Thursday, November 10, 2016

Letter to Mr. Trump from a concerned citizen

To Mr. Trump (you're not sworn in yet so I will not call you President)

I confess, I am not a solid follower of politics. My job has all over the place hours and I have other obligations. But, what I did see and read of your speeches and your devoted followers at your rallies scared me.

The videos I've seen of your supporters spewing slurs, racial or otherwise, make me want to flee to Australia.

I am not saying all your supporters acted that way. I have plenty of close friends and family members who voted for you and they are kind and accepting people. So, it's not fair to generalize. These are the ones who made viral videos. And, I am hoping it's a very small minority.

Also, in all these speeches and in the debates, I didn't hear a single thing about your policy. Aside from building a wall and running on the fact that you are supposedly better than Mrs. Clinton, what exactly is your policy? (Also, the wall is a damn stupid idea but I'll get into that in a bit)

Now, here are my concerns. I am a 32 year old woman about to get married in 2017. I have an autoimmune form of arthritis that requires some very expensive medication as treatment and a lot of doctor visits. So, what are you going to do about Healthcare? I know you are anti-Obamacare. But, instead of completely repealing it, why not get Congress to improve upon it? You do realize that before people could get medical insurance with this program, there were people who had to choose between food for their children and medications, right? How about doing something so people do not have to pay thousands of dollars for medicine? Or, heaven forbid they actually have to go to the hospital. I had to spend 4 days in the ICU and my initial bill before my work insurance kicked in was $95,000! That may be chump change for a billionaire but I make about 1/10th of that per year. If you do feel the need to repeal it, you better have a damn good alternative.

Also, there is this thing called the First Amendment. I'll leave it right here.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"
Do you know what that means? No closing mosques, no suppression of the press if they disagree with you or call you an orange pressure cooker, people are allowed to protest, and we can write blog posts like this! You should probably actually read the Constitution as it lays out all the things the President can and cannot do. You can't do whatever you want. Reality check, Mister.

I am a Catholic Christian. But, I was raised and firmly believe in accepting and learning from all cultures and religions. Not all Muslims are terrorists. Islam is a beautiful and peaceful faith. When I was briefly in college, I had a class with a young man who was Muslim and he was heartbroken that there was this stereotype because of a fringe group of crazies.

College! Another point. I was in and out of community college before completely stopping. Again, you wouldn't know having that silver spoon and all, but it is hard for the average 18 year old to go to college. They usually have to be submerged in years of debt just for tuition. Not including books, which are ungodly high. $100 or more for something you're going to need for a single semester and then the next edition comes out, 2 sentences are rephrased and you're stuck. I would love to go back to school for a degree. But, I also want to have a family and I want to be able to feed and educate them.

Your comments (alleged or not) about minorities and women are unacceptable. I know what it is like to be bullied. I was bullied in school and came home more days than I can count in tears, wanting to die. My best friend had to move across the country to escape being bullied because he is gay. I have a transgender friend who could had to cut ties with their family because they couldn't accept them. The division your campaign has caused is deeper than you probably realize. I know in your acceptance speech you talk of bringing the country together but it was YOUR campaign and YOUR followers who made this behavior okay. I am able to combat the insults and shame when directed toward me. But, what about my children when I have them? What about my niece, who is a beautiful and intelligent girl but she's also painfully shy and when kids torment her she just absorbs it. What about the man in the grocery store on food stamps and people give him dirty looks and call him a freeloader but they don't get to know him and learn he served his country in our great military and suffers debilitating PTSD from the things he saw and did and can't work because certain things trigger an anxiety attack.

I briefly mentioned your stupid wall plan and since I'm almost done I'll talk about that for a bit. Why not encourage people to come through the legal way? My ancestors came to this country 100+ years ago to seek a better life. That has not changed. America has always been the land of opportunity. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" So, work with Congress to improve our policies! Don't just shut everything down.

So, that is all I have to ask for now. If you have answers to my questions, please do not hesitate to email me. Careyann2017@gmail.com And, I want an actual explanation. Not a link to a website. You are now accountable to the American people. And, if you try to put a toe out of line, you will have millions of people ready to call you out.

Sincerely, a concerned citizen.

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