I didn’t vote for Trump, but I hope he succeeds

I was born in San Francisco, grew up on the San Francisco Peninsula, and have spent a big chunk of my adult life in a smaller city in the Valley. I have always appreciated the many virtues of our state. But I do take issue with the point of view of Joe Mathews in his column in the Nov. 25 Bee.

He sets the tone in his column with his description of President-elect Donald Trump as “an evil white supremacist swindler.” While I have not been a fan of, nor did I vote for, Trump I am an American who wants to see our president succeed for all our sakes and see his detractors show a bit of civility.

He goes on to say “...but Californians pride ourselves on the lack of shared history that makes us so diverse.” Makes me think of the co-ed displaying the poster “America was never great” and another with the sign “Not my president.”

But for those of us who are not liberal Democrats, we can take heart in Mr. Mathews’ condescending, arrogant assurance that “when they realize their nationalist path is wrong, we will welcome them back, like the sanctuary we have always been.”

Sure makes me grateful that there is a United States of America bigger than California.

This story was originally published December 2, 2016 at 5:03 PM with the headline "I didn’t vote for Trump, but I hope he succeeds."