I make it a point of principle not to wish ill on others, no matter how terrible they are. Trump being diagnosed with COVID has really challenged that principle, and it’s left me wrestling with cognitive dissonance today. So, I wanted to share my thoughts and my conclusions...

...I’ve consciously made a choice not to wish ill on Trump, and in all honesty that has been difficult because I’m angry, so extremely angry. I’m not just angry though, I’m hurt, distraught, and scared. Trump being gone would relieve so much of that turmoil, yet...

...that wish would go against who I am, or at least, who I want to be. I imagine that there are so many who feel as I do, many who feel much stronger than I do because they have been negatively impacted by Trump, his rhetoric, and his policies in ways that I could only imagine...

...To those people, I would say that your feelings are justified, and no one has a right to tell you to feel otherwise. We are human, and there are limits to every person’s compassion. That is why, despite my conscious decision not to wish Trump ill, I have no sympathy for him...

...My sympathy is with the 200,000+ dead Americans that Trump failed to protect, their families, and their friends. My sympathy is with the women who have had to watch an admitted abuser rise to the highest office of the land while avoiding any consequences for his actions...

...It’s with any person who has been negatively affected by Trump’s continued and consistent xenophobic rhetoric, the same rhetoric that has preyed on and weaponized the very worst our society has to offer. It’s with the innocent children jailed and abused at U.S. borders...

...It’s with the soldiers targeted by Russian bounties that Trump refused to take decisive action on, and with the soldiers that abandoned their Kurdish allies at the behest of Trump’s orders. It’s with those Kurdish allies. It’s with any marginalized person...

...who was been further marginalized, and with every individual who has fell into poverty due to the economic and social policies Trump has claimed are so great. It’s with every individual who is fearing for their life because the Affordable Care Act is at risk of being lost...

...This list is nowhere near exhaustive. Trump has caused so much pain to so many people, and he is deserving of rage and disgust from all of them. He is more than deserving of the rage and disgust I feel. It’s for this reason though that I’ve also concluded that he’s not...

...deserving of being an influence to the warping of who I am as a person. He is deserving of my ire, but he is not worthy of influencing me to abandon my principles. So, though I do not wish him ill, I also do not wish him well. I won’t cheer on his illness from the sidelines...

...but I also won’t lie and cheer on his care.

(I know it was a super long thread, so if you made it this far, I really appreciate you listening.)