Dear Donald Trump... Your Legacy of Voter Fraud and Lies

Dear Leader, the Master of the Deal, the Maker of a Great America, and Messiah of Cult 45:

I took an oath in 1989 when I volunteered for the U.S. Air Force. I take pride in my years of service. It was a pride that I associated with being a patriot and an American. I was proud to be an American. I was aware of our tainted past and how we became a nation wasn't something built on freedom, but the ideals of freedom were in place. We were working forward, moving all too slow, but forward nonetheless. Our history is filled with intolerable acts of genocide and discrimination, but our future was looking hopeful. Then you decided to run for president.

I will be 50 years old this year. I have a vague memory of the troubles we faced during the Vietnam War. I remember flashes of images from the news. I was a toddler, but I can still remember them. I remember hearing my elder relatives discussing it. We were working toward healing from that disaster of a war. It took far too long and we had more work to do. Still, our veterans struggle with the consequences of that war and those that followed. Regardless of how our presidents during that time blundered with the use of our military might, I still had faith that we could recover and that the next generation would progress toward equality and peace. I was even able to find some redeeming qualities about G.W. Bush, though more so after his presidency. Then you were elected president. You... the loudest voice of the birthers. I'm guessing that is when you saw it. That you could say outrageous things and there was a significant number of citizens that would hang on your words.

You said what many wanted to hear. Despite having the loudest voices, they felt unheard. Despite having the same freedoms they've always enjoyed, they felt infringed. It was because the nation was progressing toward a wider equality. We were progressing toward equity. We still got things wrong, but we were moving forward. You, Mr. Trump, fed their fears. You played on the notion that America wasn't great. As you have done nearly all your life, you sold a bill of goods without any intention of delivering much more than a turd in a pretty box. Your decisions were about benefiting you and expanding your brand. You liked the worship you were getting. You forgot the rest of us. You assumed there were not more of us.

I couldn't support you. I did not vote for you in either election. I did not want Hilary. I did not want Biden. I voted 3rd party the first election. This last one... I knew better. I had to give in to our flawed election practices and vote for the only candidate that could win against you. The DNC's failure became our president and I am happy about it. I had real fear about what the country may become if a draft dodging, self-serving man who seemed bent on becoming a dictator would get another 4 years to work to that end. In being the most divisive president in my lifetime, you ironically united and inspired more to vote just to be rid of you. If there is any accomplishment you have achieved that I can view favorably, it is that you woke up those who normally would have napped through the election without care. They care now.

These last 4 years have been an emotional dive from the moment I knew you would be president. One side made it easy for you to play the victim. I was on that side. It was difficult for us to understand why so many adored you when you were and are devoid of empathy and conscience. I couldn't see how anyone believed your lies. I argued with friends. I argued with family. It was painful. This was a pain that I doubt you have ever felt. I would like to believe you are capable of love, but it is difficult for me to get there. Your words divided us. How can one love when they are so set on fueling division?

I would like to blame you for all the relationships that have suffered. I would like to lay it all at your feet and cynically thank you for the mess you created between friends and family. I no longer speak to some of my friends and family. I know it wasn't your fault. You didn't make them how they are. They just finally showed me. I pushed hard enough that they made it too easy to walk away. They showed me they lack empathy for anyone not like them. You made it OK to do so. You empowered their belief that they had somehow been ignored all these years, when in fact, they've always been deaf to the needs of anyone who did not look like them or believe as they do. You made it OK for them to be open about it. This hurt me on a personal level and it also opened my eyes to how far we still have to go before we can claim to be a truly free nation. As much as I was pained to see our country splitting in two, I have to at least give you credit for exposing the cancer that had been quietly growing inside the body of our nation. I would say we should thank you for it, but no. You used it against us and now we are a nation divided.

It wasn't enough that you did your best to undo everything Barack Obama had done. You also had to play the game with our lives. You had to feed the fears of your base and promote the idea of the deep state to such a level that the country fell to near chaos this last year of your presidency. You ignored the cries against injustice and praised the bigoted and racists as "fine people". You could not admit your failures when we were struck with a pandemic and we lost thousands more lives because of it. I do not believe there has been a president in our history who has failed so completely as you have. You almost killed us. You certainly killed many of us.

The pinnacle of your presidency will be the insurrection at the Capitol Building. You can claim to have not incited violence and repeat your words to show you didn't specifically tell anyone to breach the Capitol, but by then you knew how to speak to those who would listen without actually saying what you wanted them to do. You had figured out the trigger words. Once you realized you could say and do almost anything, why not push them to see if they'd go after our elected officials and treat them as the enemy. You were the only enemy that day. Well, I should include your family and Rudy, formally known as America's mayor. How far you dragged him down. Or was he always this way. I'll bet on the latter.

I would like to believe my words would have some impact if you ever read them. I would like to believe you are capable of empathy and willing to understand why so many of us have come to despise you. It would fill me with tremendous hope to hear you speak of unity and forgiveness and admit your mistakes. That is a dream. I know it will not happen. You have shown that you are incapable of recognizing your failures and mistakes. You have shown you do not care about the consequences of your actions as long as you are in the spotlight and can draw a crowd to chant your name. You were never a president. You were never a patriot. You were the worst golden idol in our history.

I hope we can recover while I still live to see it. I fear your damage is too great to repair before I leave this world and I expect to get another g00d 40 years out of this life. I will do my best to be optimistic. I will do my best to show empathy and compassion. I will always remember my oath to this country. I wish you would have taken your seriously.