My Biggest Disappointment of 2020 (So Far)

My biggest disappointment of 2020 (so far) isn’t Kobe’s death or Chadwick Boseman’s death or John Lewis’ death or America’s head-scratching COVID response or police murdering George Floyd or Breonna Taylor’s killers still not being charged or even RBG’s untimely passing.

My biggest disappointment of 2020 is that there are people who still look at the state of America today versus four years ago and think we’re on the right track. And, worse, that staying with Trump and McConnell and a Senate Republican majority will improve conditions in America. For who? Billionaires? Perhaps. Certainly not for working and middle class people (poor and suburban whites included). Certainly not for women or people of color. Certainly not for our economy or oceans.

Death is a fact of life and racism won’t go away with one president, but the utter inability of a large swath of Americans (something like 23% “right track” to 42% “Approve of the job Trump is doing”) continue to believe that their tax gains or their religious preferences or their news sources or their skin color alone is enough reason to ignore all the clear signs that we are destroying this country’s degree of acceptance, compassion, empathy, fairness, hope and justice is beyond disheartening and frustrating. It’s downright treacherous.

If RBG is replaced with a strict conservative, we can almost certainly assume women — over half of the people in this country — will have less choice with family planning and upward mobility, the country will be less likely to prevent the onslaught of capitalistic destruction on our environment, everyone from artists to entrepreneurs will have an even tougher time protecting their copyrights and works, and the working class people of America will have one less ally on the bench on key issues related to everything from campaign finance and healthcare to civil rights and voting accessibility.

This isn’t about Republican vs. Democrat in my opinion. This is about an America that believes in reverting to a troubled past littered with bigotry and deception as key pillars of power versus an America that believes in a more equitable future with empathy and justice at the foundation of our democracy.