November 9, 2016 — Trump Will Be President

Dear William, Daniel, Catherine, Michael, and Sarah, (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Today, I want to discuss POLITICS with you. Today is a very scary day for me; and because of today’s politics, I fear for our future.

I already discussed U.S. presidential politics with you four years ago — but, this time, it is different; at least, for me, it is different; very different.

Initially, there were MANY candidates running for the nomination to run for the office of President of the United States.

The Republican Party Candidates

The Democratic Party Candidates

When I was younger, I considered myself a conservative; however, as I got older, I became much more liberal in my phylosophy.

Although I am still a registered Republican, in this Presidential Race, I favored Bernie Sanders. Despite my support for Sanders, the Democratic Party nominee became Hillary Clinton, and the Republican Party nominated Donald Trump. Each of them generated some excitement for me — Clinton could become our FIRST woman president; and Trump was a total outsider (i.e, he was not a politician).

From all my friends, acquaintances, etc., NOBODY considered Trump to be a serious candidate; and, in their opinion, there was NO chance that he would ever be elected. I, on the other hand, was intrigued — he was certainly different; and he appeared to be smart, knowledgeable and outspoken. Early on, I opined to family and friends that Trump could become President, and he may even be a great President (as far as I know, everyone scoffed at my strange pronouncements). However, in mid-August, 2015, I became a staunch opponent to Trump.

One of my many re-postings on Facebook

To understand my opposition to Trump, you need to be aware of our family history — you may remember that I told you that my Dad had been a Concentration Camp prisoner; and my Mom had been a Prisoner Of War; and Babcia Krysia’s Mom had been a Slave during World War II.

Because of our family history, I was always wary of personalities that can destroy other people’s lives. I became particularly sensitive to the concept of mob-rule; dictators; and fascists. When charismatic leaders stir-up the general public, danger may lie ahead. In our recent past, Adolf Hitler was elected by the German people to be their leader, and that lead to atrocities such as Kristeallnacht, and ultimately to concentration camps and extermination of “undesirables.” Italy suffered under Benito Mussolini; and Argentina suffered under Juan Peron — all of them started out very popular; and ultimately, turned out to be bad.

Once I became alarmed about Trump’s views and attitudes, I started a program of steady opposition. I started posting on Social Media what I perceived to be Trump’s bad signs — some examples from Facebook:

Sunday, August 16, 2015 at 8:54pm EDT
Mr. Trump advocates: “End birthright citizenship” [Source: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform]. If for no other reason, this is a reason to actively OPPOSE his candidacy for the presidency. I believe that if you are born here, you are entitled to the benefits of full citizenship — no matter who your parents are, or how your mother got here, or why you were born here.

Monday, August 17, 2015 at 5:54pm EDT
Mr. Trump would deny the constitutionally protected citizenship rights of some children just because he objects to their parents’ right to be in the US

Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 10:05am EDT
THE most dangerous man in America: Trump could try to push for a constitutional change, but he’d prefer a shortcut. “It’s a long process, and I think it would take too long,” he said last night. “I’d much rather find out whether or not anchor babies are citizens because a lot of people don’t think they are.”

Thursday, August 20, 2015 at 9:06am EDT
Now, the “Illegal Immigrants” will be the slaves who will build the “Trump Wall” [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/08/19/trump_on_border_maybe_theyll_call_it_the_trump_wall.html] across our Southern border?!

Thursday, August 20, 2015 at 11:48am EDT
Trump is beginning to incite violence — his feelings about it: too bad, but we are very passionate about our ideas

Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 12:05pm EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared This Week’s video.
Stephanopoulos: Do you expect neighbors to start turning in neighbors? Trump: I don’t know what’s going to happen. Does this bring back mental images of a very bad historic past in Europe?

Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 2:26pm EDT
“People are tired of rules and tired of having to pay lip service to decorum. They want to stop having to watch what they say and think and just get “crazy,” as Thomas Friedman would put it. Trump’s campaign is giving people permission to do just that. It’s hard to say this word in conjunction with such a sexually unappealing person, but his message is a powerful aphrodisiac. Fuck everything, fuck everyone. Fuck immigrants and fuck their filthy lice-ridden kids. And fuck you if you don’t like me saying so. Those of us who think polls and primaries and debates are any match for that are pretty naive. America has been trending stupid for a long time. Now the stupid wants out of its cage, and Trump is urging it on. There are a lot of ways this can go wrong, …”

Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at 9:28pm EDT
Trump keeps claiming that he is loved by the Hispanic people in the US. — When will they demonstrate, publicly, how wrong he is?

Wednesday, August 26, 2015 at 10:20am EDT
When you listen to Trump, you realize that he does not want to be President — he wants to be a DICTATOR; because of that, he is DANGEROUS

Wednesday, August 26, 2015 at 6:07pm EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared Greg Kellogg’s photo.
We, who are children of the survivors of the horrors of Europe, are telling you what we learned from our parents. Great leaders are often welcomed, but, when the people overlook the reality of what they are receiving simply because of the greatness of the perceived leader, disaster follows. Trump is DANGEROUS. Trump IS a GREAT leader; but Trump offers NO serious solutions, just vague promises, that he tells us he will deliver through “Management.” That is a ticket for disaster.

Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 10:17pm EDT
Trump and his followers are DANGEROUS

Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 8:40pm EST
Trump is a person who will destroy us

Monday, February 22, 2016 at 9:46am EST
Paul G. Kostro shared Ezra Klein’s video.
Trump is dangerous to YOU; to ALL of us

Monday, June 27, 2016 at 1:15pm EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared The New York Times’s post.
Why Mr. Trump may be our next President

Friday, July 22, 2016 at 9:08am EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared Rick Lax’s video.
I dislike them BOTH; but, I believe that Trump is DANGEROUS for America (and the world)

Tuesday, August 9, 2016 at 3:58pm EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared ABC7NY’s video.
When the Secret Service needs to protect one candidate (Clinton) from another candidate (Trump), we are in Serious TROUBLE

Wednesday, August 17, 2016 at 9:58am EDT
“… every critic, every detractor will have to bow down to President Trump.”

Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 3:29pm EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared US Uncut’s post.
“I feel very strongly that Donald Trump would be a disaster for the country.”

Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 10:31pm EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared The Atlantic’s video.
They have expressed my feelings so well: “American voters should act in defense of their democracy and elect [Mr. Trump’s] opponent.” My opposition to Mr. Trump is MY act in defense of OUR democracy!

Friday, October 14, 2016 at 11:54am EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared The Huffington Post’s post.
I demand a retraction from Hillary Clinton — she praised Mr. Trump for the way his children turned out — I believe that she was WRONG

Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 10:49am EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared Norman Gregory Fernandez’s post.
Our future may be VERY bleak if Mr. Trump is elected President

Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 5:42pm EDT
Paul G. Kostro shared CNN’s post.
I do hope that we are spared the dangerous days ahead — but, it is up to us; if we vote for Mr. Trump; or allow him to be elected, by not voting for Mrs. Clinton, we will reap the penalties

Monday, November 7, 2016 at 2:06pm EST
Paul G. Kostro shared CNN’s post.
Patriotism should always trump Party affiliation

My opposition to Trump was not universally shared in our family — e.g., my brother Tom was a strong Trump supporter, I think, because he disliked Clinton very much. I, on the other hand, did not like Clinton either, BUT, I considered Trump to be so BAD for us, that I became a Clinton supporter in opposition to Trump.

The election was held on Tuesday, November 9 — the Presidential election is held every four years, on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. That evening, by the time I fell asleep, the winner was not yet clear. Next morning, Babcia Krysia gave me the BAD NEWS, which was confirmed in various publications: