I was born in 1946. For 70 years I believed that I lived in a nation which respected all of humanity and believed that compassion and understanding were more important than money. Then came the election in 2016. I graduated from high school in 1964 as the civil rights movement began to make a difference in the lives of Americans who had been oppressed for generations. In the 1970’s women were fighting for equality, and feminism became a reality for millions of women, and many men who truly loved the women in their lives. By the end of the 20^th century our nation was secure financially. Our president left office with our country experiencing a financial surplus. After the turn of the century the LGBTQ community began to receive the respect they were long overdue. In 2008 the working class received support from our government and a great president began a plan to bring our nation back from a near depression. Gay men and women in the military were given full equality, and serious efforts to end two unwinnable wars began.

The truth is that throughout my life the majority has fared far better with Democratic leadership. Out country was divided and suffered an economic tragedy under a Republican president from 2001 until 2009. But I have never seen anything like the disaster which is the Trump administration.

All the aforementioned gains for the American people are under attack. Hate crimes have increased by more than 800 percent as hate groups have come from the shadows with their leader in the White House. Compassion and understanding have been replaced by hate and fabricated accusations. Women are once again treated as second or even third-class citizens by our government. Our nation is trillions of dollars in debt, and Trump just added at least $1.8 trillion to the deficit with a tax plan which is nothing more than a gift to himself and other very wealthy Americans. With homophobes as our illegitimate president and vice president, the LGBTQ community is once again under attack. Trump is about to choose a second Justice for the Supreme Court. Republicans will have the majority and both abortion rights and same-sex marriage, protected by the Constitution, will be abolished. Lies are accepted by millions of uninformed Americans who choose to be ignorant. And our people are more divided than at any other time in our nation since the Civil War.

Thank you, Trump voters. You moved our country backwards into its darkest days in only 17 months and 12 days; a record I hope you own forever.

Please tell others about my blog and help them to know the truth; thank you.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Image courtesy of DonkeyHotey

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