It’s all fun and games for the Trumpistas for now. But just wait til the pots all boil
The reporter had to yell his question to be heard over the den of cheering and noise, asking an enthusiastic Trump supporter why he liked Donald Trump. The answer was simplistic but deeply reveling: “Look at this crowd! He gets people going! Just listen to them!”
I will make some assumptions about the guy answering the question. First, he is white. Second, he is a cisgender male. And third, he most likely calls himself a Christian.
For him, the election of Donald Trump is a show. He might as well be at a rock concert — and in some respects, he is. What he is witnessing is a show, complete and utter theater put on by a master of “reality TV.”
To him, I imagine this election will not be a big deal; win or lose, he thinks of politics as entertainment. Though he might end up suffering when the economy goes south, he will not be much affected by the policies that flow from Donald Trump and his cabinet of ideologues.
I, on the other hand, have lots to lose.
As an older American, I am counting on a meager Social Security income to supplement my retirement funds and pension someday.
But if the Trumpistas have their way, Social Security will be “privatized” and, in reality, vanish into the pockets of Wall Street.
I also will someday be counting on Medicare, except that the Trump cabinet is already discussing ways to scam that as well.
As a queer American I have even more to lose.
The protections that some of our cities have in place to prevent discrimination against LGBTQ citizens might just be eliminated through new “religious freedom” laws and presidential decrees. Giving people the freedom to discriminate based on “deeply held religious beliefs” is a smokescreen and everyone knows it. The idea is to reverse the last 50 years of progress made by our community toward being treated like full citizens of the United States of America.
Same-sex marriage? Many of Trump’s proposed Cabinet members are vehemently against it, and it won’t be long before they are putting up challenges to the Supreme Court ruling that gave us that right.
In reality, it’s just more entertainment for the masses who have no stake in the outcome. A big court fight will provide distraction to keep those people from seeing how much graft and corruption can be accomplished behind the curtains, from seeing how none of the promises Trump made them are being kept.
For women, the right to safe and inexpensive abortions will be a thing of the past. Already states are pushing insane restrictions and caveats on terminating a pregnancy that make it economically unfeasible. Texas, for example, just passed a zany law requiring a funeral for embryos and all the expense that entails. I feel sure the funeral directors lobby is toasting that decision.
Again, this is a measure designed to entertain the masses with the illusion that lawmakers are “pro-life” and pious, when in reality they are just pandering to the far-right fundamentalists who religiously vote them into power again and again. They are more aptly described as “anti-women,” since the life of the mother means nothing to them, not to mention the quality of life of the unwanted child once it’s born.
The actual things that will most likely affect that Trump supporter will be subtle and wont happen for a few years — unnoticed until it is too late. Good planning on the part of the Trump folks!
The return to fossil fuel seen by the Trumpistas is a recipe for disaster on a biblical scale, but it won’t come quickly so it won’t matter in the short term.
The ever-increasing temperatures are already changing the growing seasons for crops and plants in our country. And here in Dallas, I have noticed a large number of palm trees being used in landscaping. That would have been unthinkable when I was a child.
Coastal areas are already experiencing ever-worsening flooding, and as sea levels rise many, parts of our coastline will become uninhabitable. For folks in low-lying areas and coastal cities this is already becoming a big problem.
The catch is, it’s happening slowly, gradually. Like lobsters in a pot of water, most folks won’t notice the temperature is truly rising until it’s too late and they are “boiled.”
But really, what does that matter? It’s all just a big show anyway, isn’t it? And watching the storm of ridiculous tweets coming from the White House will be entertaining. What damage could really be done?
Just wait and see. It will be a horror show soon enough.
Hardy Haberman is a longtime local LGBT activist and a board member of the Woodhull Freedom Alliance. His blog is at DungeonDiary.blogspot.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition December 9, 2016.