Across the Margin presents a form letter intended to ease the challenges of talking to your Republican-affiliated loved ones about Donald Trump….
Dear ___________,
I love you.
I want to begin this letter there so that you know these words come from my heart. Everything I write here I do so with the deepest feelings of love and respect for you. And also with equally intense feelings of love for this country. For our country. This isn’t easy, taking up these matters with you, as we haven’t always seen eye to eye politically. But I have a few thoughts I need to share with you…about Donald Trump. So please hear me out. I beg of you. This won’t take long. I promise.
Let’s get straight to the point. I am deeply concerned – terrified even – about what could happen to our country, and to our world, if Donald Trump were elected President of the United States. I do not think I am being overly dramatic in feeling this way. The risk, I believe, is profound, and I am asking you to please consider the consequences of his presidency. I am asking you to think – for just this one moment in time – of country over party affiliation. I am asking you to not allow this man to helm the great ship that is our country by voting for him in November.
Because when it comes down to it, a vote for Donald Trump is not a vote for Republican ideals and interests. I know what the Republican party believes in and I know what you believe in, and Donald Trump is not the torchbearer for your values and beliefs. No, a vote for the Republican ticket this November is a vote for one man, a very irresponsible man, one whose own interests have always outweighed the interests of others. For reasons we don’t need to get into right now, Donald Trump has ended up as the default candidate for the Republican party, and please know that I understand how unfair this is to you, and to all the level-headed and passionate Republicans out there. His misogyny, his racism, his egotism, his bullying nature, his fascist impulses – this does not represent you. And it’s a shame that you are being put in the position to potentially support him because of your loyalties to your political party. But I beg of you to help put an end to this hijacking one of the United States’ most prominent political factions. You have that power. You can help put an end to this charade.
Donald Trump is a dangerous man. These are not my words alone. “Trump is a danger to our national security,” John B. Bellinger III, legal adviser to the State Department under President George W. Bush, plainly warned. Other leading Republicans – with so much at stake – have already joined in denouncing Trump and his warped political worldview. His blatant ignorance about international affairs not only puts our nation’s reputation at risk, but his caustic rhetoric already in just the electoral campaign has put us on a path towards war.
Donald Trump losing the election, and thus the Republican party not “representing” you in the Oval Office for the next four years, should not be looked at as a loss. The real loss would be this failed businessman presiding over this great land as the 45th President of the United States. Rather, votes against Donald Trump should be looked upon as biding one’s time until the Republican Party finds someone who truly represents their and your viewpoints. Because, and again, Donald Trump does not represent you. In fact, he is the entire opposite of who you are. You are not crude, racist, misogynistic, childish, or vengeful. Also, it is important we do not kid ourselves, as the man we have seen on the campaign trail, this is the very man he is. A man who would openly attack the family of a fallen soldier or mock a disabled man. A man who will retweet racist images and be pulled into a Twitter war of words with only the mildest of prodding. A man who encouraged violence at his rallies and advocates for the use of extreme torture on not just terrorists – but on their families. Because of these childish and damning actions, we can no longer look at this upcoming election as a political decision, but rather a moral one. And the choice in this matter, in this light, is clear. Never Trump.
I understand you do not favor Hillary because of her _________, and her __________, and the _________ scandal. And I realize you are planning on voting for Trump because he __________. But I believe all of these matters to be trivial in this election. The very fact that one of our choices to hold the office of the President of the United States involves such extreme risk to our way of life, it seems clear to me that so many of our core concerns – both Democrats and Republicans alike – must be put to the side in order to prevent nuclear codes from being handed to such a wild card of a man. I guess there does exist the option of staying home and forgoing a vote altogether. But this brand of active apathy silences your voice entirely. And who sits in the Oval Office for the next four years is just too important to not care. Especially with The Donald in the mix.
I get it. The American people are fed up with business as usual in Washington, and it’s not hard to understand why. The majority of us feel as though we are being left behind – and truth be told – in a lot of ways so many of us are. But Donald Trump is not the answer, as this is a man who has shown throughout his Presidential campaign that he is more adept at dividing and inciting hate than bringing us together, and together is the only way we are going to be able to move forward and become a stronger and more prosperous, and ultimately happier, nation. I know we disagree on many, many issues, but bigotry isn’t one of them. Neither is the mistreatment of women and of those who are physically handicapped. We attempt to be good, decent people in our everyday lives yet sadly, Donald Trump does not.
Again, I love you – and I cherish our future together. A future that is quite literally in danger if we allow Donald Trump to ascend to our nation’s highest office. A position where he won’t only be called on to make decisions that directly affect every American, but where he – a man who can’t even handle a slight insult on social media – will have the ability to wage war with the greatest and most able war machine the world has ever known. Please take one moment to think about how important that is, how very real that it is. This scares me so much. Deep inside, I know it scares you too.
Thank you so very much for taking the time to read this. If you would like to discuss this further, I am here. I am always here – for you.
Love,
_______________
Featured image used under Creative Commons license. Caricature created by Flickr user DonkeyHotey, which was originally adapted from Creative Commons licensed images from Michael Vadon’s flickr photostream. No symbol created by Wikipedia user GravisZro (Creative Commons).
