In Deep Gratitude to Donald Trump by Caryn MacGrandle

“Show me someone without an ego, and I’ll show you a loser.”
― Donald Trump

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

The fabric of our world is falling apart.

And it is necessary.

Last night, I took a job entering early results for elections.  My assignment was in a small city 30 miles away from me.  I found the courthouse and the courtroom where the election officials, law officials and others had gathered.

As I was waiting, I listened and observed.

I had the thought, as I had many times before, that I wish I had ended up in a small town where life was simple.  The two women from the small town at my table seemed content, dressed well and satisfied.

I felt a whiff of envy on me wishing my path in life had been more clear and stable as their’s appeared. 

And then the night went on.  The Normal Rockwell painting fell apart.

There was another woman who came a bit later: overweight, tattoos, torn jeans and a hippy shirt.  “Yes, I used to work for the newspaper.  Got addicted to the elections, and now I do the reporting for nationals.  I’m only here because I need to pay my water bill.”

I hear her say to one of the original women at the table, “I know divorce seems like the worst thing that ever happened to you, but you will get through it.”

Overweight hippy woman’s voice rang strong.  I heard its fire.

As the night goes on, I find out not only are both of the women I thought part of the Norman Rockwell painting divorced and struggling financially, but their children are struggling as well.

One of them is homeschooling her son.

“Well, yes, I would put him back in school if they would take him.  But they will not.  And it would not work anyhow.”

The other has had serious incidents with her daughter, “my daughter who is a happy-go-lucky, smiling kid all of a sudden was a different person.”

“When you are wronged repeatedly,
the worst thing you can do is continue taking it–fight back! ”
― Donald Trump

“Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence
but also violence of the spirit.
You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” 
-MLK

Voter turnout was at an all time low.  There were maybe a dozen people in the courtroom.  Several spoke about not believing that there were not more people waiting on results and just how low the number of people voting was.

Taking a look at the results, it is clear that the resounding issue they were there for was to vote for Donald Trump.

There were 64 absentee ballots cast.  In the Biden primary, he received 366 votes.  All in all, there were 7388 ballots cast, and 6147 of them voted for Trump.

Why?

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
-MLK

“You know, it really doesn`t matter what (the media) write as long as you`ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
― Donald Trump

I leave the event feeling depressed with the realization that there is a very real possibility that Trump will win in November.

I get it.  These people think that Trump will soothe their very real and tremendous pain.  The men think he will enable them to be better financial providers so their wives will not leave taking their children.  The women just want a way to pay their water bill.

I have contrasted Trump’s quotes with Martin Luther King’s.  A few months back, I did a contract for the USDA where I helped farmers fill out applications for the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program.  We did an Outreach event in Selma, Alabama where I picked up MLK memorabilia at the museum.  I have been meditating on his quotes for months.

I do not see the world through Pollyanna glasses.  Some of the people I helped fill out the Discrimination application were there to get whatever they could get in whatever means available. 

But not all.

The stories I heard of determination and strength of character, those were the ones I cherished.  These Black farmers faced discrimination and hatred in an industry that is not forgiving by its nature.  I saw how those that kept their character shone.

I remember a pig farmer who went without eating so he could feed his pigs and keep their weight up in order to sell them at the end of the year for a few hundred.

He was divorced too but had finally found someone who he got along well with.  “If I need a few dollars to get me through, she doesn’t keep score.”

He had established a charity foundation because he realized in looking back at his life that he got through the tough times because of a few good people who put their hand out and helped him.

He was now in a position to put his hand out to help others and that was what he was doing.

When I read these quotes from Trump and MLK, the contrast is quite startling.

“MY STYLE of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after.”
― Donald Trump, Trump: The Art of the Deal

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”
-MLK

As I am driving home, I accept that Trump will most likely win in November. 

The great masses of people are not ready.

They still need to learn that money will not fix their problems and that life is not a mad rush shoving and pushing everyone in your way to get to the top of the dungheap.

It becomes abundantly clear to me that Trump is the epitome of patriarchy and the catalyst that will finally destroy its selfish fabric leaving the world in a state of vulnerability and the realization that we need each other.

We are not quite there yet.  Hang on.  It’s going to get even bumpier. 

But we will get there.

“We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
– MLK

Here is to those of Us who are following that Arc.

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Author: Caryn MacGrandle

Caryn MacGrandle, founder of the divine feminine app, the original platform for finding Circles, events, retreats, online and resources since 2016. 12,000 faces of the Goddess worldwide. Sign up free at theDivineFeminineApp.com to get a free weekly email. Text 'join' to 256-815-0760 to get a free daily text sharing a different side of Our Huwomyn Story. Become a part of #theNinthWave #theWomenAreComing a new type of collaboration.

18 thoughts on “In Deep Gratitude to Donald Trump by Caryn MacGrandle”

  1. Please let folks know that Trump wants to cut Social Security and Medicare, two programs that millions of Americans depend upon for survival!! He needs to hear from everyone that that plan will not work!

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  2. We have much to learn from traditional Indigenous teachings, which is focused on responsibility for the common good. If one person is poor and hungry, the community will care. Partisan political rhetoric, hypercapitalism and basic disrespect for each person is leaving everyone worse off. Where are the leaders with wisdom and dedication like MLK? We need to create space for such leaders.

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  3. I agree – Trump will win in November with all probability – I don’t watch the news – I no longer participate anything vaguely political – I’m out of the game – BUT with t’s fucking face slamming into mine every time I go to research something it has been impossible to avoid the REALITY THAT THIS JERK DOESN’T CARE AS LONG AS HIS NAME SHOWS UP EVERY SINGLE DAY – GOOD OR BAD – WHO CARES – WHO ELSE HAS MANAGED TO STAY FRONT AND CENTER 4 YEARS AFTER INSURRECTION? AND WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? – WHY US OF COURSE (well not me – I may be forced to see an unspeakably cruel face but REFUSE to read or speak one word with his name in it ) – REPUBLICAN DEMOCRAT INDEPENDENT THIS CULTURE IS ADDICTED TO THIS MAN AND CAN’T STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM – WE FEED HIM BILLIONS EVERY SINGLE DAY – DON’T BLAME MEDIA – THEY WOULDN’T COVER HIM IF PEOPLE WEREN’T HUNGRY – STARVED FOR THEIR DRUG OF CHOICE – TRUMP…. (Democrats run round secretly insulting him – but are afraid to fly american flags). In January I realized that I had to find a way to make peace with this monster at the helm – how could I??? (After the 2016 election I dropped politics in horror and it was then that it became clear that he would be around indefinitely – people loved or hated him – he didn’t care). but how could I accept another violent presidency? I was amazed. It was easier than I thought. I have been advocating for nature, for life, for feminism for the goddess and had to face the fact that I failed… we are in the throws of every kind of breakdown -oh I will continue on… only because not to is to give up and my sanity is at stake… BUT in January I realized that having this monster for president will bring down the curtain on patriarchy faster…. anything even a demon can help. AND MAYBE THIS IS THE POINT.

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  4. I agree with you Caryn, I admire the work you are doing for humanity and the planet. Here is an interesting story. I was out one evening and met two gentlemen who as it turned out were government auditors who’ work it was to clean up reservations after bankruptcy, which happened all the time they said, except for two Canadian reservations that never went bankrupt, they were run by female chiefs the rest were all male. The reason the reservations that were run by men were always going bankrupt, was that the money given to them by the feds was never passed down, it was kept at the top pretty much, no real surprises there. The two reservations run by female chiefs never went bankrupt, the money was passed down, everyone was taken care, things ran like a top on those two reservations, the men told me. These two female chiefs never declared bankruptcy though male led chiefs were going bankrupt over and over again, then these men went in to clear up the mess, only to keep happening. No surprises for me there, women are used to seeing that everyone is taken care of, this is what female leadership looks like on Canadian reservations!

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    1. Yes, Cate!! And soon, soon, soon it will be time to see that feminine leadership in more and more places. I heard a similar story about sending needed supplies to countries after disasters. When they put the women in charge, the supplies got to the people who needed them. PUT THE WOMEN IN CHARGE. ;) And thank you for the kind words.

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  6. I dont agree. Those people you were around, the wounded ones, will vote for him, but I believe there is more positive happening in the greater masses. Those with more consciousness need to keep the faith and vision of the new Divine Feminine Consciousness coming in. If we cant imagine it, then it wont arrive.

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    1. I hope you are right Susan, and please note that I am in no way abandoning the ‘vision’ just saying it might still be awhile in coming. But I see things through an ‘Alabama’ lens. I suppose anyhow it is all up to our wounded electoral college as my vote here in Alabama means nothing. But regardless I think it is a worthy venture to understand how people can vote for someone to lead our country with such a lack of character. I honestly sometimes feel as if I am living in a bad movie, taking everything I learned and have tried to live up to: ‘character counts’, leaders should be respected and looked up to, etc. etc. and throwing it away for them to peer at me with a Gollum face muttering, “I lied. Money matters and that is all!!” My mother, who is a Trump supporter after reading this article told me that I am a great writer but she disagrees. She said, you just look away and vote for him. Who needs him to be a decent human being.

      Of course my mom also believes we are living in the End Times. 

      Yes, the End of Patriarchy.

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  8. I Think Donald Trump Is on the same level as Adolf Hitler, Jim Jones, Hugo Chavez, Benito Mussolini, Omar al-Bashir, Kim Jong Un, Joseph Stalin, Augusto Pinochet, Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin, David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite, Charles Manson,

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