Another morning in America

To listen to Donald Trump tell it, America is going to hell in a handbasket. The economy is in free fall, Christianity is under siege and the scourge of immigrants is destroying our culture.

Gosh, I thought things were going pretty well for America.

First of all, our economy is booming. The stock market is setting records every month. Wages are rising, factory workers around here are making a living wage. The housing market is expanding in Storm Lake, with new homes and condos popping up like mushrooms all over town. Compare that to a few years ago when only one or two new homes were built here each year. When Trump was in office, we couldn’t find toilet paper or baby formula in the stores.

On my walk to work each day, I pass five churches — Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist and Lutheran — and I have yet to see soldiers barring entry to any of them. The only time I see police around a church is when they’re escorting a funeral procession to the cemetery.

And without immigrants, Storm Lake would be in a world of hurt. Our packing plants would close and we’d lose half our population overnight, including a lot of great people in our neighborhood who have become great friends, pay taxes and boost our local economy. And we’d miss a lot of tasty restaurants that serve authentic cuisine from around the world.

It’s odd that Donald Trump would be so down on immigrants. Two of his three wives — the mothers of his own children — are immigrants.

It’s hard for me to vote for a guy who calls heroic service members “suckers” and “losers,” and says journalists like I and my family and friends are “enemies of the people.” I’m not perfect, but I’ve never encouraged readers of the Times Pilot to storm the Capitol and hang the Vice President.

Trump has become the angry old man shouting at the kids to get off his lawn.

I didn’t vote for President Ronald Reagan, but I liked the guy’s friendly optimism. He campaigned that it was “Morning in America.” He had the same bright outlook that Kamala Harris projects about looking forward, not backward.

I want a President who will lead us forward to another new morning in America.