Former - and Present - Trump Supporters Need Room To Turn Around

Some of you may not like what I am about to say, but I'm going to say it anyway.

It is time to stop calling Donald Trump and his associates "Republicans." They are definitely far right-wing extremists, but can you imagine Ronald Reagan having this much play with Russians? The Party of Lincoln? Yes, I know all about Lincoln and his egregious assaults on native peoples, but do you really think he would have been able to stomach the gross-ness of DT?

To tell you the truth, I live and work around mostly Republicans, and while we may not agree on everything, we mostly want the same things for ourselves and our children. This man and his cronies only want what is best for himself and his cronies, that much is obvious.

Personally, since he was elected, I have been calling DT, his fam, and hill-top supporters  "the Donner Party."

(Photo credit: From the cast of "The Donner Party - A New American Musical")

If you'll remember, the Donner's were a family of colonizers that led a group of settlers across the lands toward California in the late 19th century. Due to some advice from a dishonest and deceitful author named Lansford Hastings, the party got stalled at a pass in the dead (no pun intended) of winter.

Lost and alone, they not only "resorted" to cannibalism, they actively murdered people and ate the corpses so that they would live. This is how I see the present-day Donner Party - through their sad moral corruption, they actively eat people up for their own gain - and with no remorse.  

Whatever you call them, we must leave room for folks to turn around, without feeling like they have to be on the defensive, without feeling like they have to defend that party line.

The real questions for past or present Trump supporters now are:

Do you love your party more than your country? Is your hate for, and fear of, people not like yourself stronger than your love for yourself, your children, and your country? And, if you contributed to this wrong, what are you going to do now to make it right?

Of course, there will always be die-hards who, well, die hard, but we are definitely seeing some buyers' remorse here. We should welcome that, not ostracize the ones who are coming around.

The truth is, many were duped, and in part because they sincerely felt as though they were not being heard.

While you will never hear me say that anyone should stay quiet in response to hate or ignorance, we should try to infuse compassion in our response to a remorseful mistake, when that is possible, and leave people room to turn around. Once you learn better, you do better, but it's hard to learn anything when people are putting you down or calling you names.

In the meantime, and from the rest of our ends, we must continue to fight to not be eaten. That means all people of good conscience, must now stand to face this cruel winter. Together, with hard work and good faith, the Spring will come again.

Let us do more than hope, that someday there will be others who look back with gentle disgust and an odd curiosity, to a time when we were forced to take a super wrong turn, yet made our way out to be stronger and smarter than we were before.