Where has Trump taken us?
It is now likely that Hillary Clinton will become our next president as Donald Trump has done everything possible to sink his joke candidacy, he being the only person responsible for “rigging” the election against himself through his many appalling pronouncements and the hatred and intolerance he has consistently espoused.
Though the country will survive with a new president who is sane, experienced, articulate, knowledgeable, and dignified, I worry about where the Trump phenomenon has taken us. It has appealed to our most base instincts as it has sought to turn us against those who do not look like us, those who are not “from here,” those who are not heterosexual, those who do not worship like us. We have heard language and sexual references from which responsible parents must try to shield their impressionable children. Trump rallies have been reminiscent of those led by dictators and oppressors of the past, the mob chanting “lock her up” in its desire to criminalize an opponent who has been convicted of no violation of law, and egged on by their ringleader, who has implied that violence perpetrated against protestors would be welcome, even suggesting that someone may assassinate a President Hillary Clinton.
Those who support the Republican nominee are lauded and praise reciprocated. Those who have criticized or declined to support him are castigated and repercussions against them threatened.
I do not know how the stain from this election cycle can be washed away, and I fear that lasting damage has been inflicted on our culture. This would be the case even if Trump concedes the election when the results are in and then goes away, something which those who have observed him and his depraved need for constant attention and adulation know is not going to happen.
Even if he is trounced on Tuesday, which I pray will happen, the diehard support for Trump which exists among millions of Americans says a great deal about us, and it has caused us international humiliation. It is an era in which identifying as an American is no longer a source of pride.
Oren M. Spiegler
Upper St. Clair