Thank You, Donald Trump
By Alexandra Allred
Dear Mr. Trump –
As we move toward the 2020 elections, no matter the outcome, I
wanted to thank you. The changes that you brought about or certainly have put
in motion are historic and you must be credited properly.
You brought about a greater awareness of the importance of
science. When you disbanded the pandemic task force, endorsed a medication that
proved lethal, suggested dangerous at-home medical remedies, and erroneously
compared COVID-19 to the flu, shutting down actual scientific research and
medical professionals, it became apparent to all that science, not opinion,
must lead the way.
As the daughter of a U.S. Diplomat and one who has lived
overseas, I thank you for bringing the importance of foreign policy to the
forefront. Your administration has undone decades of carefully laid
relationships with other nations where shared intelligence kept the world a
safer place from nations that would do us great harm. Most Americans do not
understand the finer nuances of foreign policy but your actions with the
Ukrainian government, multiple broken treaties, and your willingness to attack
our allies only to make friends with strong men and dictators of hostile
nations, such as Russia and North Korea, proved that not only do we need our
allies more than ever or that democracy is always at risk but also that our
military intelligence is invaluable.
To that, as the daughter of one of the most notable Defense
Intelligence officers of our time, I thank you again. My father gathered
intelligence against the Soviets who armed our enemies, who hacked into our
military communities and betrayed peace treaties again and again, in order to
preserve peace and protect American lives. Your crass willingness to jeopardize
this intelligence and foreign policy AND American lives for a hotel brought spy
movies like Jason Bourne to life for Americans who otherwise did not
truly appreciate the importance of what our men and women in the DIA, CIA, FBI,
and armed forces do every day.
But how could you know? While my father did two tours in
Vietnam, surviving being shot over enemy territory, while he saved fellow
soldiers from a live grenade that had been rigged as a booby trap by the Viet
Cong and fought side-by-side with other young men just as scared but patriotic
as he, you tended to your bone spurs. He spoke six languages and dedicated his
life to military training, intelligence gathering, going places and doing
things that are still classified but it was you who told Anderson Cooper that
you knew more about the military than our generals. You were so out of the
depth, so far removed from reality, that not even you could understand how much
you don’t know.
When my father was captured and tortured by the Kuwait
government during the Cold War, he refused to give up any information. Your
willingness to share information with other nations and to have secret
conversations in which there are no known transcripts have been a terrifying red
flag for true Americans, patriots and veterans everywhere. You’ve shown the
need for a law that no sitting president should be able to hold private
meetings with hostile foreign leaders, particularly when personal gain in a
primary motive.
Thank you for making it clear to all Americans just what your
job description is. You are not in charge; we are. You are not a king; you are
our representative. And, just like in any corporation, the stock holders – we,
the people – are entitled by law to know who you meet and with what purpose.
Thank you for highlighting the legal issues involved with
presidents. The oath of presidency -- "I do
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of
the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and
defend the Constitution of the United States" -- is to be upheld. These
are not just words. Perhaps no one
tweeted those words to you, so you forgot them and what they mean.
Because you
have forgotten this oath so often, we, the people, have become more aware, more
in-tuned and more educated. During the pandemic, your
who’s-on-first-what’s-on-second leadership style, combined with having the most
unprepared, inept, unqualified friends, family members and/or favored partisan appointees
at the helm, has cost human lives, tanked our economy (thanks partly to the woeful
spending on a wall the majority of the nation did not want), sewn confusion and
dismay throughout the medical community (such as your own accusations that
nurses were stealing valuable equipment during a pandemic) and destroyed the
nation’s trust in our government leaders.
One such
favored appointee -- Betsy DeVoss, the sister of the founder of the private
military company Blackwater who helped to arrange a meet between you and Putin
-- was named Secretary of Education. Did you know that she has no degree in
education, has no teaching experience, no classroom experience, never attended
public school or a state university, yet is a big fan of charter schools as
they are profitable? Both your and her lack of basic understanding have further
damaged an already strained education system. When and only when there was
public outrage when she cut nearly $18 million from the Special Olympics, did
you intervene.
But, of
course, cronyism has no place in government, and popularity should not be the
driving force behind educating all citizens fairly and equally. The point is,
Mr. Trump, you’ve exposed cracks in our system. Education should be run by
those who have, minimum, five years of classroom experience (like my sister)
and nothing to gain personally from our education system, except the desire to
raise up all children from all walks or wheels of life.
As someone
who teaches the special populations, again, I would like to thank you for
mocking New York Times reporter Serge F. Kovaleski, who suffers from a congenital joint condition. That your
supporters would laugh, that you would make light of a medical issue reminded this
nation of how much more work is to be done in educating the public. A president
should be a role model, not a bully.
When you
freely, happily, admitted to Billy Bush during an “Access Hollywood” interview that you have assaulted many women,
you bragged, “"I don't even wait. And when you're a
star, they let you do it. You can do anything…Grab them by the pussy. You
can do anything." No one could be surprised, then, when you also verbally attack
private citizens, politicians, foreign leaders, even members of your own cabinet.
As school teachers around the nation have reported more bullying; as the FBI has
reported record-breaking numbers of racist assaults and varying activities; as
an unprecedented division in this nation’s modern history has risen since you
took office, I thank you again. You’ve become the poster boy for how one man
can embolden the weak to feel brave and how hate can grow if allowed. You have
taught us much about ourselves.
Thank you
for the changes you’ve made among white Americans. You’ve awakened us, forcing many to find a voice for the despair
we were feeling but had not yet put a sound to.
Thank you for making us call out our racist uncles and ignorant
cousins for their hate of other people and the hypocrisy of their supposed
faith. On a personal level, thank you for allowing my family to revisit the
extraordinary actions my mother took in the ‘60s for equality, reminding us of
how she drove black Americans to voting polls in Baltimore which had been
rezoned to keep blacks from voting. You remind us that one person can make a
difference.
Thank you for highlighting Colin Kaepernick’s peaceful protests
against racial inequality. One by one, white players, even owners, spoke out
against racism in a renewed movement that inspired other sports athletes to
react and act. ESPN’s Mike Wilbon, for example, received a text message from
retired NBA player Rex Chapman, who wrote, “I’m sorry
about Trump. I’ve never been more ashamed. I hope you knew this before, but in
case you didn’t I need to say it now. Love you Brother.” Even as you were dividing us, you were
uniting us.
As Colin – just one person – exercised his civil rights as an
American you railed against the entire NFL, calling for the demise of an $8.1
billion industry while calling white supremists “very fine people,” following
the murder of peaceful protestor Heather Heyer. Because of you, Mr. Trump,
#BlackLivesMatter became important to millions of white Americans who finally
understood that silent protests offer no protection for anyone and hurt everyone.
You have united us in speaking up, speaking out, taking a knee, and giving a
damn.
White America is finally getting woke under your watch.
Your attack on the NFL is understandable if not predictable. As
a failed USFL owner, it is your nature to attack those who beat you. Thus, when
Hillary won the popular vote despite an election that was hacked into by the
very Russians you invited to release FAKE emails (but then you know all about
fake news, don’t you?); when President Obama’s popularity continued to haunt
you, you invented Obamagate. And, when fact-checking reporters ask you to offer
details on otherwise baseless statements, you punish everyone around you. And,
again, for this I am thankful.
Because of you, we are listening more than ever to our
intelligence agencies. Because of you, we are reprioritizing education,
science, social justice, and tradition. You are the first president to refuse to
reveal his predecessor’s portrait to the halls of our White House because he so
intimidates you. Future presidents understand how childish this is and will not
make the same mistake. You coerced another nation into nominating you for the
Nobel Peace Prize, so desperate for a medal, and bribed and coerced yet another
to dig up information on a political rival. You pushed Twitter to putting on Fact-Checking
flags but from sheer exhaustion, news agencies around the world gave up
counting your lies after reaching the milestone of more than 20,000 false or
misleading statements. No other living president can make that claim.
You have done much in just four short years. Thank you.
We are woke.
We had become complacent. We’d become so used to the Mitch McConnells,
the Lindsay Grahams, the Steve Kings of our political system that when a
crotch-grabbing, lying TV reality star offered up lies of financial security
and revenue wizardry, people believed. Still, today, rather than share your
promised tax returns, you’ve secretly gone to court to block all access so that
the world may never know of all the foreign banks you have loans with, or how
many bankruptcies, defaulted payments, lawsuits, and forgeries you’ve been part
of. While we know that you’ve stolen from your own charities, we still do not
know the extent.
Nor can we know the extent of Trump-onomics just yet. In
February 2019, well before the pandemic – one that you denied would cause any
harm – ever hit, the Trump administration created the largest debt the United
States has ever known, sitting at $22 billion. Then came your wall. Then came
your plan to weaken the US dollar to grow the economy. By February 2020, you
declared that the US economy was “roaring,” “the best it has ever been,” and
moving at an “unimaginable pace.” As you stretched our seams to the breaking
point, the pandemic that was never supposed to exist struck.
I cannot and I will not thank you for this.
The pain and suffering, the deaths, the fear, the loss of income
and hope, all of which could have been dramatically slowed, is now part of your
legacy. You dismissed this as something you had “very much under control” and
that was going to “disappear. . . like a miracle.” You continued spreading information that was almost as
dangerous as the virus itself. You incited violence against governors who
disagreed with you, you stalled on the Defense Production Act even when you
knew bodies piled up, and you refused to wear a mask. And when this nation
buried its 100,000th victim in just three months you, the Twitter-ranting,
attention-seeking, Fox-News-pandering media whore, were so suddenly silent
about Covid-19. But not about Twitter fact-checking you or for labeling your
tweets as violating the company’s policies regarding the “glorification of
violence.” The “glorification of violence” – another first for an American
president.
As the daughter of a man, a hero, who now resides in a memory
with dementia, your refusal to wear a mask is a threat against my father; it is
a disgusting display of disregard and disrespect for those who have died and
their families who grieve them; and, worse, it is a slap in the faces of all
our brave nurses and doctors and first responders who are literally begging
people to wear masks as they fight for both ours and their own lives. But you are
unmoved, for you see this only as a media stunt in terms of your election
chances and pandering to your base. You called it ‘political correctness.’
Make no mistake, correctness is coming.
We will correct those weaknesses you have shown us in our
structure, in our politicians, in our laws, and in ourselves.
Quite literally, we can no longer afford to say, “All
politicians are corrupt.” You’ve shown us that there is a bottom to the swamp.
You’ve drug us there.
Today, it is clear that we need new guidelines that must be
upheld for a president – any president – moving forward.
If nothing else is ever said of you, let it be said that you did
change US politics and policies.
·
A sitting president must
show all tax returns to the American people. We must know that a future
president is in no way indebted to another country or leader. He or she must
not profit from acting as president.
·
An acting president
must not attack private citizens, make up school-yard names to call other
politicians who disagree with him or her, or make threats against the media,
any government agencies or private companies who require facts, not conspiracy
theories.
·
An acting president
cannot fire a government official out of fear or retribution or for personal
gain.
·
A sitting president
may not hold secret, undocumented meetings with foreign leaders.
And alongside the president, we must also expect the same
standards from the First Lady or First Man. Lying about education, employment,
citizenship is not acceptable. Just as the president works for the people, so,
too, does the First Lady. Simply residing in the big White House is not enough.
Rather, imagine having a doctor in the house. Imagine Dr. Jill Biden, a true educator, as
First Lady. Imagine a family rich in military history and respect for our
veterans; imagine a strong education background; imagine a First Lady who is
truly active in her community. Imagine a First Lady who cares.
These are things, I know, that would be hard for you to imagine.
You do not see women as leaders because strong women threaten you. You do not
respect women because, well, strong women do not respect you. So to compensate,
you mock women’s strengths and belittle their abilities. But this disdain of
women has emboldened us. Thank you.
Your role in the #metoo movement is bigger than you will allow
yourself to imagine. The #WomensMarch, our new resolve, the camaraderie and
commitment to ensure future generations both note and abhor your damage in
wonderous, and I thank you.
Our expectations are, perhaps, even higher than when then-candidate
Obama once proclaimed, Yes, We Can!
It is now Yes! We Will!
Women matter. People of color matter. People of all backgrounds
matter. Our senior citizens and our children matter. The military, our first
responders, our nurses and doctors matter, and, so, too, do science, education,
the freedom of press, and honesty and integrity.
When you leave the White House, Mr. Trump, it is my profound
hope that you will have learned something about the American people – how we
truly live, how we struggle but rally, though divided by state we are united;
that however you hoped to pit us, one against the other, America is and has
always been a melting pot. We are all cultures, all religions, all backgrounds.
There is no wall that can change that; there is no wall that will ever divide
us. We are a diverse and beautiful nation steeped with tradition in serving
neighboring nations, investing in world health, determined to help all of
humanity. Just as you missed the meaning behind the oath of the presidency, you
may have missed the words inscribed on our Statue of Liberty. To your defense,
it is probably hard to read the words from your very insulated tower of twitter,
but it goes like this:
"Give me your
tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe
free, The wretched refuse of your teeming
shore, Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the
golden door!"
This is our
history – a history that belongs to all people, not just one person. This is
who we are. We do not cage; we protect. We do not bully; we embrace. We will
not go back in time but continue to move forward, always fighting for equality,
innovation, inclusion and invention.
And to
these certain and undeniable facts, I say thank you one final time.
Thank you
for reminding us of these values, of our history and modern principles. We are
ever-growing, evergreen, ever hopeful, ever-changing and will, once again, stand
together to make America great … and know that when we do, we will lift up the
world to stand, not against us, but with us.
Thank but
not thanks,
American Citizen
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