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Mixed Emotions

Lost and Found in a Presidency of Terror

By KLMorganWritesPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Mixed Emotions
Photo by History in HD on Unsplash

Dear President Donald J Trump;

Like most presidents in recent years, your time in office has been plagued by conspiracy theories, turmoil, and change. You’ve left a legacy behind that will never be forgotten, some good, but most of the good you did will be overshadowed by the overwhelming negativity perpetuated by you and yours. Comparing you to recent presidents Obama or Bush seems almost sacrilegious, like it lessens the impact they had on this country, but how can we discount the impact you’ve had?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_executive_orders

You’ve signed nearly as many executive orders in your single term as president as Barack Obama did in is his two terms(210 vs 276). And while many people against your presidency and legacy would like to say that all of these have been negative, that would be a blatant lie or willful ignorance. Trying to see your presidency, or any other, in pure shades of black and white- (while we’re on this topic, why is black considered bad?!)- is a silly and ignorant world view. You decreased the price of insulin, started an initiative to work on reforestation, signed orders ensuring, or at least promoting, fair medical treatment for children. None of these things are bad! But that’s the thing, with the same pen you struck down the equality of many citizens, promoting hatred and violence with your words and action. You tried to build a wall to keep the vulnerable and persecuted out, all while persecuting them from here. You had the chance to prove the world wrong about who and what they assumed you were, but chose to show your ass instead, and demonstrate to everyone with fears for our great country that they were right.

Now I know, that no one person makes a presidency, really. The president is just a figurehead, more than anything, a cog in the prodigious machine that is American Governance. And yet, despite this very blatant fact, I find myself repulsed and disgusted, wanting to ignore the good done for the repetitive perpetuation of the bad. The mocking, the pandering, the blackmail, the lies, it’s almost too much to even acknowledge any positivity. I must try, of course, to see the good within the bad, because if I ignore that, then I’d be no better than those who recently attempted to assassinate our elected officials at your behest. To let the festering illness that you encourage so thoroughly within your base infect me is something I must not permit, and so I choose to look deeper into the information I’ve found in regards to your presidency.

federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders

Regardless of how your presidency is viewed from the outside, I must admit that there is one very important thing that you’ve accomplished that very few others likely could have. You’ve exposed the decaying rot within our system. You’ve brought to light the suspected corruption growing within our political spectrum like a fungus. This mold wasn’t caused by you, just exposed. The feelings of superiority weren’t caused by you, you just allowed it to be acceptable (not really but that’s what people seem to think) to persecute others and blame your troubles upon them. And you’ve united people in a way that they weren’t before. You’ve encouraged people to fight for their beliefs and come against this goliath of a corruption. Unprecedented reactions to recent events ranging from denial (unsurprising) to newfound unity. While our country is fractured in a way that may never be truly repaired, it’s no longer hidden in the shadows. It’s visible now. And the first step to healing is to admit you have a problem, so perhaps your brand of insanity is what we really needed? Obviously, myself and many others wish that it hadn’t come to this, this cesspool of toxicity that’s taken over many of the top rungs of our society, but perhaps now that such negativity is exposed, we can begin to mend the rifts.

Who knows, maybe you actually succeeded in whatever deranged goal you set forth. Perhaps you really intended to ‘drain the swamp,’ but saw that in order to do that, you first had to make it overflow? Or perhaps we credit you with genius that’s beyond your scope of understanding, and you really are just a puppet for those who know how to pull the strings. We may never know, and, I think, for most of us, we don’t even want to know. We just want the sickness to go away. We want to wake up without wondering if this is the day we lose our sons or daughters. We don’t want to worry that the reason our husband is late is because he was pulled over and shot. We don’t want to have to make sure to pull over and record whenever we see someone with darker skin than ours behind the wheel of a stopped vehicle. We want the worry, the pain, the infection, to end, just like your presidency. Of course, this desire without action is silly, naïve even. We must be the change we want. The first step to healing has begun, now we must continue putting one foot in front of the other, and encourage our neighbors and friends and family to do the same.

The time for healing is now.

Thank you for not burning us to the ground. Thank you for showing us what needs to be done. Thank you for bringing to light the fractured psyche of a country near ruin in time for the healing to begin. And please, for God’s sake, stop trying to nuke the pyres of our hope.

Sincerely,

Terrified and Relieved Madwoman

opinion
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About the Creator

KLMorganWrites

Since I was a child I knew that writing is what I wanted to do, to share stories, to make people's visions come true. I've gotten lost along the way... several times... but I'm finally back to the basics and earning an income from writing!

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