I have made many decisions in my life. I am proud of some of them, not so proud of others and regretful of many. This is the essence of humanity; every human being is forced to make decisions. Our decisions affect how people view us, influence our future, determine our place in society and control our state of mind. Last November, Americans were forced to make a decision on who would run our country and government. The decision was made through the system of the electoral college and Donald J. Trump now holds the title of President of the United States of America.
I joined approximately 138,884,643 Americans in making a decision on the Presidency last November, but in the months prior to the election, I made another decision; a decision that I am beyond proud of and am more than happy for having made. In the summer of 2016, I switched my political allegiance from Republican/conservative to Democratic/liberal.
For most of my life before this summer, I had an incredibly strong allegiance to the Republican Party; I bashed and loathed Democrats, idolized Fox News, boycotted CNN, frequently criticized Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats, frowned and grew outraged at protests like burning the American flag, considered Ronald Reagan to my political and social hero, joked that “there is a reason that the animal symbol of the Democrats is a donkey”, refused to consider liberal beliefs and told myself that I would never, ever become a liberal.
Then, something happened. A man who I did not take seriously or care for even before he announced his candidacy for President started to appear in the media more and more often.
“He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, okay?”
“They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists.”
“You gotta see this guy, ‘Uh, I don’t know what I said! Uh, I don’t remember!’”
“I love the old days. You know what they use to do to guys like that in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”
“Obama said the biggest problem we have is global warming and by the way, it’s supposed to be 70 degrees today. It’s freezing here! Speaking of global warming, where is – we need some global warming!”
“He referred to my hands, ‘if they’re small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you, there’s no problem.”
“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her ‘wherever’ and in my opinion, she was very off-base.”
I watched in absolute confusion and horror. Wait. This was Conservatism? This was who Republicans were going to nominate? And people are actually supporting him and encouraging him? During that summer, I read Bernie Sanders’ literature and began to respect him more and more as a politician and person. I announced my allegiance to his campaign in late June on social media and fell disappointed when he lost the nomination for the Democratic Party. I, yet again, felt conflicted on what I was supposed to do when my ballot arrived: should I write-in Sanders’ name? Should I not vote at all? These thoughts ruthlessly crossed my mind in the weeks prior to Election Day, but on Oct. 7, 2016, I heard the most repulsive, vile, disgusting and unethical words ever to leave a presidential candidate’s mouth come from Trump:
“I just start kissing them. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything … grab ‘em by the p***y.”
“I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture and I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.’”
“I moved on her and I failed. I admit it. I did try and f**k her. She was married.”
The millisecond after I heard this tape, I quickly filled in the box next to Hillary Clinton’s and Tim Kaine’s names on my ballot.
I took a stand against one of the worst human beings ever to walk the planet. I refused to give this disgusting, arrogant and filterless man my vote or support. I went against my family and many of my friends by making this decision. Although my vote was not enough to keep him from getting elected, I still am proud of myself for making this decision and will continue to make the decision to oppose him, his policies and his administration.
The fact of the matter is this: if you are not taking a stand against this man or declaring your opposition towards him, you are supporting him. There is no such thing as neutrality when it comes to Trump. Never before in the history of the United States have we elected a more controversial figure as President.
“Sitting on the sidelines this time around is not okay,” YouTuber Casey Neistat said in a video about the 2016 Election on Oct. 11, 2016. “This election is different. And if this guy gets elected and you stood back with your arms folded and didn’t speak out against him, it makes you complicit. It makes you partially responsible for handing him the reigns of power.”
If you are not against Trump, you are with him. If you do not speak out against him, you are supporting him. If you do not take a stand against this lying, idiotic, misinformed, tax-avoiding, racist, misogynistic, pompous and sexist subhuman, you are saying that you are okay with everything he has said and done.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I share and post so many Anti-Trump and liberal things on social media. That is why I will strongly, vocally, proudly and passionately condemn Trump, his policies and his administration.
