Today, I read the news that U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee found "that U.S. government officials have been giving psychotropic medication to migrant children at a Texas facility without first seeking the consent of their parents or guardians, in violation of state child welfare laws."
That should be good news, but it isn't — because Gee subsequently "ordered the Trump administration to obtain consent or a court order before administering any psychotropic medications to migrant children, except in cases of dire emergencies." Children are still being detained, and the order was not "do not under any circumstances medicate them with psychotropic drugs."
The Trump administration has repeatedly demonstrated its aggressive contempt for the law and its eminent willingness to lie. I have no faith whatsoever, nor should any reasonable person, that consent will be sought from the courts to drug children. To the absolute contrary, there is every reason to believe the Trump administration will simply invent a "dire emergency" to justify this continued abuse.
Every time I read another horror being committed against children by this vile president and his despicable party, I cannot help but think of Hillary Clinton — the president we could have, and should have, had.
I imagine that watching the Trump presidency is painful for Clinton for a whole lot of reasons, but chief among them must be having to witness the suffering of children, given her lifetime commitment to children's welfare.
We could have had a president who cares about children, but instead we have a president who has ordered infants to be imprisoned and traumatized children to be subjected to intense drugging, for the crime of having parents who love them enough to seek out a better life for them.
You're fucking right I still haven't "gotten over" the 2016 election, as I've often been sneeringly accused. I couldn't even if I wanted to, because Trump's dumpster fire of a presidency reminds me each day of the leadership we need and were meant to have.
How can I read about children being tortured and not think about the fact that three million more people voted for a woman who spent her life advocating for children? It hurts my heart.
My grief is treated like a punchline by glib fucks who don't have a shred of compassion for abused children. But we should all be grieving the the fact that, rather than a president with profound compassion for children, we have a president who cares about them only insofar as he can exploit their agony to rally support for his vile agenda.
I am still not over it, and I don't understand how anyone else ever could be.
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