Man up, she says...

I unfriended someone the other day on Facebook. I do it often, and anymore, I unfriend people who support Donald Trump. See, I've read the screeds, listened to the diatribes, and feel it's time for me to explain myself. I shouldn't have to. Hell, no one's likely to read this and there's little chance at my changing someone's mind. But I'm going to say it anyway, so here it is.

If you support Donald Trump, you are supporting everything I stand against. We do not share political ideologies, and that's fine. I have many friends with different ideologies than mine, and we are still friends. But Donald Trump goes beyond politics. Supporting him supports just about everything I stand against. I am against racism. I am against sexism. I am against hate-speech. I am against those who would subjugate others. I am against pedophiles. I am against those who watch while others suffer so they can get richer. I am against those who openly mock the disabled. And, yes, I was for the Affordable Care Act. More on that last one in a moment.

If you support Trump, you support all those things. Don't believe me? Look it up. It's not hard to see. And I'm not talking about a few sound-bites or a few articles in a newspaper with quotes taken out of context. I'm talking about entire speeches. I'm talking about behind-the-scenes footage that reveals him for the kind of person he truly is. One person actually asked me, "What racism? What hate-speech?" To that man I give a most urgent cry to wake up. Actually watch the demagogue who has been handed the most powerful chair in the land, and tell me you don't see it. And if you support all those things, you support taking the rights away from me, my loved ones, my friends, and my family. You support a man who is made of hate, and that I cannot abide.

On the subject of the Affordable Care Act... many of you scream and cry because the price went up. No one is talking about the fact that the reason it went up is because the Republican-lead congress voted to strip the vital funding away that would've kept the price down. Look it up. You're blaming a fine man, Barack Obama, for your own ignorance. Check the facts. Now that it's gone, good luck if you need insurance and have a pre-existing condition. Good luck if you have a 26 year old who needs to be on your insurance. Remember when Trump said he would have another plan in place? Well, they voted to get rid of ACA, and there's no other plan in sight. Surprised? I'm not. Just disgusted.

So back to my little story.

Oh yeah. So a woman of whom I know launched her vitriol and spouted about how much she loved Trump because "he may make mistakes" but "at least he's real." She said that we should forgive things said by him in the past because we are all flawed people. Then she posted an image that asked why women make life so hard for other women. I responded that I didn't know, but I wondered why any woman would vote for a man who seems so hell-bent on marginalizing women, knowing how hard it is to be a woman.

Well, as you can imagine, she lost her shit.

She told me that I should "man up" (an inherently sexist phrase) and stay friends with her.

Let me make a few things perfectly clear. Number one, I have "manned up." I stood to be counted with the millions who voted for equality, for dignity, and for grace. I voted for compassion. I voted for human rights and for the people who don't give a damn about the poor to get their come-uppance. I sounded the call and tried to encourage people to vote despite the nihilistic few who said that voting was pointless.

And, not to put too fine a point on it, I voted for the rights that women like this one seem all too content to throw away. That's right. I voted for you to keep your rights over your own body, your right to not be harassed or groped or denigrated in any way. But you... you betrayed every woman, and even yourself, by saying "oh, let's just forgive him because he's flawed." Your ignorance astounds me.

Eight years ago, the man you voted for was at the very center of a ridiculous lie called the "Birther Movement." Remember that? Remember how he harangued the president with bald-faced lies about whether or not he had a birth certificate? Or whether or not he was born in the United States? I hate to break it to you, but that was borne out of a movement to "keep the black guy out of the White House." Again, if you don't believe me, look it up. You'll see that I'm telling the truth. And do you remember all of us just rolling our eyes and letting it die down? Because that's what we did. But when a black man was elected to the White House  so many of you revealed your willful ignorance and screamed and cried and made up lies and did everything in your power to discredit.

Now that it's your demagogue in the White House, you say "aw, we should all just get over it because he won."

Not a chance.

See, I've heard the idiotic arguments. "Oh, we're not supposed to disagree with Obama because that makes us racists, but you get to disagree with Trump?  How's that fair?" Let's have a look at that, shall we? And I'll use small words to make it easy for you to understand. First, you can disagree with the president and it's not racist. That's your right. But if you disagree with what was said only because HE said it, guess what. YOU ARE RACIST. I don't dislike Trump because he's white (or orange... whatever), I dislike him because he dislikes every other non-white, non-heterosexual, non-male on the planet. Oh, and then she lets this steaming pile of filth out on the cyber-waves:

Thought for the night. I find it very interesting that I'm supposed to show tolerance at every turn, even for things I don't agree with...yet, for some reason, tolerance doesn't have to be extended to me. Hmmm. Interesting.

That's right. You are supposed to show tolerance for other races, for other ideologies, and other religions. For other genders, other people. You know what I don't have to be tolerant of?  Intolerance. I know, it seems weird. But see, what I'm standing up against is, in fact, hatred. So let me be clear:  If the thing you don't agree with is, in fact, tolerance, then that makes you a prejudiced piece of shit. And, you know what? That's your right. Live your life in blissful ignorance if you wish, but I promise you, I'll fight for my country every day. And every time I see you being stupid? I'm the guy with the mirror holding it up.

On the off-chance the person who sparked this off reads this, make note... I'm not naming you. Frankly, you're not worth it to me. The fact that you seem incapable of growing past this level of ignorance makes it so. Be happy in your ignorant life. Also, because I know you might not realize this, but replying to this blog post will do nothing but "out" you, so knock yourself out.

Food for thought... if lots of people are unfriending you over your political views, maybe they're not the ones who are wrong. Maybe you're just an asshole.

As a side note, one of this person's friends (who obviously doesn't know me) cautioned me to "tread carefully," as if some toad from Bumfuck Alabama scares me in the slightest. This was clearly a case of someone overestimating their worth. It also could be construed as a veiled threat. Which, by the way, is illegal.

So this is me. Manning up. Again, I hate that phrase. So instead, how about this: This is me standing up. Does it take more courage to stay friends with someone who is an ignorant ass, or to cut the tie and refuse to partake in their idiocy? I'm betting the latter.

An Open Letter to Donald Trump

Dear Donald -

I can call you Donald, can't I?

I've thought long and hard about your campaign for presidency, and I've come to a few conclusions.  I'd like to know if I'm right or wrong, just between you and me. See, I know what really happened. I know how this started. I just need to give this voice because I'm pretty sure I'm right here.

So, to begin with, this whole "I'm-running-for-president" thing was a publicity stunt, wasn't it?  I mean, let's face facts, you haven't been relevant in years, so you figured that a far-fetched presidential campaign would put your fifteen minutes of fame on life support for a little while, didn't you?  Don't deny it. You know that's how it started out, don't you? See, Donald, I don't blame you. Jump up in front of people, make a few outrageous statements, lose miserably, and you'll be back in the limelight in no time, right?

I'm right, aren't I?

Only you didn't count on racists, sexists, and idiots who would actually agree with those asinine statements, did you? So you tried to up your game with even more insane claims, statements designed to infuriate, hate speech and attack-formatted speeches. But it didn't work, did it? You resorted to name-calling, open mocking, and fear-mongering, and it still didn't work.  People still voted for you. No matter how hard you tried, you still couldn't get people to realize what a major shit-storm would occur for our nation (and the world) if you became president of our country.

And it scared you, didn't it Donald?  It did.  I know it did.  I'm right, aren't I?

So then you did the only thing a man like you could think to do:  You got worse. People couldn't possibly vote for you if you made yourself out to be a modern-day Hitler, could they? Of course not. No one would be that stupid, would they? But then, you underestimated them, didn't you? The anti-intellectuals. The fellow fear-mongers. The people who hate everything different than themselves. The self-righteous, the entitled... You underestimated them, didn't you? The louder you squawked and the more outrageous and terrible you became the more they ate it up.

And then another curious thing happened. You forgot. You forgot why you said those things to begin with. The potential power became intoxicating, didn't it Donald? You began to believe your own hype and forgot that everything you said was farce, didn't you? And now, with your own party members calling you out, you think it's too late, don't you?

It's not too late, Donald.  It's not. I mean, let's be honest, you've always been a walking parody.  From your augmented wives to your lies about being a self-made millionaire to your ridiculous branding schemes (Trump Steaks?  Really, Donald?), you've always been more of cartoon than a real person, Donald. But you can recover a shred of self-respect. It's really easy, and people will respect you for it. Here's how:

Admit it.

Get up in front of the world and just own up to your own bullshit. Get up there and tell the world that I'm right. It was a grab for a few more minutes of fame that got out of hand. You can totally paint yourself as a saint, Donald. Just raise your hands and tell us how you were trying to cast the harsh light of ridicule on the ignorant who chose to vote for you. Tell us how you really don't believe in being a racist chauvinistic douchebag, and how you want to bow out of the race, but couldn't figure out how to gracefully do so. Then exit the race before you do more damage. Exit the race before you damn this country to the horrors of your presidency. You're already the butt of thousands of jokes that span over twenty years.  Don't make the USA the butt of an even more tragic joke just because you're afraid to admit it was all a publicity stunt.

Unless I'm wrong.  Unless it wasn't a publicity stunt. Unless you actually are the ignorant racist, sexist elitist that you seem to be.

And if you are, I hope the educated and empathetic outnumber your legions of hate-mongers.

Sincerely,

Scott A. Johnson
Author, Father, American