I am not an immigrant seeking refuge. Nor am I aching to reunite with my children, long ago confiscated.

I do not live paycheck to paycheck, fearing to choose rent over food, medication over gas for the car, or utilities over a doctor’s visit. My health insurance seems secure.

I did not suffer the devastating effects of hurricane damage in Puerto Rico.

Pro-choice, I long ago passed child-bearing age to worry about my personal reproductive rights.

My life appears safe, abundant, predictable, even idyllic.

So why does a gut-wrenching knot in my stomach persist?

Today’s White House casts a malign, cancerous shadow over us all, choking off support to the needy and vulnerable, derailing democratic tenets, grabbing for power over the rule of law, and turning a deaf ear except to moneyed interests.

As an American, I feel I’m part of the majority, and I’ll be voting on Nov. 6.

Joyce Torrey

Kahala

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