DEAR AMERICA

OPEN LETTER TO:  62.9 Million Americans

Dear 62.9 Million Americans, (aka Trump voters)

Eight years ago I looked on in wonder as the American People elected as your 44^th President, an African American. I and most of the world were inspired by this “leap forward” you were making. It was to say the least inspirational. It was an act that demonstrated to the world, to those young and old, from all ethnicities and religious backgrounds that no matter where you have been you can always move forward; that you can break the chains of your past no matter how painful and difficult that past was. In 2008 no more than 143 years after the abolition of slavery and 43 years after the institution of the “ Voting Rights Acts” you elected an African American man into the highest and most powerful position on earth. The world looked upon you with renewed hope and belief that any Country, any people, any race could overcome the greatest of barriers, darkest of histories and move “Forward”.

Yesterday, Tuesday November 08, 2016, I sat in front of the TV with my 13 year old son and watched as you collectively turned back time 100 years. We watched as you sent a message to the world that no matter how far "Forward" you can go, you can always go “Backwards”. There are few words to describe that feeling. To look at your 13 year old son and try to explain to him how the most advanced, prosperous and progressive society could make the decision you made. There was no way to explain, nor is there any explanation you can offer to justify what you have done. No logic applicable to defend your putting into the greatest and most prestigious seat of power an individual who over the course of the last 16 months (and most of his life)  has shown themselves to be a racist, bigot, sexist, misogynist, narcissistic, pathological liar. Just to name a few. Yes I know someone is going to tell me that you had no good option, that one was just as bad as the other. Wrong! That is the biggest cop-out ever. If you could not see the difference between the two options then you can only chalk up your choice to having the same values as the person who beside their name you put your X.

No woman who voted for Trump can defend their vote. No man who has a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, or daughter can defend voting for him. No African American or Latino can defend voting for him based on the premise that they voted for the best of two evils. Or that it was some type of political revolution. To attempt to do so undermines not only your credibility but your alleged vote of defiance against, “the System”. You see therein lies the kicker. By voting for him you actually voted for the system and against yourself. You voted for an individual without morals, convictions or concern for his fellow man and woman. An individual who got rich taking advantage of the very systems you claim to despise. A man who made himself rich off the backs of the working class, the middle class. A man who bankrupted companies and walked away leaving the small business owner high and dry, unpaid for their services and work. A man who worked the system by seldom paying taxes thereby rarely ever paying anything into the agencies/institutions you so value; social security, the military, education and on and on. In voting for him you effectively voted for that which you claim to be against. More importantly though, in so doing you have shown your true colors. A person votes for a politician who most closely reflects their values and their ideologies. You simply can`t pretend the contrary or chose to ignore who that individual is and what they say or do on the back of "craving change". Nor can you simply claim it was a protest vote against the establishment or the ''other'' candidate.

Now you have handed the keys to your great Nation to a man so resoundingly undeserving of the house. You have mortgaged your children’s and your grandchildren’s future with a false prophet, a snake oil salesman of the grandest scale. The harsh reality (this won't set in for awhile) is now you can never go back. You can never again claim the high ground against those Nations, organizations or individuals you so loudly claim to despise and deplore for their values as you have now voted for those very same values. There is no way back. It will take decades to undo what you have done. The saddest part is I truly believe most of you do not even have a clue what you have done and that unto itself is terrifying. The most difficult part is that you have now collectively lost the trust and respect of half the people of your own Nation and those of the people of other Nations who will never believe in any good measure or effort you ever attempt to undertake from this point forward. You have forever tarnished the veneer of your Nation and diminished its luster and credibility worldwide.

Over the next few days I challenge you to sit with your 13 year old, or your young growing daughter, or your Latino neighbor, or your mother, or your Muslim and African American co-workers and tell them how you justify your vote. Explain to them what exactly your vote is going to do to improve their quality of life. How it is going to improve their life experience or make it a better Nation. Explain to them how you do not share the same opinions, values or ideologies as the man you voted for but that you had to choose between the lesser of two evils. I wish you good luck with that! Because in the darkest recesses you know why you voted the way you did. You voted that way because he best represents exactly what you truly are deep down inside. Knowing that can at times be very difficult to live with….just ask people who have supported regimes that littered our historical landscape with the darkest moments of our time. You will be remembered as the people who started it all....whatever "all" turns out to be....P.S. It won`t be good.

In the wee hours of this morning, my son looked over at me and asked me this, “Dad, don`t you have to be eighteen to vote?” I responded. “Yes!” He then said, “given the results coming in you would think it was a bunch of 8 year olds voting. I am 13 and I would never vote for someone like Trump…” That my 61.2 million Americans pretty much sums up how far backwards you have gone!