The Sexual Predator Blues
"Yes, he's a sexual predator and I voted for him anyway."
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The memories swamped my brain and whacked my generally stable emotions into incoherence. The rape, the handsy gropes, the slam against the wall with a tongue thrust down my throat, the comments, the never-ending reminders of my lesser worth because I was a woman, the insistence that the Bible orders my silence and subjection to whatever male might feel that he had “authority” over my mind, my soul, my body.
As so, on the morning of Nov. 6, 2024, the nation’s rapist was again elected to the more powerful position in the world. And I fell apart.
I do not blame those who voted for him. They had their reasons, and many of those reasons were valid. I simply want some honesty.
How about some statements like this?
“I know he is a sexual predator, and I voted for him anyway.”
“I agree he insults women at every turn, and I voted for him anyway.”
“I know his policies and appointments have resulted in way too many unnecessary deaths of both pregnant and post-partum women because of their current reality of being unable to access proper gynecological and obstetrical care, and I voted for him anyway.”
“I agree his actions on January 6, 2021, amounted to acts of aggression that were worthy of impeachment against a peaceful transfer of power after he lost the 2020 election, and I voted for him anyway.”
“I understand that he is now in the process of appointing more sexual predators to his cabinet, and I voted for him anyway.”
“I am aware that he welcomes white supremacists into his inner circle and encourages their voices to influence policy decisions, and I voted for him anyway.”
“I know that the architects of Project 2025 believe that the right to access contraception should be withdrawn from US women, and he is appointing those architects to influential positions, and I voted for him anyway.”
“I know that my daughters and granddaughters may have their health and even lives put in danger by their inability to access proper medical care and that the removal of patient/doctor privacy privileges for women of childbearing ages may and likely will impact their lives negatively and I voted for him anyway.”
“I know that much of our economy, food supply, building trades and housekeeping and landscape depends upon the periodic influx of undocumented immigrants to do the work that US citizens do not want to do and that the round-up of these people and their detainment in tightly concentrated areas with limited regard for human rights is reminiscent of a problematic period in human history, and I voted for him anyway.”
“I acknowledge that the elimination of the Department of Education and the subsequent dismantling of US educational standards will result in the far-right religious world establishing millions of schools with taxpayer money and that those unaccountable schools will be teaching that the universe is six thousand years old and was created in this precise form during six 24-hour days. Any educational programs that do not support these presuppositions, especially those suggesting an evolutionary basis to any subject, particularly anything relating to science, will necessarily be banned. I voted for him anyway.”
“I acknowledge that the current President of the United States does not operate under any normal sense of decency or morality, and I voted for him anyway.”
“I had my reasons for voting for him, but the things that the Bible clearly states are characteristic of a good nation of people, i.e., the care and nurture of the most vulnerable of our society, the biblical ‘widows, orphans, and sojourners’ are not of concern to me.”
”I acknowledge that forcing girls and women to carry unwanted pregnancies to the time of birth will result in a large population of unhealthy infants with significantly lowered chances to grow into contributing adults in our society. I admit that the trimming of public assistance will make it significantly more difficult to provide adequate nutritional support to these rapidly growing infant brains, thus further perpetuating generational poverty and a permanent underclass. I voted for him anyway because my individual pocketbook has a higher value to me than the larger societal harm foisted upon these unseen masses.”
Now, having written all this, I admit that a Harris/Waltz victory would have brought its own significant problems.
It would have solved some issues but exacerbated others. There are no perfect solutions to the many human/political/personal issues facing all of us every single day.
All I’m asking for is some truth: Mr. Trump is a corrupt, deeply misogynistic man with no moral core or internal integrity, with white supremacy leanings, and with an ego that must be endlessly stroked for him to survive. Whoever strokes that ego the most gets the spoils from his regime.
Most powerful people operate in that mode, but most of them have some guardrails around them. Mr. Trump has few, if any. Any cursory reading of history makes this clear: that kind of unchecked power is extraordinarily dangerous.
And that is why I am traumatized. Like all rapists, he will take what he wants when he wants it with no regard for the consequences or damage to others.
Let us at least acknowledge that human truth.
Feel similarly. Trying to avoid becoming completely lethargic over this “win.”
I can't bring myself to hit the heart. So we'll written, but horribly true.