I an NOT "Proud to be an American."

by Rod Williams, Feb. 28, 2025- I am disgusted. I am nauseated. I am outraged. I am ashamed to be an American. 

What transpired in the oval office today was a disgrace. The United States went from being a champion of freedom and a beacon of hope to the world to being an enemy of democracy. We went from being the good guy, to being an ally of perhaps the most brutal murderous thug on the planet. We switched sides. 

I am not quite shocked or surprised. The writing was on the wall. During Trump's time on the world stage, he has shown he has an affinity for dictators. I can only assume it is because he wants to be one himself. During Trump's campaign and since taking office this time and at other times while on the world stage, Trump had said nice things about Putin and denigrated Ukraine. Trump's betrayal of Ukraine and siding with Putin was not unexpected. This is what I thought we would get with Trump. Expecting it, however, does not mean accepting it and does not lessen my disgust.  

Trump is a narcissistic bully and a psychopath. Everything is transactional with him. Trump has no empathy, morals, or principles. He is a totally despicable human being. In the proposed rare earth minerals deal, if Ukraine agreed to give us $500 billion of their rare earth minerals, what would happen if Putin said to Trump, ''let us take Ukraine and we will give you $600 billion?" I think Trump would betray Ukraine in a heartbeat. 

If possible, I think Vance may be a more despicable person than Trump. For one thing, I think Trump makes things up on the fly. Trump responds to perceive petty slights. He is transactional and evil, but he is a dumbass. Vance is smart and calculating.  J. D. Vance has been even more transparent than Trump in signaling which side he was on regarding Ukraine.  When Vance was a candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio in 2022, he said to Steve Bannon on the War Room podcast that he thought it was ridiculous that the U.S. was focused on the border between Ukraine and Russia. “I gotta be honest with you,” he told Bannon, "I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.” My contempt for J. D. Vance cannot be overstated. J. D. Vance is a piece of shit.

There have been other times in my life when I have been embarrassed for my country. There have been times when I think we overreached. There have been times when I think we made strategic and tactical mistakes. There have been times when we had to cut our losses and abandon those who had placed their trust in us. Despite it all, I believed our motives were good. I believed we were that shinning city on the hill. We made mistakes, but I never doubted that our desire for the world was righteous.  I never doubted we were a good people. Even at our worst, when we abandoned allies, I still thought that we wanted a peaceful and just world. We could not always win, but we wanted the good guys to win. Our sympathy was with the victims, not the aggressors. Despite our failures, I always knew out sympathy was with those who wanted a just world where the mighty did not just run roughshod over the weak and just take what they want. We did not always get what we wanted, things did not always play out the way we wanted them to, but I never doubted where our sympathies lie. 

We are now one of the bad players in the world. We are now part of the problem. No one should ever trust us again. Beyond just what happens to Ukraine, this is a dark day for the world. The U. S. cannot be counted upon to do the right thing anymore. In fact, our democratic allies like Canada and Denmark and others need to fear the United States. Who knows when we may join China and Russian and start dividing up the world. Other nations of the world must wonder whose side we are on. At a minimum, other nations of the world must conclude that the United States cannot be counted on to come to their aid should a larger and more powerful nation threaten their sovereignty.  The days of collective security are over. Recognizing that, all countries capable of developing nuclear weapons, may conclude that to take responsibility for their own security they should join the nuclear club. That makes for a much less safe world. 

There may be a glimmer of hope that Ukraine can survive without US support but not much. Maybe, somehow a deal can still be struck. Without guarantees however, Russia will take a piece of Ukraine now and gobble up the rest later.  Trump would not care as long as Putin waits until Trump leaves office and Trump can claim glory for himself. 

This really sucks. I know not everyone voted for this. Nevertheless, this is done in our name. And this is who the majority of my fellow Americans voted for. I am disgusted and sickened. 

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