A bit of a rant-maybe not what you expect [Trump trigger]

Another article on Trump voters that adds nothing to the conversation. I'm sick of this crap. How about we take a good hard look at ourselves?

I have lost a "friend" during the campaign but you see quotes there because in the end it wasn't her vote that made me unfriend her, it was how vicious and uncaring she was when we tried to talk about our disagreements. And I realized that all along she'd had a mean streak, it had simply never been directed at me. Why was that ok with me?

Most of the Trump voters in my life are, admittedly, only acquaintances but they are educated, politically informed, listen patiently to my bleeding heart liberal views and many have a more diverse group of friends than I do.

Really what it comes down to is the kind of people I choose to have in my life. No, I don't get how they were able to vote for Trump. I also don't know why I chose to ignore that someone in my life was downright mean and stay in that friendship until the meanness was turned on me.

Not a defense of Trump, just saying that like some folks I know who voted for him, I am perfectly able to turn a blind eye to bad behavior. And I'm not willing to toss folks out of my life for one vote when their actual day to day behavior is often better than mine.

Lastly, I'm sick of psycho analyzing Trump voters, which has no affect on what needs to be done now. My friends of conscience will, regardless of their vote, do the right thing when it comes down to it. If they don't, I need to look at who they really are, who I thought they were, and what value the relationship has in my life at that moment.

The frothing at the mouth ignorant bigots, I don't care what motivates them or how they got that way and I don't want to win them over. Fuck them.

Better to look at what I have or haven't done, who I choose to have in my life and what I'm doing to stand up for my ethics now, today, every day. I don't have time to waste making Trump someone else's fault.

Peace

I'm not a writer.  It doesn't come easily and no one is ever going to quote some wonderful turn of phrase I've come up with.  I like to babble here about stuff I'm up to but it's mostly for friends and family.  Never had many hits or followers and that's fine.

I have a whole post written up about what I've been up to lately, but I just can't post it today. I need to post this first.

It's International Day of Peace according to my FaceBook feed.  Not much evidence of it if you ask me.  Charlotte is breaking out in violent protests.  Stranded motorist Terrence Crutcher was shot to death with his hands up.  Teenage football players get death threats for exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protest.  And more people give a damn about the breakup of Brangelina and feel more outrage about athletes taking a knee than any of this.

To say nothing of bombs in NY, and war in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine. Of windows of Jewish businesses being smashed in France, of right-wing extremists being elected to office around the world.

And Donald Trump climbs in the polls.  Trump is headed to the town where my daughter goes to college and I just suggested  she stay on campus this weekend because I don't want her to be the victim of or witness to all the violence and hate that he inspires.

No, I am not feeling peaceful today.  Instead I am feeling rather helpless, fearful and not very hopeful.