
I understand that empathy is not being disparaged as an opponent of truth. Where did it enter our public vernacular that one cannot be truthful and empathic at the same time. That makes me scratch my head more than once.
So, yes, this week has indeed been the longest year of my life. I suspect that is the case for some of us, but not for all of us. I suspect that for some of us, we are glorying at the events. If I am suspicious of Trump's character and motives, and if you support him without question, then I feel morally obligated to observe the fruit of your life.
And, what will next week bring? Another year of our lives?
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