I just lost yet another friend to Trump [View all]

This fellow was a close friend of mine in college and afterwards. We had many musical adventures together and worked on numerous projects together. We shared one another's lives, partied our asses off and shared many delicious meals. Once, I took him sailing the day after a hurricane and we had one of the most exciting afternoons in my life.

He is now a diehard Trumpist. We spoke for about 15 minutes the other day and I listened to his diatribe about how everything wrong with the world is President Biden's fault and how Trump will bring prosperity and peace to our nation and the world. He is beyond rationality and facts.

My former friend has been on unemployment on and off for decades as he's an independent contractor as a musician in NYC. He has benefitted from many of the social safety nets offered in our country and this state. Yet he has bought into all of the Trump lies and has never taken personal responsibility for his circumstances. Incidentally, I had an inkling of his leanings when Giuliani was mayor and my acquaintance thought he was the greatest mayor NYC had ever seen. (Giuliani was not a great mayor and everything we've seen about him the last several years was presaged during his terms in NYC.)

My former friend is just the latest of people with whom I will no longer associate. There are more than a dozen friends and family that I've written off because of their support for Trump. If I cannot respect someone I cannot be friends with them. After all, inspite of my life as an Aristocrat*, I do have standards that I expect of my acquaintances.

Trump has destroyed so much in his disgusting life. it's disheartening to see how this one man has laid bare the disgusting underbelly of so many American people.

"The land of the brave?" Hardly.
"The land of the free?" Not even close for far too many people.
"The shining city on the hill?" Only if you're a multi-millionaire.

I'm getting older and I don't expect to be around for many more decades. Still, I'm brokenhearted that my son and so many others will have to live in this country as it is destroyed by Trump and his minions.
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* The Aristocrats is a documentary film by Penn Jillette about a dirty joke told by comedians for comedians. It's a brilliant study of comedy and comedians. Those who identify with the humor are known colloquially as Aristocrats.