This is unacceptable. When will my neighbors admit it?

This is unacceptable. When will my neighbors admit it?

by Rivera Sun

583 words

My neighbors are good people. Always ready with a polite nod or wave. Helpful if your car breaks down. In this rural region, they’re farmers and loggers, truckers and mechanics. They’re quick to volunteer for the local fire department, show up for spaghetti dinner fundraisers, and plow the seniors’ driveway in a pinch. 

Two-thirds of them voted for Trump. 

How can they stomach it? A president who flips off and cusses an autoworker. A president who bulldozed part of the White House. A president who is covering up a pedophile ring. 

They’re Republicans, my neighbors. They stand for family values, Christian ethics, the Constitution, and low prices. 

Are they as sickened by what’s happening as I am? 

I see them watching the news, flat screens glaring against the 4 o’clock darkness in this northern winter. Are they still swallowing the lies – and lies and lies and lies – coming out of the president’s mouth?

They hate federal overreach. They should be appalled at what’s happening in cities all across the United States. Unwarranted National Guard deployments. Seven hundred Marines illegally sent into Los Angeles. Over 2,000 armed agents in Minneapolis. Murders of citizens by immigration agents. Threats to invoke the Insurrection Act when it is Trump’s federal agents who are breaking the law and causing chaos.

I look around at the grocery store, wondering who voted for this insanity. As we examine the slightly bruised bananas, I look sideways at the woman next to me. Is this what she wanted? 

My neighbors wanted lower prices, more jobs, better healthcare. They got none of those. 

Instead, we got tariff wars, higher inflation, layoffs, doubled or tripled health insurance rates, threats to social security. We got illegal wars, bombings and abductions, and an implosion of international relations. We got Nazi salutes at the inauguration, white supremacist slogans on websites, and racist, nationalist signs on podiums. We got families torn apart over civil violations. We got climate denialism during the hottest year on record. We got corrupt deals, golden ballrooms, and luxury jets from Qatar. We got an erosion of congressional power, unbridled greed, and willful disregard of court orders.

We got a constitution-violating, lawless, authoritarian regime that threatens to destroy our 250-year-old democracy.

I look at my neighbors and struggle to contain my fury and resentment. They put us in this nightmare. How could they vote for this? 

I know they’re good people. I know they care about their children. I know they thought they were voting for change. 

But I want them to look at what’s happening and join me in saying: this is wrong.

My neighbors see me on the sidewalk with my protest signs, calling for impeachment, stopping ICE abuses, protecting public services, defending healthcare, feeding children during the government shutdown, ending tariff wars, opposing invasions in Venezuela or Greenland or Canada or wherever. 

Are they ready to stand out here with me?

Over the past year, I’ve watched their faces change from surprise that anyone is protesting to belligerent fury at our opposition. Now, however, they won’t look at us. They just drive past, some sullen, some ashamed, almost all of them subdued. 

They know this is unacceptable. 

Donald J. Trump and his administration are a disgrace to the United States of America. 

The president must be impeached, convicted and removed. His administration must be held accountable for their crimes and abuses. Not in the distant future, but now.  

We have to stand up and say: this is unacceptable. 

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Rivera Sun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, has written numerous books, including The Dandelion Insurrection and the award-winning Ari Ara Series. She is the editor of Nonviolence News, Program Coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence, and a nationwide trainer in strategy for nonviolent campaigns.