Statement of record

Hi.

Surely it’s been clear—even within the dumbest, most inane posts on here … so, all of them—where I stand on this president. And surely no one really cares what I think or have to say anyway. And surely so much has already been said, in much more intelligent, funnier, and more insightful ways than I could ever possibly think of or craft myself. And yet, when faced with the daily onslaught of lies and fear-mongering and deceit, and confronted with the frustrating fact that all of this is clearly out of my control—save for my votes and hopes—I feel compelled to do the simple act of stating the obvious: I do not support this president, and despise pretty much all of his character traits and impulsive decisions, and although I will refrain from the word “hate,” and although I am in no position to judge the soul, I find him to be an irredeemably bad person who has emboldened the worst of what this country has to offer and who—not through clever strategy but mindless instinct—has used fear to solicit power, a fragile ego to condemn noble institutions, and personal insecurities to make us less safe.

For more than 20 voting-age years, I’ve considered myself unworthy of having a strong political opinion for two reasons: 1) what do I truly know anyway, and 2) the whole idea of public interest and public servitude on behalf of elected officials as a ruse and fallacy is a notion to which I'm subscribing more each day, so why bother having an opinion at all? But cynicism shouldn't lead to surrender, and I am good enough and smart enough to see bad before my very eyes, to notice the type of petty and goading and abhorrent behavior I wouldn’t tolerate from my children, to forge an educated opinion that doesn’t require anything outside of basic decency and common sense.

All of this was clear from the beginning, waaaaay before 2016. The public timeline is just flooded with incidents that expose the man as an ignorant asshole, and that résume has been boosted exponentially ever since. I’m still working through the process of coming to terms with having family members and friends who voted for him, and why, and how they couldn’t notice these very obvious things or, more accurately, why they chose not to look or care. The condescension, eye-rolling, heels-digging-in, and bonkers-ass memes in the face of all that is unholy certainly hasn’t helped, but the confidence of being right gets me through.

If we make it out of this alive and mildly intact, history will fall over itself attempting to capture and harshly criticize the everyday shitshow we're currently living through. For history's sake—clearly this blog will serve as historical research for decades to come—but mostly for my own personal satisfaction and as a public form of therapy, and as previously noted, I feel compelled to state where I stand, which is firmly against this man and his presidency. This statement will do no good, and spark no movement, and change no one’s mind, and if anything serve to annoy and further alienate me from those who, somehow, think differently. But this is not the time for being indifferent, and I am not.