When Trump rode down an escalator in June of 2015 and declared his intention to secure the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidency in 2016, I believed that this was a bad joke played on a nation of 320 million Americans. There was no way the least qualified and most immoral candidate in history could be elected to our nation’s highest office. Like millions of other real Americans, I was very mistaken. To this day, I cannot believe that a man lacking average intelligence, was a confirmed racist, a sexual predator, and a man who failed at every business venture in his life actually won the Electoral College.

Nothing has changed for me today. I am an original baby boomer, and I was raised in a country where patriotism was the norm, and most Americans trusted our government to do the right thing. More importantly, we trusted each other. We had every reason to expect that the women and men we elected to serve us in Washington would serve all Americans and do the right thing for the future of our nation. This all changed in 2016.

When a confirmed racist; a self-proclaimed sexual predator; and a lifelong failure in the business world receive a sufficient number of votes to win the Electoral College on November 8, 2016, I slipped into a state of shock and disbelief. Who the hell were these people who elected him? I later realized that America had a far greater number of racists and bigots than I ever believed possible in 2019.

On November 9, 2016, I felt that my people, the only Americans I trusted, had deserted their responsibility and allowed a fool; a con man, to lead our nation which remained in recovery from the failures of another failed Republican president. This was not logical.

When I later learned that Russia had played a role in our election, and realized that the mainstream media had given their support to Trump for more than two years, I understood but felt no solace in the fact that Donald Trump had become our illegitimate 45^th president. I also realized that former FBI Director, James Comey’s announcement that an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private e-mails had been reinstated just 11 days before the election added damage to Ms. Clinton’s chances for election, I began to be even more suspicious about the legitimacy of the election.

Most importantly, I remained disappointed in the intelligence and competency of millions of American voters. For minutes I doubted the intelligence of our founding fathers who gave voting rights to all Americans in the first amendment.

I attempted to allow myself to believe that the Republican Party would keep their oaths of office and “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America,” but soon learned that I would be disappointed once again. Moscow Mitch McConnell and his hypocritical and cowardly party abandoned their duties and bowed to their fascist leader.

Like other patriots, I no longer feel competent in predicting the outcome of future elections or if our country will continue to exist. It has become obvious to me that millions of Americans are not concerned about their own futures or the future of those they love. America is lost in a sea of ignorance and uninformed voters.

Op-ed by James Turnage

“The Truth Lives Here”

Image courtesy of DonkeyHotey

My seven novels are only available on Amazon; CLICK HERE