Why do I write about evacuating for Hurricane Irma and never mention the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria? Why do I avoid writing about my day to day life and the current sociopolitical climate? It is ugly. I will first tackle the second question because it leads to the answer to my first question.
I will never forget my sense of disbelief and despair on November 8, 2016, when the electoral college elected Donald Trump (R) over Hillary Clinton (D). How was it possible? Clinton won by more than three million of the popular vote. Donald Trump, an American billionaire, had never held any political office. He was rude, crude and held openly racist views and bragged about sexually assaulting women and getting away with it. Married three times, the Christian right hailed him as their champion because he opposed abortion and was a strong supporter of gun rights. Since his election, he has voiced his support for Russia and Vladimir Putin while insulting American heroes and attacking the free press on a daily basis.
Since his inauguration, we have moved from one scandal to the next and from one crisis to another. I feel like a reverberating bell. When I have not yet stopped reverberating from the clang of something as racist as an immigration ban on Muslims, there comes another scandal, like the Environmental Protection Agency stripping away clean air and water regulations, and Trump’s numerous attempts to repeal the American Healthcare Act and scaling back Social Security and Medicare benefits. His administration is trying to privatize the American education system and laid bare the school lunch program and other programs to feed the poor.
Trump has attacked everything except the rights of multi-billion dollar corporations. He refused to endorse the Paris Climate Accord leaving us and Syria the only two nations that have not endorsed this world-wide effort to clean up the earth, and not ratified previously negotiated trade agreements because they are according to him, not fair to Americans. The most important issue is an investigation by the Justice Department and similar weak attempts by the Senate and House into possible collusion with Russia to throw the election. Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and several states’ voting systems. We do not yet know the extent of the damage. I don’t even recognize my country anymore. Can this really be the U.S.A.? Worse yet, Trump is recklessly courting a war with North Korea. That cannot end well for millions in both North and South Korea, Japan and China… and the United States.
Enter Hurricane Maria. In August, Hurricane Harvey, a category two storm struck Houston. The damage was unimaginable. A month later, Hurricane Irma struck Florida, and less than two weeks later, Hurricane Maria, a category five storm struck Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Island and devastated those islands. It left little standing in its wake. More than a month later, less than 20% of Puerto Rico residents have electric or clean water.
How did Trump respond? Within three days he visited Houston and committed every possible resource to rebuild the area. He responded just as quickly to Florida after Irma, but while Maria was wiping out Puerto Rico and for the days after, Trump played golf at one of his resorts and tweeted incessantly against NFL players who kneeled rather than stood for the national anthem. Kneeling was in protest of the thousands of black men who die every year at the hands of law enforcement officers who are rarely held accountable. In too many instances, these black men were unarmed or shot in the back. Trump, however, is racist. It maddened him that these players dared to ‘disrespect’ the American flag.
Back to Puerto Rico. When Trump did finally tweet about Puerto Rico, he mentioned the territory’s massive debts and how bad their infrastructure was before the storm. It took him three weeks to visit Puerto Rico to offer his support for its residents. It got uglier from there as he launched a personal attack against San Juan’s mayor. Puerto Rico is still a mess, and the newest scandal/crisis is four soldiers died in Niger earlier this month, and Trump and the Secretary of State insulted the wife of the only black soldier who died on that mission.
Trump is devastating the American sociopolitical landscape as surely as the hurricanes destroyed our soil. He is dividing the Republican Party and turning it into something not recognizable anymore. There are no more moderates. Republicans have moved to the extreme right, and any legislator who speaks or votes against them is labeled unpatriotic and un-American. When he campaigned, it was on the promise that he would change Washington forever. He is succeeding. I cannot help but wonder what will become of decent Republicans with a social conscience. I think Hurricane Trump has effectively annihilated them, at least for today. Will I live long enough to see the party regain its senses and recover from this? Ω
dottieriley 