Fire.

You know, I really should thank Donald Trump. Now, mind you I can’t still bring myself to put the words “President” and “Trump” together in a sentence and I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. If in his presence I would never call him “Mr. President”. I’m not sure I wouldn’t spit on him, but I really should thank the man before I do so.

During the Obama years things felt fairly comfortable. The country seemed to be moving in a forward direction. Sick people were getting taken care of, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Marriage was available to all. Though we weren’t putting a great deal of money into the Space Program, I felt like we might be able to obtain that Star Trek existence after all.

But then Donald Trump was elected into office due to sheer idiocy on all sides of the equation and all hell has broken loose. And since that day after Election Day, when I took time off from work and drove down to New York to protest with others in front of Trump Tower, I have had a fire in my belly like I haven’t felt since the days of ACT-UP back when I lived in Boston in the late 1980s.

In the seemingly endless nearly eight months since Trump was sworn into office we’ve seen countless displays of sheer stupidity coming out of Washington. Sheer stupidity fueled by evil intentions. Efforts to repress any sort of minority that doesn’t meet the criteria laid out of who is a true American as defined by a bunch of old white men currently holding office in Washington, D.C. The United States is better than the people’s representation today and I have to thank Donald Trump for showing me that I had become apathetic. His buffoonery and horrible leadership has demonstrated that the progress I saw during President Obama’s administration was only on the surface and that the racism, homophobia and other detrimental qualities of this country still run deep.

So thank you, Donald Trump. I no longer tolerate people that support you. I no longer just grimace and stay silent if someone makes a racist joke in my presence. I am ready, willing and able to boycott whatever company supports your outdated, harmful and hateful policies. As of this writing, I’ve got my eye on these companies: Campbell’s Soup, Pepsi and Dell. 

I also have to thank you, Donald Trump, for continually reminding us about Hillary Clinton and the obviously strong impact she made on your psyche. When I see, hear, or think of Hillary Clinton, I am reminded that there are good people out there. Not all politicians are as deplorable as you are. So, please, by all means, keep bringing her name up.

Keep reminding us who won the popular vote. We all know who should have really been President of the United States. And it wasn’t the Nazi that ran as a publicity stunt.