POST-TRAUMATIC TRUMP SYNDROME
The sun has risen again and the nuclear button remains unpushed. It is Thursday morning, November 5, 2020. The last 48 hours have felt like two of the longest days in the world’s most major events. Some pundits say it was the closest election in this nation, while the Aryan Brotherhood, FOX news, the Alt-Right, Kanye West, and Ben Carson still doubt its outcome. Kanye’s MAGA hat has lost its luster and Carson has to return that $31,000 dining set he never gave back. Donald has been pacing, wondering what he will do. Barr is out of tricks and everyone else has been fired, except Stephen Miller. His loyalty will last until there isn’t one brown face left in America. He will enjoy a few days of leisure. The position of the Grand Wizard of the Klan. He won’t begin his tenure until Monday, January 3, two days after New Year’s Day. Well, why not, the Southern District of New York doesn’t have any sealed indictments against him? Still, some dreams come true.
At least the soon to be former president won’t be alone when he thinks he thinks he goes to pardon that Thanksgiving turkey. We all know by now, Donald J. Trump has never let a good pardon go to waste.
The White House Executive Chef remains on the clock. What else would she do? She cooks at the pleasure of a man who will never be president again. The oven’s heat has risen and the stuffing’s been prepared. That bird was de-feathered, basted, and stuffed before the evening slot with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, who once rightly said, “Obstruction takes time.” He forgot to mention that obstruction’s time eventually wears out. America finally woke up and smelled the cover-ups. There were just too many to count and too big to ignore.
This certainly was not the day he thought it would be. The Lions got the holiday game going. Turkey Day officially got kick-started, and Colin Rand Kaepernick looked outstanding on the football field. He was running the show. But the most essential piece of equipment in this game wasn’t the football, it was Kaepernick, who went from being an all-American NFL player to an all-American civil rights activist.
Trump watched, perched in a chair in the infamous Situation Room, on the ground floor of the West Wing. Scowling defiantly into one of many enormous TV screens. “He was just a washed-up blacklisted quarterback. I thought I ended him.” Colin wasn’t just back on the field; he owned the team playing on it.
Today, the crowds will sing the National Anthem in that huge stadium, but so many more will pitch a tone that sincerely gives meaning to the lyrics. An athlete blessed with a vivid sense of justice went from being the free agent who stood against the so-called “Leader of the Free World.” As a nation, we are better and wiser for Kaepernick’s sacrifices. Imagine if he had stood for the anthem instead of taking a knee. Candor made some people enraged as they saw what he did and grasped at the meaning behind his message. We are a nation that never ceases to be amazed, notably by a man who forced us to confront a history full of untruths and called out the horrors of bigotry, without raising the weight of his voice.
No one appears to know the whereabouts of William Barr, the President’s partner in crime who releases the slime. William Barr has taken a liking to Splenda, eating organic green apples and several carrots a day. Amazon has delivered several boxes of Goli Apple Cider Vinegar gummies. Despite a history that has exceeded his daily caloric count every day for several years, to buttress a well-balanced diet to support his weight management. It’s a desperate ploy to re-invent himself. But that would be an exceptional challenge for a law enforcer who couldn’t avoid becoming a lawbreaker. No matter how much he may struggle to change his physical being, he cannot change who he is and the crimes he committed in the name of his Commander-in-Thief. The oath to support and defend the Constitution became an oath to support the crimes of the President and his underhanded conspirators.
This remains a cherished ambition, that should mercifully one day become a reality. But that day has not arrived. Attentive Americans who have watched the emergence of the worst governing in American history cannot deny that we have experienced a disruption of law and justice, purposely deprecated level of executive privilege. United States citizens have lived within a house of lies for almost four years. Donald Trump’s term in office has felt like a life sentence.
It would be such a low standard of character if this nation neglects the consequences of Trump’s actions and portrays his unmerciful conduct as permissible. And if we dare to permit him to be re-elected to the Office of the Presidency, we will have polluted that branch of power that will ultimately allow this man a free pass to commit more crimes against humanity, more division, more entitlement for the rich, more misery for the poor; a guy who has clarified that he believes black people are freaks of nature and if another man of color is killed by a policeman’s bullet, that’s just one less for his own society to look at, because his black life didn’t matter.
America, it’s time to heal. This country is experiencing Post-Traumatic Trump Disorder (PTTD). It’s a condition that has been triggered by a terrifying event, the Presidency of Donald Trump — It doesn’t matter whether you are experiencing it or witnessing it. The symptoms these last four years have typically included nightmares and severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the night of the election or the Inauguration Day.
Most Americans who have gone through one or more of these traumatic events may have temporary difficulty coping with his nonsense, but with time and voting. You will get better in months or even weeks. A new president is critical to reduce symptoms and improve function.
Americans must vote Trump out, and the SDNY must put him inside a place where society will be safe from his hateful rhetoric, ghoulish greed, and self-serving actions. Americans should be wary and soul-broken from the death count, here and abroad. How will he ever appreciate that his actions have consequences? We have almost 135,000 victims of COV- 19 to remind us. We need to protect the sick and elderly, the black and the brown, the American-born, and the naturalized citizens of this country from Donald Trump. Not just for the greater good, not only for our integrity but for the survival of a growing democracy. This isn’t just an election, it’s a fair warning to America.
- Khalilah Sabra (@khalilahsabra)
