There are no garbage people. There are, however, people who thrive on spreading hatred and discord. Those of us who embrace equal opportunity for all in our diverse society hold within us the power to defeat the mad, malignant president who is doing all he can to pull our nation apart.
I am recovering from a fall that fractured several ribs and broke my upper right arm. I mention this because one of the doctors who stopped in my hospital room asked me a few questions to test my cognitive ability.
I apparently aced the test, as Mr. Trump likes to say, though a cognitive test is not an IQ test. Hoping to earn extra points, I said, “I also know our government is led by a traitorous imbecile.”
I actually think we should be careful in using words like “traitor” and “terrorist,” though our 47th president’s usefulness to Vladimir Putin and his murderous penchant for bombing small fishing boats in the Caribbean (which he accuses of drug running while offering no evidence) might reasonably bring those terms into play.
If you are of the MAGA persuasion, you may simply assume that anyone Trump bombs must deserve it, just as his administration declared that American citizens shot to death by ICE agents in our city streets were domestic terrorists.
How can Trump’s diehard supporters continue cheering him on as he takes away their freedoms and healthcare? The answer is that he shares their hatreds. He has a gift for appealing to people’s lowest impulses, and they reward him for it.
Just as the Supreme Court’s gutting of Article 2 of the Voting Rights Act set off another round of mid-decade gerrymandering of congressional seats by Republicans in southern states, the epidemic of white Christian nationalism has many racists screaming to people of color, “We don’t want you here! Go back to your own country!”
When the targets of this hatefulness reply that they are already in their own country, the bigots scoff.
What convinces members of one shrinking demographic that this country belongs exclusively to them? It is akin to the attitude expressed by the late Sen. Hayakawa about the Panama Canal: “We stole it fair and square.”
It is also about cult worship. As their Dear Leader helps himself, they can enjoy it vicariously despite their own declining living standards.
But the people of color being erased will not sit quietly. Cruelty and willful blindness plant seeds for a hard reckoning to come.
In contrast, an example of planting positive seeds was seen recently when former President Obama and New York City Mayor Mamdani read to preschoolers and led a sing-along at a Bronx childcare center.
In the way he listens, leads and relates with people, Mamdani embodies a refutation of Islamophobic slanders. When we connect across our differences, we battle the Jim Crow mindset being pushed by supremacists who seek power by dividing us over scary “others.”
Voice actor Jesse Stewart of Dallas, who is a thoughtful Facebook contributor, writes, “Why follow the rules if the people writing them don’t? When … bad behavior is rewarded, the social contract is broken.”
There can be no greatness in a country where entire segments of the population are disenfranchised, where peaceful protest is labeled domestic terrorism.
Those trafficking in that cynical lie and seeking a return to Jim Crow need to be defeated electorally and held accountable for their betrayal of our nation’s founding creed of equality. We also need civic renewal in which we rededicate ourselves to meeting the challenges and opportunities of diversity instead of surrendering to white Christian nationalism.
Actor John Fugelsang says of right-wing Christians, “They like to fight for Jesus. They don’t like to listen to him…. His actual teachings are very inconvenient to the kind of America authoritarians want.”
Those of us, Christian or otherwise, who agree with Christ that we should feed the hungry and welcome the stranger need to stand up to the bullies.
One of the ironies of Trump’s political success is that he treats his own supporters like garbage. We cannot continue waiting for them to wake up to the fact that they are being suckered. Neither can we wait for perfect alternatives to present themselves before doing our civic duty and voting the scoundrels out.
People often say they are not responsible for the sins of their ancestors. Fine. Then let’s stop repeating them.
Richard Rosendall is a writer and activist who can be reached at RRosendall@me.com. Copyright © 2026 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.