I just don't understand

I've been trying hard to avoid writing this post, but I just have to put it out there.  What has happened to America?

I'm stunned, floored, flabbergasted; you pick the adjective for disbelieving.

I can't believe that today, Donald Trump will be sworn in as President of the United States.  I do not know Donald Trump personally.  But I have seen video clips of him bragging about sexually assaulting women, video clips of him mocking a disabled reporter, video clips of him asking his followers to commit acts of violence against his detractors, and video clips of him demanding a crying child be removed from a rally.

I don't need to know who he is; I have seen what he says, I have seen what he does.  And what he has done on video demonstrates he is not kind, nor good, nor gentle.

He has bragged in his books about a love of revenge.  He denigrates the US Intelligence agencies and praises Vladimir Putin.

And yet, through the execution of our ridiculous and obsolete Electoral College, he will be sworn in as President of the United States.

But that is not the most disturbing part.  The most disturbing part is how many people are happy about it.  How many people are telling people like me to stop being a sore loser and get over it.

Hear me loud and clear.  I am not a sore loser.  If the person taking the oath of office today was in any way competent to hold that office, I would do what I have done many times in my life, and accept it and move on.

This is not a football game where I can't let go of the fact that my team lost because the officials blew a last minute call.

This is my life, and the lives of millions of my fellow Americans.

I don't know how anyone of conscience can support the idea of a ban on Muslim immigration, or a Muslim registry.

I don't know how anyone of conscience can support the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, casting thousands to millions off of their insurance, and thousands to millions more into non-coverage because their lifetime maximums have been reached.

I don't know how anyone of conscience can support building a wall on the US/Mexico border.  If you want to stop undocumented immigration, punish employers who hire undocumented workers.  If the draw of employment didn't exist, the flow of people would stop.  For those entering to escape desperate, deadly situations, conscience demands asylum.

I understand that many who voted the way they did are what Americans like to call "pro-life".  You are not "pro-life" if you support children born into poverty dying because your candidate cut funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Child Health Insurance Program, Head Start and the School Breakfast and Lunch Programs.  You are not "pro-life" if you would have the Affordable Care Act repealed.  You are not "pro-life" if you would deny refugees asylum.  You are not "pro-life"; you may be "anti-abortion"; and what business is that of yours anyway?  If you think abortion is bad, work on creating a world where no one ever needs one, instead of shaming desperate people who have run out of options.  And don't even get me started on medically necessary abortions.

I thought Americans were better than they are.  President Obama still believes we are.  He has said so repeatedly since the election.  Asked how he and Michelle explained the election results to his girls, he said they are disappointed, but they don't mope.  I don't want to mope either, but I am profoundly worried about what will happen to America.

If you are reading this and have found a way to look past all of what Donald Trump has shown us about himself and are happy that he is going to be sworn in as President, can you please tell me why.  And not because he was the better bad alternative.  If you feel that way, then you are not the ones blowing up my Facebook feed with how excited you are.

I really want to understand how anyone found a way to look past all that hate and ugliness.  All that meanness.  All that shallowness.

I don't get it, I doubt I ever will.  I am vigilantly watching as he fails to meet the standards of financial transparency we have demanded from previous presidents.  I am vigilantly watching as the Russian interference in our Democratic process continues to be revealed.  I am vigilantly watching as his cadre of billionaires is paraded in front of Congress as a potential cabinet.

Here in Louisiana, we had a governor named Edwin Edwards.  He was widely known as a crook.  While he was governor, things got done. Roads got built, bridges got repaired, schools thrived.  He went to federal prison after leaving the governor's mansion.

I told my husband the other day, if as bad as I think Trump is, if he does good for America, I'll get over the embarrassment of having such a classless fool hold the office of president.  But so far, it looks like the only ones who will benefit from his presidency are him and his cronies.  We'll see.

I hope I turn out to be wrong.  But for me, this is a dark day in American history.