Cindi Branham
I’m feeling more than a little betrayed at this point, post-election. A lot of us are. We just had the rug pulled out from under us concerning the presidential election.
This is throwing us into a state of grief; at least it feels exactly like grief. We’re looking at life “without,” only this death will be slow, painful, and distress many of us over a long period of time. Rights removed one at a time, on a regular basis, until we no longer feel that we’re living in the America of our past.
If you share this concern that we’re going down a long road to the loss of our country and our way of life, you’re not alone. Many of us are grieving, but nearly all of us will suffer with the changes coming in this administration.
And Ukraine. I began grieving for Ukraine the evening of November 5th.
They are intent on enacting as much of Project 2025 as possible. If you forget what that might bring us, read some of my back columns at https://speakinoutweeklynews.net/category/opinion/. I hit the high points, but the columns serve as a reminder of what’s coming.
At a point soon, we’ll have conclusive data on exactly who those betraying groups are, but it’s still too fuzzy to understand the election conclusively.
As of this writing, the margins show:
- Harris 76.2M votes (48.4%)
- Trump 78.5M votes (49.9%)
- Other 2.6M votes (1.5%)
I’ll add that up for you: Trump’s margin of victory is exactly that of the number of people who voted for a third-party or write-in. Vote counting and curing is still going on, and the numbers could literally change, but the electoral counts probably won’t.
Maybe I’ll feel better about this in days to come. Maybe. But my hope is that I’ll feel better about it two years from now.
By then, we should know how the real intent of the Trump administration will be affecting not only us, but also our neighbors, friends, co-workers, and the individuals and families we don’t know who were just here trying to do a job and feed their families and keep them safe.
Here, at the same time, doing us all the favors of picking our produce, processing our chicken, building our buildings and replacing our roofs in 100° weather.
They were whisked away without much warning, taken to a deportation site to await being sent back across our southern borders. Some – taken from their place of work – left behind a spouse and children.
In other cases, both parents were taken away from their workplaces, leaving behind children who won’t understand what’s happened to their parents. They will soon learn their parents aren’t coming home again…if they’re old enough to understand.
Those are old, ongoing policies. The new policies – the ones we should be concerned about – are already starting to become apparent.
Soon, even naturalized citizens will be targeted. Trump has already appointed Stephen Miller to the position of White House as deputy chief of policy.
When he spoke at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally before the election, Miller assured the crowd that “America is for Americans and Americans only” and promised to “restore America to the true Americans.”
Miller is quoted saying, “Yes. We started a new denaturalization process under Trump. In 2025, expect it to be turbocharged.”
Miller is also antisemitic, even though he’s of a Jewish background.
I hope everyone understands this policy and direction: Denaturalization means that any citizen who came into this country legally and – legally – put in the time and work to become a United States citizen is now at risk of losing that citizenship, because of the Trump administration’s policies.
Many no longer have family in their country of origin; some don’t speak the language and certainly have no way of supporting themselves if sent to a country that’s foreign to them.
This denaturalization will also apply to the children of immigrants born in this country. Some are children, many are adults who have been contributing to this country’s strengths and quality of life for all of us.
They will most certainly be persons of color. Every color. And they will be persons of non-Christian religions. Muslims, Jews, and others outside the circle of White Protestant and Evangelical Christianity may ultimately be rounded up and taken to “deportation camps,” just as Hitler dealt with the Jews.
White male nationalism is back and it’s winning.
If you haven’t imagined what will happen to these people as they are arrested, held against their will (remember that some are citizens), and deported into a strange land, please make yourself go there mentally.
Remember the poem by pastor Martin Niemöller, written about the lack of safety in an authoritarian regime:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
We all need to be ready, because their plight could be ours someday soon.
We also need to be aware of and ready for opportunities for resistance: many battles if you will. There will become apparent; we simply need to open our minds and decide we will support them with our time, treasure and talents.
I can’t tell you what they are yet, because my own grief isn’t letting me have a clear picture just yet. But each new day will make us stronger and help us to see more clearly.
This isn’t a perfect country, and our society isn’t the best in the world, but it’s a whole lot better than some want it to be for everyday Americans. Open your mind and let’s see what we can do to keep them from winning the war.
