Truth Can Be Brutal

Is Hoping Something Terrible Happens to Trump a Sin?

On contemplating “an eye for an eye”

Let me start out by saying that, when it comes to organized religions and the Bible, or any “good book,” I am operating from a place of ignorance. I want to be perfectly clear on that in case this piece incites you to name-calling. But I do know, thanks to Google and watching King of Kings several times, that the “eye for an eye” phrase is referenced in the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus, as found in the New Testament. (If you’ve never seen the film, Jeffrey Hunter was Jesus!)

An “eye for an eye” simply means that the punishment or sentencing should equally match the crime. What punishment will Donald Trump endure, if any?

In subsequent stories, I’ve pointed out that my siblings and I had zero religious instruction, growing up. Our mother was Italian and gentile and our father a Jew of Russian/Polish extraction. Neither of them “observed.” I’m fairly certain that our mom was not a believer and neither was our dad until he was on his death bed from lung cancer. That revelation is another story entirely.

When his brother, my uncle, was still alive, my dad would go to Shul on the High Holidays but my mom summed it up pretty well when she said, “Your father thinks eating brisket on Rosh Hoshanah makes him Jewish.”

Bada bing. Mom was a character.

I’m certain that if my dad was alive he would say, “Donald Trump should plotz.” Mom would say worse.

My late parents aside, having OCD my whole life has saddled me with some friggin’ heavy baggage, like having a superstitious bent. Examples:

If I don’t straighten the bathroom towels something terrible will happen to (choose one), my husband, our cats, my sister.

If I buy six bananas instead of five, something terrible will happen to (choose one), my husband, our cats, my sister.

If I hope that Donald Trump drops dead of a massive heart attack or gets picked off while bloviating on a podium, something terrible will happen to (choose one), my husband, our cats, my sister. Or, my cancer will come back, or, I’ll go blind, or a comet will fall on our house, killing us all instantly.

Shit like that. Not fun.

But the terrible truth is, I do hope something terrible…and final…happens to Donald Trump because, as we inch closer to election day, the frightening and nearly unthinkable likelihood that he could rip off another four years feels like death itself.

I’m in my 60s, guys. I still want a future, you know? Certainly, those of you in my age group understand this but it may not be as crystal clear for you Millennials, or folks in your 30s, 40s, or even 50s. We’ve all lost time.

We’ve all lost time and nearly 230,000 people have lost their lives because of Donald Trump and that is unforgivable.

Every time I hear his whiny voice, every time I watch him bloviate from a podium I wonder at the fairness of life and I simply can’t conceive of a God who would allow this maniac to keep on breathing. To keep on lying and spreading his hatred and divisive message across this once great land of ours.

Feds, please don’t show up on my doorstep. I’m only voicing an opinion.

How is it that we lost the Kennedys and Martin Luther King and Medgar Evers to assassins and this putrid excuse for a human being is still alive and thriving? Hell, Ronald Reagan was shot! If nothing else, can’t someone beat the crap out of Trump while his Secret Service detail (who has to shell out their own cash to stay in his hotels) look the other way?

“C’mon, guys and gals. Answer that call from your mom and talk a long time. Go buy that burger you’ve been craving for hours. Call in sick.”

I know how this sounds and how I must appear but I’m not alone, am I? And please don’t tell me that the reason horrible things occur is that God gives man free will as I will never believe in that hooey. What kind of loving God would stand for the shit we’ve had to endure for the last four years?

Think about the nearly 230,000 innocent lives that were lost to this pandemic that Trump knew the seriousness of early on, and covered up. What has God done for them? Or doing for the rest of us? I suppose we’ll find out this Tuesday.

Trust me, I would love to be of strong faith, to believe in “that little man in the sky,” as George Carlin referred to God. Or, little woman, for that matter. But then, I hear Trump refer once more to Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe,” or say that we’re “rounding the corner” where the virus is concerned or utter one more racial slur and I know that I would cheer to see him fall where he stands. I would probably attempt to engineer a cartwheel, even though I haven’t tried one of those in years.

Is this a “sin?” You tell me. I don’t think so. Then again, I don’t know what the Bible would say. Or the Talmud. Or the Koran.

What I do know: Trump is evil incarnate. If he manages to pull off another term, we are truly screwed and the number of U.S. citizens who agree appears to be legion, as from what I understand and even been told, many are planning to leave the country even as I write this.

Then why is it so horrible to hope some calamity befalls him so that we never have to hear his lies or watch his pathetic posturing, again? It would be heartbreaking to leave our homes, our families, and friends, but living another four years in Trump’s America would be ruinous.

I watched Barack Obama speak in Michigan yesterday prior to Biden’s address and I was struck by such a feeling of longing that it brought a lump to my throat. That was a President. And Joe Biden will follow his lead. I truly believe this. But we’re not out of the woods, yet. Far from it.

It is unhealthy to feel such hatred for another individual, I know this. I am not a monster, just fearful of the future. Yet, this hatred rages within me to the point where, at Trump’s next super-spreader, I would heave a sigh of relief to hear that a bomb dropped from the heavens, annihilating him and every one of his ignorant supporters because they’re nearly as dangerous.

They put his ass in office.

I’ll end by asking if you’ve been thinking along the same lines as I have and if so, how you dispel such horrible thoughts. I don’t want to be that person. The kind who wishes harm on someone else. But how do you turn the other cheek on evil? I’m sure there are those of you who believe that “Trump will get his,” but so far, he’s proved amazingly resilient. The Teflon President. He stole the election four years ago, he beat Covid and he certainly will try to steal 2020. Because he’s a loser and he knows it. And he’s scared. And that makes Trump even more dangerous.

“God, if you’re there. Please help us.”

© Sherry McGuinn, 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and numerous other publications. Sherry’s manager is currently pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.

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