Not My President, Again

Not My President, again. You know, I really really wanted to post my Spider-Man: Homecoming review today, or talk about the cool Valerian or Captain Canuck animations I found online, or even the new Coke Zero, but then something happened that simply enraged me. You guessed it, it has to do with the Orange Hobgoblin.

The monster Trump, who cannot be stopped from Tweeting just as a liar cannot stop lying, Tweeted some horrific stuff this morning. And as many in the media fear, his Tweets are soon to become policy. His target this morning was the transgender community, despite his Tweets before the election (which he still whines about winning, eight months later) that indicated he would support the LGBTQ community and fight for them.

His Tweets this morning indicate 'a military decision' despite 15,000 transgender individuals already serving in the US military, and calls them a burden. That doesn't sound like supporting or fighting for them, that sounds like targeting them and discriminating against them. And while this stinks of a diversionary tactic to steal focus from the Russian investigations, and discord within his administration and even his own family, he's still doing it, and it's very real.

Already former allies are turning against Trump, like Caitlyn Jenner, and transgendered soldiers are speaking up as well, like Navy SEAL hero Kristin Beck. Questions at a White House Press Conference earlier today were casually deflected as if unimportant, like will the transgendered currently in the military be pulled from their positions, their jobs, their combat operations. There is no plan, only Trump's discrimination, betrayal, and Tweets.

Later, Trump addressed the American Legion Boys Nation and Auxiliary Girls Nation at the White House. He spoke of loyalty, something he betrayed some Americans earlier, and while he didn't tell any salacious stories as he did yesterday with the Boy Scouts, he did tell the children they should pursue their dreams, and all I could think was as long as they're not transgender and want to serve their country. I imagined transgender children in that audience crying silently.

At the end of his speech a reporter yelled out a question about Trump's policy on transgenders in the military, to which he called her "rude." A chill ran down my spine as he spurred the children to start chanting "USA USA." Surely I'm not the only one who wondered about the youth there and what they would be like as adults. I also wondered what happened to the 'rude' reporter. Was she roughly escorted out like the dissenters verbally threatened at his election rallies? I can only fear that today's 'rude' is tomorrow's criminal. Freedom of speech? What's that?

Back on topic, to a point. My friends in the LGBQT community are among the bravest and strongest people I know, and if they want to serve in the military, they should be able to. Strength is important for that gig. I don't have it. Those targeted today do.

For most of the first two decades of my life I was bullied, from roughly fourth grade right through to senior year, and for most of that time the epithet of choice was 'faggot.' I'm not gay, but it didn't stop the constant verbal abuse, getting beaten up almost every day, and whenever I hear someone say that anything other than heterosexuality is a lifestyle choice, I get angry. No one would choose that. I still have emotional and physical scars to prove it. And it comes back to strength. To be LGBTQ and out is the bravest choice of all, and only the strong can do it, and there is no one else I'd rather have defending me and my country.

Now we have a bully president, just like the monsters I encountered in school, and he has to be stopped. Today he stabbed his transgender supporters in the back, will you be next?

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