Snowflake

This was a historic week in more ways than one. We saw the installation of a new President of the United States. To be honest, I was one of those people who didn’t really believe that President Trump had a snowball’s chance in Miami of becoming the 45^th President of the United States, at least in the beginning. Then, after a few months, I saw a movement in this Country. People who had never participated in the political process were suddenly wearing caps and attending rallies. Donald Trump, a born and bred millionaire who became a billionaire, struck a chord with everyday people. Did I understand the fervor that he inspired? Well, no. Honestly, I didn’t. But I saw it, and it only grew stronger as the opposition pressed harder. I think that it has to be said that if the left leaning politicos and pundits missed it, then that was their bad. It was there for everyone to see. If this man, this billionaire, could light the fire under the formerly uninterested, exactly what was the left missing? What was the right missing? Make no mistake about it, the far right doesn’t want Donald Trump to be the the 45^th President of the United States anymore than the left does; they are just hiding it way, way better.

I keep hearing that Trump didn’t win the majority vote. So, what? He won what mattered, and no one was bickering about electoral votes three weeks, three days, or three minutes before the numbers started rolling in on Election Day. I am not a Trump fan. I am not a Trump detractor. I sit somewhere in the middle, or at least I did until noon on January 20, 2017. Now, I am clearly and unapologetically in his corner. He is the President of the United States of America, and to wish him anything but godspeed is to wish pain, poverty, and plight on our children and grandchildren. I am not so mired in my lofty political posturings that I would ever wish anything but the very best for the President of the Untied States of America. His success is my success, your success, my son’s success, and my future grandchildren’s success. I hope and pray that he is everything that his supporters believe he is and that his detractors are convinced that he is not.

I know that many women, and some men, took to the streets this weekend. To be honest, I am not really sure why, and I don’t believe that most of them are sure, either. I don’t understand preemptive protest. You cannot protest what has not happened. Ergo, the march this weekend was not a protest. There were as many reasons for marching as there were marchers. There was no unity of purpose. Most of those marching for equality have never known anything but equality, and those that have should recognize the difference. I listened to as many of the speeches as I could handle before I turned to something more productive and pleasant (almost anything), and one in particular was upset that Trump did not include her “Muslim brothers and the LGBTQ (why now add a Q?) community,” in his speech when he said Black, Brown, and White. I just gotta say, there is something really, really off here. I consider myself to be leaning left of the middle when it comes to social issues, but I found the weekend’s activities to be insulting. Please do not ever think that my gender or my social conscious aligns me with those that scream for no other reason than to raise their voice. The world is full of injustice for everyone: Black, White, Brown, male, female, or other. Everyone deals with injustice because there is no universal “fair.” I will not lay the problems of my generation or gender at the feet of a man who has been in office for less than 24 hours. Donald Trump simply does not have the power to impact society in the manner that he has been accused. My suggestion would be this: if you don’t want President Trump to have the power to swipe you with the wand of inequality, then quit acting as if he is all powerful.

I am aware that some women and men will be offended at my viewpoint, and that is okay. I am not a “snowflake,” and I don’t need a safe place, nor feel the urge to take to the streets in pre protest for some unknown future action. I believe in equality, and I believe in fairness. I believe in fighting the good fight when it needs to be fought. I also believe that it is too early to cry foul about policy that has not been initiated, and that the only thing that has happened so far is that Trump was inaugurated as the 45^th President of the United States. It is time to take off the shroud and get back to the business of living.