I have received many comments on our Facebook page and blog post from Trump supporters telling me that I am a sore loser that Trump won the US Presidential election and how they have suffered through 8 years of Obama and now it is my turn to suffer. They have told me that since we have lived the last 9 years on our boat, sailing around the world, that we are out of touch with the US and what has been going on there.
I have found these type of comments rather insulting and they do not reflect who I am and what I stand for. Thus, I thought I would end this year's sailing blog with a discussion on why I and my wife, Mary Margaret, are so distraught with the results of this past Presidential election and why we are disgusted with Donald Trump as a man and especially as the President of the US. This missive is so long that I have divided it into more manageable sections and will be posting each section daily until it is completed.

Also, let me say that I believe that one cannot lump all Trump supporters into one category. In general, I do not believe that most of them are racists or sexists. I do believe that his supporters, in general, are desperate for change and the reasons for such change are specific to the individual. Some are very concerned for our safety from Islamic terrorism, some are concerned about their jobs or inability to secure a meaningful one, some are frustrated with our government's inability to govern and wish to "drain the swamp". Some believe that our economy is in a shamble and want to see it improve faster than it has. Some are desirous to role back abortion rights or other social changes that have become law or policy under the Obama administration. There are a myriad of reasons and the many of these reasons and concerns are valid. Where I depart with them is in the belief that Trump will turn things around and fix the concerns they have. Normally, I believe reasonable people can disagree reasonably. However, this time, I have found the depth of passion on both sides of this electron run very deep and the nasty and insulting comments that I have received from a number (but not all) of Trump supporters demonstrates this.

I would like to dispel the notion that I and my wife are sore losers. Mary Margaret and I have many times voted for a presidential candidate that ended up losing. While we were displeased with the results of such elections, we were never distraught, as we are now. The reason was that we knew that the winning candidate shared all or the vast majority of our core values. His ideology was different than ours but the core values were shared. The US would shift to the left or to the right of our ideology but we could live with that. The belief in the cores values was to continue after each of those elections. As I will show below, this is not the case with Trump and this election.
Also, let me dispel the notion that we are going to suffer during the tenure of Trump's presidency. From a financial perspective, we are rather affluent and we actually anticipate that his economic actions will end up benefiting us financially. This applies also to our children, who all have great jobs, are making very good salaries, all own their own homes and are well established and secure in their jobs. If we will have any suffering, it will be the anguish for those less fortunate than us, as it is they who we believe will be hurt the most by the Trump doctrines.

I am a fiscal conservative but a social moderate. I strongly believe I have an obligation to help those who are less fortunate than I. While I am not a religious person, I believe this tenet is part of the New Testament and is a core value of the Christian Church and of any good Christian. It is also a fundamental tenet of many other religions. Mary Margaret is a bit to the left of me but our ideologies are very similar in most aspects. She is more demonstrative than I in helping those less fortunate as she has a long history of being very active in charity groups and always increases the amount that I suggest we donate each year to charities. She significantly puts herself and her money to work for those less fortunate that ourselves.

Regardless of my fiscal, social, political or religious beliefs, I hold close to my heart the core values that this country was built on. These core values are contained and defined in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I am a protector of these documents and will defend them from those who threaten them and I have found many of the things that Trump has espoused to be contrary to these fundamental tenets. Thus, I will oppose Mr. Trump as he has violated these core values and I will strive to restore the belief in these fundamental core values amongst his supporters.

To address the concerns from Trump supporters that I am not speaking of facts regarding Mr. Trump and my core values, I will be specific in this missive and back up my statements with multiple references. I have carefully researched each statement and have vetted my sources to make sure they are factual. To read any of my sources you should be able to pull them up by pressing "ctrl" and left clicking at the same time. If that does not work, just cut and paste the web address into your browser. If I am in error in any of these researched facts (vetted as best as I can do), please be kind enough to let me know. I do seek truth and desperately want my faith in those who support Trump to be restored. I will be the first to say that Hillary Clinton had a number of issues that made her a weak presidential candidate and, in retrospect, she and her team ran a very poor campaign. She ignored a major segment of Americans who have valid concerns regarding their future which have to be addressed and the sooner the better. Nevertheless, I found that Trump trampled all over my core values to get elected as compared to Clinton. It is this reason that I am so distraught.
Below is a listing of my primary core values, I have others but inclusion of those would make this already too long of a missive much longer. I believe you can get an understanding of the basis of my despair from these seven primary core values:
1) The right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness:
2) Work to promote the Common Good:
3) To preserve Justice:
4) To establish and maintain Equality:
5) To embrace Diversity:
6) To be Truthful:
7) Popular Sovereignty:


Tomorrow, I will start to define each core value and with each, how Trump has violated that core value.