Grieving with the Ukraine: Regret of a Trump Voter

 I was deeply saddened, horrified, sickened by the recent and ongoing treatment of Zelenskyy by Trump/Vance.

Saddened by the suffering of this people; by the betrayal and abandonment.

Horrified by a new World Order. Or more accurately, lack of order, chaos. Suddenly we are plunged into a dystopian game of Risk in which brutal, psychopathic War Lords divide the globe: Putin you take the Ukraine; we take Greenland/Panama/Canada; and Xi can have Taiwan; while Israel and the Sunni states divide the Middle East.

Sickened by the condescension, arrogance and bullying of a man from an oppressed nation who comes to us begging for help. The optics were nauseating: two larger, powerful men verbally belittling a little man. Complete absence of decency, dignity, respect.

Without misgivings I voted for Trump and celebrated his victory as a defeat of the greater evil. I still see the subtle, cultural totalitarianism of the Left as a greater threat to my Catholic way of life than the authoritarianism of Trump.

For six weeks I observed with interest this radical, novel social experiment. I withheld judgement: detached from the high-fiving intoxication of the Right and the hysteria of the Left. I foresaw neither dystopia nor utopia, but a risky, daring gamble. I liked: pro-life gestures, closing of the border, round up of criminals, recovery to sanity from the identity politics lunacy of the Biden area. I hated: blanket pardon of Jan. 6 criminals, excesses of DOGE crusade in defiance of acts of Congress, repulsive jingoism (Gulf of America, etc.) I waited to see how things developed with immigration, tariffs, and DOGE.

Surprised by the unprecedented level of energy, confidence, and boldness, I was troubled by the contagious recklessness, grandiosity, mania, vindictiveness and disregard for tradition, authority, protocol, decency and constitutional order. 47 is an entirely different animal from 45.  As I am one year younger than Trump, I erroneously assumed that us old guys don't radically change at this stage in the game. My recall of 45: surrounded by, restrained by, and deferential to competent, establishment figures; historic victories in the Culture War (justices); amazing peace across the globe; a properous economy (due to tax cuts which led later to inflation.)  I expected 47 to be something like 45. Wrong!

What happened?

I blame the Left.

First of all, many of us were pushed to vote against a Progressivism that holds in contempt our most cherished values: religion, family, marriage, the immense dignity of powerless/incompetent human life, liberty, tradition.

Secondly, the Trump Derangement Syndrome led to excesses.  We listened for years to the Russia conspiracy hoax which was then entirely rejected by the Mueller report. He faced four trials which were all weak and showed zero respect for the President of our country who is preferred by almost half of our population. This warfare only strengthened Trump in his combative propensities. He flourished. He loved it. He prevailed and took on preternatural powers. Rightly did Jordan Peterson, in a remarkable podcast, characterize him and his coterie as Superheroes. Our justice system was weaponized, under Biden, against Trump and a range of conservative groups. Now Trump is unrestrained and pushing that disorder much further.

Democrats are fragmented and disoriented but more basically bereft of a moral core.

Republicans are afraid of this Superman.

Much of my hope is in the Supreme Court. Yesterday, by a 5-4 decision, Roberts and Barrett joined the three liberals to release funds already designated by Congress for foreign aid. This is a good sign!

If the election were today, in light of the last week, I could not vote for Trump. But...if I thought for more than 10 seconds about Harris/Biden, I would have to vote for Trump!

What a world! At least the remaining years of my life will not be boring!

We can pray...and wait and see.