[SutterBrother]

One day, my sister Denise, roughly 4 years old, spotted older brother Paul with a candy bar.

“Where did you get that?” she asked.

“From the wall socket,” he said. “If you kiss the socket, it gives you a candy bar, just like the candy machine at the supermarket.”

More than 60 years later, my sister’s hair still hasn’t straightened. She went crying to my parents, her lips still tingling, and explained what happened.

“Well,” my father said, “if you’re stupid enough to kiss a socket …”

That family tale came to mind when I began seeing Trump supporters sobbing online about losing their jobs and a good chunk of their retirement funds in the market meltdown, and angrily storming Republican congressional town halls to demand an explanation. Their message basically is:

You were supposed to hurt those other [Black, Latino, Indian, Asian, Jewish, LGBTQ+, immigrant, liberal] people, not me; and/or
I just wanted cheaper gas and affordable eggs.

They kissed the Donald Trump socket, expecting a candy bar. Today, they’re just as shocked as Denise was.

And now, one of the moral dilemmas facing those of us who warned them this would happen is whether to root for their pain, even though it will mean collateral damage to those who opposed Trump and fought and voted for democracy and sanity.

https://www.nj.com/opinion/2025/03/a...m-opinion.html