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Some Thoughts on the Election Results
9 years ago
General
I confess I did not see that coming. Nor did a lot of folks. I had been preparing myself for a return of the Clinton's to the White House and the loss of several good men and women from Congress who I supported; I had no intention of watching returns that would only make me depressed. No matter how many scandals she was part of, no more how much corruption she engaged in, no matter how she had sold out the United States for cash and power, no matter how much she insulted common people, no matter how much revealed emails showed the elitist contempt for the common people and their willingness to apply a different set of rules for themselves, there seemed to be a majority of the country and states poised to vote for her because they were afraid of Donald Trump. Well, the polls, the prognosticators, and everybody else was wrong. Donald Trump is going to be the President of the United States.
I confess I imagine that this would be a fantastic moment in a remake of Back to the Future. Marty McMfly goes back in time from 2020 to 1990; Doc Brown asks him who the President is in 2020 and Marty replies, "Donald Trump." And Doc says, "Donald Trump! Who's Vice President? Don King?!?"
I remember Trump as the real-estate/media guy back in 1990 who was surrounded by glamor and, I confess, a hint of working class based on the kind of venues he seemed to show up in. I remember him as a guy who ran The Apprentice and helped make "reality TV" popular. I thought he was a gadfly and never paid much attention to him. Now we all will pay attention.
While it looks like Clinton won the popular vote thanks to huge victories in places like California and New York, Trump's narrow wins in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, gave him the Electoral College (the last time those states voted for a Republican, the Back to the Future trilogy was still being filmed). Trump was more broadly acceptable to more parts of the country than Clinton was, and that is the lesson of the Electoral College.
So now what? President Obama has set the right tone and emphasized that the beauty of our country is the peaceful transfer of power and the respect of our democratic institutions. Why should Obama be happy with the results? Trump wants to undo almost everything Obama accomplished. But Obama is a bigger man and loves American democracy more than he loves winning. For that act of character I salute our President.
There is a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth going on right now, a lot of it here in the furry fandom. I've seen journals ranging from the despondent and resigned, to the angry and scare-mongering. I've seen people post "F-U" to Trump voters; I've seen people claim that Trump will make Gay Marriage illegal (an utterly unfounded fear for several reasons); I've seen barely any here who could muster the class of President Obama or Hillary Clinton in saying they would give Trump a chance to be President.
I've seen only two folks post journals engaging in schadenfreude, gloating about feasting on the tears of liberals or some such. One of them was from Easter Europe too; not sure if that says anything or not. I don't get it; I've been on the losing end of elections for a long time; I know the bitter disappointment. I know the fear. I was afraid of what both Bush and Obama would do and in both cases I was roundly derided first by the Right and then by the Left for those fears. I was wrong about some of my fears, but others were well-founded; even those were not wholly realized, though in some instances that was because other parts of government kept them in check.
So here's the reality check for everybody afraid right now. Trump will get one nominee to the Supreme Court replacing a 'conservative' with a 'conservative'. No change in the balance of the Supreme Court; the same balance that made gay marriage legal in this country. He has small majorities in Congress and has fueded with Speaker Ryan. Will he undo a lot of what Obama accomplished? Anything Obama did with an Executive Order is fair game and could be gone by Jan 21. Health Care passed through Congress and will be a much taller order. So on the domestic front, any losses here can be laid at the feet of Obama using an executive overreach that liberals derided when Bush did something similar. So are there some things liberals can be afraid of? Of course! But not the cataclysms currently being bandied about.
On the international front I have no idea what will happen. I'm not convinced Trump is the right man for this role and he will need to prove himself to me; but I'm going to give him that chance now that he is going to be our President. That is one area where I think it justified to be nervous.
Silver lining for liberals: you are finally rid of the Clintons. They controlled the apparatus of the Democratic Party to shut out your voices so that Hillary could be coronated. Yes, you will be out of power for a few years, but it will give you a chance to rediscover your roots and determine who you are. You no longer need be saddled by the Clintons and the corruption that flows from them. You lost this election because your candidate and your elites spat on common people and the working poor who were once the backbone of the Democratic party. You assumed anybody who didn't agree with you on the social justice issues that titilated you was a bigot of some sort; you are wrong and will continue to drive such people away from you with that attitude. You have been shown this in losing the Rust Belt. Now you have a chance to learn from it.
America survived eight years of Bush and eight years of Obama. It can survive four to eight years of Trump. We will still have furry artwork four years from now to admire and hang on our walls. We will still have conventions, fursuit parades, and free space to voice our opinions. But we all need to grow up a little and show the good grace to love our country and the people who share it with us even when it has leaders we do not like.
Still... President Donald Trump... I feel like Doc Brown. I really do! The next four years are going to be very interesting!
Dominus vobiscum
I confess I imagine that this would be a fantastic moment in a remake of Back to the Future. Marty McMfly goes back in time from 2020 to 1990; Doc Brown asks him who the President is in 2020 and Marty replies, "Donald Trump." And Doc says, "Donald Trump! Who's Vice President? Don King?!?"
I remember Trump as the real-estate/media guy back in 1990 who was surrounded by glamor and, I confess, a hint of working class based on the kind of venues he seemed to show up in. I remember him as a guy who ran The Apprentice and helped make "reality TV" popular. I thought he was a gadfly and never paid much attention to him. Now we all will pay attention.
While it looks like Clinton won the popular vote thanks to huge victories in places like California and New York, Trump's narrow wins in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, gave him the Electoral College (the last time those states voted for a Republican, the Back to the Future trilogy was still being filmed). Trump was more broadly acceptable to more parts of the country than Clinton was, and that is the lesson of the Electoral College.
So now what? President Obama has set the right tone and emphasized that the beauty of our country is the peaceful transfer of power and the respect of our democratic institutions. Why should Obama be happy with the results? Trump wants to undo almost everything Obama accomplished. But Obama is a bigger man and loves American democracy more than he loves winning. For that act of character I salute our President.
There is a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth going on right now, a lot of it here in the furry fandom. I've seen journals ranging from the despondent and resigned, to the angry and scare-mongering. I've seen people post "F-U" to Trump voters; I've seen people claim that Trump will make Gay Marriage illegal (an utterly unfounded fear for several reasons); I've seen barely any here who could muster the class of President Obama or Hillary Clinton in saying they would give Trump a chance to be President.
I've seen only two folks post journals engaging in schadenfreude, gloating about feasting on the tears of liberals or some such. One of them was from Easter Europe too; not sure if that says anything or not. I don't get it; I've been on the losing end of elections for a long time; I know the bitter disappointment. I know the fear. I was afraid of what both Bush and Obama would do and in both cases I was roundly derided first by the Right and then by the Left for those fears. I was wrong about some of my fears, but others were well-founded; even those were not wholly realized, though in some instances that was because other parts of government kept them in check.
So here's the reality check for everybody afraid right now. Trump will get one nominee to the Supreme Court replacing a 'conservative' with a 'conservative'. No change in the balance of the Supreme Court; the same balance that made gay marriage legal in this country. He has small majorities in Congress and has fueded with Speaker Ryan. Will he undo a lot of what Obama accomplished? Anything Obama did with an Executive Order is fair game and could be gone by Jan 21. Health Care passed through Congress and will be a much taller order. So on the domestic front, any losses here can be laid at the feet of Obama using an executive overreach that liberals derided when Bush did something similar. So are there some things liberals can be afraid of? Of course! But not the cataclysms currently being bandied about.
On the international front I have no idea what will happen. I'm not convinced Trump is the right man for this role and he will need to prove himself to me; but I'm going to give him that chance now that he is going to be our President. That is one area where I think it justified to be nervous.
Silver lining for liberals: you are finally rid of the Clintons. They controlled the apparatus of the Democratic Party to shut out your voices so that Hillary could be coronated. Yes, you will be out of power for a few years, but it will give you a chance to rediscover your roots and determine who you are. You no longer need be saddled by the Clintons and the corruption that flows from them. You lost this election because your candidate and your elites spat on common people and the working poor who were once the backbone of the Democratic party. You assumed anybody who didn't agree with you on the social justice issues that titilated you was a bigot of some sort; you are wrong and will continue to drive such people away from you with that attitude. You have been shown this in losing the Rust Belt. Now you have a chance to learn from it.
America survived eight years of Bush and eight years of Obama. It can survive four to eight years of Trump. We will still have furry artwork four years from now to admire and hang on our walls. We will still have conventions, fursuit parades, and free space to voice our opinions. But we all need to grow up a little and show the good grace to love our country and the people who share it with us even when it has leaders we do not like.
Still... President Donald Trump... I feel like Doc Brown. I really do! The next four years are going to be very interesting!
Dominus vobiscum
They have a right to protest, and I have a right to ignore them and call them spoiled and privileged and unconcerned for the plights of Americans unless they fall into specific groups; all they are really interested in is patting themselves on the back for how enlightened they are. And they would have howled with horror had any conservative so much as spoke up in disgust if Hillary had actually won.
I am very relieved that Trump beat Clinton, and I'm thrilled that my own state (PA) voted for a Republican for the first time since the 80s. Now it remains to be seen whether Trump was worth the risk.
Dominus tecum
Dominus tecum
It's no surprise that many of these individuals ended up casting their vote for a man who said he will work to bring manufacturing jobs back to America. It's no surprise that the heartland of Wisconsin overwhelmingly chose Trump! They see something in him that gives them hope for their future and for their family's future. They see someone they can relate to even if he's worth billions of dollars.
Granted, some people around the country voted against Clinton or Trump rather than for them. But here in the heartland of Wisconsin, I feel we voted more for Trump than against Clinton. Trump instilled a sense of confidence in those who lost everything when the manufacturing jobs left our state (and the country for that matter). Trump gave them hope in a brighter future; a future in which America would be great again. These words resonated with the heartland of Wisconsin and, in the end, gave our 10 electoral votes to Trump.
I'll admit, I was a Cruz supporter from Day 1. But now that Trump is going to be the 45th President of the United States I am willing to get behind him. I pray that he does many wonderful things for this country. If he doesn't, Americans will send him a message in 2022 by electing a new leader of the free world. I pray for the best and hope he does help Make America Great Again!
I will say one other thing. This election has led me to appreciate the role of the Electoral College more than I ever have before. In the past, I was very vocal about my disdain for the Electoral College because I felt, like many liberals do now, that it takes away America's voice. What I've learned, especially by living where I do, is that the Electoral College does the exact opposite. It gives everyone a voice; even those living in the heartland of Wisconsin! It ensures that the most populated cities in the nation don't always get to decide the victor. It maintains the balance of power in America that makes us so unique. It's the backbone of our Republic and an important part of our history.
Sorry this is a few weeks late. I normally don't comment on journals but this one (along with the comments) was so well written (and included Wisconsin) that I felt I just had to put in my two cents.
My apologies.
Trump and Republicans cannot do anything they want any more than a democratic president with a democratic House, Senate, and Court could. The Constitution was specifically designed to prevent this sort of thing. What most worries me is the possibility of a faithless vote for Clinton. I don't want to see that happen for a number of reasons. I'd much rather see Trump in office and what he does than continuous claims and calamities under Clinton in office because the House and Senate decide they want her.
People do tend to focus on the bad too much. It might once have served us well to keep us alive, but it can get out of hand. I personally recommend just good news.
I do believe that governments can help and should help in certain circumstances, but only when it actually serves the people and not elites.
Dominus tecum
There are some things that only governments can do - maintaining roads and other infrastructures and helping with disaster relief. But there's lots of other things the government ought to keep its big nose out of.
On that we definitely agree!
Dominus tecum
Now add in his VP rather painfully weird ideas on things like electroshock for therapy, among other things, and the other buddies that are now on the gravy train and it pretty much has show the old white business folk train got a good boost of folks with quite a list of *issues*. One can only hope that they become so enamored of each others bad qualities that good stuff actually gets done in spite of them.
Truth be told it was the lady, or the tiger since any other candidate was diddled out of a seat by both parties, and that along with the thick upswell of hate, bigotry, power mongering, and nastyness on both sides I can only say thank Gaia I am a canadian..and will always have a door, or a ear, open for my american friends if they need it. it will be a long 4 years, and the road is utterly unknown.
gaia bless
Pakesh_De
Snoofy old burr
The road is always unknown; I certainly wasn't expecting this! I think it's going to be an interesting four to eight years. I am grateful I am an American and can be part of it. I'm also glad our countries are good friends and will remain such! (And great to have you as a friend too, Pakesh).
Dominus tecum
I did not vote for Donald Trump. Some people were against him because his words on the campaign trail made him out to be a jerk and a bully. Others did not like the fact that he seemed to set his pants on fire upon uttering every third sentence. While these are certainly valid reasons to dislike the man, they have no bearing on his qualifications for the job. I did not vote for him simply because he failed to convince me that he is qualified to perform the job duties of PotUS. People made fun of Governor Johnson for his "Aleppo Moment", while simultaneously ignoring Trump's 18-month long string of "Aleppo Moments". I will give him a chance to prove my appraisal wrong. While I highly doubt that he will manage to rise to the challenge, it behooves me to give him the opportunity.
Dominus tecum
It's Mike Pence leading the transition team when he has stated that he considers homosexuality to be a perversion of the soul, and uses funds meant to find cures for HIV/AIDS to instead fund "conversion therapy" where kids who think they might be homosexual are subjected to psychological abuse(sometimes electroshock "therapy") to try to "convert" them to heterosexuality.
The psychological trauma from such "therapies" is so high that it leads to a suicide rate estimated to be in the 45%.
This is what scares me, that the man who enabled this as a governor is now vice president of the united states. And that funds that could be used to find a cure for someone I know who suffer of HIV are instead used to fund this in the first place.
And the only party left to "oppose" this in functional manner is the very party this man is part of.
And this is the man likely going to be confirmed to lead the transition team of government.
people seem to forget that.
people love to hate logic,
and now there's the piper to pay for doing so.
we still don't know what he will actually do when he gets the chance.
most of the things he's said sound like he's never really given any serious thought
to anything beyond his own immediate personal gain.
this may be a mix of blessing and curse in equal measure.
its also, smoke screens within smoke screens within even more of the impenetrable same.
disappointing and worried yes.
surprised? not entirely.
even michael moore called it,
and i remember the same thing with raygun and the shrub.
how much will even his own political party be his lap dog remains to be seen as well.
the president puts a face on the country, but its congress that really runs things.
he might even end wars rather then start them,
after all, they're not really good for the oil business.
he's such a loose mouthed loose cannon, absolutely anything is possible,
from death camps for being honest, to gold plated mansions for the homeless,
though i don't expect either extreme, i just don't believe there is anything we can expect,
or assume impossible.
and that's the problem. that and his green light to aggressiveness,
and the dominance of aggressiveness being tyranny,
regardless of ideology or belief.
When crafting the mythology for my main universe I decided that each master would choose their own successor (to be approved by the majority of the others) and when they so decided would transfer their power to the next in the line. In the case of the Talwyn, serving as a master to them is a duty and an honor, and holding onto power isn't something they really do when their time is finished.
Completely unrelated to the election, but I suspect right now we can all use someone talking about furry instead.
Lauren/Topaz for 2020!
Dominus tecum
Dominus tecum
Dominus tecum
Not repealing Obamacare - well, he can't. The entirety of DC can't, unless they have something viable to replace it. But probably the profit hungry industries that did not want it in the first place (Insurance, Medical Industrial Complex) will figure something out to fatten their pockets and put another nail in the coffin of the middle class.
Halting TIPP (trade treaty) - very good.
Looking at modifications or removal of NAFTA - good luck. That is one of the major factors of the US economic collapse, after everything Reagan did.
Levying penalties on companies uprooting from the US to sweatshop nations - genius. Good luck, again.
Honestly, if he's such a douche, and he is the epitome of 'tacky', I don't really care so long as he brings work back to the US. Maybe shuts out that cheap feces pouring in from overseas that could as easily be made here and give people jobs operating and maintaining the automation that has taken their jobs.
LGBT rights - well, they probably won't move forward very fast, but they won't backslide either.
As for bringing work back, I'm uncertain but hopeful. I'm confidant he's going to try.
LGBT stuff... no, it won't 'backslide', but I'm hoping he can change the equation so that it's no longer "Gays win, Christians lose". When the other party is talking about how Churches are going to have to change their teachings, that should scare the crap out of everyone.
Dominus tecum
But like you said, "America survived eight years of Bush and eight years of Obama. It can survive four to eight years of Trump". Am I angry that Trump won the presidency? Yes. Am I angry that Clinton was the one people voted to represent the Democratic party? Yes. But, the vote's been made and I guess we just have to grin and bear it. Hopefully things won't go backwards too much, but even if they do, I'll still be doing what I can to help things go forwards again.
Backward and forward are matters of perspective. It all depends on where the arrow points.
Dominus tecum
We have survived some bad times. i remember the 1960's with rioting in the streets. I think we can survive Trump.
Buckle up! Put on the crash helmets and be sure to wear extra padding! It's going to be a wild ride!
Dominus tecum
I was pretty darn sure Trump would win, though my mate (also a conservative) was quite convinced that there was no way Trump could win. I kept saying there was bits and pieces that the media hadn't taken into account...and, while watching MSNBC at my parents house the Monday before the election found myself agreeing with Micheal Moore (of all people) about the fact that there are demographics that the pollsters weren't capturing. By the end of the night, I was making snarky comments to myself about how proud the Minister of Propaganda would be of the brainwashing job the media had done on my usually sane mother.
I, in keeping with the best traditions of fair play, have refrained from uttering the words "I told you so" to my father.
I am pretty sure that half or more of the angst about Trump winning is the result of the bad polling and the fact that it resulted in people expecting a win and not getting one. The rest of it...well, the media has them convinced that Trump is Hitler reincarnated (which, as a history buff, I find offensively simplistic) but then again, it was said about Bush too. I understand they have concerns but their concerns aren't going to get addressed by rioting in the streets. It is just a large scale manifestation of the mentality of most Liberals who seem to think that if they shout down, bully and otherwise exhaust their opposition, it makes them right. That always struck me as "I have lost the civilized debate so now I am going to beat you into submission"...which is actually straight out of both Soviet and the Nazi playbook but I digress.
I hope that the political parties take Trump's election (and the enthusiasm around Bernie Sanders) as a sign that people are sick of establishment candidates...and sick of the establishment in general. I suppose what I am really hoping is that it causes the parties to fracture entirely so we can get some more voices and more ideas into the mix. The other thing that seems to have eluded the establishment is that Trump is what you get when you spend 20+ years telling people what they can and can't say...Trump is the first high profile guy who came along and started saying things that people are thinking but are too scared to say (his statements about Islam comes to mind...but that is one of my pet issues so it is something I am familiar with the rhetoric around) for fear of being tarred with some cartoonish title or having to listen to someone quote Bumper Sticker-esque slogans at them. Here's hoping that Political Correctness just got a much needed slap across the muzzle.
I wonder what would have happened if exit pollsters had asked voters "did you vote because you support your party's candidate or to vote against the other party's candidate". I imagine that information would be very enlightening.
I particularly understand the concerns that Mike Pence has sparked in the LGBT community but it is seriously overblown. Another sign that the media didn't really have a leg to stand on so it resorted to fear mongering. http://www.snopes.com/mike-pence-co.....rsion-therapy/ http://www.snopes.com/tag/mike-pence/?page=1
I really don't understand where the whole "voting for Trump = you are racist" thing comes from. I am guessing it has something to do with his comments about Islam, because somehow criticizing Islam makes you racist even though Islam isn't a race, it's a socio-political construct in the guise of a religion. I suppose it might also spring from Trump's Anti-Illegal Immigration position. Being anti-illegal immigration is what a Chief Executive is supposed to be...the President is the chief law enforcement officer in the nation and thus enforcing immigration laws is part of his job. It is not racist. If what came out about people overstaying their Visas that occurred right after 9/11 is anything to go on, illegal immigration is a (racially speaking) equal opportunity offense.
I must say I am heartened that Trump is picking solid people for his cabinet and seems the sort to let them do the jobs for which they were hired. My hope is he keeps up picking competent people and then spends the next four or eight years acting as a media lightening rod while his people do their jobs well and stabilizing the US's position both economically and internationally...and somewhere along the lines, turns IS into a bad memory.
I confess what I am tired of is liberals proclaiming Trump a fascist and declaring this country is racist, bigoted, or what not. I'm also 'amused' by liberal businesses saying they won't do business to Trump supporters for moral reasons. Forcing Christians bakers with moral objections to bake cake for gay weddings or fine them into bankruptcy? That's progress for them. Actually being kind and serving people who disagree with them? That's fascism!
I am becoming more and more convinced the country made the right decision every day.
Dominus tecum
Dominus tecum
I remember a time when it was okay for businesses to decline your business and the response was "fine, I will take my money elsewhere" not "I am going to sue you."
In my personal opinion, "liberals" are the intolerant lot. They can't seem to understand that disagreeing with them doesn't make people evil and/or stupid. What I really don't get is, at least with the people I have interacted with, you can agree with them 90% but that 10% of disagreement negates the other 90% and makes me some sort of horrible person/fascist/ insult de jeur...or, even more confusing, agree on the ends but disagreeing on the means is also grounds for name calling.
I agree with that sentiment. Though I fear that the logic of "but Clinton won the popular vote" is going to be a plague.
Of course they'll talk about how Clinton won the popular vote. But that has more to do with liberals clustering themselves in a few enclaves and a Clinton campaign that ignored vast parts of the country; they took them for granted and lost them. As long as liberals look down their noses on vast stretches of this country they will lose.
Dominus tecum