A few days back I posted this diary, which received a ton of feedback. This is a bit of a follow-up.
This tweet is up to 2.5 million views, and has gone viral across other social media thanks to people posting/reposting screen shots of it on Facebook/Tumblr/etc. Some have stripped my name/ID out of it entirely, so it’s joined countless other “anonymous” memes in cyberspace. So be it.
Out of those 2.5 million views, several hundred Trump voters have angrily responded, generally along the following 4 lines:
1. The "flip it around" argument: ("Not every Hillary supporter is a criminal/corrupt/murderer/etc, but it wasn't a deal-breaker"...)
Well, first of all, Hillary isn't a criminal or a murderer. Whether she's "corrupt" depends on your definition of the term; No one who makes it that close to the White House is likely to be 100% clean. But fact-checkers have concluded that she's a hell of a lot more honest and INFINITELY less corrupt than Donald Trump, so that's pretty weak tea.
However, even if the "corruption wasn't a deal-breaker for H supporters" tit-for-tat response *was* accurate...that wouldn't make my own statement any less true: If you voted for Trump, you were at least willing to accept an openly racist, misogynistic xenophobe as your President.
2: The "that's not why I voted for him, how dare you!" argument.
Yes, I'm sure you had other concerns, other reasons. Maybe you like his tough talk about trade. Maybe you really do think he'd do a better job of dealing with terrorism. Maybe you really do think Hillary is an awful person.
That's exactly my point: Whatever your other reasons were, you decided that those reasons trumped (sorry!) your choice for President of the United States being a racist, misogynistic xenophobe.
If you feel that your choice was justified and you can live with it, fine...but don't try to deny it. For the rest of your life, deep in your heart, you'll always know that this is the choice you made.
3. "But a decent number of women, Hispanics & even some black folks voted for him!"
Yes, as did some Jews. During the 1940's, there was an organization of German Jews who supported Hitler as well. This presumably explains why in God’s name his son-in-law, an Orthodox Jew, would not only support him but be part of his inner circle. For some people, power trumps (sorry!) all else, even personal identity.
What of it? Every election season there are some number of pro-choice women who vote for anti-choice candidates. Some number of people vote against their own interests all the time.
Plus, while the single 140-character tweet only had room for one of them, they were also stating that misogyny, anti-semitism and xenophobia weren’t deal-breakers either. Some women are racist; some Hispanics are anti-semitic; some black people are misogynistic. Trump is so revolting on so many levels, there’s plenty to choose from! Pick your poison!!
Oh, and as an aside…
Despite their extreme patriotism, the German government did not accept their goal of assimilation. The Association of German National Jews was declared illegal and dissolved on 18 November 1935. Max Naumann, was arrested by the Gestapo the same day and imprisoned at the Columbia concentration camp. He was released after a few weeks, and died of cancer in May 1939.[3]
4. "Trump just said that stuff to get elected, he's not serious about deporting millions of immigrants, banning Muslims, overturning Roe v. Wade, overturning the right of same-sex couples to marry, etc etc..."
Really? So you voted for someone you knew was lying through his teeth about every one of the major campaign promises he made? That's lovely. Especially when one of your biggest criticisms of Hillary is that she’s “dishonest”.
However...if you needed any more proof that he's openly racist, misogynistic and xenophobic--AND will govern this way as President of the United States--look at his initial staffing picks:
Mike Pence: An open homophobe.
Steve Bannon: An open anti-semite.
Michael Flynn: An open Islamophobe.
Jeff Sessions: An open bigot.
None of these assholes have "controversial" views on these issues which are open to interpretation. They each have a long history of being very much up front and on the record about their views. There's no "misunderstandings" or "hyperbole".
Whatever Trump's *personal* or "real" views in his heart are irrelevant...because the people he's appointing to be in charge of the NSA, the CIA, the Justice Department, the FBI, the CDC, the HHS Dept., the Labor Dept, etc etc etc are (so far) pretty much all White Nationalists...and THEY, at least, are DEADLY serious about what they have in mind for the country.
Oh, and as a bonus: While Trump is stocking his cabinet with open White Nationalists, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are drooling at their chance to completely gut not only the ACA, but Medicaid *and* Medicare.
Yes, that's right: Medicare. They have plans on converting it into a voucher system next year (basically...coupons).
They voted for all of that.
But at least they don't have to listen to Hillary's "shrill" voice anymore.