Last night I got to personally witness the effect of Trump's ban on Muslims entering the United States. Two friends of mine, a married couple, from a former satellite state of the former Soviet Union, both research scientists, came by for a visit. They were visibly distraught. They have lived here for almost twenty-seven years, becoming citizens fifteen years ago. They were in utter disbelief about what was happening -- continuously showing us what was unfolding around the country on their cell phones. They were frightened.
They are safe. They are not Muslim. They love this country. The husband was frightened, disgusted and ultimately pragmatic. He has spent his life doing medical research in many places around the world. He told me about colleagues from Muslim countries that appeared to now have their lives here in jeopardy. He explained how damaging this could be to research communities around the country. He speaks with a very heavy accent and does not yet have mastery of the English language. Another friend, hearing him talk, asked if he was German. He became obviously disturbed by the question and answered in an abrupt, somewhat angry manner. This is absolutely out of character for him. He is a very gentle man. He suddenly didn't feel comfortable as an immigrant in America.
My friend's wife alternated between anger and bewilderment. They have three children born in this country. They stopped the conversation at one point and looked into each other's uncertain eyes, saying that possibly they may move back to the land of their birth, not their country, they made sure to reiterate that this is their country, but it does not feel safe anymore. These are two people in their sixties that spent their youth living under a repressive communist regime and now they don't feel comfortable living in the United States of America.
This is ridiculous. What is happening here right now is the national, radical stuffing of the agenda of an American fringe element down the throats of the majority. This is happening because there is no legitimate, coalesced opposition. The two national parties are, for all practical purposes, dead and no one or no group has stepped into the void yet. We are leaderless. Trump is not a leader -- he is a fart trapped under the national blanket. I feel encouraged by the pushback he is getting right now, not from the establishment, but from the public. I am seeing that if a strategy and a leader can be found, America will lift the blanket and clear the country of this foul odor that is spreading across the land.
Specifically here at OEN, it's time to stop the selfish, many times conspiracy-theory driven, rank ideological (sometimes fake?) bluster and rhetorically assist in truly making America Great -- it's only taken Trump a week to seriously degrade a place already on the ropes. There are a lot of goings on here that seem to be akin to beating Hindenburg with Hitler. Think about it.
So, at the end of the evening I got to watch my friends dance after dinner. It moved me. Even though they were on a crowded dance floor -- they were very alone.
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