I am an immigrant.
I may have been born in the United States but this country is foreign to me.
This land is not my land.
I do not share it's beliefs, I do not countenance it's actions, I do not even recognize it's methods.
I am not an American, not this America..
The country I lived in did not treat human beings with such utter contempt, did not
display a depraved indifference to other's welfare, did not inflict such needless pain and suffering.
There are no words that can fully describe my alienation from the unconscionable mandate that now brands millions of people as unworthy of entry upon our shores. The very heart of this nation is being torn out.
This is not who I am. This is not who we are. I am a stranger in a foreign land .
I am an immigrant.
24 comments:
You are an American, sadly the man who professes to be president of our beautiful democracy is not. It's only a matter of time before one of his impulsive actions gets him impeached.
If we can survive that long.
My family emigrated to Brooklyn from Ellis Island.
"Gets him impeached"? By whom? A silent gutless Democratic Party and congress members? A republican congress sucking at this psychos hind tit? Who will be doing the impeaching?
You're all a bunch of bloody psychos with your bloody petty childish hysteria. Trump doesn't profess to be president, he is our legitimate president whether we like it or not, and as much an American as Obama and the rest of us. Could it possibly be that we Democrats completely screwed up? Is that concept so incomprehensible? Or are we so blind and stupid that we cannot see the failures of our party? The failures of Barrack Obama who paved the way? Time to stop the denial and begin the hard work of rebuilding the PARTY and get new leadership with people who are more trustworthy, honest, and willing to listen to the people than scum like the Clintons.
And what kind of bloody non-sequitur is "My family emigrated to Brooklyn from Ellis Island"? Are you bleeping kidding me?
Did I hear that right? new leadership with people who are more trustworthy and honest? What part of alternative facts did you not hear? Lying about numbers at the inauguration, clamping down on the EPA and government scientists (who cannot mention global warming anymore), clamping down on the National Parks employees who report park attendance, cabinet picks who lie at their congressional hearings? My business was one of the many small private companies who were screwed by Trump's company over the last decade. That was their MO. This is a sad time in our country's history. But it is incumbent on all decent and thoughtful Americans to not sit idly by and allow it to happen. Time to be an activist again. Wipe the rust off your pen and start protesting again.
What a disaster the first 9 days of the Trump presidency has been.
1. Without consulting any federal agency, i.e.: state department, defense department, homeland security department, etc., he bans ALL Moslems from 7 countries even if they have visas or were here to visit family or bring their children to hospitals. Some even worked by the US in our anti-terrorist efforts. So in one stroke of his pen, Trump abandoned the moral high ground and did something so stupid and far reaching, that it will reverberate for years in a bad, bad way.
2. On Holocaust Memorial Day, his office puts out a press release that does NOT mention the Jews. Instead his assistant news director states that she wanted to be inclusive of all Nazi victims. This is HOLOCAUST DENIAL in its worst form and is the same sanitized version that the Soviet Union used to deliberately obliterate the memory of the six million Jews.
3. He has suggested to the prime minister of the United Kingdom that our NATO alliance may have to be severed, rescinded or cut back. There aren’t enough words in the vocabulary to explain how bad this would be after 70+ years of defense cooperation and joint anti-terror efforts.
4. For no reason whatsoever, he started a trade war with Mexico and wants Congress to impose a 20% protectionist tax. A tax ! I thought taxes to the GOP was anathema. I guess I was wrong ! But when this happens and the supply chains sever and the prices go up then the consumers won’t be able to afford American made goods and the interest rates will go up with the dollar strengthening, making the US economy go into greater debt.
5. Building a wall on Mexico’s border is a humiliation but I say ‘go ahead’ because the $28 billion cost will be a boon to the construction industry in the southwest. But, this is no way to treat a friend, a neighbor and a trading partner.
6. He just demoted both the Director of National Intel and the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in favor of Steven Bannon to run things on the National Security Council. WOE TO US IF THERE IS A TERROR ATTACK. Q. IS HE F****ING CRAZY ?? A. YES.
7. He has insisted on repealing the entirety of Obamacare and replacing it with something great. He has said that every American will be covered by health care insurance. But he has posited no plan, no proposal and no suggestion of where he is going. The GOP retreat yielded severe doubts that they could ever get anywhere close to their promise.
8. He is afflicted with some sort of ailment that makes him want to put out false news about the size of his inaugural crowd. Why?
9. His Minister of Propaganda, Steven Bannon, told the press to ‘shut up’ and his apologist-in-chief Kelly Anne Conway said that there should be a rain of alternative facts, which are lies.
Our president is suffering from a paranoia and an inability to see what he is creating. He will be tone deaf and a pariah in his self-style little world.
There are tens of millions of Americans who like what they see and are glad that he is doing what he promised. Only problem is that he will never get to fulfilling is promises because he thinks he can rule by fiat rather than legislation.
He will try to impugn the freedom of the press and pierce through the independence of the judiciary. But I predict that both of these hallowed institutions will convince enough Americans that this guy is just about as awful as the warnings and that if he is not reigned in or resigns that our Republic will sustain a very serious blow to its ability to continue.
The term "Extreme Vetting" needs to be applied to our lunatic-in-chief's tax return. If the voters, the press, and Hillary had forcefully demanded his tax return prior to the election, we may have had the opportunity to scrutinize with whom he has done business with. We would also now be able to scrutinize his relationships with his appointees. It would have answered the following questions:
1. Were his businesses run legitimately, or were they a front for something ominous?
2. Were there any unsavory characters with criminal records he did business with?
3. Were there any business relationships he had with cabinet appointees?
4. Were there any business relationships he had with government employees?
5. Who were his investors on the failed ventures and the successful ventures?
The 'MO' of organized crime has always been to take over ailing companies, leave creditors with the bills, and take the cash in the company and pension funds. It would seem to me that the public needs to know if this was the case this with the Atlantic City Casino and the bankruptcies of Trump University and the other ventures gone bad.
The public needs to know about the appointees he is bringing forth to serve our country. Their tax returns need to be scrutinized as it relates to his tax return. For example, although technically legal, his Secretary of Commerce made a fortune by taking over numerous ailing companies, keeping all of their pension money, and leaving the federal government with the burden of repaying the massive pension obligation to the employees, most of whom getting a fraction of their value. He has done this several times. I'm not sure this qualifies as public service.
There are no 'alternative facts' when it comes to a tax return. Obtaining it is our best way to protect our future. That is what the subject of the next national demonstration should be about. It should become the subject of a hearing. There needs to be enough legislative pressure to get this done. Follow the money. It will tell all.--RE
A sampling of the comments sent directly to me:
Well said!
Congratulations. I like it a lot.
You need a desk (at the Times)
Excellent!
Great piece!
This is a very touching piece!
I THANK ALL WHO TAKE THE TIME TO READ, AND REPLY TO MY THOUGHTS RSN
Beautifully, though sadly, expressed. I feel like I am gasping for air everyday.
RA
Was waiting to read your voice!
What a change- what a president
B
Beautiful letter in today's paper. Very moving. Unfortunately he seems unstoppable in his deplorable behavior and does not give a whit about how Americans feel. Bannon wants to turns this country into a dictatorship. PB
Just finished reading the Times and your letter, which was great. Trump is the worst. Hitler in the White House!
The best we can hope for is he drops dead of a brain aneurysm and Pence is killed in an accident. Clean and tidy.
N
Bravo!
Neil
Hey N,
Marvelous and intelligent argument. A clear expression of exemplary American values and the compassion ordinarily espoused by your fellow progressive Democrats, and anarchists. Clean and tidy is an oxymoron in the context you used that term. You, on the other hand, are just an ordinary moron.
just saw your letter to the editor in the NYT. It is your most eloquent and heartfelt letter ever. Thank you for giving voice to what we are feeling. I am so proud to be your friend.
JB
What a day it has been. What a bad mood I'm in.
Sally Yates, thinking she's real cool, stuck out her extraordinarily long neck and got her head chopped off!
It took a whole 10 days for the community agitator to lose his self-control and put his 2 cents in.
Chuck Schumer got a late Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
And those progressive Democrat anarchists who think the U.S. Constitution is a treaty giving foreign nationals the right to enter the U.S. at their will got a civics lesson. Our Constitution applies to citizens of America, period. Check out travel restrictions imposed by former presidents like Jimmy Carter.
Your letter to the editor yesterday was one of your finest!
Beautifully expressed our thoughts,
DB
I was reading the NY Times editorial page last night and I read your letter. I could feel your pain, and I know how depressed you are about the political situation which reports a crisis on a daily basis. Nevertheless, I remain confident that the American people will right the ship of state in due course. Although this climate is new to me in my lifetime, we have survived other periods in our history which threatened American principles. I trust that we will get through this period as well.
I just had a call from Peggy who was out on a walk this morning with one of her girlfriends at our development. She told Peggy about a moving letter to the editor in the Times which had so impressed her that she had already sent it around to her friends. Peggy was proud to say that not only had we read the letter, but we knew the author very well. Just thought you would like to know.
J
Well deserved. It was indeed one of your most moving letters and reflected what many of us feel.
S
BELOW IS AN EMAIL FORWARDED TO ME FROM THE LETTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE NEW YORK TIMES,SETTING FORTH A LETTER WHO WANTED TO CONTACT ME PERSONALLY WITH HER RESPONSE TO "I AM AN IMMIGRANT". THE REACTION TO THIS PIECE IS FAR MORE THAN ANY OTHER I HAVE WRITTEN OVER THE YEARS. I AM DEEPLY GRATEFUL FOR ALL WHO HAVE MADE THE EFFORT TO READ AND RESPOND TO MY WORDS
I was deeply moved by Robert Nussbaum's letter published on Monday January 30, 2017.
I would like to respond to him personally and the only way to do that seems to be to ask you to please forward my response (below) to him.
Thank you and I appreciate your time and trouble.
Sincerely,
January 31, 2017
Dear Mr. Nussbaum,
I read your letter to the NY Times on Monday and cried. A very similar letter has been in my own head for the last few weeks.
As an American Jew with dual Israeli and American citizenship, I have feared for the future of liberal democracy in both countries for quite a while, but the last few weeks have multiplied my fears exponentially. I deeply love both countries—for very different reasons—and neither of them is today the country that I have lived in for many years (60 in the U.S. and 7 in Israel) and taught my adult Jewish education classes about.
I hope that the majorities in each country who are caring, truth-seeking, freedom-loving, and well-meaning people prevail.
Thank you for your letter.
so well written!
DC
i just read all the comments...
you wrote about what all of us so traumatized are feeling. you put words to the feelings. that is why so many people have responded and so many others probably have not but have felt like their trauma has words to it.
i need to find an article about trauma and trump to send to you. hopefully soon.
this is all sooooooooo scary.
M
EXCELLENT letter
HR
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