I will never forget her, even though I knew nothing about her then or even now.
I met her as I was working at a polling site in Northern Virginia on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, when she literally rolled in in a wheelchair pushed by an African-American health care worker. She was white and even though she was sitting, you could tell she was a tall woman, maybe 5 feet 9 inches.
She was resplendent in white sneakers and pants, with a flowing green chiffon top that was accentuated by her pearl necklace, earrings and perfectly coifed short, white hair. She was dressed to kill. Or, in this case, to vote.
"I'm 94 years old and I'm here to vote for the first woman president in my lifetime," she said proudly as she handed me her I.D. card. We all smiled and accommodated her.
As she was leaving, I thought to myself, "This is what democracy is all about. One man/woman, one vote. This is the beauty of our country."
As the vote totals rolled in on that fateful night, I couldn't help but remember the enthusiasm and mettle this woman showed at the polls. But as it became increasingly clear that Donald Trump, not Hillary Clinton, would be president, I grieved for her.
Now, I grieve for us.
I've been a Washington-based journalist for more than 30 years and I've had a hand in covering a couple of presidents. None of us could ever have imagined the chaos, hate and corruption that this administration has fostered.
It's fair to say that not since the tumultuous '60s have race relations been so openly divided in this country. Hate groups, such as the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Boys and even the KKK, have gained traction, no doubt bolstered by the subtle and not-so-subtle white supremacist messaging that comes from this White House.
Stephen Miller, Trump's right-hand adviser, is a documented member of the white supremacist movement. But he proudly serves by Trump's side. Others with well-documented connections to white supremacist groups include Steve Bannon, who flourished in this White House. Recently, Hatewatch reported that Julia Hahn, Trump's deputy communications director, had connections to the white nationalist movement around the time she joined the White House as an aide.
So I ask a critical question: Where are the real patriots in this country? The ones who clearly see that it's downright traitorous when our president plays footsie with despots such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, but Canada, France, the UK and Germany are now our "enemies." Or when he calls dead American soldiers "losers and suckers." In addition, the president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades, multiple sources told The Atlantic.
Think that's bad? Russia is suspected of bribing the Taliban to kill U.S. service members. Although military officials say the report has yet to be corroborated, Trump did not even raise the issue with Putin when they talked on the phone.
We're at a time and place in this country where facts don't matter, no matter how damning the evidence is of malfeasance by this White House. His supporters dumb down those arguments into he said/she said accusations. They are not. These are cold, hard facts about this president and his administration. Need more convincing?
Consider this:
• Nearly 230,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. In an April 13 recorded interview, Trump told journalist Bob Woodward that the virus is a "plague" that "rips you apart," and was highly contagious and dangerous -- just the opposite of what he's told the country. At this writing, more than 8 million Americans have been infected by the virus. By comparison, Australia has had 27,500 cases.
• Lawyers appointed by a federal judge to identify migrant families who were separated by the Trump administration say that they have yet to track down the parents of 545 children and that about two-thirds of those parents were deported to Central America without their children, according to an Oct. 21 filing from the American Civil Liberties Union.
• According to several sources, roughly a month after Trump's election in 2016, the CIA told U.S. senators that a Russian entity hacked the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Democratic consultant John Podesta's emails to assist Trump. The FBI agreed. President Barack Obama ordered a "full review" into such possible intervention. Trump continues to deny Russian intervention.
• According to Bridge Michigan -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization -- a record number of African Americans nationwide are buying guns this year in part because of a host of concerns including the pandemic and police violence to fears of civil war and Trump telling the neo-fascist Proud Boys in a recent debate to "stand back and stand by." That was before the revelation that members of a militia group allegedly hatched a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and possibly Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, both Democrats, and overthrow the state government. Let that sink in. A plot to kidnap sitting governors!
• Perhaps the worst offense from this administration is its relentless attack on the press, which is arguably the first line in the dictator's handbook: Destroy the media.
• Lest we forget, Trump was impeached for trying to bribe a foreign government to conduct a bogus investigation against his political rival.
I'm no longer a working member of the daily press, but for years now, I have implored my former colleagues to stop covering this administration and this president via conventional rules. This is not a matter of harmless ideological back and forth. This is perhaps the most racist and insidious administration by any estimate since Woodrow Wilson and perhaps Andrew Johnson.
This president's dogwhistles are the equivalent of bullhorns in their hateful rhetoric. He has told white suburbanites that he will protect them from crime and low-income housing being built in their neighborhoods, attempting to stir up racist fears, The New York Times reported.
He even told seniors in Florida that, if elected, Joe Biden and his party would take away air conditioning for the elderly community. Air conditioning!
Without question, this president is racist, xenophobic, homophobic and misogynistic. To the latter, at least 26 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. On Oct. 27, a federal judge rejected the Justice Department's attempt to defend Trump in a sexual-assault case. Writer E. Jean Carroll says Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.
I could go on and on, but you get the picture: Trump is bad for America.
We grew up believing in the Constitution and hanging our freedom on its tenets. We have to believe this more now than ever.
Everything good and honest that we've been taught or told our children is at stake in this election. This is no time for fence-sitting or splitting hairs. This malarkey about the undecideds is foolish. Vote for what is right, for what you want this country to stand for.
Forty-nine percent of the electorate didn't show up in 2016. We can't let that happen this time around. Your vote matters, the character of the president matters and America matters. We can't continue to be a laughingstock to the world.
Every election is determined by the people who show up. Don't get left out this time.
Vote! One way or the other, this country will be changed forever on Nov. 3. We'll have to wait to see just how much.
I'm hoping that 94-year-old is still alive to see the America she loved.
Lee Ivory is a native of Hot Springs and a proud Trojan. He is a former executive editor and publisher with USA TODAY.
"bad" - Google News
November 01, 2020 at 05:19PM
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President Trump is bad for America - Hot Springs Sentinel
"bad" - Google News
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