Donald J. Trump, is the Republican nominee for President of the United States and most people I know wonder how anyone, especially a woman, could even consider voting for him.
Here’s how: Obamacare. It is, without doubt, the worst thing that has ever happened to me personally as a result of a particular president. It should be illegal to be forced to buy such an expensive, inferior product. It is altogether un-American.
For over two years, I was happily uninsured. I was so scared to make the choice but for a fraction of what it cost to buy insurance I never used, I could practice yoga daily and get weekly massages plus buy all the green smoothies I wanted and have money leftover! So I stopped buying a product I never used and invested in my health. I stopped being afraid of what might happen to me and focused on all the good I had. I remembered that millions and millions of people lived their whole lives without insurance for millions of years. They didn’t even know what it is. Guess what? It worked! I was happy and healthy and considered those green smoothies good insurance because they were.
Then I met my husband (in part because I was so bright and healthy) and he was shocked that me, a woman approaching 50 years old, would dare go without insurance. So he bought it for me which I thought was really cute and sweet and generous, which it was. Ironically, I started getting sick. So I pretended we didn’t have insurance. I still got sick so we went to the emergency room where they charged us a fortune (for a nice talk and an IV) and our insurance covered almost nothing. Such a rip off! I longed for the days when we were Americans free to buy valuable products and disregard the junky stuff.
So that’s one reason perfectly nice smart people might vote for Trump. He promises to get rid of Obamacare. Here’s another one: Hillary. I know a woman, we’ll call her Suzette, who does many “good” things and has her name on buildings and whatnot. She gives a lot of money to “good” causes. And, she is the ickiest, sneakiest, creepiest, sickest, grossest, nastiest person I have ever known. She and Hillary are buds of sorts. Suzette donates money to Hillary, puts Hillary up in her husband’s homes, organizes big Hillary rallies and fundraisers. Suzette loves Hillary as much as there is such a thing in Suzette’s world. Also, Suzette is a convicted felon, found guilty of crimes involving other people’s money. Criminal storylines follow Hillary everywhere she goes. Why? I don’t know. But she’s been at it for years. So that’s another reason.
I understand there are women all over the country who have a dream: the dream of witnessing a woman president. My mom is one of those women. Hillary has the lifelong dream of being president. Maybe their dreams will come true and I will be happy for both of them. But it is not my dream, and has never been my dream, to elect a woman president. Or a black president. I couldn’t care less about the race or gender of my president, my lawyer, my doctor or my therapist. I care deeply that all people can thrive in fields they love and for my whole life that has been the case.
I’m not sure I can stomach voting for Trump. He has shown himself to be a huge prick and I’m so happy I don’t have to sleep with him or talk to him or do his laundry or drive his cars or clean his homes or prepare his taxes or write his memoir. The level of vulgarity and ugliness is so outrageous it’s funny, as SNL has shown for weeks.Thank you, SNL. Also, I want to throw up. But none of that means he doesn’t have the tools to fix the leak. He may.
Hillary is a groomed lifelong politician who’s been standing right next to the leak for decades pontificating about how she can fix it. I don’t believe her. She may be, like her friend Suzette, willing to say and do anything to achieve her lifelong dream. Hillary could easily be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Suzette sure is. And, that, I’ve experienced over and over again, is the most wretched thing that can happen to a person, to a family, and to a country.
Why is Hillary running? Her lifelong dream is on the line. Why is Donald running? He believes he can fix the leak, and I can enjoy more time with my loved ones before the ship goes down. Can he fix the leak? I don’t know. Maybe. I can’t imagine why he’s putting himself and his family through this, except that he believes he has the tools and wants to use them. His family appears to be holding up very well.
The Clintons, too, appear to be holding up well. But, of course, they are pros.
We live in a beautiful country and we are free to vote for anyone we want (anyone!) and we are free to stay in bed all day and not vote. It is an indescribable banquet of beauty and freedom. It blows my mind.
Today, I am an undecided voter. I will vote for someone and whoever wins, I will wish them well, hoping they silence their critics with the magnificence of their work.
After the election: Well, it happened. He won. Remember, it may feel scarier than it actually is. Life is beautiful and nothing will ever change that. Who knows? He may end up being a wonderful president. We’ve all been very wrong before.