The greatest betrayal often comes from the most unexpected sources. Like many Americans, I did not understand how Donald Trump, twice impeached president, a sexual abuser, and a convicted felon, who led the January 6, 2021, attack on our Capitol, won the 2024 election to be President of the United States a second time. Betrayal Of America Part 5 summarizes months of searching for answers.
As a nonfiction writer, I always try to understand the whys behind other people’s choices. I hope that anyone reading this post will consider it to be the start of a conversation rather than an accusation of any kind.
The hatred and hypocrisy I discovered left me longing for clarity and stability. My research also revealed what has been allowed to fester in our churches, homes, newsrooms, and classrooms.
My Religious Backstory
Every Sunday, I attended Sunday School, followed by the sermon, at a Southern Baptist Bible-based church with my parents, sister, aunt, uncle, and cousins. I wrote about these memories in The Baptists and Paul’s Rules. Those stories are about my experiences with religious indoctrination and hypocrisy.
I left the Baptist church when I was 18 to seek a spiritual path that I am still on. I held onto the Christian beliefs that made sense to me, but let go of the others I thought were hypocrisy. The Bible, however, still remains a source of inspiration for me.
In a future post, I will be sharing more insight about Christian Conservative Indoctrination and why the Evangelicals are all in for Donald Trump.
My Political Backstory
I had the good fortune to grow up near Chicago, one of the most diverse cities in the United States.
If you read my earlier blog posts, you know that as a kid, I admired and was inspired by Abraham Lincoln. So, once I turned 18, I consistently voted Republican until Ronald Reagan’s second term.
Reaganomics, also known as trickle-down economics, combined with a focus on deregulation, prompted me to check out the Democrats. I no longer saw the benefit in voting for a political party that defined its worth for hard-working American people as only deserving a “trickle”.
And I felt that deregulation solely benefits the oil and gas industry and other large corporations. It also pollutes the Earth, people’s health, and contributes to the destructive forces of climate change.
When I checked out the Democratic vision for our country, I was persuaded by their emphasis on civil rights and opportunities for all rather than tax breaks for the wealthy. So, I decided to switch and began voting for Democratic candidates.
Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, however, I think we might share some common ground. Here’s what I believe.
- I love America and am grateful to all who have served and continue to serve our country, preserving freedom, dignity, justice, and peace for all.
- I love and care about my family and friends, and I want them to be healthy, safe, happy, and free to live authentic lives.
- I don’t believe that men or women should consider abortion as a replacement for the many forms of birth control that are currently available. Not creating a new life requires everyone to always use safe sex practices.
- Regarding rape or sexual assault, the numbers are staggering. According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), on average, there are 463,634 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States. RAINN is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. It created and operates the National Sexual Hotline (800) 656-HOPE.
- Young women are especially at risk. 82% of all juvenile victims are female. 90% of adult rape are female. Females ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.
- I am Pro-Choice because of those 463,634 reasons per year.
- It sickens me what Jeffrey Epstein got away with for over two decades of creating an international sex trafficking network. Donald Trump promised he would release the Epstein files. For those of us who deeply care about this level of evil and cruelty that traffics children and women, Trump’s decision, backed by the Republicans, is a massive betrayal.
- Regarding guns, I believe individuals and families have the right to protect themselves and their homes. I don’t think that children should have to grow up doing active shooter drills in our schools because some people believe they have a right to own a military style automatic weapon to shop at Target or to hunt with one.
All guns must be registered, just like a car, which can also be a deadly weapon, and the owner must go through appropriate safety training before any firearm is issued.
According to Statista, there are almost 50,000 deaths annually in the United States from firearms. I stand with the young Americans whose generation has been the most impacted by mass shootings and gun violence.
I believe in common-sense gun laws because of the nearly 50,000 deaths in our country per year.
- Trump said he would end the Ukraine-Russia War on his first day in office in 2025, but the inhumanity of killing innocent people goes on and on because he did not live up to his promise. Just another betrayal.
- I think convicted criminals who are living in the United States illegally should be deported back to their homelands. Other people who are here legally but are still going through the process of becoming a citizen deserve due process without being treated like a criminal.
- According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are 1,371 active hate and antigovernment groups in the US. According to the World Population Review, there are 33,000 gang members in the US with over one million members.
- I think the National Guard in every state should be used to disband violent gangs and hate groups, and their members should be held legally accountable for their illegal activities. The hate and crime rates are out of control in most big cities.
- Free speech should never include the right to use violent language to threaten, intimidate, dehumanize, spread lies and conspiracy theories, or physically harm another person or destroy their advocacy efforts and reputation.
- Trump said he would not cut Medicaid. The Democrats have come forward numerous times trying to inform the public that his “Big Beautiful Bill” does cut Medicaid and many other services. Only God knows how many children and adults will die without their healthcare and medications that are keeping them alive because they can’t afford them.
- In the wealthiest country in the world, no child or adult should go hungry or live without healthcare, so that Billionaires can buy more luxurious toys. No honest Christian would support such cruelty.
I have shared many of my core values. I know the core values of Donald Trump and the Republican Party do not align with mine. But what are yours?
If you made it this far, I hope you realized that Democrats and Republicans often do want the same things. As this post was becoming too lengthy, I decided to end it here.
Resources
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) rainn.org
Southern Poverty Law Center splcenter.org
World Population Review https://worldpopulationreview.com
Statista https://www.statista.com
If you want to educate yourself about how to get involved in the movement to save our America, check out my blog post What Dictators Fear.
Tough Cookie Tip: You get who you vote for. Elections have consequences that affect all Americans. Please educate yourself before voting. Could you research and verify if the news sources you are watching have a credible and unbiased rating? Ask yourself if the Democrats you know personally are anything like the accusations made about them. We are all in this together in the fight for our future, the next generations of Americans, freedom, and our country.
Copyright © 2022-2025 Marilyn K Fuller. All Rights Reserved.
I am drafting a post about Anonymous and its investigations into Donald Trump and his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, which should be ready to publish soon.
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Excellent research. It’s sad to read what has happened in our country in such a short time. I feel the time is near and things will turn around in favor of the people.