Delusions and disappointment

I found myself writing this weeks editorial on Monday, President’s Day.

When I first realized this fact I became frustrated with the sudden realization that our government offices were closed for the holiday. As it is my responsibility to compile the weekly court house news, I was disappointed that I would not be able to perform my normal Monday duty as planned.

Of course, I could do it on Tuesday, but that also happened to be the morning of the bi-monthly County Commissioner’s meeting and the day we put the paper together, therefore adding one more big thing to accomplish on an already fully scheduled day.

Those were only minor inconveniences on one day however and I’m not nearly as upset about a long workday on Tuesday as I was about Monday’s rallies across the country. According to television and Internet news, over a dozen cities including N.Y., L.A., and Chicago held “Not My Presidents Day” rallies.

From what I understand of the Anti-Trump activists, they believe that their demonstrations are justified because they believe that President Trump was not elected by the majority of the people. Although I could write about the inaccuracies of that statement, I choose to focus on the more troubling aspect of the day they rallied on.

When I first heard the now repeated comments that “he does not represent us (the majority of Americans), I was reminded of the first time I voted in a Presidential election. It was the winter of 1992 and I was thoroughly distraught that my party’s candidate had lost to President Clinton. Although I don’t remember the exact words of my ex-husband, I will never forget his basic sentiments of the situation; ‘this is just the way it is.’ We are basically a country of two parties so after one side has had the power for awhile, the other party will rise up and take control. After eight years of President Reagan, and four years of President George H.W. Bush, there was almost no chance that the American people would re-elect another Republican and that theory has proven true since then. A quick glance back in history shows that Democratic President Clinton held the office for eight years, then tides changed and we had President George W. Bush, a Republican for eight years, tides changed again and we had Democrat President Obama for eight years. Now we have Republican, President Trump and that’s just the way things are now, the party’s take turns whether they, or the Americans, realize it or not.

In elementary school, children are required to share, to take turns and to allow everyone their chance. These rallies of Anti-Trump activists are frustrated, disappointed and probably a bit scared of the future with someone from the opposite side of the school yard in charge of their country. Hey, I get it! For more than half of my adult life a Democrat has run America and as a Republican, I admit that I didn’t like it. I admit that I’ve been fearful and worried about our future, and as much as I may have complained to my friends, I never once destroyed property, physically or verbally attacked anyone or reacted like a spoiled child in need of a good spanking.

Monday was Presidents Day. The day originally known as the birthday of one of our founding fathers and first President of the United States, George Washington. Since then we have added Abraham Lincoln and now many believe the day to be a celebration of ALL American Presidents. Let me repeat that, according to Britannica.com, the day is “a celebration of the birthdays and lives of all U.S. presidents.”

I have a thought for all of those Anti-Trump activists who rallied this past Monday with signs that read “Not My Presidents Day;” do you realize you insulted ALL of our past presidents? Although I was never a fan of either President Clinton or Obama... I wonder, were they as disappointed in the delusional protestors as I was?