Like a lot of folks, I have a healthy disdain for corporate America. I worked in it for years, most recently writing correspondence for a Fortune 500, and while it had its benefits the drawbacks weren’t for me.
To be fair, I’m not sure the corporate world is actually for anyone or anything other than the bottom line, but I was fortunate enough to leave it behind in 2017. That’s when I came on board full time here at Watermark, something I’ll save my gushing over since I’ve written about it at length over the years.
I freelanced here and elsewhere before and slightly after officially coming on board, including a website focused on LGBTQ civil rights and progressive politics. I oversaw it on weekends, sharing my opinion and aggregating content from other news sources through that lens.
It was enjoyable but draining, particularly since my time there was set leading up to, during and in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. The experience helped me develop a healthy disdain for another product of corporate America and its greed: Donald Trump.
Anyone who knows me well, or who’s at least met me a few times, probably knows that I loathe everything that man stands for. Not just because Hillary Clinton was the most qualified candidate to seek the presidency in my lifetime but because it’s my view that he represents the worst of us.
That was evident throughout his campaign for president, one built on lies, xenophobia and fear, and well after his Electoral College victory. Covering its fallout in-depth every Saturday and Sunday was always mentally taxing, but one weekend stands out as being especially rough.
On Aug. 11-12, 2017, the Unite the Right rally was held in Charlottesville, Virginia, a gathering of white nationalists and other domestic terrorists, many whom clearly supported the former president. They gathered to protest the removal of a Confederate monument honoring one of this nation’s most high-profile traitors, which eventually happened in 2021.
I knew I’d be reporting on it but didn’t know to what extent. Unfortunately, it became clear after a white supremacist deliberately drove his car into a crowd of peaceful counter protesters.
A total of 35 people were injured and one person was killed, right here on American soil by a domestic terrorist. It was an attack that any other U.S. president would clearly and quickly condemn.
Trump didn’t. Instead, he issued a statement from his golf course about the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides — on many sides.” The response angered Americans of every political ideology.
Being who he is, Trump quickly attacked the press for covering his own words. He subsequently doubled down during a news conference two days later — 48 hours after not clearly condemning white nationalism — using the opportunity to blame violence “on both sides.”
The entire situation told me everything I needed to know about the man, who should never have been president and certainly shouldn’t be again. It’s one of the many weekends I couldn’t help but reflect on this month after Trump’s arraignment in New York.
That’s because I heard repeatedly that it was a dark day in American history, both from his supporters and some of his detractors. The former argued, of course, that it was all a politically motivated attack, while the latter cautioned Americans should never celebrate someone becoming the first U.S. president to be charged with criminal activity.
I couldn’t disagree more. No one is above the law and the man has escaped accountability his entire public life. But even more than that — and to say nothing about the other indictments hopefully yet to come — when it comes to Trump, no day in U.S. history could be darker than the day he was elected.
Trump made it clear who he was before, on and for years after Nov. 9, 2016, so I was proud to see him head to court April 4. I won’t chant “Lock Him Up!” because I believe in due process, but I certainly won’t see a downside if it happens. I daresay it would help Make America Great Again.
We turn our eyes away from the nation in this issue for an in-depth look at LGBTQ+ travel abroad. We head to India, Morocco and Cabo.
We return stateside for our news coverage, introducing Phantom History House in Tampa and covering former Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith’s bid for the Florida Senate in Orlando. In arts and entertainment, we settle in for American Stage in the Park’s “Ragtime” in St. Petersburg and Orlando Shakes’ take on “Kinky Boots” in Central Florida.
Watermark strives to bring you a variety of stories, your stories. Please stay safe, stay informed and enjoy this latest issue.
