OPINION: Look, Here’s The Thing…

By Anna Hessel

A Sick Joke

 When I first heard that Donald Trump was running for the presidency, I knew of course it had to be a joke.  Who in the world would vote for a egotistical bigot with multiple bankruptcies to run our nation?  My friends and spouse all had a good laugh at the very idea of Trump as a presidential candidate.

A Woman’s Nightmare

I have been heavily involved in pageantry.  I knew from witnesses “The Donald” thought nothing of walking in a dressing room during a Miss Teen USA pageant, while underage young ladies were in varying stages of undress.  His obnoxious and racist conduct was viewed by me first  hand at the Miss USA pageants for a two-year period in the nineties in Gary, Indiana.  I knew it was impossible for such a man to be taken seriously, his moral code being so corrupt.  His raunchy locker room talk of, “grab ‘em by the pussy”, was an unbelievably disgraceful comment.  He would never get the nomination.  His claim that he would “Make America Great Again”, was a preposterous campaign slogan.

The Great America We Had

America was great with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the helm.  We had the Affordable Care Act, finally.  Our military had taken out Osama Bin Laden.  The auto industry and the banks had been saved.  The LGBTQ community finally had equal love and marriage, and our President was a decent caring man that cried for gun victims.  He led our nation with dignity, “with God’s grace”; and never even a breath of scandal.

Actual First Families

Barak loved his beautiful wife and his daughters. The Obama’s have been married for 28 years.   They brought an adorable Portuguese Water Dog to the White House and we watched the president play in the snow with his girls. Michelle created a garden. This was a First Family that you could not help but love.  Our first Black President was stellar.  His VP, Joe Biden has known tragedy. He had been a single-parent widower, who put his children first. He found love again and has been married to his second wife ‘Dr. Jill’ for 43 years.  He has never been unfaithful to either of his wives.  Of course this great team was re-elected, and the Democratic party was making strides at keeping America great through inclusion and acceptance.

Breaking The Glass Ceiling

We had Hillary Clinton ready to break the glass ceiling as the first female President of the United States.  Instead of that glass ceiling breaking, our hearts broke.  Donald Trump received the Republican nomination for president.  My mouth dropped nearly to my neck from shock.  Surely, there was no way he could be elected.  Hillary was by far the clear, experienced choice and Trump’s low-down, ridiculous tactics about her emails would not be taken seriously, or would they?   Why, some of her emails were just simplistic messages about her daughter’s shower.  Hillary had nothing to hide in her emails in the least, whereas Mr. Trump continues to hide his debt and blatantly refuses to show his tax returns.  All other United States presidents and candidates had released their tax returns.  Surely, the American people were not foolish enough to fall for this man’s malarkey.

You’ve Got To Be Kidding

I sat on election night at a colleague’s restaurant, wearing my “I voted” sticker with my husband, awaiting Hillary’s brilliant acceptance speech, when the unthinkable happened.  I watched in horror, losing my appetite, as a smug and smirking Donald Trump descended a staircase with his family to make a victory speech.  Our nation had just descended into hell.  Tears streaming down my face, my husband escorted me to our car.  I was literally in a state of shock; I cried for three days.  Hillary wrote a beautiful email to all of her supporters; I used a half of a box of tissue while reading it.

God Help Us

Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa were bittersweet because we knew what was to come.  I prayed, I cried, I hoped and I feared; emotions ran high during the holidays.  Anger simmered below the surface at my husband’s Trump-voting brother-in-law’s house.  New Year’s Eve brought tension, not celebration.  Never had a bigger deal been made of a President leaving office.  President and First Lady Obama would be much missed.  I could not watch ”The Donald” take the oath of office.  News photos of Barack and Michelle kindly escorted Melania to her seat, while her husband ignored her completely.  I vowed to never call Donald Trump ‘president’ and I could not bring myself to refer to a woman who has been seen naked in magazines by half the world,  ‘first lady.’  The nightmare had begun.

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