I awoke the other morning with memories of a frightening nightmare filling my thoughts. A familiar man's voice was uttering crude racist and belittling misogynistic words constantly ricocheting in my ears. In my nightmare, my eyes swept my surroundings filled with the blurred faces of people whose hands pressed against their ears in a fruitless attempt to block the blaring sound and noise as I was trying to do.
Nearby I could see a slightly larger crowd including children, laughing, waving their arms encouraging this obnoxious man to keep shouting his obscenities. "You love me, don't you!", he said to them. Their unified voices responded, "Oh, yes!"
"See, I can do and say anything I want", he said to his nearby cohorts who gave him smug smiles of approval they knew his ego expected, demanded.
I returned to the reality of the day -- our 2024 U.S. Presidential election results with the 45th ex-President to become the 47th President has had my mind reeling with questions about this nightmarish outcome.
We were just finishing a four-year respite with a welcomed degree of calm and sanity after the overwhelming daily chaos and noise from the 45th U.S. President. That President has been thought by many to have given coded language's "dog whistles" to some fascist-like groups which seem to have interpreted his words as sympathetic to them. Some of his own other words and actions have led many to see certain of his own ideas and behavior among those seduced by such a fascist ideology.
During the years following the end of 45's 2016 term of office he successfully mustered enough voter support to receive a winning, over 50% of the popular vote for the first time, in the recent 2024 election. as well as winning the Electoral College votes.
Almost 50% of other voters, including me, were bewildered to appreciate his supporting voters intent when they embraced the apparent fascism our recently elected 47th U.S.President seemed to be promising. They elected a man who many believe has demonstrated his racism, intolerance, and misogynism along with other undesirable moral, ethical and business practices reportedly throughout most of his life.
Did they not listen to his words or note his actions when he previously was President and when he campaigns?
Did his supporters not recognize the constitutional importance of maintaining the separation of church and state our constitution demands which he seems not to protect?
Did they not respect the right of women to control decisions about the health of their own bodies which he seems not to do?
Did they not believe he would act as he said he would which could undermine or weaken some of our constitution?
Did they not believe he would obliterate a balanced rule of law and justice despite accusations of his own violations for which he is now not likely to be held accountable if warranted, as a consequence of action by his earlier SCOTUS appointments?
Did they not believe he would be intolerant of anyone whose thinking was different from his own as some allege he has demonstrated in the past?
Do his supporters actually believe in and trust a person who makes up facts, denies and distorts truth, prevaricates incessantly based on documentation of his words?
Did they not believe he would revert to instigating violence to achieve his end as many believe he did culminating in what some consider an insurrection on January 6, 2021?
Did he really mean there would be no more elections after his second 4 years if voters elected him, and why would that be true since our constitution specifies there will be every four years -- or is this just one more of his lies?
Did voters not consider the meaning when he has reportedly demonstrated he expects everybody to have a primary allegiance to him over all else and is believed by many to have previously responded unfavorably to those who won't make such a commitment since everyone's oath, including him, is to the constitution -- not to a person or a political party?
Did they not know what it would mean in human terms when he said he would be a dictator the first day of his presidency?
Did they not understand what he is saying about women's right's when he said he would protect women whether they liked it or not?
Did they not recognize any fascist views he is expressing?
Did they not realize the dangers a fascist leader poses to everybody's freedoms, even lives, including their own?
Despite the lessons of history with fascist leaders as most recently occurred with another country's invasion of Ukraine, or before that, WWII fought to preserve many country's independence, freedoms, including our own, save lives for which many sons, fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers, daughters died, also freeing those captive, still living, who had not been tolerated -- do they not know what fascism is?
Definition: "Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition", ... as defined in Wikipedia.
I am left to consider the state of my beloved U.S.A. with this election painfully revealing there are far more of my fellow citizens in whom I am so disappointed, saddened, but alarmed, than I thought lived in our proud country which holds high ideals for the individual citizen.
A thought-provoking lead-in to a recent Guardian opinion article resonates with me now. I believe this is a great country already, but the problem lies with the people, so I have slightly altered the wording:
"Our mistake was to believe we lived in a" ... country with more 'better people' ... "than we do".
