Don't Get Me Started with Linda Sharp

You Do Not Get To Erase My Child

Trump Administration Eyes Defining Transgender Out Of Existence - NYT, Sunday, October 21, 2018

This is the headline I woke up to.

As the mother of a transgender child, the gut punch feels almost literal.  The rage, however, IS literal.

This abhorrent sham of an administration, led by a craven, intellectually dim, religion exploiting carnival barker is now actively working towards narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth.

Hear me now - anyone who still wonders why I dropped your ass at election time because you voted third party, didn't vote, or tried to plead the "she's as bad as he is" bullshit - THIS IS IT.

To anyone who emails me or troll tweets at me asking just how is my child endangered by Trump and Coven?  THIS IS IT.

From the article:

Now the Department of Health and Human Services is spearheading an effort to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans gender discrimination in education programs that receive government financial assistance, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times.

The department argued in its memo that key government agencies needed to adopt an explicit and uniform definition of gender as determined “on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable.” The agency’s proposed definition would define sex as either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with, according to a draft reviewed by The Times. Any dispute about one’s sex would have to be clarified using genetic testing.

I literally want to vomit.

It is no secret that the entire cadre of "best people" surrounding Trump is an intellectual wasteland.  A collection of grifters, religious zealots, and science deniers.  Their ignorance of all things cultural, scientific, global is held up by their equally wetbrained MAGAts as virtue.  That they target entire groups of people different from themselves is their hallmark; they take pride in hurting others.  They laugh at anything they do not understand because laughing is easier than trying to learn, to comprehend.

Transgender people became a red meat issue for conservatives over a year ago - Holy hell!  They want to use the bathroom!  There was rending of garments, boycotts of stores that made their nondiscrimination stance public. Then, like with their pants shitting over ebola, they were shown another shiny object, and off they went with their situational umbrage.  (Warning:  Red Starbucks cups right ahead!)  Now, with the midterms just around the corner, Trump is pulling out all the stops to remind his dullardly base of all the things they do not understand, yet irrationally fear.

So my child is targeted for erasure.

My child, one of the most amazing human beings it has ever been my privilege to know; a young man who has always championed the underdogs; a young man who is loyal, fiercely so; a young man who is excelling at art school; a young man who is setting a positive example for others who do not fall onto society's "acceptable" spot on the spectrum; a young man who simply wishes to live his life happily, safely, fully - is waking up to a new target on his back.

“Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth,” the department proposed in the memo, which was drafted and has been circulating since last spring. “The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”

“This takes a position that what the medical community understands about their patients — what people understand about themselves — is irrelevant because the government disagrees,” said Catherine E. Lhamon, who led the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in the Obama administration and helped write transgender guidance that is being undone.

Hear me now - my child is not an opinion.  And unless you have known him for 22 years, been there for every day, every step of his life, seen the struggle and can now understand it with the blinding clarity of 20/20 hindsight?  SHUT THE FUCK UP.

To all of these administration and societal imbeciles - my child's genitalia are none of your business. 

You know what is society's business?  Business that would necessitate governmental interference?  If my child were a criminal.  Off committing crimes - stealing cars, robbing banks, grabbing them by the pussy sexually assaulting people, kidnapping, murdering, etc.  Then, and only then, does society get a say.  But his gender identification - the result of deep personal understanding; of years spent with a therapist?  None of your goddamned business.  AT ALL.

He is not skulking around in bathrooms waiting for you.  Actually he avoids public bathrooms because of you.  Because you are dangerous.  He is not a pervert.  He is not a monster.  He is not some bogeyman like you conjure up in your little heads.

He is a human being, born into more of a challenge and struggle than you will ever understand, appreciate.  He is a young adult and a full citizen of this country who is not seeking MORE protections than you.  He is seeking EQUAL PROTECTIONS.  If I cannot ask the government to discriminate against you for being a fullblown asshole, or having blue eyes, or a beer gut, or webbed feet, or bad taste in food, TV, fashion, or for juggling snakes in your church?  Then you do not get to ask them to discriminate against him for simply being who he is. 

And who he is, is ZERO threat to you and yours.  But you?  YOU are a total and complete threat to him.

“Transgender people are frightened,” said Sarah Warbelow, the legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, which presses for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. “At every step where the administration has had the choice, they’ve opted to turn their back on transgender people.”

I have been with my child every step of the way.  Every moment of his life, I KNOW.  I have been in the emotional trenches with him for years, from when he first bravely came out to me, through the darkest days of therapy, anger, fear, depression.  And I have been here for every step as clarity and support brought his smile back.  As understanding who he is and not being cast out for it chased away the clouds of depression.  As love and forward motion gave him the courage to re-engage with life.  And yes, as hormones and surgery helped align his body with his soul.

I have seen who he is.  Just as I have more than seen who YOU are. 

You are craven, you are pathetic, you are ugly right down to your most microscopic molecule, you are small, you are ignorant, you are shallow, you are mean. 

All the things my son is not.  My son is humane, decent, kind, loving, intelligent, compassionate, caring, uplifting, big hearted, open, accepting, funny, talented, and more than anything else?  My son is something you will never be.

My son is brave.

As am I.  As is every loving, decent, accepting parent, friend, and relative of a transgender person.

And you cowards will get to erase them over our dead fucking bodies.

TEN YEARS - Looking Back As We Look Forward To Another Sleighful

This blog has existed since 2005.  Thirteen years.  Thirteen years during which strangers have found their way here to read something, and ended up finding so much more.  Community, friendship, support, solace, the very best of what can be found when you sit down at your keyboard.

In the very early years we started something with a very simple premise:  Help keep Santa alive for children who were in danger of losing the magic. 

Called Yes, Virginia There Is A DGMS, this blogmunity donated funds via Paypal, stories via email.  Stories that told of families you knew, perhaps your own family.  Families who could use our help.  And help you have.  Year after year after year.  Toys, clothing, heat bills, groceries - we have done it all.  Seriously, we were GoFundMe before GoFundMe existed.  DGMS crowdfunded before crowdfunding had a name.

This afternoon I sat down to go back through the DGMS archives to see when we actually started this effort.  I am humbled to realize this holiday season marks ten years.  A DECADE.  A decade of selflessness, of rallying, of giving. 

In looking for our starting point, I found the original piece I wrote.  I share it with you now.  For those who have been around since the beginning, I know you will smile as I did as things we did for one another, and user names pop up in the read.  And for those who are new to what DGMS is all about during this time of year (well, year round actually), we invite you to climb into our sleigh and help us continue to make magic for those who should not have to lose it this year.

Enjoy this look back, and please, begin to give if you can.  We are over halfway through October and the requests for help have begun.  Let's make our 10th push of the sleigh our best ever.

Linda

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 19, 2008

Long before I wrote the piece last week titled No, Virginia, There Isn't A Santa Claus (Not This Year Anyway), I had been wrestling with just how this blogmunity might be able to come together and help some of our own this holiday season.

You have all proven time and time again the incredible collection of people this blog attracts.  You didn't blink when Kittypimp's kitten was attacked and needed surgery - you just jumped in, asked how you could help, and raised over half the money needed to keep him alive.  Each time I visit her house and see how happy and healthy he is, I smile.  You all done good.

When Shawn told me she was going to raise money to participate in a Breast Cancer Three Day Walk, I put a link to her fundraising page on this blog, and you all rallied around her, helping push her towards her goal.  She begins her 60 mile walk in memory of her mother on Friday.

And when I brought you the story of "Mae", whose young life has been nothing but a series of hardships, emotional abuse, and betrayals, yet somehow she has managed to keep her eye on the horizon with the desire to pursue a college education, you again reached into your hearts and wallets and we raised over $3000 to cover her tuition and get her on her way.

I am constantly humbled and amazed by the generosity of spirit and true support you all extend whether to one another or to total strangers I bring into the spotlight.  Please know I do not come knocking on your hearts without thoroughly vetting a situation or person first.  That you trust me for more than just daily laughs, maybe a few tears thrown in here and there, is not something I take lightly or would ever violate.

To that end, I would like to see what this blogmunity can do this holiday season.

I know, in the tens of thousands of silent visitors who come here daily, and even in the vocal crew who keep the comments section lively, we have families who are struggling.  Parents whose hearts are aching at the thought of not being able to provide their children some cheer this Christmas.

I want to hear from you.

Please share your story with me.  And in turn, I will share them with the blogmunity.  (Anonymity can obviously be honored when I write.)

And perhaps, just perhaps, through the incredible generosity of the people who make up this blog, we can raise the money to make your holiday a bit brighter. 

To those who would share your story, I ask for your honesty.  That is paramount in this endeavor.  And I would ask for your patience as I vet your situation.  Perhaps your child's biggest wish is something simple - like a Barbie or an RC car - yet it is still out of your reach.  Perhaps warm clothing would bring smiles. 

To those who would donate, I ask for your faith and trust.  Faith in the people this blog attracts.  Trust that I will see your donations turned into help for real people, with real needs and wishes, and turned into real smiles on real faces.

Donations may be made via Paypal to [email protected].  If you would prefer to write a check, as many did with donations for Mae, please contact me directly for details.  I will keep you apprised as to how we are doing as donations begin to come in.

Our economy is depressing.  Family budgets are tighter than ever.  But I just don't believe that any child should have the magic of this season stolen from their hearts because of it.

Yes, Virginia, There IS A Santa Claus, because this year, there is a DGMS Blogmunity ready to help him load his sleigh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donations may be made as indicated above, or through the Paypal button now featured on the left side of the page.

 

Dark Days Indeed

For the past couple years, in terms of news, we seem to simply be swinging from bad to worse in terms of this abomination called the Trump administration.

Whether it is behavioral, heinous, criminal, laden with nepotism, blatantly corrupt, or jaw droppingly sinister, one horror scene fades into another before we can even focus on what just transpired.

And nothing happens in terms of consequence.

Trump is the embodiment of stupidity and evil.  He is a narcissist who has never met a truth he would not happily assfuck.  And the GOP is complicit.  Period.  Drunk on power, abuse, money, and religion, there is no one in that party with a spine or even a passing acquaintance with decency.

Take anything he has done - clear emoluments violations, refusal to show tax returns, paying off mistress after mistress in advance of the election, cuddling with Putin, falling "in love" with Kim Jong Un, separating tiny children from their parents at the border, having millions unaccounted for from his inaugural fund, lying more often than he takes a grease laden KFC shit, holding rally after rally, running to his properties and golfing at every possible turn, mocking John McCain's service, ignoring hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico and now the Florida panhandle, and being neck deep in the horrific murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi - take any ONE of these things.

ONE.

And put the name President Obama on the action.

Republicans would have burned the White House to the ground by now.

Yet, here we are, helmed by an unindicted co-conspirator, who clearly is using the office of POTUS to further his business gains, and deeply in bed with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia - and nothing is done.

Jamal Khashoggi was abducted, tortured, and dismembered - the bonesaw came into play while he was still alive - in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.  The Turkish authorities have recordings of what happened - and stop asking how - of course these places are bugged.  And with obvious good reason.

Jamal was a legal permanent resident of the United States living in Virginia, a green card holder, a journalist.  He had graduated from Indiana State University in 1983.  Let that sink in for a minute you meatheaded MAGAts who cannot pronounce his name ergo he must be brown expendable.

For your edification, from WaPo:

After a successful career as an adviser to and unofficial spokesman for the royal family of Saudi Arabia, he had been barred from writing in the kingdom, even on Twitter, by the new crown prince. His column in a Saudi-owned Arab newspaper was canceled. His marriage was collapsing. His relatives had been forbidden to travel to pressure him to stop criticizing the kingdom’s rulers.

Then, after he arrived in the United States, a wave of arrests put a number of his Saudi friends behind bars, and he made his difficult decision: It was too dangerous to return home anytime soon — and maybe forever.

For those of you not keeping up with MBS's antics since grabbing power - his reckless military intervention in neighboring Yemen, where he has created a humanitarian emergency; and the prince’s bizarre plot to kidnap Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri. “Saudi Arabia wasn’t a free society, but people weren’t being arrested like this,” Khashoggi said. “The people M.B.S. arrested were not radicals. The majority were reformers for women’s rights and open society. He arrested them to spread fear. He is replacing religious intolerance with political closure.”

Of course, when you have a rancid, corrupt gourd for a POTUS, and he has financial entanglements and vested personal interests in Saudi Arabia, one should not hold their breath waiting for him to speak critically of MBS and the 15 member kill squad the prince dispatched to that consulate.

Trump wrote it off to "rogue killers."  Then the Saudis came public, taking credit for it, calling what happened "an interrogation gone bad."

OOPS?

Yeah, I find when I take a bonesaw to an interrogation, things often tend to go off the rails quickly.

Still no condemnation from Trump.  And why would there be?  Money speaks louder, and his rodentia voiced son-in-law is in MBS's pockets.  The Crown Prince is on the record as saying that.  In fact, three sources verify Kushner provided the heir to the Saudi throne details about Saudi princes who were not loyal to him.

Any guesses what happened to those targeted?  See above.

In the fallout of the admission by Saudis about Khashoggi's death, Secretary of State Pompeo was dispatched to Saudi Arabia to meet with the King and MBS.  Yes, the same Pompeo who earlier this week penned an essay waxing crapsodic about Trump's foreign policy "moral clarity" - was blasted around the world in pictures showing him embracing, laughing with, cracking wise - MBS.

Editorials poured forth saying Pompeo “appeared less intent on determining the truth than in helping the de facto Saudi ruler escape from the crisis he triggered.” 

After meeting with him, Pompeo told reporters, "I don't want to talk about any of the facts. They didn't want to either, in that they want to have the opportunity to complete this investigation in a thorough way."

Riiiiiiiight.  The Saudis, who our own intelligence agencies are increasingly convinced were completely behind this horror movie murder, are going to investigate?  I see.  Literally.  Didn't we ALL just see how an investigation goes when the outcome is predetermined to keep the accused out of trouble?  *cough*KAVANAUGH*cough*

For his part, Trump just keeps blathering about the money involved in our arms sales to the Saudis, and predictably, writing Khashoggi off because he was not a US citizen.  Yes, Dotard, just like all those people in Puerto Rico were not your responsibility?  WRONG. BIGLY.

When invited to a friend's house for Thanksgiving last year, he said this when it was his turn at the table to say what he was thankful for, his thanks for being in this country that he had ties to going back to 1977 at college:  “Because I have become free, and I can write freely.”

Even as Trump repeatedly calls journalists "enemies of the people."

Trump's ignorance and arrogance are our biggest threats right now.  I do not care how many GOP legislators go on FOX and grab their balls (looking at you Lindsey Graham) about this murder, or how many take to Twitter to express their "deep concerns" - they are all complicit in every act that has taken place by Trump.  They will do nothing, because they are paid, bribed, blackmailed to do nothing.

And what truly frightens me is that they do not act frightened in the run-up to the midterms.  They act callous, without care, like it's in the bag.  They do not act like they fear losing, and what with their insane and blatant voter intimidation tactics on full display, maybe they aren't.

Jamal Khashoggi entered that consulate to obtain papers he needed for his upcoming wedding.  He never left alive.  The recordings in the hands of Turkish authorities are hard to even read about.  Harder still to read about the disregard the criminals in the White House are displaying.

ONE THING.

Just one thing would have had GOPers storming the Obama castle.  What we have now? A dismembered legal resident of this country, and a president with known ties and entanglements to the very ones responsible.  Insert GOP *crickets.*

These are dark days indeed.

THIS Is Not A Drill

Compassion.  Empathy.  Community.

We're human beings.  As such, those are three things that we organically do or seek out.  They are not difficult.  They do not require hours of study, angling, debate.

Yet we have corrupted them all.  Saving compassion, empathy, and community for those who are like us.  Segregating along myriad lines - color, religion, culture, orientation, politics.  Segregating based on ignorance and fear - both living in a vicious feeding cycle where one cannot survive without the other.

The result?  Distrust, hate, misunderstanding, NO understanding, vengeance, aggression, death.

As the very proud parent of a transgender son, I have written many times before of support being so important, critical even, in the continued forward motion of their lives.  I have seen it firsthand.  I have been in the trenches where the emotional warfare of fear, confusion, anger, uncertainty, and darkness battle.  And I have been there as each battle is faced head on with an army of love, of caring, of support - leading to another day, another win.

The battles,  not the war.

The war will rage on every time he steps outside, is in unfamiliar surroundings, debates taking someone into his confidence, reads yet another story of a transgender suicide or murder.

Because society is willfully ignorant, intentionally cruel.

Think not?

I present to you the great minds that run Stafford County Middle School in Virginia.

The school has one transgender student.  Scratch that.  The school has one transgender student that they know of.  Percentages and statistics being what they are, there are more - struggling, fearful, hiding, trying to figure it out in their minds.

Last week, during an Active Shooter Drill (what a lovely country we have created), while all the other students in the school were shuttled into bathrooms and locker rooms according to gender, she was made to wait on the bleachers in the gymnasium while the brain trust that runs that school debated where to put her.  They literally stood there debating her basic humanity and right to live.  She ended up being allowed to shelter in the hallway OUTSIDE the locker rooms, away from the other students.

Lest they catch the trans, I guess.

I cannot even begin to imagine the shame, embarrassment, isolation, and fear she felt.  And the message sent straight to her heart that she was not worthy of the same literal protections and right to life as the other students in her school.

Of course, as the incident has risen to the national news, like so much rancid cream, the Stafford School District issued a statement.  Spokesperson Sherrie Johnson stated, “We take such matters very seriously and they will be addressed. The welfare of all students is of the utmost importance for SCPS.”

Yet it's obviously not. 

The reality is we have created a country in which going to school and coming out alive could be placed in all the Sports Book lounges in Vegas.  As a parent, you just don't know.  As a student?  God love them.  They are beyond brave.  More than anyone, they know the odds, they feel the fear.  Daily.

So these drills are necessary.  Fire, tornado, bomb threats - they all have drills.  And now Active Shooter.  It is shameful.

But more shameful than that is the heinous disregard for the life of a child simply because the adults choose ignorance and cruelty over compassion, empathy, understanding.  

What they did goes right to the heart of the suicide rates among transgender youth.

Think not?  Try these latest stats on for size.  Just under half of all teens who identify as male vs the female listed on their birth certificates HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.  AT LEAST ONCE.  AT LEAST.  <---Get that part?  That means many have tried MANY times to escape a life their families or society simply will not let them live in peace. 

42% of youths who currently do not identify exclusively as male or female HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.  AT LEAST ONCE.

Trans youths who identify as female vs the male designation on their birth certificates?  30% HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.  AT LEAST ONCE.  And those youths who are simply in the battle questioning their gender and why everything feels wrong?  28% HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.  AT LEAST ONCE.

These numbers are real.  They represent real human beings.  Human beings who think, feel, breathe, bleed just like you.  

When my son came out to me and received nothing but love and support, that did not make these numbers vaporize.  Saying it out loud was only the very first step on a very long journey.  And those numbers stayed with us for a very long time.  Those numbers kept me company at night, refusing me sleep, peace, security.  And even though my child is doing remarkably well, is happy, forward thinking and forward moving - those numbers still hover in the back of my mind.

What those school officials is did to that child is drenched in their cowardice, their abject stupidity, their staggering soullessness.   

That trans child isn't out to peek on fellow students.  Is not hiding in bathrooms ready to molest unsuspecting peers.  That child is not a monster or pervert.  That child IS A CHILD.  A child who has bravely spoke her truth, and who is simply trying to live fully as who she knows she is.

Yet here we are, society shoving its intrusive Gladys Cravitz nose into someone's personal life, trying to tell her who they think she should be.  Hear me now - YOU DON'T GET TO MAKE THAT DETERMINATION.

And if the best you can do is open your venal maw and spout ignorance, hate, and condemnation?  Then shut the absolute fuck up.  The trans person is not the danger. YOU ARE.  The trans person is not trying to draw attention to themselves.  YOU ARE.  The trans person is not the danger in the bathroom.  YOU ARE.

YOU ARE THE SUICIDE ATTEMPT RATE.  

What happened to her will leave its mark forever.  Her life will forever be endangered by the bigots and small minds around her.

THIS is not a drill.

I Ask Again - Have You No Sense Of Decency?

In this space, since Trump sailed down his Tower escalator three years ago, I have asked many questions of his supporters.

Why Do You Hate This Country?

What The F*ck Is Wrong With You???

What Can We Believe? 

What Will It Take?

Have You No Sense of Decency?

What Have We Become?

Do You Still Not Get It?

Each question asked as yet another unimaginable action, another unthinkable slur against the marginalized, another incomprehensible word salad is acted out, cheered on, embraced by Trump's cheering horde.  And each time, when I think he and they cannot fall further, dig deeper; when I believe they have finally hit bottom, they bring out a newer, bigger, uglier backhoe and keep digging.

Last night saw the opening of a new basement - so awful, so heinous, so very deeply offensive one could be forgiven for thinking the heat felt across their face came not from umbrage, disgust, and anger but from its proximity to the gates of Hell.

Last night, at yet another masturbatory rally, this time in Southaven, Mississippi, a blood red bosom of white nationalism, hatred of others, and misogyny worn with glee, Trump wasted little time turning into the craven carnival barker he is.

At a time where victim after victim of sexual assault is experiencing flashbacks, PTSD, rage, fear, and emotional symptoms that link directly back to their worst day(s), he stood on that dais and openly, happily, gleefully mocked Dr. Christina Blasey Ford - by extension mocked us all.

Less than a week ago, he feigned probity, compassion even as he called her testimony "credible" "compelling."  Last night he laughed, berated, sneered at her responses to the judiciary committee.

And worse, the crowd cheered it all.  They laughed louder, they clapped like mindless seals, they egged him on.

Watching the men, especially, stationed behind him in the bleachers, I was sickened.  Perfect specimens of white male fragility guffawed it up at the thought of a 15 year old being trapped, held down, fearing for her life, her mouth being covered.  They treated it as some big joke.  Have they no daughters, wives, sisters who they fear for?  Do they think that in a nation where 1 in five women has been attacked they don't know anyone who is a silent victim?  

And it was clear, the question is meaningless, rhetorical and needs asked no more - Have you no sense of decency?  Not one fucking bit.  

Like their sexual predator hero, they are soulless, craven, skin sacks of empathy famine.  

And they wonder why 63% of rapes go unreported.  Why it takes us decades to find our voices, tell our stories.  

THIS.  This is why, you inferior wastes of oxygen.  THIS.  The mocking, the laughter, the boys club joining together to re-rape us through aggression, slurs, threats.

Can Dr. Ford prove exactly what she says happened, happened?  No.  No more than I can prove my rape from 36 years ago.  We were children.  We had no words for what happened, no port we felt we could sail into for safe harbor.  We have no police report, no kit, no documentation of what was done to us.  It exists though - burned into our memories, a part of every breath we take.  It is the shadow that follows us even on cloudy days.  It is the enhanced fear we feel in unknown surroundings, alone in an elevator with a strange man or men.  It is the ceaseless worry we live with for our own children as they navigate a world filled with misogyny, patriarchy.

That a sitting President would openly mock a sexual assault victim?  But then, he mocks everyone else and his lemmings love it so why not?

I knew it before the election, but held out hope that people would see him for what he has always been.  They didn't.  They attended his rallies shoulder to shoulder with the worst elements in our society, becoming extensions of the worst elements in our society.  I knew it after the election as I wrote and implored them to open their eyes, their ears, to see and hear what he was doing.  I have known it for years now as I waited and hoped that one by one they would realize that they had been conned, were simply means to a brutal end.

And I know it now.  There is not an ounce of decency among them.  MAGAts are the absolute worst collection of hatred, bigotry, racism, white nationalism, disregard for others, stupidity, and inhumanity.  Every red hat wearing, willfully ignorant, victim bashing one is a piece of shit cheering for the outhouse that is Donald Trump.

They no more know decency than they do empathy, sympathy, patriotism or humanity.  It is why they embrace Trump, why they cheer for Kavanaugh even as more and more evidence of his reprehensible character is brought forward.  

They enjoy other people's pain.  Inflicting it, being part of a circle jerk of brutality.  They are not lost.  They are willful soldiers who followed his call of dog whistles and trail of red meat to get where they are.

We cannot let them drag us there with them.  

I sit here this morning, again raw, trying to catch my breath one more time as all of this threatens to drown me in my past, bury me in this present.  I know I am not alone.  The heartbreak, the trauma, the anger out there is palpable.

The Republican leaders are a barren wasteland where fucks to give will never be found - there is no compassion, no hope to cling to that any of them actually care, no accountability to even be threatened at this bully at his pulpit.  He is the means to their end, and their end is power.  Getting it, consolidating it, keeping it.

We are all we have.  And we must support one another, stand stronger together, and move en masse to the voting booths next month.  

But for now, this morning, on behalf of every victim who is floundering, lost, adrift, I find my mind angrily begging Trump and his coven, as I did while I was being raped, PLEASE STOP.  DON'T DO THIS.

Sigh.  Never mind, I knew the plea was useless then, I know it is useless now.  That only works where decency is found.