Friday, November 11, 2016

'Neighbor, How Stands the Union?'

T-t-they did WHAT?!
I can't deny that --along with the majority of the country-- I'm still struggling post-election.


At the same time I appreciate the fact that I'm a writer of genre fiction not a political pundit and my activism needs to be saved for my own time and my own dime. I cannot be raining my despair all over everybody looking to see what I've got next in the way of an entertaining mystery or a heart-warming romance.


That's not why people follow me and it's not why they buy my books. Although, yes, I do think my generally optimistic vision of the world is part of the charm of my stories -- given that my vision is based on a lifetime of real-life practical experience.


So I'm just going to get a couple of things off my chest and then leave it.


Mostly I have faith in my fellow Americans, and I am encouraged that Trump did not win the popular vote--most people did NOT vote for him--although the fact that pretty much half the country did is not encouraging. One hell of a lot of people DID vote for him, despite the fact that much of what he said appalled them. My conservative friends assure me he didn't really mean all that stuff about the wall and reversing equal marriage and banning Muslims and Mexicans being rapists and and and and and...he just said that stuff to get elected. To which I have to reply, WHAT THE HELL DOES *THAT* MEAN? HOW IS THAT BETTER?


The electoral college has outlived its usefulness and is now a tool for gerrymandering and manipulation, yes. (And if you want to actually understand the electoral college and why it's time to for reform, you can start here.) The problem is, the electoral college has nothing to do with reinstating the most ineffective, unproductive and self-serving congress in the history of our nation. You can't blame the electoral college for that one. And that utterly partisan and do-nothing congress has been matched with the most inexperienced and unqualified president in the history of the country.


That's...wow.


I get that half the country feels that the government has failed them. That we are on the wrong track. That they aren't getting their piece of the pie, the American Dream, the whatever. They have a right to demand change and it's surely positive that the demands are being made through our Democratic processes. Maybe there is a grievance culture at work here, but a lot of the grievance is real and legitimate. Hell, these people have grievances they don't even know about: their lack of education, for one. The misinformation that is fed them on a daily basis regarding everything from their diet to how their government works. They have a right to be angry and depressed and afraid.


And who knows. Who the hell knows? Maybe Trump will surprise the rest of us. The majority of us. Maybe he will rise to the challenge. He does, frankly, look scared to death. He's got every possible tool at his disposable, including the tools in both houses of congress, so there will be no excuse if he doesn't achieve all he promised. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not because I think he'll succeed, but because this is how Democracy works. He won, fair and square, given the creaky limitations of our antiquated representational democracy.


There are just two things I feel I have to say. Please don't talk about your success in "taking back OUR country" when half -- the bigger half -- of the population voted against this.


 The difference between the fear and despair and anger you felt over Obama being elected is that your emotion was based on things he never said--were the antithesis of what he believed--and never did. Never. Said. Never. Did. Our fear, despair and anger is based on what Trump actually said. Repeatedly. And is now honor-bound to try his best to do.

28 comments:

  1. Well said, Josh :)
    As shocked as I may be by the extent of Trump's victory (especially in the swing states), I try to keep an open mind over what he might be able to achieve. Perhaps the fact that he's no professional politician may help, if this means he's prepared to listen to the advice of people more experienced than him.
    I'm taking heart from the post-election statement from Bernie Sanders (the one that should have been *the* Democratic candidate instead of Hillary Clinton):

    “Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media.
    People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids – all while the rich become very much richer.”

    It concluded: “To the degree that Mr Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him.

    To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him."

    Best,
    Paola

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. Bernie nailed it. And that's my feeling as well. If he can deliver good jobs and rebuild infrastructure, that will be a fine thing. Most of the people who voted for Trump did so in spite of his hateful rhetoric, not because of it.

      On the other hand, he made a deal with the Devil, and the Devil is unlikely to be satisfied with job growth when it was promised the soul of a country. ;-)

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Josh and Paola, for sharing these very insightful thoughts. It's this kind of civil discourse that gives me hope for all of us.

      Delete
  2. It's doubtful whether those aggrieved folks who voted for Trump will actually see any improvement in their situation in the next four years, and that could give progressives something to work with. But what needs to happen before the next national elections occur is a housecleaning at the DNC. All those pollsters, consultants and party officials who so woefully misread the the electorate and whose strategies snatched defeat from the jaws of victory need to be replaced.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Given that this is the same congress that killed all of Obama's attempts at jobs and education programs as fiscally irresponsible, I agree. But since the primary goal was to keep a Democratic president from succeeding, maybe they'll give Trump a little more rope? Maybe. I'm not holding my breath. If anything, they're likely to view this as validation for their regressive policies.

      Yes, popular vote aside, the DNC needs to give up on the idea of finding middle ground. When they go low, we need to go left.

      Delete
  3. I was too depressed to read since the election. That's serious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am finding refuge in work. This may be my most productive four years ever.

      Delete
  4. Feels like 9/11 all over again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's ironic, isn't it? That we fear our own fellow citizens as much as we fear terrorists. But then their candidate talks like a terrorist.

      Delete
  5. "Including the tools in both houses of congress." ROFL!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you. I admire your optimism and positive way of handling the results. I have a bit a fatigue dealing with such news, after Brexit, and then now Trump. I'm convinced that human beings (or western clivilation) has yet again entered into a self-harm stupid stage in history. I'm saddened and afraid that decades of progress would be rolled back.

    I guess we'll just have to be for each other and ride it out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm struggling to hang onto my optimism, I won't deny it. All day I work to reach a point of calm and then I watch the news and feel sick and frightened all over again. But what option do we have? We're in it now and all we can do is hang on and fight each battle as it comes.

      Delete
  7. Yeah, it sucks right now. It just mean that the minorities have to gird their loins and be prepare to tough it out. We've been through 2 Bush admin and that last one gave us two unpaid wars, trillions in debt and the Great Recession. I'm also optimistic that whatever Drumpf admin throws at us, we will either tough it out or eventually defeat it. I know there are a lot of organizations and grass root efforts that deal with some tough challenges that people face everyday, but in the mean time, we've got 3 more women elected to Congress, same sex marriage is here to stay, Plan Parenthood is still with us, people from around the world showed their solidarity with the Democrats. We might be down, but we are definitely not out. If we survived Bush Cheney, we can definitely deal with Drumpf and Pence. 8-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. As far as social change, there is no stopping the tide. This is a temporary, if painful, set-back. Mostly people voted for Trump based on jobs and economics -- and if he doesn't deliver, he will be gone.

      There is no electorate more bitter than the electorate than buys a "Movement" and discovers it's the same old product with bright new packaging.

      Delete
  8. Just saw this. Elizabeth Warren is totally awesome. Here is a speech she made post election that would give anyone hope that it might not be so bad because there people in Washington who cares deeply for the people.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7oytJXYnss

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She is old school American. The kind of citizen that made this country great.

      Delete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. By the way, if the electoral college was actually based on current population, California would have over 100 votes. Even Trump believes the Electoral College has become irrelevant.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. So in other words, you basically agree with what I said in my post -- that we should give him the benefit of the doubt because he won the election, but that we naturally and rightfully deplore his racist, sexist, ignorant and anti-American comments?

      Why then so defensive?

      You are uninformed about the electoral college -- both in why it was created and how it was intended to work. But most people are. There has actually been a move to reform it for several decades -- this is not something Clinton supporters came up with. :-D

      Delete
    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    5. You know what? Never mind. You are right and I am wrong and lets just end it there.

      Delete
    6. Check back with me in two years. It'll be interesting to hear your thoughts. Trump holds both houses of Congress and presumably will have the deciding vote on the Supreme Court. It will be difficult to blame the "failed policies" of the past at that point. If I'm wrong and the country is peaceful and prosperous, I will happily admit I was wrong.

      Delete