WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley posted the following on his Facebook page:
“AMERICA: PLEASE DON’T DO IT!
Yes, this meme is foolish and not meant to be taken seriously. But I hope you will take my words seriously as I kindly ask my fellow white males in the United States not to do what I think you’re thinking about doing. Please, white American males (and I’m not talking about Bagwell and Riggs here) don’t cast that vote for Donald Trump tomorrow – at least not until you do one simple thing for me. In order to be able to look at myself in the mirror on November 9th when we all wake up to a new President elect, I have to know that I tried to do SOMETHING, to prevent this particular WWE Hall of Famer from attaining the highest office in the land.
So here is the one thing I ask of you before you do what I think you’re thinking of doing.
PLEASE google “Kristallnacht” and just read about it for a few minutes.
If you arrive at the conclusion that this could never happen in the United States under a President Trump, then by all means do what I think you’re thinking of doing. But I have had that word, “kristallnacht” eating at me, gnawing at me, haunting me for months, for I see in Donald Trump the same scapegoating of minorities, the same intolerance of an entire religion that helped create the toxic atmosphere that allowed kristallnacht (the night of broken glass) to become part of history.
Let me be clear: I am NOT comparing Donald Trump to Hitler. I AM worried that a Trump presidency would foster the same atmosphere of intolerance that has historically allowed events such like Kristallnacht to occur. Would anyone really be shocked if there was coordinated violence in Muslim neighborhoods? In the wake of such an incident, could we honestly expect swift and decisive action from a President Trump. Could anyone witnessing such potential violence think “how could this possibly happen in America?” The United States under Donald Trump would become a meaner, less tolerant nation, and years from now, all of us will be in the unenviable position of trying to explain to our children or grandchildren how we allowed this disrespectful, disinterested man to attain the highest office in the land.
Those who don’t learn history are condemned to repeat its mistakes. Please don’t give a man like Trump – who has admitted to having little interest in history, admitted to not respecting many people because he simply doesn’t believe most people are worthy of respect – the chance to repeat any of the mistakes that history would surely have taught a less narcissistic, more caring and compassionate man than Donald Trump.
In his first inaugural address, President Lincoln spoke of “the better angels of our nature” that he hoped would eventually heal a nation on the brink of Civil War. What worries me about..wait, check that…what absolutely terrifies me about the potential of a Trump presidency is that Trump, as a leader, is the antithesis of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln believed in the better angels of our nature. Trump instead seems to encourage the very worst in human nature, welcomes it under the guise of greatness and lets it know it has a home in Donald Trump’s America.
OK, I did it. I said my piece, now I can look myself in the mirror on November 9th. Let me just close this message to my fellow white males by quoting a song written for an African American legend. In the words of Marvin Gaye, and covered by many:
Don’t you do it. Don’t do it!
Don’t you break my heart.
Don’t you break my heart!
PLEASE don’t do it.
Don’t you break my heart!
Have a nice Election Day!
Comments and dissenting opinions are welcome – but please be respectful.”
