Just One Day

I'm a Democrat, but not as passionately so as some people I know. That's why I didn't vote for Donald Trump, but when he won, I, much like Dave Chappelle, tried to put my distaste and doubts aside and wished him well. "Maybe he'll surprise us all and turn out to be a decent president," I told myself. See, I'm fairly easy to please. I didn't demand greatness. "Decent" was fine enough for me, it really was.

Pretty much from day one, Mr. Trump has consistently forced me to lower my standards. Even Bush, Jr., of whom I am no fan by any means, occasionally did or said something I could agree with. But Trump is just borderline insane. And sometimes I wonder if I should qualify that phrase with the term "borderline." Now, I don't use the descriptor "insane" lightly. I've always had a major issue with people from both the left and the right who see the other side as "insane" or "evil" or just plain "stupid." Once you start using those words to describe your political opposites, you're usually not interested in dialogue, but more in venting your one-sided frustration. No middle ground or progress can ever be made when each side considers the other evil, insane, or stupid. And whenever I'd have discussions with Republicans who were tempted to point those accusations at the Clintons or Barack Obama, I'd always point out that political differences don't equal evil, insanity, or stupidity. That even when Bush infuriated me, a part of me always remembered that he earnestly loved America, and was doing the best he could to improve and protect the nation. I agreed with almost none of his methods of doing so, but I at least knew that his heart was in the right place. I just can't say the same for Donald Trump.

I'm not going to list all of the many things Trump has done and said that I passionately disagree with. The list would be too long and wearying. But I do want to say just a few words about the two most recent issues I have with him.

Mr. Trump, can we at least get on board the same train to the glorious destination where we can all agree that Nazis are not the good guys? Does someone have to tie you down and force you to read a book or two on the subject of Nazis and their goals, or, since you lack the attention span to read books, at least watch Schindler's List? I mean . . . I'm trying to wrap my head around your argument that both sides are equally to blame for the chaos and violence in Charlottesville. Your argument that Nazis and the people who oppose them are equally bad. But I'm having a hard time coming up with any explanation for your comments other than that you lack any sense or decency or morality.

Then, Mr. President, you announce that you're seriously considering giving a presidential pardon to a sheriff who was imprisoned for illegal harassment of immigrants and minorities. Then to read that, after you've backtracked from your "both sides are to blame" comments, you've . . . I don't know, "forwardtracked"? -- back to your original stance on the issue. Nope. You're back to insisting that Nazis may be bad, but those damn lefties are equally bad. For not liking Nazis and their goals and their views. It's mind-boggling. And yet not surprising. Mr. President, you've actually forced us to qualify the word "shocking." In a relatively short period of time, we've all gotten to the point where when you do something we all describe as "shocking," we have to clarify that we are shocked only in the sense that we are outraged, but not "shocked" in the sense of "surprised." You've managed to routinely shock us and no longer surprise us.

Now, Mr. President, as I've said, I've already lowered my standards from "great" to "decent," and by now, you've already proven that expecting even a minimum of decency is expecting far too much. How about this as a new standard: One day. Because, and I never thought this would be possible, but in six months, not a single day of your administration has gone by without you doing or saying something that has made me and millions of other Americans cringe in embarrassment, fear, and outrage. Can we please have just one day when you don't do this? When you don't attack someone for simply not agreeing with you, one day when you don't do or say something that embarrasses the United States of America? So we, as a nation, can look each other and even other nations in the eye, and, just for a moment, say, "maybe it's not so bad"? That way, when it comes time for your re-election campaign, and I say, "he did something every day that embarrassed and horrified all decent Americans!" a Trump supporter can say, for example, "oh yeah, what about September 29, 2017?" and I'd at least have to nod and say, "okay, you have a point, I guess it wasn't every day."

One day. That's all I ask for now. It's not enough, not nearly enough, that much is obvious. But it would be a nice start.