I posted the picture because “a picture is worth a thousand words” and I am wordy. I love to write and I love to tell stories. I talk to my maltapoo the most because she listens, does not talk back or correct me. However, the picture represents not what you see, but what you can’t see.
Last week my family stayed in a house on the North Carolina coast. I have shared with my readers that I am considered handicapped. During our stay I became stronger every day because the easiest place for me to walk is the sand or in the edge of the water. The warm, moist air is kind to my joints. I still might trip, lose my balance, but the sand provides a soft place to land!
I imagined how quality of my life could be so much better if we moved to the coast. As I stood beside my son, just to have a picture made, he grabbed me twice. First, he thought I might fall backwards over the railing . The second time he thought I might go down, but I didn’t
Last week I saw story after story about Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.It does not matter what they did! It does not matter because people with really deep pockets wanted him to be President and were willing to do whatever it took to put him in the White House, but what does matter is what is happening all across this country now!
Many voters were not concerned about Trump’s past. Stories were splattered all over media outlets about Trump’s criminal record, his rape conviction, and even his words on a live microphone discussing what sexual favors he had attained because of his wealth. Some did not care, because they believed if he was elected their influence would make them wealthier and it has. Others believed that he would improve their lives because of losses during Covid, not realizing how hard President Biden and his administration had already worked to improve their lives.
Donald Trump was given due process through all of his trials. Prosecutors were given less consideration than he was. He was not jailed, despite numerous times he was charged with Contempt of Court, now people are being grabbed by masked men, wearing no ID, in unmarked cars, are getting no due process. Donald Trump, a man who has lived a life of luxury all of his life, thinks it is funny, to lock humans in cages in the middle of a swamp.
I want to talk about a story I read this morning about a young mother working three jobs, three shifts a day to provide for her two young children. After I read about her plight, the next thing I read was that Mike Johnson had dismissed this session and sent Senators home to avoid any more investigation about Epstein, who is deceased, and his buddy, Trump.
All I could think about was the young mother, who is like many others that struggle every day to provide clothing, shelter, food, etc for their families. I cannot imagine what families must be going through whose mother or father are grabbed, despite the fact they have lived and worked in the U.S. for decades. They are kidnapped by people who say the are ICE or police, yet have no warrants to show why they are being arrested. Then without being given no due process, they are placed in concentration camps, exported or worse. Serial killers, rapists, convicted felons are treated better in the U.S. They are given due process. Donald Trump’s wife is an immigrant. Has she been torn away from her child?
However, millions, maybe billions are being spent to grab people whose biggest crime is moving to the US, a country that has welcomed immigrants, and provided safe harbor to them since 1776.
Few of the things the United States has prided itself in remain. Instead of providing for those who have the least, we are watching our “elected” leaders in Washington, STEAL from American citizens, even treat veterans who served our country inhumanely.
Everyone reading this likely knows about the fear moving across our Nation like a Plague. Our children are not even safe in public parks.
My question is simple. When are American citizens, those who took an Oath to the Constitution, going to decide that they are unwilling to watch a President who blatantly brags about his crimes, a Cabinet picked to destroy our Nation, to steal from the poor, and pass laws that will cost lives, decide to say “stop?”
This is not about MAGA, Republicans, or Democrats. It is time for every American who loves this Nation and believes in the principles it was founded on to stand up. Quit worrying about Epstein (he is dead). Money has been cut from so many institutions including research, to treat and cure disease, to improve existing vaccines and to create new ones.
While Trump and his supporters are plundering this nation, locking up or deporting innocent men and women, our infrastructure is crumbling. How can we make America greater when we destroy some of our hardest workers, deport some of our most brilliant students who have come to the U.S. to share and to learn?
Trump, his administration, supporters and those turning a blind eye to the U.S. Constitution are profiting from tax cuts while benefits such as SNAP, Medicaid, and Medicare have been cut. The middle and lower class have seen an increase in their taxes. Trump freed all those convicted after being sentenced for the insurrection on our Capital on January 6. Many had been sentenced to years in prison. Are they the men behind the mask, who are being paid the salary of a first year teacher in NC? Free speech is under attack. Those who publicly disagree with Trump are being threatened. At least two people were murdered in a political assassination. News is being censored. Your tax dollars are paying for these atrocities, including those unmarked cars.
It is time for all those who have taken an Oath to our Constitution, military, retired or active, Congressmen who believe in the laws set out in the U.S. Constitution to stand together. It is a time for all those who want a Nation where equality means something, who do not feel safe with men in masks grabbing their neighbors, to stop the madness. We have prior living Presidents, who know how to lead, believe in the Constitution, and love their country. What better resource could we have?
I have thought all day about that mother and all the lives being destroyed. Trump did not campaign on a platform to deport American citizens, people with nothing more serious on their record than a traffic ticket. He never mentioned people would be profiled and grabbed because of the color of their skin. He never said he would not obey the laws as set forth in the US Constitution. He stated multiple times he knew nothing about Project 2025. However, it has been his guide since Day 1.He talked a lot about bananas. Check the price the next time you purchase one!
I am not a lawyer, military leader or even a politician, simply a sometimes writer, who loves her country and feels indebted to all who have fought for it.
Now, back to the picture. What is missing? There is no husband. He is taking the picture. My son is not a child wishing his mother did not have to work three jobs. He is also well fed. We were a double income family until six years ago when I became disabled. My husband retired two years ago at age 70 although our youngest will graduate from college this year. Our oldest two sons are adults.
This nation was built by neighbor helping neighbor. In the beginning they helped build homes, barns, harvest crops. Those who had little shared with those who had less.
John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.” Donald Trump may want to be King, but he never loved his country enough to put on a United States military uniform when his classmates were shipping out to Vietnam. He received 5 deferments, but his feet have never kept him from playing golf or profiting from the Office of U.S. Presidency. His motto (or it could be) Take all that you can. You owe your country nothing.” During his first term, I believed that he took more than he gave to this Nation.
In seven months he has hit a new low. Food is rotting in fields. Those who worked hard to harvest it are either locked up because their skin is the wrong color or have been deported. Less food means higher prices. Higher prices means more adults and children will go to bed hungry. Many farmers will lose their farms.
I believe it is time for Americans who love their country to read Project 2025 from cover to cover. It is the blueprint for how Donald Trump plans to destroy Democracy and those who have fought for it and those who challenge anything he says.
Americans would have not stormed the beaches of Normandy if freedom was not important. Let history be our guide.
Robin Bowers Harden
RBH