I was a “wet back” for 17 years. Except, I moved south to Mexico, Old Mexico. We had and raised four children in Chihuahua. Strange? Everyone who knew me was a tad shocked. I was young, newly married, and thought it sounded like a great adventure. Sometimes it was. To clarify, my spouse’s family has lived in Mexico for three generations. He has German and English heritage. I share this to help you understand that my experience has given me a unique perspective.
I assisted my husband with his farming business. In the early years, a friend and I opened a country store where local women sold their wares on consignment. We even expanded it to an ice cream shop. I also started a small town newspaper. Another venture was an American bakery. I was elected to the school board of a bilingual school. In my first year, we acquired computers for the students. I created the curriculum and taught computer classes. Fascinated by the rich history, I began researching a documentary on the area.
I interacted with the Hispanic people, and I can tell you from personal knowledge that the Hispanic people I met, know, and love are not the people Donald Trump refers to in such derogatory, ugly, and bigoted ways.
I don’t know those people. And neither does he. Does he have any friends or acquaintances of color? Oh, there is P. Diddy, and Marco Rubio, a Kool-Aid drinker who publicly denounced Donald Trump. Of course, Trump does have minorities working in his hotels, golf courses, and gardens. And I am sure he talks to someone when he is at McDonald’s. Although when I worked at McDonald’s at 15, the customers just wanted to order their food. They weren’t there for a photo op.
I wasn’t born into wealth. 99% of Americans aren’t. I didn’t inherit real estate. I have not refused to rent to tenants based on their race or color. I didn’t travel in wealthy circles on a private island where children were trafficked. I didn’t participate in any beauty pageants. I have never been impressed with the rich and famous. I don’t know anyone who dodged the draft. I haven’t bullied anyone. I didn’t cheat on my SATs or ACTs. My scores were not excellent, but they were my own. I didn’t cheat on my college exams to graduate. If anyone ever felt welcomed, invited, or entitled to grab any part of me, he would have regretted it. I have never been arrested or accused of any crime. I have never been sued. I believe in the law and that it applies to everyone. Chances are, you can claim the same.

I didn’t have the connections to start businesses by acquiring funds through investments, ensuring I would get paid upfront. I never needed my father or anyone to bail me out of a bank loan worth millions of dollars, which would have led to defaulting on the bank and losing the business and property to them. I have never declared bankruptcy and left investors high and dry, forcing taxpayers to pay the price. If I had the opportunity to acquire investors, I would repay them before I received any compensation. Instead, I saved and invested in my pursuits. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn’t, but it wasn’t from lack of hard work and effort. I did not blame or attribute responsibility for my business failures or successes on anyone. I owned it all.
I can’t afford to hire accountants who know all the tax laws, thereby incurring a minimal tax burden on the millions I have never amassed. I have not inflated my assets to acquire loans or decreased their value to diminish my tax burden. And those who say “everyone does it” are liars, and shame on you. I haven’t lobbied and paid politicians to ensure the laws and regulations that protect the wealthy continue to benefit the 1% while impoverishing those whose backs the wealth was built upon. And throwing a bone out that tips won’t be taxed is not a win in the long run. So stop pretending it is.
I do resent regulations. I understand why they are necessary. They exist to protect the American consumer. Thanks to the unprincipled businesses, banks, and bureaucrats. They ensure their salaries, benefits, and bonuses increase yearly; they also need to upgrade their yachts, poor little sailor boys. Their inferior products and services finance their continued corruption and greed.
If more companies produced high-quality products and services, there would not be a need for regulations. There was a time in America when a service or product was a reflection of one’s pride in their work. Now, companies ensure their products last for a minimal amount of time. Technological advances compel consumers to purchase the most current products, as their existing ones become outdated. How clever. Career potential and personal financial prosperity are paramount. Regulations are annoying, but getting rid of them helps who exactly? Not the American consumer or worker.

I haven’t lied about winning anything. I accept defeat, proud that I tried, and knowing I will try again. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t humiliating. Trump is a sore loser. He wants his gold star, and if he doesn’t get it, he manufactures it. Trump lied about losing his second run for office. He lost. He whined. He accused his opponents of cheating. Isn’t that rich? And no matter how many times he says he won, he didn’t. Stop believing in a conspiracy manufactured to serve him alone. Trumpers’ continued deference and fidelity to the man only expose their similar narcissistic, greedy tendencies.

Am I politically correct in my associations with others? Yes, I am. Why? Because, in my chosen values, it is the right thing to do and the person I choose to be. The President’s behavior has exacerbated aggressive behavior, road rage, entitlement, and a lack of decency and humanity. When he expresses hate and intolerance for the downtrodden, handicapped, destitute, oppressed, and his opponents, do you rejoice? Do you join in and enjoy mocking or ridiculing others? How can anyone laugh when one’s goose bumps rise in rebellion against the sharp words and actions that slice into another human’s heart? Or have you become numb or just less civilized? Where is your compassion, conscience, humanity? Why is the term snowflake, a beautiful, unique, brilliant gift of life, now synonymous with weak and frail? Standing up to a bully is not a sign of weakness or frailty; it is a courageous act of self-respect. It is a wonder why we need to address such fundamental components of humanity: kindness, compassion, empathy, and consideration. And yet, here we are. Shameful.
I am not married to a vulgar, insecure, weak man who seeks the companionship, adoration, or flattery of other women or takes advantage of naive girls for his own bloated, shallow need for validation or self-gratification. And if I had made such a terrible judgment of character, I would have left.
As I watch Mr. Trump dehumanize Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, women, and other minorities, I am ashamed that he represents America and Americans. And you should be ashamed, too. We are, except for native Indians, a country of immigrants. He lies. He cheats. He steals. And if anyone can justify that behavior, it is to justify and excuse their dishonesty, deception, and theft. I mean, if the President does it, and says it, he enables and influences Americans without honor, dignity, and values to behave with equal impudence.
You may choose to believe he is not a criminal. That would be a lie. He is a criminal. He has been found guilty of many crimes and has not been held appropriately accountable. And if you can justify his influence over January 6, you, too, are guilty of complicity. And his pardoning of those who defiled our building with violence and disrespect, and then tried to stop the certification of the electoral votes, was wrong. It was worse than wrong. It was evil, corrupt, and un-American.

Having a businessman as our president sounded good, like common sense, because we were told it was good common sense. It wasn’t. Having a businessman as our president, with a proven track record of failure, shows how compliant and manipulated Americans have become. He is not a good businessman. He is a liar, and not a very good one. Our government is not a business. It was not created to make a profit. It was designed to help and protect its citizens. It was not intended to create oligarchs, tyrants, and dictators whose only goal is self-promotion and increased personal wealth.
Our constitution articulates all humans’ natural rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Your pursuit should not and can not prevent my pursuit. Donald Trump’s ideal pursuit is power, allegiance, golf courses, resorts, acclaim, deference, infidelity, and obedience. If in doubt, ask him. Mine is majestic forests, warm sandy beaches, a clean environment, art, to create, peace, quiet, family, and personal agency and freedom. Everyone is entitled to their idea of happiness, but not at the expense of another’s agency and freedom.
I have people in my life who claim that what he is doing is good. “Just look at my stock!” And for those who work paycheck to paycheck and can’t imagine understanding the stock market, let alone owning stock, too bad, so sad. And when it crashed because of Trump’s actions, what was his followers’ response? “Get the immigrants out!” And when there is no food on the shelves because there are no workers in the fields, what will they say then? Who will they blame then? Will they require teenagers to gain work experience in the fields, allowing for “exceptions,” of course, before military service is mandated, allowing for “foot spurs,” of course? Will they create chain gangs? Will they require Medicaid recipients to roll their wheelchairs into the fields as a condition for receiving their benefits? But as long as your stock is increasing, it’s just not your problem. You know what your problem is? The deficit he has increased with his policies and big beastly bill.
Should we even begin to address the hypocrisy among religious folk? Why bother.
He has created fear in us. Many are afraid to leave their homes. Many are afraid to drive alone. Many are scared to speak. Many are afraid to voice their opinions or concerns. If we become so disillusioned, desperate, hungry, and fearful, history shows that the people won’t just accept authoritarianism, but will beg for it. He and his minions know this. Restoring order will become paramount, even though he is the one who instigated the chaos and disorder as a means to an end. The end of every American’s dream and opportunity is being forsaken and replaced with Donald Trump’s dream of becoming America’s Dictator. This administration is forsaking our agency, rights, and happiness for the 1%. Just take a look at McArthur’s Square in California. There was no need for all those masked militia members to be there. Nothing happened, but who sent them there to cause mischief? Who provoked chaos that didn’t happen? It wasn’t those school children in the playground, that’s for sure.

And now he is starting wars—a civil war between those who are committed to the rule of law and those who ignore it. We should all agree that we do not want criminals running in our streets or running our government. I do not know if he is mentally challenged, deranged, a pathological liar, seduced by power, or is being a puppet. What is happening on his watch in our country is corrupt and morally wrong. It is the opposite of what every president has been elected and sworn to do. He has divided us with his rhetoric and lies. Those who disagree or confront him are targeted with retribution and abuse. He is overstepping his responsibilities as an American and as the President. He does not have the authority to diminish the services the American people want, need, and pay for. Common sense says he should not be allowed to benefit financially from the presidency, and yet he is. He is doing to our country what he has done to most of his businesses. He is bankrupting us. He is reducing our workforce, which will diminish the availability of goods and services. His tariffs have increased the prices of everything. But he has ensured that his portfolio looks good, actually looks great.
Trump has reduced government agencies and removed and replaced qualified, capable, competent leaders with a handful of inept, ignorant, tyrannical, power-hungry, greedy stooges. And let me be clear, I know that corruption has existed in the government from day one, but this overt, transparent corruption is beyond reconciliation. The people of our country have given up their rights to an eccentric, authoritarian dictator and American oligarchs. What happened in Germany during World War I and World War II is happening here, in America.
Americans are moving abroad to be “wet backs”. Think about that. Americans, living in the land of opportunity and freedom, are seeking refuge to pursue the human dream of freedom. Once upon a time, freedom and opportunity weren’t a dream in America; it was a reality. Now, Trump’s cult members are ready to escort dissenters and resistors out. If you don’t like Trump’s authoritarian plan and cleansing of America, leave. Conform or be disenfranchised and banished from America’s society. History does repeat itself, but you might not know that since our history is being rewritten or not allowed to be read.
The diverse Americans he ridicules, diminishes, and negates, well, he doesn’t know those people. He hates them for sure. He has said so. No need to wonder why Americans are marching in the streets, protesting every day, demanding that the constitution be followed and this corrupt government be held accountable.. They are doing it to protect all of our rights. The rights we swore an allegiance to. The rights that are being stripped away from all of us, even you.
We were brave. We were smart. We were kind. We still can be if we choose now before we are not allowed to choose at all.