In My Small Town - Discourse between Friends.

The Trump Effect on Small-Town America

My Substack is geared to the local community: how will the administration's changes affect the business of this little town and, more importantly, the people?

In the past, we talked about "The Bill" or "The ruling," as that is how the system went. The administration or Congress enacted a policy or a Bill, or the court issued a ruling, and we all had our opinions on them. In some cases, discussion and some dissent followed. Now, there are so many issues that we are overwhelmed: Immigration, DEI, mass firings, masked ICE agents taking people off the streets, inflation, the prices of everything going up, the President's bitcoin company getting millions from "unknown" foreign buyers, abandonment of Ukraine, our Allies becoming our business foes, and our long-time enemies becoming our "partners." There is even more, but the point is made, so much, so fast, so much change.

The news media giants, leading Podcasters, and Substackers are all talking about the issues, some from a position of experience, like The Times’ David Aaronovitch and Henry Winter, former MSNBC contributor Mehdi Hasan, and the common man, like mine, Starfish. My effort is at the grass-roots, or tactical level; I leave the strategic, world-view level to the big dogs.

This week in my small town, I got a taste of what is to come, the aftermath of all this confusion from what can be perceived as a coup on the American system of Government. I make my opinions known by writing letters in the news, my Substack publications, and flying a flag out of the back of my vehicle. The flag is an American flag on top and a Ukrainian flag underneath; I do it to show my love of America and my support of a fellow democratic country, a freedom-fighting people. Ukraine is fighting for its independence just like another country did in 1775 through 1783.

A neighbor voiced their opinion on the Ukraine situation and the peace treaty proposed by the Trump Administration, and that Ukraine is wrong for not accepting it, because it only requires that Russia keep Crimea and nothing else. Of course, I counter that with proposal facts as I have read them, which require Russian occupation of Ukraine, no NATO alignment, plus much more. The issue here is not the peace plan but rather the news media, TV cable, and Internet that spew one-sided "news," which can only be called propaganda. My counter-argument was deemed false as they had heard the "Truth" from Fox News.

A second disturbing event occurred to me when I drove up to a good friend who was sitting in his car, waiting for his wife. As I pulled up beside him to greet him, he saw my fag and asked why I was not flying the American flag, to which I informed him I was flying both together as a sign of solidarity. His unspoken reaction to the discussion was obvious. He then asked where I had been, to which I responded, I was at a demonstration protesting. He asked why I would do that, and I responded that I was protesting the lack of due process, and in particular, the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was illegally deprived of due process. At this, he exploded, calling him a terrorist, MS-13 gang member, and a wife-beater and saying he should never be allowed to return to the US. He very loudly asked, “Do you support terrorists?” I informed him that I do not support terrorists, and if Gracia was a terrorist, he should be deported, but there was no due process; the US Constitution guarantees due process, and the Administration admitted his deportation was a mistake. At this point, his wife joined him in the car, heard part of our discussion, literally climbed over her husband in the driver's seat, and proceeded to angrily scream her objections to my position, Garcia, and the whole notion of due process in the case of immigrants. At this point, I quietly explained that I could not discuss this with them while they were out of control and left.

I am disturbed by two things about this second incident. First, these two are both immigrants, so I find their position on immigration more than interesting. Second, these are very, very good friends of mine who I see often at their place of business. I have since been to their business, and in the past, I was always warmly greeted, but not so much anymore; I get a cold look of disapproval.

Is this where all this will take us? Will it be neighbors and friends who once could enter into a friendly discussion on issues, but now the other side will be "the uninformed enemy" and no longer welcomed into their home or business? I fear that will be the case. I shall miss my friend.

So, where are we? Is this the end of civil discourse, or will the genuine and generally good-intended local community people overcome this? The same day of my last encounter, I attended a baseball game at our local baseball field. It was a game between two teams of 8 to 10-year-olds. The was a joy to watch. Little kids learning America's signature game, sometimes hitting the ball, sometimes catching it, and sometimes, innocently day-dreaming of other things, and watching the ball go by. It was wonderful.

Off the field, parents and friends conversed with each other, cheered for their children when they actually caught the ball, and yelled, "Good effort" if the batter struck out. Besides the ballplayers, parents, and friends, playing and watching the game, the little brothers and sisters of the ballplayers ran around generally doing what little children do, joyously running about, chasing nothing and each other, and loving the warm spring day. It was a perfect evening. This is America. It is what once was and can be again: hard-working people enjoying their families, knowing their elected officials cared for their country, not always doing what we wanted, but knowing, for the most part, it was well-intended. That their way of life, their daily life in America, which did change periodically, gradually, and with the consent of the people, was still the America their forefathers fought for and that they had come to love.

There is still hope.

The Presidency of the United States is all about honor and integrity, and Donald Trump has none.

Thus ends the lesson.