Today is one week post-election and hate is all around us. It was there before the election, but 47.2% of those who voted didn’t care about Trump’s rhetoric. In the popular vote as of Tuesday, November 15, 2016, Hillary Clinton garnered 47.9% and 797, 970 more votes than Trump, but he will win the electoral college votes, and that is how we determine the winner in a Presidential election. This is the second time in 16 years that the Republican with fewer popular votes than the Democrat has won. Well, actually, that’s not entirely true. The 2000 election was handed to George W. Bush by the Florida Supreme Court because of “hanging chads”. And we all know how well eight years of Bush and Cheney worked out for us. How were your 401Ks in 2008?

I have suspended my everyday obsession with Facebook. The exchanges before and after the election were beginning to take a toll on me. The right hates the left, the left hates the right and no one gives a damn about anybody in the middle. Unfortunately, I got caught up in it and saw that I was hating too; I don’t like that in anyone, but especially myself. To be honest, I still hate, but by not looking at or responding to posts on Facebook, I am hoping that over the next four years, or however short a time Trump is in office, my hate will dissipate.

I guess what finally put me over the edge was a meme I shared on Monday asking people to boycott companies that supported Trump and the ultra-conservative agenda. I still believe that these companies should be boycotted and you can easily find out who they are with a Google search. After posting, I was called out by two people who I highly regard. One was a long-time friend from Michigan who claims to be a Conservative, but I don’t think she really is entirely. The other was another ultra-liberal like me who is from Brooklyn. Their point was the same; by boycotting these companies, it is the employees and other small companies who may not share those same values that are hurt. While I regret hurting those people and small businesses, I feel that the only way to effect change is through the wallet. My wife and I loved to vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. As a matter of fact, we have enjoyed a few wonderful meals at an inn that is owned by a relative (unbeknownst to us) of my liberal friend; I am told that his business has been affected because of people like me who won’t spend money in North Carolina because of the state’s law discriminating against transgenders. You don’t have to agree with me, but what is the first thing the Conservatives do when they object to a television show? They boycott the sponsors of the show and the network to try to have the program removed from the airwaves.

As for those who voted for Trump and said he is not a racist, xenophobe, homophobe, didn’t make fun of the disabled…did you listen to what he said during the campaign? Now that he is the President-elect, his second appointment to his Cabinet was Steve Bannon, a known white supremacist. Bannon was appointed Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor. This appointment drew strong opposition from the Anti-Defamation League, the Council on American–Islamic Relations, the Southern Poverty Law Center, other civil rights groups, prominent Democrats including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, and some Republican strategists due to statements from Breitbart they argued were racist and anti-Semitic. This is the man who will have President Trump’s (gag, choke) ear.

From ABC News: Since inheriting the website (Breitbart) from founder Andrew Breitbart in 2012, critics say Bannon used his position as executive chairman to promote the alternative right, or alt-right, movement. The alt-right is defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals whose core belief is that white identity is under attack by multicultural forces using political correctness and social justice to undermine white people and their civilization.”  

Under Bannon’s leadership, Breitbart has published articles with the headlines “Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew,” “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy” and “There’s No Hiring Bias Against Women in Tech, They Just Suck at Interviews.”  

In an interview with ABC News’ “Powerhouse Politics” podcast, a former Breitbart spokesman, Kurt Bardella, described conference calls with Bannon similar to “attending a white supremacist rally” and accused Bannon of having nationalist ideals and “hatred for immigrants.”

ABC’s Katherine Faulders and Meghan Keneally contributed to this report.

During his divorce from his second wife, Mary Louise Piccard, Ms. Piccard stated that Bannon had made anti-Semitic remarks about her choice of schools, saying that he did not want to send his children to The Archer School for Girls because there were a number of Jewish girls enrolled and Jews raise their children to be “whiny brats”. While interviewing another school for his daughters, he allegedly questioned why they had so many Chanukah books in their library.

If Trump and his merry men of haters really do try to round-up Muslims and register them, I’ll be one of the first to register with them, and I hope every REAL American does the same. Round-ups of people were done in the 1930’s by another crazy madman.

I am worried that if Pence has his way, he will try to undo the Marriage Equality Act and void the marriages of many same-sex couples. I am worried that the new Conservative Supreme Court will try to undo Roe v. Wade. I am worried that the people at Standing Rock will be shot down under the Trump administration to allow a pipeline to run through their land, pollute their water and desecrate the graves of their ancestors. Will they run that same pipeline through a Christian cemetery? Nah, I don’t think so.

This is the greatest divide on our country in my lifetime, the only one greater happened between 1861 and 1865. I love my country, but I am ashamed of it for the first time since Viet Nam. I am ashamed to be an American because of what we are doing at Standing Rock; I am ashamed to be an American because of the racism that has reared its ugly head since last Tuesday. Yes, it was always there, but Trump’s election has empowered and emboldened the racists, KKK, neo-Nazis to come forward and actively taunt Hispanics, African-Americans, Jews…. This is NOT my United States of America! Those that are saying that the election is over and we should all come together are many of the same ones who wave the Confederate flag. SPOILER ALERT: You lost that fuckin’ war 150 years ago!

In the past week I was called a “baby”, a “whiner” and a lot of other names. I am in fear for our country, our Muslim brothers and sisters, our Hispanic brothers and sisters, our African-American brothers and sisters, our family and friends who are Gay, Lesbian, Trans, Bisexual or Queer, my Jewish family and friends, especially my children…. Sadly, this is not a good time to be anything but a white, Christian male.

I hope that the PEACEFUL protests continue for as long as Trump is President, which will probably be about two years. His lack of focus and short attention span will make him want to give it up before his first term is over – and then we get Pence – OY!

For those who voted for Trump, be careful what you wished for; his election may come back to bite you in the ass.

Hòa Bìnhingly (for my fellow WORMS),

Harv