(This blog is dedicated to my 100 year old mother who died this past Sunday after a wonderful life. She thought Donald Trump was an awful man and often said that she knew she probably would not live to see him out of the White House, but wished she could.)
In a Washington Post op-ed published today (January 2), Utah Senator elect and former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney wrote these words:
“To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow “our better angels.” A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect. As a nation, we have been blessed with presidents who have called on the greatness of the American spirit. With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.”
In that context, consider the fact that according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 36% of Americans say that they will definitely or probably vote for Donald Trump if he runs for reelection in 2020.
Obviously character doesn’t matter to Trump Republicans, rather disturbing in itself, but more so since many of them are evangelical Christians.
Their betrayal of Christianity is stunning.
For those of us who are Christian, that is upsetting, to say the least, but as far as the nation is concerned, it is time to have done with Trump supporters.
They just don’t matter anymore. Over the last two years they have proven that they don’t care about character, and in saying they support his policies, they have proven they don’t care about values.
Because they are just like Trump, paying attention to what they say or believe or how they think (little of that as they apparently do) is a waste of time.
That’s because the overwhelming majority of Americans don’t support Trump, 64% to be exact.
They agree with Mitt Romney. Trump is morally unfit to be President and does not possess the leadership ability to fulfill the responsibilities that go with the office.
A President should tap into the “the noble instincts in the hearts of Americans,” as Romney said, but the majority of Americans know that is never going to happen with Trump.
That is why 2019 is not only a new year, but a new day in America.
Democrats, independents, and a few Republicans are joining together in support of common values, moral character, and telling the truth.
They are also banning together to make sure the time when Trump could lie with impunity is over, his days of unexposed criminal behavior are over.
It is not out of the question that soon, in fact, very soon, Trump’s days as President will be over.
At the very least it is likely that this is his first and last term as President, that he will not run for re-election, and even if he does, he will lose in a landslide.
The Electoral College will not be skewed again as it was in 2016 because there are not enough Trump Republicans to make him President again. We need to remember that. Attention focused on them tends to make us believe there are more of them than there really are.
You can get 36% of Americans to believe almost anything. The fact that Trump has them in his pocket simply confirms this fact. But they cannot save him now. His two years of running free because of a cowardly Republican Congress are done.
On top of that, it would not surprise me at all if Trump ultimately ends up in jail along with his children and son-in-law.
They are, after all, a criminal family, always have been, always will be, who convinced themselves they were immune from the rule of law. They will soon find out they are not.
So we begin 2019 filled with hope and promise.
To paraphrase the Psalmist, weeping has lasted for more than a night, but joy is now coming with the morning of a new year.
linnposts.com 
Hey Jan, Sorry to hear of the passing of your mother, a spirited, wonderful woman. You are continuing her witness admirably.
Indeed there is hope that Trump’s corrupt, divisive and inept leadership is soon to see it’s demise. Although Romney was kissing up to Trump not long ago, maybe he will actually be a republican voice of resistance and integrity. There are so few of those.
Thanks, Wilbur. As for Romney, he is still a Republican whose policy views I reject most of the time, but at least he was willing to tell the truth about the kind of man and poor leader Trump is. That is something we have not heard from any Republican until now. It is also a basis for Democrats working with Romney on some things. Happy New Year!
I agree. A bit of hope. Happy New Year.
Jan, heartfelt prayers and condolances to you and your family. A life well lived. Lil was a devoted church member of FCC.
Thanks for your positive writing and I hope that your thinking comes to fruition, for the future of America! Not to learn from mistakes would be a travesty!! Hoping for change! My best -Virginia.
Thank you, Virginia. We can only feel gratitude for my mother, her quality of life and depth of faith, and for more years with her than most people get to spend with a parent. Re Trump, I think this is the year to focus on the 64%, not the 36%. If we do that I think we will see more unity in the nation than we believe is there. Hope is the only basis for living well. Happy New Year to you and Bill and your “growing” family. A new grandchild is about the best way there is to begin a year.
Jan,
Knowing what you and Joy have endured with compassion and grace during your mother’s final weeks, I find it incredible that you can, within 4 days of her death, write a post of this quality, focus, and insight!
Citing the timely, bold words of Mitt Romney is a perfect springboard for your own informed denunciation of the despicable criminal Donald Trump.
I try to find hope in the fact that 2/3 of Americans don’t support Trump. Yet, I am baffled and despondent that 1/3 of them DO — and so many of those say they are Christians?! They must “know” and follow a Jesus that is unfamiliar to me.
Finally, your dedication of this piece to your amazing mother touches my heart and warms my soul…….Bless her and bless you, Jan……
Your best friend, Bill
Bill, I struggle as you do, but I have made the decision to forget about Trump supporters. They really have joined a “cult,” so there is nothing more to understand about them, and not a single minute worth wasting on them. I truly believe the majority of Americans will have the final say regrading Trump.
Sorry for the loss of your mother. A good soul.
You seem a little optimistic aout the decline of Trumpism. “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men (and women?” I am still afraid that there are 45%-48% of people who would vote for his brand of politics in the privacy of the voting booth, and my beloved Democratic Party is gited at shooting itself in the foot.
Loren, you may be right on both counts, but as the new year begins I honestly believe everything is different. Trump has had no accountability for two years. If anything, Republicans have made him more extreme by offering no balance or reason to his excesses. As bad as Democrats often are, they are not Trump, don’t like Trump, and will resist Trumpism. That is my basis for hope.
In my wanderings through YouTube lately, I saw something that gave me a little glimpse of hope. It was a gathering last summer of some 400 people of all nationalities (14 from the UK!) in Seattle, recent immigrants who had fulfilled the five years’ residency requirement, and were about to take the oath on becoming naturalised US citizens. With all that I’m hearing about Trump and Trumpery these days, it makes one wonder why people still want to come to your shores. But that people still aspire to be US citizens is still a hopeful sign that in the long term, the basice civic concept of “We, the people” will overcome the false blandishments of “I, the President”, when slogans and applause lines will no longer be enough.
Nigel, you remind all of us Americans not to lose hope, and to trust that “we, the people,” are stronger that this terrible man who is shaming the office he holds and all of us in the process. And what irony that immigrants becoming new citizens reminds us of what once made America truly great more than Trump will ever understand.
Making America Great: The Spanish, The French, The British (????), The Irish, The Slavs, The Jews, Eli Whitney, Henry Ford, Louisiana Purchase, FDR, Raegan . . . but not Jan Linn, because he is too negative, too biased, not a “minister of the gospel” because of his Hate (where’s God’s love?? not present in J. L.)
Ralph,
I don’t know who you are (thankfully), but I know you are an idiot. To point out why would waste too much of my time. Go back under your rock!
BB