thomas leverett weblog

Open letter to Trump supporters

You have faithfully followed this man right along, so that even now you are waving the Trump flags and standing by him as he undermines the vote, undermines democracy, steals from you in front of your face, and asks for more donations to cover his legal funds. At some point you should recognize that he's taken you too far.

Conservatism used to be respectable: you could argue for lower taxes, less immigration perhaps, less regulation, and you could even argue that it was good for the country or good for everyone. I have no problem with that and I recognize that this is a very conservative country. You don't want socialism, and don't want people getting something for nothing, or whatever you recognize as what's wrong with the Democratic Party's approach.

But this man was a grifter from the first moment. He let you believe he was a good businessman. He used his lawyers to prevent the truth from coming out, not only about his taxes but also about all the women he assaulted or raped; he used your money to keep them quiet. He let the virus come in and ravage the country until now over 230,000 people have died with no end in sight, and he's still not taking it seriously, in spite of the fact that his own wife and son, his entire staff, and scores of people who attend presidential functions have gotten it.

The country threw him out in a large election that was pretty clear. If you continue to follow him now, and believe his lies about "unfair" balloting, you have gone too far. If you want unfair or meaningless elections, go to Russia. If you want someone who can declare themselves victor in spite of an election, go to Belarus. If you are so scared of Biden and Democrats, go to a place that doesn't have a second party and you can revel in the security that a guy like Putin offers you by being dictator for life.

Democracy is messy - sometimes the people make a decision you don't like. I think most of you can live with it - you already did, for eight years. They still haven't taken your guns, and they probably won't. Life will carry on, and you can too. I hope you do, because this country needs you to not give up on it.

posted by tom @ 6:30 PM