I wrote this around November 18, 2024. Feel free to use as much of it as you want, if you are feeling some of the same things I am post-election.

Dear ________ –

I’m writing to you today with a heavy heart.  I will tell you right now that this note is ALL about politics and the future of this nation – our nation.  If you don’t want to read it, throw it away now.  You can tell me later that you don’t want to talk about politics and we’ll just leave it at that.

If, however, you are curious about where my head and heart are on the outcome and impacts (actual and potential) of the recent election, read on.  You do NOT have to agree with me.  I do hope you will exercise your curiosity, though, and perhaps feel (if you don’t already) some motivation to get involved in some way to save our democracy.  And I will say right now that I do not dispute AT ALL the outcome of the election.

“Save our democracy”?  Sounds overly dramatic.  Well, let me present my case, based on facts that I will footnote in terms of sources.  I think we have all been taught – by our parents and by our educations – that facts matter.  My experience of my mom and dad was, in part, that politics were never discussed – except for that time that dad took a marker to my anti-Helms bumper sticker (LOL).  I know I may be breaking with family tradition on that front, and if it offends you in any way, I am sorry for that.

However. 

We are all ‘of an age’ where, if you are like me, you see the end of your life.  We sense better than many out there that this human life we have is limited – and the time we have here is precious.  I feel like things are dire enough now that the preciousness of our shared existence is under threat. 

Now for some facts to support that.

On immigration.

This has been a huge issue for a long time.  No debate on that.  My general stance on this is that in order to solve the problem we should look at root causes.  In other words, WHY are people wanting to come here so desperately – especially from Mexico and Central American countries?  I would offer Newsweek’s coverage of Lindsey Graham’s comments on the matter from September of this year, and highlight the positive economic impact that immigrants have in our country in an article in the Conversation[1] from October of this year.  But this doesn’t help with the realities of so many folks coming across the river into the US.   I don’t debate that.  I do, however, wonder if the bi-partisan border security measure had passed, created by Republicans and Democrats together, if this would even be a talking point right now.  It is clear that Trump had his folks in congress kill it so that it could be used as an issue in the campaign.  Read about the bill and the ‘cloture’ on the motion (US Government site) in May of this year. 

Finally – and as a person who has lived abroad, traveled in Muslim, Hindu and Christian countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America, and housed immigrants fleeing war – I cannot ever get behind the hateful xenophobic rhetoric of ‘they’re eating dogs’.  Surely we are better than this.

On the economy.

There has been a lot of talk about this.  We all have felt the effects of the recession that came with and after the pandemic.  It is still expensive, even now, to buy groceries.  Why is this?  Some have said price gouging, but I found this article useful.  It seems that those prices might be the new normal.  On the national economic front though, I do not understand how some could say that our economy is in such horrible condition.  We (the US) outperformed all other westernized nations in the post-pandemic years, as noted in the linked article from the BBC in February of this year.  It is also noteworthy that huge investments in infrastructure and technologies (Chips and Science Act- Department of Commerce link) are in the works, creating new manufacturing facilities and thousands of jobs.  The Brookings Institute has a good overview of the impact of the infrastructure bill – and interestingly the top three states gaining from those investments are Republican dominated.  Effectively, unemployment went down, interest rates are coming back down, jobs have been created, and this has led to the ‘soft landing’ that Nobel-winning economists have supported.  Yes, 13 of them (article on AP news from October 2024).  And Trump’s approach to the economy is to turn back the clock to a time of rampant deregulation and tariffs imposed on foreign imports – which you are all likely well aware that tariffs will be paid by us, the consumers.  And my corner-seat prediction is that in particular sectors American manufacturers will see the opportunity to raise their prices as well to meet what foreign producers will have to charge.  This is market-based pricing.  Econ 101.  I’m left with the overwhelmingly stupid question of ‘why fix what ain’t broke?’.

On international relations.

This is the arena in which I have the least information, personally.  I am terribly concerned about our standing on the world stage.  Friends just returned (today) from an extended trip in Asia and report that the US is (again) a laughing stock due to our returning Trump to the White House.  I don’t get into that so much as I fear the impact of Trump (again) pulling out of NATO.  This article by the George Bush Institute is a quick read on the history and importance to the US of NATO (article was published in 2019).  And, with the blatant attack on Ukraine by Russia, I assure you none of my friends and former colleagues in the EU are feeling like looking the other way, as Putin and his now mercenary force (partly North Koreans) continue their destructive mission.  Why would we NOT at this point support democracy?  The sovereignty of a nation??

And on the Israel / Palestine / Iran / Lebanon (name-the-next-border-country) conflict:  I cannot begin to fathom the hurt, anguish, pain, devastation that has been wrought.  In this latest chapter – first from Hamas in October of this year, and subsequently from the IDF, with tens of thousands (SO many children) dead.  I do recoil from blind allegiance to just about anything – including blind support of other countries.  My only hope here is that further damage won’t be done by the incoming administration (I would have the same hope for Harris’ if she had won) and that a two-state solution could be reached – somehow.

But there is another facet of international relations that has to do with our national security:  Why is Trump so cozy with dictators?  North Korea; Russia; even China at times.  Certainly Orban, of Hungary.  Why would we – a nation so proud in our history of repudiating dictatorial rule – support someone who wants to emulate the leader of a country that is the size of Indiana?  To my mind, it is quite simply because Trump only wants power – he doesn’t actually care about you or me.  The worst possible outcome is that we continue on a path to complete fascism (history from Time magazine) – and Trump’s own former generals have sounded that alarm (CNN October 2024).

The enemy within.

If you have read this far, congratulations.  Or maybe I should offer you a hug.  I AM the ‘enemy within’.  I am not a Christian, as you may know.  I hang with undocumented people.  I show up at rallies from time to time.  I support LGBTQ+ rights.  I have friends that are gay, in marriages.  Through my life I have asked kind of a core set of questions about the limitations of my own knowledge and experience.  I try to be open – other people can love who they want to.  It doesn’t hurt me in any way.  Other people who don’t look like me, worship like me, speak like me, love like me – they all deserve freedom just as much as I do.

My friends Maria and her husband Juan came from Mexico as teenagers.  They were starving – there was a drought that lasted a year, they had no money, no jobs.  They were desperate.  They crossed the border, found jobs (imagine for a second how many jobs will be left undone if Trump actually proceeds with this great deportation?) and built a life together.  They send money to Maria’s mom in Mexico who is dying of cancer.  They own a house.  They pay taxes.  Lupe has graduated college, Carla is in her senior year at app state, and little Ellie is a sophomore in high school.   It’s personal, to me, what happens to them.  Maria and Juan missed DACA by one year.  For context, Reagan granted amnesty to about 3 million immigrants in 1986.  Interesting history in this article by NPR from 2010.

And if elements of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 (ACLU explainer) comes to pass, people who are now citizens may have that citizenship revoked.  Please note the recent ballot measure on our ballots in North Carolina.  That was a move to REMOVE the language of ‘naturalized citizen’, which now opens the door for laws that would remove citizenship protections from people in our state who have been through the process of naturalization and currently have the right to vote.  That measure passed (ABC news article), largely, I think because most of us read it and thought “hey, okay, that makes sense”, not knowing what the original language contained.

And women’s right to choose, as I’m sure you know, has been all but eliminated in many states.   Why we say “small government!” in one breath and then “government dictating what I do with my body” in the next is beyond me.  I think Pete Buttigieg’s comments about this were the most compelling for me (FOX news link).

On morality.

I hesitate greatly, here.  I was never a fan of speaking in terms of ‘higher morality’.  IN fact, I had a big argument with my friend David Campt (The Daily Show video) about not being ready to, in Stevie Wonder’s words, reach that higher ground (music video) for myself of showing grace, giving space, and not just popping off at every opportunity.  I do want to suggest, though, that media machinery has been at work, in some cases operated by Russia or others with no good-will for the US, to amplify the lies in disinformation campaigns that I fear way too many of my fellow Americans have succumbed to.  Some things that stand out for me (most of this from NPR fact-check of a Trump news conference in Aug 2024):

• The Big Lie:  60 some odd courts fielded cases of suspected voter fraud after the 2020 election.  NO substantive evidence was found.  Many of those judges, by the way, were Trump appointees.
• So-called “failed economy” under Biden: See the facts above.
• “They’re eating dogs”:  Debunked, with the originator of the rumor saying she was wrong.
• Violence:  Has trended down since 2020, nationally.  Although the FBI notes that our biggest danger is domestic extremism (not foreign gangs).
• Returning secret documents to the government:  this is one of the federal cases against him that now will go nowhere.  If it did, he would pardon himself.
• Statements made on the Access Hollywood bus.  Really?  Y’all.  (if you can stomach it, read the Comments section in this Wikipedia entry).
• Affair with a porn star while married with a young baby (4 month old Barron).  Really?  This is who the evangelicals want to rally behind?  This led to conviction on 34 felony counts by a jury of his peers, related to record-keeping as that hush-money was paid to influence his election prospects.
• E.Jean Carroll:  Trump accused of sexual assault.  The jury found him guilty of sexual abuse.
• Remember:  Trump is a convicted felon.  In what time in my life did I ever think the highest office in this land would be thusly occupied?  Never.
• Federal election interference criminal case (Politico case tracker):  2 felony charges prepared, but this will never (now) see the light of day.  Anyone else watch the January 6th hearings (dedicated YouTube channel) with Liz Cheney (R-WY) leading?
• Georgia election interference case:  13 felony charges were to be levied against Trump.  He straight up lied about election interference, disparaged some Black election workers, and called a state official to ‘find’ votes needed.  I would be surprised if there is ever any resolution to this, either – given that Trump would just pardon himself.
• I’m tired.  Isn’t ANY ONE OF THE ABOVE enough to make us pause and say, “no”???

On my personal(ish) connection.

In my professional life, as a designer of corporate leadership training experiences and creator/inventor of various learning things through technology, I did a bunch of work at Duke Corporate Education in developing (and delivering / teaching) what we called ‘immersive experiences’.  One of those is called the Innovative Apprentice.  In that ½ day experience, teams of leaders were challenged by a local non-profit to develop innovative ideas to address some vexing problem.  For the Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta, for example, it was how to more effectively engage local businesses in providing internships and support for their cause.  Benefits abounded:  The nonprofit leadership got a bunch of new ideas, and the participants got a real-life application test of the innovation model.  For this experience (and to note, it was the late 2000’s to 2010’s), we had an ace – we had Dr. Randal Pinkett, season 4 winner of the Apprentice TV show (although he will not advertise that.  Read on.).

I became good friends with Randal, working with him on a number of projects, and, when I was exited from the company and I had a crazy new idea (BCT Partners) about VR and unconscious bias, I knew Randal to be a smart, energized and honest sounding board for the idea.  For the next 5 years, Randal and his company (BCT Partners) were Red Fern’s (our company) largest provider of jobs (aka income).

Randal worked for Donald Trump. For a year.

I asked him to his face, during the first Trump presidency (and in a hotel restaurant somewhere in NJ), what Trump was like, as a person, a leader and businessman. I learned then what Randal, other contestants, and a bunch of the staff from the Apprentice would more recently publish in a letter (TheHill.com) warning us (citizens) of the dangers or electing Trump again.

So.  Here I am, now, a week since the start of this letter, reading / watching / listening as the circus of the most ludicrously unqualified are tapped by Trump to take leadership positions in this country. Our country.  My country.  Your country.  They will burn it all down.

I will not be my usual self for quite some time.  I hope you understand.  And even if you disagree with what I’ve written above (some, or all of it) I hope you can hold some empathy for me as I struggle to come to terms with things, and try to seek that higher ground.  Eventually.  But not today.

With love

Your fellow American

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[1] The Conversation is a subscriber-funded journal featuring articles authored by academic experts in the fields of focus.  Not pundits.  Not corporate media.

N.B. The featured image was created by AI in WordPress. Here is the prompt: “Create a highly detailed, high-resolution image that symbolizes the struggle to preserve democracy in a contemporary setting. Focus on a diverse group of people of different ages, genders and races  engaging in a passionate discussion around a table, papers and documents scattered about, representing political discourse. The lighting should convey a warm atmosphere, with rays of sunlight streaming in through a window, illuminating their faces which show a variety of concerned and worried expressions. The style should be realistic, capturing the intensity of their emotions while maintaining sharp focus on the characters and their expressions.”