It’s Wednesday, and time for another “Somewhere in the Middle” post, where I try to get out of my silo, and see the other side, or at least other points of view.

However, today I’m volunteering to do Emergency Food Boxes for my Rotary club. Something we do monthly, but wipes out a couple of days of prep, and loading, and delivery. So I need to keep it short. One more small detail about this program…it revolves around the Head Start program at one of the local elementary schools. It serves families in need. And, if the trend in cuts to Federal programs moves forward, the “save money not lives administration” may be part of widening the gap of have/have nots, if funding is halted.

I was going to write about a new friend of mine, who illuminated me about the connection between “Chem-Trails and USAID.” To say the conversation had me on my heels, is an understatement. I will do more research (after he already conceded a bet), and write more about the extreme Right and where they get their information another time.

Today, because my brain is broken from this week’s news, I am going to defer my space to something that was shared on Social Media, that hits the “What Do We Do?” button so hard and on point, that I had to look him up. He is a Detroit sports-writer. He has a growing following. And when you read his posts, I think you will know why.

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This comes from Michael James– you can find him and follow him on FaceBook and other formats. He is about solutions, which I appreciate.

From Michael James – 02-16-25
OK, HELLO WORLD…

I didn’t expect to write again so soon, but I am humbled and overwhelmed with gratitude to see that more than 50 thousand people around the world have shared my post about the need for us to rise up against the authoritarian regime currently being installed under US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.

I thank you all for your interest in my thoughts on what is occurring in the world, and, since you want to know what I think, well, I’m going to tell you – in a second.

Before I get to that, today’s story is primarily for Trump voters and supporters who have arrived en masse on shares of my post to declare pretty much in unison, “This is what we voted for! Get over it!”

I’ve noticed a trend of older angry white men in their 50s, 60s, 70s – and even older – spewing venom, vitriol and curses to those of us alarmed by what is happening to democracy in America.

To them I say, “Shut up! This isn’t about you. You had a lifetime to make this country a fair and better place, and you failed.

This existential fight is about those who will inherit and inhabit this planet long after your lives have ended. So, I don’t care what you have to say – and nobody else should, either.

“Sit yo’ asses down!”

That said, this is my attempt to bridge the gap between those of us who feel democracy is in peril and those of you who claim this perilous path is what you wanted when you took to the polls and returned Donald Trump to The White House.

While I ask the rest of you to follow along, here’s my message to the MAGA folks:

“PLEASE WAKE UP!!!”

Wipe your eyes, clear your minds and realize that no matter what you’re saying now with the world on fire, even if you supported Trump, this is NOT what you voted for.

Let me list the ways…

1. You DID NOT vote for farmers to lose their jobs.

2. You DID NOT vote for your entire federal government to be dismantled under the guise of, wait for it, “waste and corruption.”

3. You DID NOT vote for hundreds of thousands of your fellow Americans to be tossed into the streets and left jobless and hopeless at the snap of a Trump-appointee’s unqualified finger.

4. You DID NOT vote for chaos and fear to be instilled into our longest-standing allies in Canada and Europe.

5. You DID NOT vote for a cadre of the richest men in not just America, but the entire world, to aid and abet in the demise of democracy and the fall of the United States of America.

6. You DID NOT vote for higher prescription drug prices and for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to be gutted – leaving you to look to a totalitarian government who views the benefits you EARNED your entire life as entitlements.

7. You DID NOT vote for a man who vowed to PUT AMERICA FIRST who only shows unabashed deference to two men on the entire planet: Elon Musk and Russia’s Vladmir Putin.

8. You DID NOT vote for the imminent recession and possible depression that will affect “the other side” just as much as it will affect you.

9. You DID NOT vote for the worldwide trauma response that is enveloping the planet who are turning their fearful eyes to America, which was once the brightest beacon of hope in the world.

10. You DID NOT vote for tyranny replacing the sound of freedom ringing.

What I am saying, people, is that Elon Musk, Donald Trump and all those inexperienced, unqualified puppets he’s placed at the highest levels of government look like us, but to paraphrase American rapper Kendrick Lamar, are NOT. LIKE. US.

Over the course of a thousand lifetimes, they will never know the despair of losing a home, not having access to medical care, not being able to feed their families or give up their freedom.

Since so many of you need reminding, here’s what you DID vote for:

Lower inflation. Lower food prices. Border security. A robust economy. Affordable medical care. A return to core American principles, morals, ethics and values.

You voted to put America First.

You didn’t vote to annex Canada, buy Greenland, redevelop and own the Gaza Strip, seize the Panama Canal, rename the Gulf of Mexico or for the return to the use of plastic straws.

But this is what you’re getting – whether you wanted it or not.

You’ve been played. Donald Trump moved the goalposts, and it’s getting late in the day to reverse the damage being done.

The billionaire class, the Gods in whom you trust, are taking over the world.

Your world.

So, you ask me, a regular American like many of you, “What can we do?”

Well, the first step is the hardest.

Wake up!