Am I Ashamed?

I've been ashamed of a few things in my life.  I've made some bad decisions and after I made them I was ashamed.  When I think back to those things, I know I was to blame. It was my fault and only mine.  For some of those bad decisions I paid a huge price and for some I paid nothing.  But I learned something each time and I won't make those same mistakes again.  I promise.

What happens when a whole country makes a mistake?  I guess we're going to find out.  As we all start to realize what electing Donald Trump really means, I think we're going to realize that we made a mistake.  And when we come to our senses and realize that we were scammed, then I think we're going to be both angry as hell and ashamed of our choice.  This man does not represent what we are as a country and he never will.  He doesn't want to and he doesn't care.

I spent a few years of my working life doing work abroad and I still keep in touch with some of the people I worked with.  After a month of Donald Trump, they started asking me "What the fuck are you people doing?  What is wrong with you?  How stupid are you?  Why did you do this?"  Unfortunately, I didn't have an answer.  I could have made something up, but I didn't want to.  I had done that in the past and I didn't want to do it again.  I just couldn't.  I had learned from my mistakes.

While I believe that America is a great country, I didn't have an answer to their questions, so I just told them so.  It's really hard to get behind something that you just don't believe in and that's particularly true in this case.  I just though it was better to tell them what I really thought, but I didn't have an answer and I didn't want to make one up. So I just told them that we had made a huge mistake, we would learn from it, and it would eventually be corrected.

I could write about Donald Trump for a long time here, but I think you're smart enough to figure this out on your own. He's been our president for 100+ days and, in those 100 days, he's succeeded in returning us all to the 1970's with regard to foreign policy, social programs, governmental ethics, environmental preservation, and countless other areas.  Most of you know it, but some of you will take some time to figure it out because you voted for what you thought was the best candidate.  

But you will figure it out for yourselves when your health insurance premiums go up, your take home pay goes down because billionaires got a huge tax break and a new Ferrari, and the government is no longer there to help you when you really, really, REALLY need it.  I'm ashamed that we're letting him do it.  Deeply, deeply ashamed that we're allowing this to happen.

When I say I'm ashamed, it's different now than it was 20 years ago.  I used to be ashamed of the bad things I had done, but now I'm ashamed to be associated with a person who is nothing more than a cheap, opportunistic game show host who panders to people who don't know any better and never will because it's easier and they don't want to.  Unfortunately, he's the President Of the United States Of America.  We elected him and he's here to stay until we muster the fortitude to admit that we made a mistake and take whatever action necessary to fix our mistake.  

And that's why I'm ashamed to be an American today.  This is the first time in my life I've ever said that, but it's true.  I'm ashamed of our president and I hope the whole world doesn't judge us based on the bad decision we made during the last presidential election.

Make your own decisions.  Fighting the Donald Trump battle might not be for you, even if you believe in it.  If it is for you, then fight it.  Speak out, go to the Indivisible rallies, call your legislators.  DO SOMETHING.  Please don't just wait and see what happens.  It won't end well for you or for any of us.  DO SOMETHING.  Speak out here or on facebook or Twitter or in your local coffee shop or workplace, but DO SOMETHING and make people realize what we've done.  It's not too late to fix it, but if you wait too long it will be.  DO SOMETHING.  Now.  Please.