SHATTERED

     Shattered. Shivering. Teeth chattering. Fearful, so fearful of the future - and the present. That was my reaction to the news about Trump. I had tried to sleep but kept getting up to see the unbelievable awfulness of the results. And I cry inside with sorrow and fear for my country, for the people within, for the "other" - of which my people are according to the raunchy right wing supporters of Trump - and I see no hope for the future as the Supreme Court will be packed with dinosaurs.
     Any and all progress we have made to do the right thing will quickly be rolled back. And while some cheer, masses of people within the country will once again be without medical coverage so just keep on laughing while people die, while they lead hard lives with problems that could have been averted, laugh at the heedless harshness and hard heartedness of it all.
      And what about those, including myself, who have had their retirement savings just about trashed. The world warned this would happen and there were examples of it but nope, we just kept rushing headlong into tragedy. So I wonder, how will Trump deal with this, perhaps send out pup tents to people who lose their homes for lack of funds, perhaps throw them a sop in a field soup kitchen or will even that prove to be contrary to his economic beliefs, such as they are.
     What about our allies? Or will we now have none and they will watch while we descend the ladder of countries, as we eventually fall into full isolationism mixed with rightwing nationalism, isolate ourselves from the world even though that is impossible and just accept as friends those dictators who jumped so easily now onto the bandwagon, wanting to be friends. We have Putin of course, that crazy Philippines guy, Erdogan as he took time off from throwing thousands into jail for opposing him, or so he says. With friends like these....
      And indeed, with a President like this, a president of the extremists, a president with no compassion, a president who frankly appears to be mentally unbalanced, a president who is a huge misogynist and proud of it - will we now have all the men emulating him  and will we now watch our boys follow his example? Will we return to the past for attitudes re women and their rights as people?
     And we know not what is to come for policies were never expanded upon, merely shouted about in platitudes, mere words. So will we have a wall? And how will he pay for it - by invading Mexico and robbing their treasury? Will we now have another police force slash soldiers whose job will be to invade all homes looking for immigrants and will they all be dropped over the border, left there to die? G-d in Heaven, this was done to the Jews in each country the Nazis ruled. I shake at the thought, at the vision of it.
     And what about all the underpinnings of the safety net we have for our citizens? It ain't perfect, but sure is better than nothing so what will be? And what will be done about the hateful divisiveness of our country. Fully half of the country did not support Trump. This is a class war, a race war, an economic war and by the way, what happens to his audit? Will it be dropped or better yet, will we have the shocking sight of our president led to the hoosegow for failure to pay taxes, hit with huge fines - or will, oh could it be - that politics will come into play and nothing will happen, the issue dropped? Hmmm, thought he promised not to allow that - uh huh - so let's see how it all plays out. And in the meanwhile Canadian websites are being overwhelmed with questions and inquiries about moving there, becoming citizens there. Does not say much for how our future will be. And who will serve as the representative of our people no matter color, race, religion, economic status, place of origin for who knows how many generations? Who? Who?
     And I wonder, for how long will I be allowed to post  and say my piece and my views? And I fear for our democracy, the great American experiment. I fear for my other homeland, the land of Israel, for I do not trust the man not a whit. And so I stood there and shook in horror, shock and fear. And I stood there and wondered about those who voted for such a man and what it says about them? And I wonder what they will say when the restrictions come raining down upon us, when the Republican controlled Houses of Congress just keep passing awful and vengeful and uncaring laws, rolling back progress and surety for our citizens. What then? Do I say "told you so" as the sky falls? I wish to be proved wrong, but I have no faith in Trump as a man, as a President, as a world leader, as a decision maker, as a man working with a full load up there. G-d, if only he proves me wrong without the whole structure falling down around us. Not too optimistic here, not at all.