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So...our 45th President...my thoughts and anxieties.
9 years ago
It is interesting to think, that on the day of the election, it began with Hillary Clinton having a 85% chance of victory, at lunch the New York Times was reporting that ratio. 85% to 15%. Six hours later, it was 10% and 90%. I do not have the necessary educational background to think I have any real clue as to how this occurred, or why, or even if it will turn out good or bad.
The system has spoken, there will be a peaceful transition of power, and we can only hope that what is said, what is done, what the American system of politics has turned into...is just theater. The rapid and extreme polarization and calcification of the Two Party system, the reality television esque manner we have turned politics into. People say we are looking to the past, and taking the worst parts of it, and calling them the good old days. Perhaps we are. There has been a uptick in open bigotry, though perhaps that is just again news being entertainment, which does not excuse the fact it is happening. That people think the results of this election can justify this or that.
Same goes for the protests against the results, protests that started peaceful, but had violence seep in. Unacceptable. That all sides decry we are standing on a knife's edge, but willing to push and prod regardless. With California fringe groups calling for a Calexit, chortling as already promises are starting to strain and break, a wave of fear and alienation across all sectors. Sure, sure, on one side you can call out the revitalizing of a dying beast that we were slowly killing in its liar, on the other a blind hypocrisy and misapplied values and principles...but in the end, the system is working, and we can only hope it will continue to work.
The people still have their voice, they still have the power to influence the way things are done, they need only express themselves and put forth the effort. Because in four years there will be another election, one filled with more teeth gnashing, more tv spots, and bad ethics, and it will have to keep to our values. Another peaceful transition above all else. That is what we must take away from this, that we have had forty four peaceful transitions of power more or less.
But if we are to look to the past, to glory in the ages where colored and whites were separated, where violence reigned, and there was a "proper" way of things...we must not forget what it was like, we must never let it be white washed or fall silent. If they did win because of this feeling that there was a "good old days", then let us take the things that really mattered. The ability for a bipartisan government to function and not the world of racial hierarchy, bigotry and intolerance. To work together without needless heel digging stone walling adversarial madness. Nixon may have been a crook, but he made the EPA. Johnson may have been a bully, but he was able to finangle Civil Rights into existence. The world they lived in was one that is qualitatively worse than the age we live in now, but there is one thing to be said. Their politics was not entertainment like it is now.
What it looks like now, seems so new, so unexpected, but we have had "bad" presidents before. Ones that did damage, and shook confidence in our way of life...and we will have them in the future. We must only hold onto that light of liberty and freedom, and not let our fears and our hates turn this nation into something it is not. We must learn from this, and turn what should be a thoughtful and serious thing back into a thoughtful and serious thing. Not dross for us to laugh and gasp at. We will just have to wait and see.
Will reality tv and clickbait finally become truth and let the nation burn? I certainly hope not, I certainly pray not.
Will we regress and backslide and let the world suffer for our heel digging conflicts and fearful paranoia? I do not know.
Will things just be mediocre? I wish so much for that to be true, to come to pass. That our sanity will reign, that even if what we see is truly what we are getting, that no. No, we will not let fall the rights and freedoms so hard fought for and won. That no, we will not open the door to rebuilding and refortifying an America that we should be shameful of. That progress, logic, and understanding will win over irrational nostalgia, adversarial alienation, and the burning return of open bigotry and violence.
Hope that behind the theater, there is self-awareness and understanding...even if it is a dim hope.
But who can say really? After all, it was said that he couldn't win.
So let us focus on improving ourselves, that we may weather the storms, and take the reigns when it is our time. Let us please remember, the world we live in now is still so much better than the world our parents were born into, their parents, and theirs. It is fearful, it is infinitely more dangerous, but it is better. So let us keep it better, and continue to make it better.
We must try.
We must be brave enough to try.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
The system has spoken, there will be a peaceful transition of power, and we can only hope that what is said, what is done, what the American system of politics has turned into...is just theater. The rapid and extreme polarization and calcification of the Two Party system, the reality television esque manner we have turned politics into. People say we are looking to the past, and taking the worst parts of it, and calling them the good old days. Perhaps we are. There has been a uptick in open bigotry, though perhaps that is just again news being entertainment, which does not excuse the fact it is happening. That people think the results of this election can justify this or that.
Same goes for the protests against the results, protests that started peaceful, but had violence seep in. Unacceptable. That all sides decry we are standing on a knife's edge, but willing to push and prod regardless. With California fringe groups calling for a Calexit, chortling as already promises are starting to strain and break, a wave of fear and alienation across all sectors. Sure, sure, on one side you can call out the revitalizing of a dying beast that we were slowly killing in its liar, on the other a blind hypocrisy and misapplied values and principles...but in the end, the system is working, and we can only hope it will continue to work.
The people still have their voice, they still have the power to influence the way things are done, they need only express themselves and put forth the effort. Because in four years there will be another election, one filled with more teeth gnashing, more tv spots, and bad ethics, and it will have to keep to our values. Another peaceful transition above all else. That is what we must take away from this, that we have had forty four peaceful transitions of power more or less.
But if we are to look to the past, to glory in the ages where colored and whites were separated, where violence reigned, and there was a "proper" way of things...we must not forget what it was like, we must never let it be white washed or fall silent. If they did win because of this feeling that there was a "good old days", then let us take the things that really mattered. The ability for a bipartisan government to function and not the world of racial hierarchy, bigotry and intolerance. To work together without needless heel digging stone walling adversarial madness. Nixon may have been a crook, but he made the EPA. Johnson may have been a bully, but he was able to finangle Civil Rights into existence. The world they lived in was one that is qualitatively worse than the age we live in now, but there is one thing to be said. Their politics was not entertainment like it is now.
What it looks like now, seems so new, so unexpected, but we have had "bad" presidents before. Ones that did damage, and shook confidence in our way of life...and we will have them in the future. We must only hold onto that light of liberty and freedom, and not let our fears and our hates turn this nation into something it is not. We must learn from this, and turn what should be a thoughtful and serious thing back into a thoughtful and serious thing. Not dross for us to laugh and gasp at. We will just have to wait and see.
Will reality tv and clickbait finally become truth and let the nation burn? I certainly hope not, I certainly pray not.
Will we regress and backslide and let the world suffer for our heel digging conflicts and fearful paranoia? I do not know.
Will things just be mediocre? I wish so much for that to be true, to come to pass. That our sanity will reign, that even if what we see is truly what we are getting, that no. No, we will not let fall the rights and freedoms so hard fought for and won. That no, we will not open the door to rebuilding and refortifying an America that we should be shameful of. That progress, logic, and understanding will win over irrational nostalgia, adversarial alienation, and the burning return of open bigotry and violence.
Hope that behind the theater, there is self-awareness and understanding...even if it is a dim hope.
But who can say really? After all, it was said that he couldn't win.
So let us focus on improving ourselves, that we may weather the storms, and take the reigns when it is our time. Let us please remember, the world we live in now is still so much better than the world our parents were born into, their parents, and theirs. It is fearful, it is infinitely more dangerous, but it is better. So let us keep it better, and continue to make it better.
We must try.
We must be brave enough to try.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Before I go further, I will say that I don't like Trump; most of the mud slung against him is actually justified for once (though even with plenty of legitimate complaints about him, they still have to try and paint him as racist, despite the fact I've yet to hear him say one racist thing- apparently being a sexist socialist narcissist isn't enough, he MUST be racist even though nothing points to him being such; and let's face it, the man does not know how to keep his mouth shut- if he were racist, we'd all know it, and he would remind us of it constantly).
LBJ wasn't effective toward Civil Rights because he didn't want to be effective for it- many people forget that he and his friends were its staunchest opponents, and when he finally did sign it into passing, it wasn't really enforced until the Nixon era (and many forget that Nixon was actually a strong proponent of Civil Rights, and even try to paint him as a racist simply because he ran against LBJ, and this myth that the Southern Strategy was an appeal to racism- if this were true, the whole nation was racist then, as he had one of the largest landslide victories in American history, and if such were the case, Civil Rights would never have passed in the years leading up to him to begin with).
I don't trust Trump. I hope I'm wrong about him, I hope he lives up to his promises- but I don't really have much faith in that hope. His track record is not good (sure, he's not a politician, but we have no shortage of quotes from him on politics). But I'd love to be wrong- I'd love to see him take up the conservative torch and protect freedom and equality. But realistically, I don't see it happening- the man's rise was frighteningly similar to Obama's, with most of his campaign being about charisma and repeating a simple slogan that's really meaningless without context. "Hope and change." Well, that's useless on its own- what do you hope for, what do you want to change? "Make America great again." Also useless- how do you define "great"?
Regardless of whether or not you agree with me, you seem a lot calmer and more reasonable than most who talk about this issue- and for that, I thank you.
And that is a totally valid view, that Clinton could be considered a bigger threat. She is a entrenched establishment war hawk.
While I personally favored a Clinton presidency over a Trump one, I understand and accept he won, and I personally did not like either of them...but the System has spoken and even if I dislike the fact my preference didn't win, I don't think it's total doom guaranteed, the sky is falling etc. Though I am for one at a loss as to what Trump actually means. Clinton was more of the same, paint by numbers with a side order of probably some more drone strikes and special operations shadiness.
Trump, well, like you mentioned, his mannerism are what turned me off. He is definitely a extroverted 70 year old man who wears his entitlement on his sleeve and meanders with that entitlement to hardcore misogyny and definitely bad spots. Plus he won and he is still trying to promise Magic Pony for Christmas level goals while back tracking on things. Like sure, he has some things that look alright, accomplish-able or not half-bad, but it's mixed in with that pie in the sky never going to happen stuff or some incoherent dross like "Make America Great Again".
It is just a mess. Though that can be said about most presidencies.
As for the other stuff that people will bring up, like Pence's gay conversion preferences, or the white supremacy courting angle. I find those bad points too, but ultimately given what has happened the issue is whether or not he can effectively do the job of president. He has the presidency, he better get presidential and think before he acts. Frankly, his shady business practices and conduct there are more relevant to the conversation now...or something.
It's nearly 4:00AM for me. Apologies for the incoherent ramble. How are you? How have you been?
Could be worse, but definitely could be much better. Just 41 more units to the BA, and a research lab position into a Masters program...or AMED...or...so many things.
I need to kick myself in the ass and just do stuff.