Thanks for asking about me, MAGA. Truth to tell, I’m sick. And tired. I suspect many Americans are coming to grips right now with the nausea I feel. Let me break it down. I’m sick of his voice. I’m sick of his body language, his “cute” on-stage dance moves and his lie-foretelling “invisible accordion.” I’m sick of his countless unchallenged lies and his unbridled criminality. I’m sick of his infantile world view and his puerile vulgarity. I’m sick of his grifting Holy Bibles at $65.00 a pop, and “priceless” wrist watches for over $100,000. And those are just the smaller irritants.

The greater sickness comes from knowing that a former President of the United States has declared that he sees merit in some of the deeds of the late Nazi Fuhrer. The sickness compounds when considering that the same former President has referred to our dead and mutilated service people as “losers and suckers” for having sacrificed their all for the good of this nation. It compounds upon hearing our former President refer to the country he has led (and seeks to lead again), as “a garbage can for the rest of the world” (Tempe, Arizona; October 24, 2024). The sickness worsens when our former President states with crystal clarity that he will use the American military not only to deport “aliens,” but also against those American citizens he considers “the enemy within.”

The sickness grows considering the first-term travesty of hiring “only the best,” many of whom, appointees and trusted advisors alike, were jailed or remain indicted. Second time around, there will be no person of stature or moral conviction to settle or distract the increasingly deranged candidate. And the sickness comes full circle when one considers four more years of Republican adults turning into contortionists to explain away the verbiage and actions of a man whom they fear, and ironically, to whom they wouldn’t trust the care of their dog. It is beyond humiliation.

Can one imagine surviving four more years focused solely upon blatant retribution? Four more years of up is really down, old is really new, wrong is really right, four more years of the mindlessness of “Mexico will pay for the wall,” “I’ll release my taxes when the IRS finishes its audit,” “I have the concept of a plan to replace Obamacare,” “I’ll stop the war in the Ukraine in my first 24 hours.” The fever, even now, worsens with just the thought.

This is not an endorsement of the other side. It is simply a reminder that for whatever minor advances may have been gained under Trump 1.0, the cost has been asymmetrical, and harmful, and lasting. There is a choice, and you owe an explanation of your vote to no one.

STEPHEN HUDDY

Williamsport

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom