There has always been something about that little exchange above, it always got me, made me think...
I always think it is curiously odd that my daughters were born the same day another event which deeply shaped the world took place. These changes shape it still. The day my life changed in more ways than I can imagine, 9 months ago, so too did the lives of a great many people in the world. The changes were profound, they were deep, they were incedible. They were probably not as pleasant as my personal ones, obviously! Not for everyone at least.
We are, of course, talking about January 20th 2017, the day of the inauguration of Donald Trump. It was the first day also that I saw my daughters on the outside world. Seems a shame that I actually dislike Trump as a Presendent then eh? It was be a Message or something of that nature otherwise, I'd be all over the papers and probably famous. Ah shucks!
As my favourite hat wearing, bearded and departed writer so succinctly put it; the arrival of babies changes how a man sees the world, makes him want to make a better and safer place for his progeny. When he has girls, it's worse apparently. My wife tells me I have quite significantly changed, who am I to say?
So, a certain orange chap entered into a certain white house 9 months ago and a certain ginger began to make it's piquancy known in my blood at the same time. I wanted to make the world a better place for my children to grow up in, I didn't want the kind of world this man promised to create, one where people with colour or latin roots were less welcome. Of course, being white and Irish I would be OK, everyone loves us! That wasn't the point though. The point was that I have been watching how things develop as my children do and I am more shocked by the day. Once they are women, what world will they be growing into?
I see a world where they are trying to take away rights they will need and healthcare they should enjoy. I see a world where progress which had been made in having them seens as equals is eroded. I see a world where white is being pushed as superior. I see a world where everything I want my girls to have may be harder to reach that Daddy would like.
I see a man in office who I, as a father of girls cannot countenence.
A man for whom 'feline snatching' is considered acceptable.
A man accused of rape, abuse and of being just the kind of man I will be teaching my girls to avoid.
To have enough respect for herself to tell men of this stripe how they may provide pleasure to their own selves, in the complete absence of my daughter, of anyone at all in fact. Ideally deep in the cellar where they belong.
I will ensure my daughters have their greatgrandmother's mouth, as well as that of their beautiful mother, with which to protect themselves, speak the truth and deflate men such as that.
It astounds me that men who have daughters of their own voted for this man. Men who have wives they supposedly love. What shocks me more are the women who support him.
I remember when Sarah Palin was running for office with John Kerry, you know the one Trump upset because he felt being captured was unAmerican and not very soldierly? I remember asking myself
"Why would this women to be supporting and advocating politics which do harm to women like this? Why is she fighting against women fought to gain over the last century?"
I ask that same question now, of the women who support those who would take away birth control, abortion (now before we go wild, I am Christian yes but I think compassion is more important than doctrine. If a women is in need, under threat or suchlike, she needs recourse to an option), preventative healthcare (mamograms etc) and just simple respect. How could I want my girls to grow ina world such as that and claim to love them? Anyway who can explain it well to me without using any of the below will win a prize;
1). Do not tell me anything about Moslems, Sharia law or immigrants doing unpleasant things to women. Statistics show that good home-grown Americans do far worse.
2). Avoid references to a Freedom which you do not understand, have not personally fought for .
3) Let's not talk about terrorists, I am from the backstreets of Belfast and know much more about those than you do. I used to play with their guns as a kid until my parents saw me and took them away from me.
4) I'm Irish so most of you Americans are related to me so let's leave out this "You're not American" bullcrap.
I doubt anyone could give a decent answer though because they don't know. Like the wife of an alcoholic and/or abusive husband they make excuses and try to justify his behaviour and act like they deserve it....that has always made my blood boil. Not that she said it but because some little boy in a big boy's body made her think that about herself. I make a distinction because I was raised with one simple rule when it came to women and marriage;
"A real man treats a woman like a lady and his wife like a queen. Anyone who strikes or abuses a woman is NOT a man, he is a boy and his bad behaviour should be punished like that of a boy."
I am old school. I treat women with respect, have never struck a women (and I have been seriously provoked in the past, you have no idea. But I have legs as well as fists, it's easy to walk away than repair a bruise), I hold a door open for a lady (if she doesn't like it, ah well, I do it becuase it is right, not for her approval), I will guard my speech (my Mum has yet to hear me, a man of 40+ years, swear), I respect and I will settle for no less than that for my daughters. For those who have other ideas I quote a favourite t-shirt slogan of mine;
And remember that I have two so double it...
So let me ask you, a man who has a track record for the opposite of the behaviour your daughters deserve deserves your support? Let's no forget this...
Now this is NOT exactly a post attacking Trump, at least it didn't start that way. It sort of went there by itself, seemed impossible to avoid once I was going in a certain direction. Funny that, eh? I still find it shocking, unbelievable and somewhat hilarious that man who said that, is on record saying it and did nothing to deny that he said it, has been recording saying worse in fact, got voted into office AND has enthusiatic and unflinching public support. I cannot even begin to understand it.
Now listen, let me play my own devil's advocate here because I'm an intelligent man and not all of his supporters are unintelligent or purely self-serving. I know otherwise decent people who support him, very vocally so. I listen to their arguments and respect their opinions. I just find myself incapable of agreeing with them. Still, fair is fair and balanced article is better that a, opinion piece, they say. So why? Why support this man? Here are some of the arguments;
1). He's a businessman and has built empires. He can help[ rebuild the American economy, he can work well with and negociate with other business people on their own terms.
2). He has done business around the world and has international negotiation and diplomatic skills, he understands internatioal business.
So pause here, even if all of that were true, government and international relations are not, as he has seen to his occassional shame, anything like business. He has been seen at some international events to be very out of his depth because the dominant alpha male approach he is used to doesn't work in the field of diplomacy.
3). As a businessman who has come back from 'mistakes' and difficulties, he knows how to save money and make cutbacks, to economise. He can balance the budget better than any politician.
4). He knows that our military is what gives us our strength and position worldwide. Our military was pared back so much and so reduced that we are no longer respected internationally.
5). Energy independence through American jobs. Much of what Obama and the EPA did cost American jobs. Defeating the Paris Accord was seen as a great victory for Trump. The coal, oil and gas industries are still a huge part of the US economy and a lot of jobs are invested in them. Unfortunately whole towns and cities are like that.
6).Heathcare. There was a lot of opposition to Obama Care, or the ACA (Affordable Care Act as anyone with a brain called it), mostly due to a complete misunderstanding of what it represented and also because House Republicans proceeded to pass on the blame for their fillibustering and eviscerating the original legislation until it was unrecognisable, a bureacratic mess which served nobody well. Of course they renamed it and reblamed it. It needs reform, no question, but how extensively will this reform be? Healthcare is a basic human right and, due to greed, corruption and general buggering about in Congress, a lot of people saw many negative impacts through and due to the ACA. I can understand that. The American Healthcare System is a horrible, inefficient and beyond stupid mess which needs be taken round back and shot!
6). Immigration. A lot of people are scared. A lot of crime and bad behaviour has been displayed by SOME immigrants. Illegal immigrants continue to get up at 3am in order to go and do jobs Americans don't want to do. They continue to keep fruit and vegetable prices low. They keep hotel prices low even by charging little as cleaners. There are always going to be people desperate enough to seek refuge in the supposedly rich paradise across the border whether there is a wall there or not. The world is a messa and much it is more of a mess than we will ever know. People are keen to escape said mess and will try to go where they can. Of course people are nervous, people are afraid, people want immigration controlled, It makes sense, of course it does. Trump made some big and bold statements about immigration and how he will limit and curb it. He tapped into people's fear of moslems and dark-skinned foreign looking people with bad teeth in general also. He fuelled it and stoked the flames in fact!
To summarise, Trump did have a decent vehicle behind him but he, I am sorry to say to his supporters, is not really suited to the job. He also went about his campaign in a truly nasty and unpleasant fashion. So much so he made a lot of very unpleasant; deeply racist and nasty people feel quite justified in their evil beliefs. They felt he was supporting them. That's never good. He's a newsflash, if you do not oppose the KKK and Nazis etc. directly, you are supporting them whether unntentionally or not. If a Nazi came near by door waving his Swaztika festooned rag I would beat him bloody on general principles. Free Speech be buggered. Are we to allow murderers, rapists and pedophiles freedom of speech next? Will we let them hold rallies and advertise their beliefs? You had better not. Nazis are no better than those people and should be treated the same way.
No offense to the man but he is scared, he is out of his depth and he is learning this. Watch him in any new situation, he looks out of his depth and frightened. He tries to be straight-shooting and direct when speaking to opposite numbers in other countries and gets only ridicule, why? Because he comes across as trying too hard. When will everyone realise he is playing a part and that underneath that is a terrified little man. He speaks a good fight but he does so by alienating a LOT of people. America is made up of a lot of different people and one needs to be aware of this if one is to rule or, at least, represent them.
Now, no-one is going to please everyone. Obama didn't, he upset many and not just because he was black. he upset many of his own supporters. Why? He aimed too high, promised too much and alienated a lot of people. He didn't mean too but, in a country as messy and diverse as America it's almost impossible not to. Obama, at least, did it with class, restraint and dignity. No 3am tweets there, no exchanges of insults or tantrums. Not publically at least, who knows what he and Michelle talked about, laughed a great deal I am sure! Trump seemed and still seems to be and have been very impatient and unwilling to accept guidance. Many of his supporters claim this makes him a great candidate for his MAGA agenda and "draining the swamp" plan.
Washington is a swamp, there's no question about that. Full of snakes, gators and other unpleasant reptiles who feed on visitors and each other. Vultures too, lots of them in the trees. Parasites and worms in their millions.
Now, I am not defending him or any of the denizens of that there swamp, not at all, I am trying to understand pretty much. As I said before, I cannot understand how, despite all of his very public displays of highly objectionable behaviour, people continue to support him and I realise this, finally it makes sense.
People are so tired of the politics, the reptiles, the career politicos, the insiders, the whole damn broken system that they have sent in Trump, one uniquely equipped to do so, to self distruct the whole mess and take himself with it! He's riding the burning plane into the ground and you know what? He doesn't care if he goes up with it all! How do you oppose something like that? He might have come into all this all righteous and full of ginger but he's buring out fast and losing what little grip he had left. We're going to have to be ready when he crashes. It's now that we are learning just how tough Obama was and is; he lost, he lost over and over. he fought running battles for most of his Presidency, having to defend every inch of ground, retreat and defend it again. He endured and kept trying. He kept disciple and dignity throughout though it cost him.
Trump is about to blow. He is less used to losing. less used to being told no, less used to the nasty world of Washington. He thought he had seen nastier in his friends of the business world than he would see in his enemies in politics. he was wrong. In politics, it is your friends you should be worried about.He thought he would, like in his TV show, be the shark chasing after and herding all the smaller fish into submission. He had no idea how nasty those little fish are in groups! He is about to go down in flames and he is going to drag us down with him. Will that be when his supporters will admit their error or will they seek someone to blame? Most assuredly the latter.
Thing is, the swamp does need to be drained. Washington needs to be cleaned up. Government needs to serve the people again. Of that there is no doubt. But has The Trump even begun with his draining project yet? Have lobbyists begun to be expelled and charged with criminal corruption charges or, better yet, treason? Have they started to root out the corruption like most other civilised nations already have? Doesn't really look like it. The swamp looks pretty full to me. Had Trump been genuine about this goal, I'd have supported him on it because it needs to happen. I simply never believed that he was genuine. Not about anything. Not when I heard the words coming out of his mouth that I, as a father of daughters could not countenence.
For my daughters I must oppose his kind and the man himself. For all women, in fact.
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