Living as aliens

Last Tuesday, we elected a convicted felon, a mediocre businessman and a weak leader to be the 47th president of the United States.

First, the part about being a convicted felon and being charged with other crimes.

I started to write “facing charges,” but that really isn’t true in the Trump world. Remember on Jan.23, 2016, when Trump told an Iowa campaign crowd: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?”  We need to start believing him when he speaks.

His election will keep him safe from facing any real consequences for raping women, falsifying business records — at the least not taking care of precious documents and obstructing the Justice Department from retrieving those files and at the most for profiting on those documents at his Mir-a-Lago revolving door of foreign agents, and for attempting to overturn the 2020 elections.

Second, as a businessman, he was given $14 million from his father to begin his career and hasn’t made a smashing success. Eventually his father provided him with $416 million, some through tax dodges and outright fraud.

In October 2018, he had an estimated worth of $3.1 billion and if he had simply invested in a Standard and Poor’s 500 mutual fund, he would have been worth $1.96 billion. By September 2021, he would have made $3 billion in mutual funds. But instead, he was worth only $2.5 billion. And these numbers do not include his four casino bankruptcies, more than any other major U.S. company in the last 30 years.

In addition to these bankruptcies, his other business failures include Trump University, beverages, games, a magazine, mortgages, steaks, a travel site, Trumpnet, Vodka, fragrances, mattresses, and I may have missed some.

Some things just didn’t work out for him, such as his attempt to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. And now for the poor people who have been in business with him, many are left with a pile of unpaid bills.

“He owes the City of Albuquerque nearly half a million dollars and they would not rent the convention center to him again.”

You may remember Trump had his Albuquerque rally in an airplane hanger. This is because he owes the City of Albuquerque nearly half a million dollars and they would not rent the convention center to him again until he paid his debts — which he still didn’t do.

Honestly, is there a small part of us that wishes we could live like this, commit crimes, cheat people, not pay bills and have no consequences? Is this his appeal? But most of us have been taught to take care of each other and clean up after ourselves.

And finally, what about his leadership? I’m not sure what The New York Times has been doing for the last 10 years, but in today’s headlines they write: “Trump’s Win Ends a Post-World War II Era of U.S. Leadership.” My husband and I are both children of the Greatest Generation, our fathers serving in World War II. After this war, the U.S. led the world in creating NATO in 1949 “to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.” As yesterday’s Wall Street Journal headline stated, “Allies Fret Over Trump Presidency as Authoritarian Axis Challenges U.S.-Led Order.”

We have fought for so much and seem willing to give up so much. Our fathers must be turning over in their graves as voices from Russia are rejoicing over Trump’s election.

“‘We have won,’ said Alexander Dugin, the Russian ideologue who has long pushed an imperialist agenda for Russia and supported disinformation efforts against Kamala Harris’ campaign.”

Another part of being a good leader is being a person whose subordinates stand with him. Gen. Mark Milley, Gen. Jim Mattis, Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Adm. Bill McRaven are a few examples of the many who refuse to do so. In public statements before the election, 255 flag officers were critical of Trump, while only 54 supported him.

And what of Mike Pence, the man whom Trump’s followers set up a lynching post for, who was notably absent from this year’s campaign?

How do we respond?

“A mediocre white man is seen to be better than a woman of any color no matter how qualified they are.”

First, I don’t see the Democratic Party nominating a woman again for decades. A mediocre white man is seen to be better than a woman of any color no matter how qualified they are.

I remember one of my professors who was from Latin America talking 20 years ago about how the U.S. is not going to vote for a female president. With the newly elected president of Mexico, Latin America has elected dozens. His explanation was that although they are machismo cultures, they love women. He saw the U.S. as machismo without the love and reverence for women. He may be right.

Second, corporations have kept consumer prices high, enhancing their own profits, which helped Trump’s campaign.

If Trump imposes his tariffs of 10% to 20% for all foreign imports and 60% to 100% on imports from China then apparel, toys, furniture, household appliances, footwear and travel goods prices will be affected. Fox Business News estimates this would raise the price of a $40 toaster to $48 to $52. So buy this year’s and next year’s Christmas presents early!

Third, if Trump indeed does manage to have mass deportations, the economy will suffer, along with many people.

You may think Republicans care about the economy and Democrats about people, but this policy does neither. A deportation of the about 8 million undocumented workers in the U.S. is estimated to reduce our gross domestic product by 2.6% to 6.2% and between $711 billion and $1.7 trillion, according to Bloomberg. In the past, deportations have depressed wages and increased inflation.

Today, many of us are grieving for a hope deferred. I could go on about possible reasons for and consequences of Trump’s election, but regardless of these, how do we then live?

David French put it well in an “AfterParty” podcast.

And this is going to sound strange, but I feel like my faith suffers when I feel like I am content and part of the majority culture. … My faith is more vibrant when I feel that I’m in the minority culture and that when I feel like times are more uncertain. And doesn’t mean that I want uncertain times.

There is an old book I come back to time and time again: An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land by William Stringfellow. How do we live in such a strange land and in such strange times? For years, I have shared the words of Jeremiah chapter 29:

Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.

Today my husband and I are in snowy Silverthorne, Colo., preparing to celebrate the marriage of my best friend’s daughter. Those gathered here have committed not to talk about politics but to hold this young couple up among much love and many hugs. And when we return home, we will continue to love and visit and hug friends and neighbors. We will garden and build and repair and pray for the prosperity of our city, state, nation and world.

Psalm 30:5 says: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”