An open letter to everyone's friends and family that voted for Trump... again

Dear TAT readers,

Today’s essay is really a letter, that I think a great many Americans will identify with, whether they voted for Trump or against him. Yes, I do realize that this is a very sensitive topic for most families and the communities that they associate with, whether personal or work-related. Still, I feel like I must wade into this in order to set the foundation for restoring unity in our nation, when Trump and MAGA are gone. Yes, they will be, but not without a great deal of pain for all Americans and a constitutional crisis. It will take decades for America to recover from the Trump era.

The physical, emotional and financial tolls that we all will experience, except Trump’s oligarchs, are actually deep wounds that must be healed, and it is our family and friends, who have imposed these wounds onto all of us. This is the sad, but undeniable truth. No one wishes to lose family and friends, but after another four years of a fascist administration, there will be losses, very painful ones. The only way to stop the madness is to be able to talk with GOP voters and express our truth. They are putting our most important relationships at risk, because they refuse be honest with anyone about Trump and the MAGA GOP, including themselves.

I hope that what follows, will be of value to you.

Onward

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Dear family, friends and fellow Americans,

If you voted for Donald Trump after the 2016 election, we need to talk. To be frank, it will be a difficult discussion, but if we are to maintain or improve our relationships, there are things that you need to hear, as you have expected us to hear you for the past decade. Some of what follows, will likely make you angry, frustrated and maybe even sad, but with so much at stake for the next four years, you really need to hear this.

I have no respect for political parties, especially since Chief Justice John Roberts and his fellow Justices rendered their Citizens United decision. Even prior, I never really cared for political parties. They are not in our constitution, one of my top tier heroes, George Washington despised them, and his reasoning was as sound then as it is now. He made all of this quite clear in his Farewell Address. I care about three things when it comes to politics; 1. are intentions constitutional, 2. are they moral and 3. will it move our nation towards becoming a more perfect union?

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

- Preamble to the United States Constitution

This preceding paragraph is to let you know that I do not buy into left/ right, liberal/ conservative, Republican/ Democratic partisanship. My following thoughts are simply based on being as our founders expected of citizens, to be well and accurately informed. Along with being well and accurately informed, these thoughts will also be based on basic morality and human decency. Those who still vote the Republican, exclusively MAGA agenda in the Trump era, are voting for an agenda devoid of either morality or human decency. If you voted for him in 2016, I gave you a “mulligan or rather, a “do-over.” Afterwards, any vote for a Republican, meant that you voted for MAGA. This is not only a vote against the constitution and morality but also, American values. No more mulligans.

What you fail to realize is that you were conned in 2015/2016 by a combination of GOP and Russian conspiracy theories and lies, that you swallowed, “hook, line and sinker.” You still believe that the Republican Party is conservative, despite the fact that there is zero truth to this. They are now, a far-right extremist movement. The proof is in Project 2025 and the 2024 Republican Party platform which both support unconstitutional agendas.

Republican voters have forgotten that words and phrases actually have real meanings. Just because Republican politicians continue to redefine such words as patriotism and constitutional, along with phrases with meanings that justify their actions, doesn’t make them true. You accepted these changes without doing a shred of critical thinking. You allowed yourself to be conned by the likes of FOX News and their ilk. Now, your friends, families and nation, are paying the price. Of course we are hurt, angry and frustrated. You seem to not understand this but expect the “benefit of the doubt” for backing Trump and the unconstitutional MAGA agenda of the GOP. You received that “benefit of the doubt” back in 2016 and we all suffered. Our moral spine won’t allow us to tolerate it again, especially in its current far more dangerous form.

It’s not that the opposite side of the aisle is free from misinformation either. The reason that I am not critical of them to the degree that I am of today’s GOP, is that they keep their agenda between our constitutional guardrails, whether you agree with them or not. Yes, the very guardrails that Trump and the GOP are attempting to destroy. No one gets to support undermining or destroying our constitution and continue calling themselves a “patriot.” By default, you are supporting Trump and MAGA’s agenda to destroy our constitutional republic. The intent to realign our three branches of government, putting all real power into the Executive Branch, Tax dollars for private religious schools, ending birthright citizenship, allowing states to make decisions about Federal issues not allowed in our constitutional framework, are just some of the examples.

You seem to not care that Trump continues to break the law with his EOs and in-office behavior. You cheered his SCOTUS picks despite their attempts to back unconstitutional issues such as, “every American is not equal before the law” and that Seditious Conspiracy is okay, along with violent assaults on our government and constitution. You don’t care that you voted to put a serial sexual predator in charge of all of us, including your wives, mothers, daughters etc. You care even less that other Trump nominees also have sexual predation on their resume.

You seem to see it as “conservative” to put a hand-picked group of oligarchs in charge of Federal agencies and entities, despite the criminal and unethical background of some of them, especially, Elon Musk. Our constitution is considered “the anti-oligarchy constitution” by scholars, but somehow, you seem to not care. Trump and his cronies are already profiting wildly from practices that in previous administrations, would have been slammed by ethics rules and laws.

I could belabor this letter for hours and overwhelm you with a massive log of details and facts, but it wouldn’t matter at all. No Republican voter in the Trump era, votes for facts or reality. You vote for talking points based on lies and conspiracy theories, too afraid or brainwashed to even consider looking up a credible source. You defend and justify ridiculous issues that do significant harm to your family and friends but never have a single credible fact to back your decisions up. The results are clear, a nation given over to the Four Horsemen of the MAGA Apocalypse, Autocracy, Oligarchy, White Christian Nationalism and Political Violence.

You voted to impose higher prices on everyone. Your grocery bill, insurance, gas, medical bills, airline tickets, etc. are proof that you have been played and because you did not do your due diligence, everyone suffers. Domestic terrorism that data clearly shows far-right extremism at all-time highs, also is larger than all other forms combined. You enabled these things. As you and I settle into paying 2024 tax bills, you will not be happy because it is not an urban myth that elite wealth, in no way pays their share. You and I pay their tax bill.

I will close with the two issues that cause me the most personal pain due to how y’all voted; 1. I nor any other Veteran in my family, friends or former uniformed colleagues, especially those who did not make it home, are “losers and suckers.” 2. You seem to believe that by voting Republican in the Trump era makes you a good Christian. This is not true. You are voting for Christian Nationalism, not Christianity. Every major Church agrees with this, and I explain it in detail regularly, by sharing one of my essays, where I mostly just quote those Churches, including the NCC, the National Council of Churches. In America, no one gets religious favor. This is one of the cornerstones of being an American. Trump and MAGA, are doing all possible to dislodge that cornerstone.

Of course, I will continue to love and care for family, friends and fellow Americans, but I refuse to accept your voting record any longer without complaint or rebuttal. My moral spine requires me to act in support of my beliefs as a human being and as an American, true to our founding values. Donald Trump may believe that only what he thinks matters, but I no longer accept this from those I am close to. Every human being matters, and it is high time that you heard truth, rather than demanding that we all accept “your way or the highway.”

Sincerely,

Paul

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The letter above is intended for today’s constitutional crisis. There is a lot to chew on here and I hope that all Americans will find some valuable insights. We cannot survive as a nation without unity and being honest with each other, This is the only way to rebuild that unity. America wasn’t created to always agree, but that is how democracy works. The only way that we can disagree and remain unified is by moving our nation forward based on our constitutional requirements, is to acknowledge truth and reality, in order to make informed decisions based on those truths. Anything else is extremism based on extremist ideology. Trump and today’s GOP, are definably, far-right, violent extremists. If you are keeping them in power with your votes, you have some serious soul-searching to do.

I would love to hear rebuttal from anyone, so long as you can credibly source your opinions.

Have a terrific weekend,

Paul