No Place Like Home

President Trump, as detrimental to this country as you and your cohorts have been and continue to be, I do have to thank you for waking the American citizenry up. For too long, we have been complacent, even apathetic, when it came to democracy, politics, and voting. It was considered boring and lame---just a subject to pass in high school to be quickly forgotten. 

During your first presidential campaign, hardly anybody took you seriously. The fact is you should not have survived as a candidate in the world of traditional politics: you’re a reality show host and failed businessman who cannot speak a clear, coherent sentence to save your life. You were perceived as a joke, and the majority of us thought your campaign would fizzle out. As your vulgarity, crassness, misogyny, racism, bigotry, ableism, and xenophobia came to light, the numerous scandals should have ended you. Instead, your base responded favorably to these terrible traits, and we know how that ended. Then, came COVID-19 and your truly disastrous, negligent handling of a national crisis. What you failed to do for the people under your care should have permanently barred you from the White House, never mind your two impeachments, insurrection, thirty four felonies, and liability for sexual abuse. No one in their right mind would send you back. Yet, somehow, you did end up in the Oval Office again.

I did not think it was possible, but I do believe this second term is proving more disastrous. The first term was about laying the groundwork and installing extreme right-wing loyalists in key positions, including but not limited to, the Supreme Court. Your lackeys have made this country a dangerous hellscape for practically anyone who does not pass as a heterosexual, cisgender, white, Christian man. The saddest part is that you told us exactly what you were going to do when Project 2025 was published by the Heritage Foundation.

All of these terrible policies and your horrendous leadership have woken the metaphorical sleeping giant that is the People. We have begun to educate ourselves on basic civics and become involved in politics on local, state, and federal levels. We have started or joined grassroot movements for various causes and candidates that we believe represent us. You have taught us a very important lesson: we cannot solely rely on the government to take care of us; we have to do it ourselves. 

You have instructed your puppets in Congress to deny people the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program just before the holidays. Because of your cruelty and desire to play up the legend of Marie Antoinette, communities across this country have had to step up to contend with yet another one of your massive failures. Every time I open my social media feeds, my heart simultaneously breaks due to the necessity and swells with so much fucking pride at seeing individuals banding together to find creative solutions to this crisis.

There truly is no place like home, and we will not stop fighting for the places we love. We believe in the potential this old country still has. So, thank you, President Trump, for making America care again.