A question for Americans who don't support Trump: Have you been able to maintain friendships with people who voted to take healthcare away from others?
I don't really personally know anyone who voted for such things-there's my relatives who supported Trump, but I don't see them often enough and am hardly ever on Facebook enough to interact with them, so I just sigh when I hear about them supporting the GOP and move on.
But I will say that the healthcare issue, and the GOP's attitude on it, has been one of the biggest reasons I cannot respect or support them. Their attitude on it has seriously pissed me off so much. It's based on nothing but coldness and ignorance and selfishness.
And I will never forget that primary debate a number of years back, before Obamacare was officially a thing, where the moderator asked the GOP candidates on stage what should happen to people who can't afford healthcare, if they should die...and some in the crowd CHEERED at that. Given what my family had been going through at that time, that hit me especially hard and had me so fucking angry I wanted to punch my TV screen.
I just...I don't get how people can think that way. I don't get how people think it's okay for somebody to not be able to afford to go to a doctor, to just live with health issues because they don't have the money to treat them. How heartless do you have to be to think that's acceptable?
That article on the Muslim woman who worked in the White House was a good read, too. Eyeopening and heartbreaking. Especially this part:
When Trump first called for a Muslim ban, reports of hate crimes against Muslims spiked. The trend of anti-Muslim hate crimes is ongoing, as mosques are set on fire and individuals attacked––six were killed at a mosque in Canada by a self-identified Trump supporter.
Throughout 2015 and 2016, I watched with disbelief, apprehension, and anxiety, as Trump’s style of campaigning instigated fear and emboldened xenophobes, anti-Semites, and Islamophobes. While cognizant of the possibility of Trump winning, I hoped a majority of the electorate would never condone such a hateful and divisive worldview.
During the campaign last February, Obama visited a Baltimore mosque and reminded the public that “we’re one American family, and when any part of our family starts to feel separate … It’s a challenge to our values.” His words would go unheeded by his successor.
The climate in 2016 felt like it did just after 9/11. What made it worse was that this fear and hatred were being fueled by Americans in positions of power. Fifth-grade students at a local Sunday school where I volunteered shared stories of being bullied by classmates and teachers, feeling like they didn’t belong here anymore, and asked if they might get kicked out of this country if Trump won. I was almost hit by a car by a white man laughing as he drove by in a Costco parking lot, and on another occasion was followed out of the metro by a man screaming profanities: “Fuck you! Fuck Islam! Trump will send you back!”
Hey, Trump supporters? This is why what your president says matters. This is why you shouldn't brush off their xenophobic comments as "just jokes" or "Oh, they didn't really
mean it." This shit has repercussions, for God's sake.
And yet, her desire to hold on to the values America stands for is inspiring, too. I hope she continues to do great work in other ways in this country.