Lesson to be learned 

I recall the story of the old woman walking down the road who came upon a dying, poisonous snake. She rescued the snake, carried it to her home, and nursed it back to health. They became friends and lived together for many months. One day, as they were going into town, the old woman picked up the snake and it bit her repeatedly. “Oh God,” she screamed, “I am dying! Why? I was your friend, I saved your life, I trusted you!” The snake looked up at her and said, “Lady, you knew I was a snake when you first picked me up.”

For those voters who chose to ignore volumes of distasteful and dehumanizing comments while supporting the candidacy of now President-elect Donald Trump, I hope you are prepared for the disaster that has already begun. While campaigning on the promise to work on behalf of the working middle class and others left behind in a “rigged” economy, Trump’s choices for cabinet positions are going to billionaires and outspoken opponents of public education, women’s health rights, and environmental protections; to those in favor of rolling back Wall Street regulations, crushing unions, and fighting against minimum wage standards; and to those who wish to dismantle and/or privatize Medicare, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act.

None of these appointments will help those unfortunate, economically left behind voters who placed their trust in the “snake”—’er, President-elect Trump—to stand up for them. But, the ultra-wealthy individuals and cash-rich corporations will derive great financial benefit from Trump’s advocacy to eliminate inheritance taxes, reduce capital gains, and let Wall Street operate unfettered. Don’t expect to see this financial windfall for the rich trickle down to those under economic stress, because history proves it never has and likely never will. So I say to the Trump hopefuls who will be sorely shocked and disappointed, “You knew he was a snake by the way he slithered, yet you still voted him in. Good luck."