11/9/16: What Next?
On Facebook last week, I congratulated my friends who are Cubs fans and predicted that after the election on Tuesday this month will be the best November since 2008. But just as there will probably never be another November as awful as the one in 1963 (not even the one in 2004 when Bush was reelected) when our youthful, charismatic President was murdered with his beautiful, even younger wife sitting beside him, there will probably never be another November as wonderful as the one in 2008.
The election of the first woman President will not cause the euphoria that the election of the first black President did for several reasons. First, unlike Obama, she did not have a worthy opponent. For once, the news media folks are not exaggerating when they say that what's happening in this election is unprecedented. Hillary Clinton is running against a narcissistic, sadistic, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, whiny welfare queen, a man who thinks it's smart not to pay federal income taxes and to use our badly written laws to increase his wealth while stiffing the working-class people and small business owners he claims to now represent. It's somewhat amusing (but more scary and sad) to recognize that in 2008 some of us thought that the hot-tempered John McCain, who had the excuse of having been a tortured POW for many years, was a bit nutty, didn't really have the right temperament to be President, and that the incumbent President, George W. Bush, was a know-nothing, unqualified to hold the most powerful position in the world. Those were the good old days!
Another problem with Hillary's election is that she's a more flawed candidate than Obama was in 2008. As my favorite columnist Meghan Daum pointed out in the Sunday L.A. TIMES, unlike Obama, the first woman to be elected President brings too much baggage. She is the second most unpopular person (trailing only Trump, and not by that much) to run as a major party's nominee for President. Hillary is less likable than Obama was in 2008 (and she was less likable then than he was), not because of their personalities, but because she has been demonized for decades. Before one of the debates, I tweeted a suggestion to her. I told her to use the cartoon character Jessica Rabbit's line: "I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way." Because she is a strong, independent woman and not the weak victim that Americans prefer women to be, Hillary is disliked. Also, because she has been under the harsh spotlight for so long, having every word and action twisted and used against her, she is cautious, scripted, and secretive. I like to be direct and can't stand sneaky folks, but if I had been treated like Hillary has been, I would not speak at all. I would even take the fifth if asked what my favorite color or food is. I was not a Hillary fan when this race started; I was annoyed that she prevented younger women, nonwhite candidates, and even younger white men from becoming our candidate by taking the almost-incumbent Vice President position that Joe Biden yielded because of his age and his son's health. I was a bitter Martin O'Malley supporter. But as I watched the way Hillary handled herself through this campaign, and especially during the debates, I gave her the ultimate compliment, making her an honorary soul sister, who could join Reverend Green from Detroit, First Lady Michelle, Tennis Greats Serena and Venus, (the new since the cheating scandal) Badass Beyoncé, Oprah, and me in deporting Trump, shoving him onto a slow boat to his mother's homeland--Scotland--or even better, Siberia.
Although I probably admire Hillary Clinton more at this point than I did Barack Obama when he was first elected, I still will not celebrate the election of the first woman President the way I celebrated that other history-making election. As I said in my memoir, I identify as black first and as a woman second, so shattering the racial glass ceiling was more important to me. But there's also the asterisk issue. I pointed out in 2008 that both of our history-making candidates had an asterisk. Obama is only half-black, and he was raised by his white relatives. Hillary's husband was President, so we will never know how many sexists voted to return Bill to the Oval office, to give him a third term. We will never know how many sexists believe that Bill will be the "real" President. Since most people did not see Obama as half-white and many of those who did hated him even more, his asterisk was not as significant as hers is. Bill has kept a lower profile this election cycle, but he's still being used to reach those mostly working-class, high school graduates who might think a woman should not be the President and Commander in Chief.
The primary reason I won't be euphorically celebrating on Tuesday, however, involves one of those universal themes that English teachers used to discuss--the loss of innocence. Or to put it another way, using my black Southern Baptist roots, "I once was blind, but now I see." When Obama won, I thought we had overcome; I knew there would still be some racism, but I thought we had turned the page and that we would never go back to the kind of overt racism that we have seen in the last few years, and especially during this campaign. I had forgotten American history--Jim Crow, Ronald Reagan, the anti-affirmative action movement--, so I was shocked and angered by the backlash, or as both Bill Maher and I called it, "blacklash," to Obama's election. But I'm ready for the problems caused by Hillary's election. Two of my reasons for supporting O'Malley were: 1) We need to elect a white man (and O'Malley is really white, pale even) to calm down these Tea Party freaks. 2) If we elect a woman, police will start killing unarmed white girls. And, of course, the dirty Republicans (including McCain) aren't even pretending that they are going to honor the people's choice and unite behind our newly elected President. They are promising obstruction and maybe even impeachment.
When the MSNBC commentators announce (hopefully, promptly at 8 p.m. my time) that our new President is Hillary Rodham Clinton, I will not start crying with joy as I did in 2008, nor will I call liberal colleagues and family members to laugh, shout, and sing, nor will I fist bump every liberal neighbor and friend that I see for days. I will simply sigh with relief. But I will still have hope, hope that we will never again see a candidate like Donald Trump nominated to represent one of our major parties.
The election of the first woman President will not cause the euphoria that the election of the first black President did for several reasons. First, unlike Obama, she did not have a worthy opponent. For once, the news media folks are not exaggerating when they say that what's happening in this election is unprecedented. Hillary Clinton is running against a narcissistic, sadistic, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, whiny welfare queen, a man who thinks it's smart not to pay federal income taxes and to use our badly written laws to increase his wealth while stiffing the working-class people and small business owners he claims to now represent. It's somewhat amusing (but more scary and sad) to recognize that in 2008 some of us thought that the hot-tempered John McCain, who had the excuse of having been a tortured POW for many years, was a bit nutty, didn't really have the right temperament to be President, and that the incumbent President, George W. Bush, was a know-nothing, unqualified to hold the most powerful position in the world. Those were the good old days!
Another problem with Hillary's election is that she's a more flawed candidate than Obama was in 2008. As my favorite columnist Meghan Daum pointed out in the Sunday L.A. TIMES, unlike Obama, the first woman to be elected President brings too much baggage. She is the second most unpopular person (trailing only Trump, and not by that much) to run as a major party's nominee for President. Hillary is less likable than Obama was in 2008 (and she was less likable then than he was), not because of their personalities, but because she has been demonized for decades. Before one of the debates, I tweeted a suggestion to her. I told her to use the cartoon character Jessica Rabbit's line: "I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way." Because she is a strong, independent woman and not the weak victim that Americans prefer women to be, Hillary is disliked. Also, because she has been under the harsh spotlight for so long, having every word and action twisted and used against her, she is cautious, scripted, and secretive. I like to be direct and can't stand sneaky folks, but if I had been treated like Hillary has been, I would not speak at all. I would even take the fifth if asked what my favorite color or food is. I was not a Hillary fan when this race started; I was annoyed that she prevented younger women, nonwhite candidates, and even younger white men from becoming our candidate by taking the almost-incumbent Vice President position that Joe Biden yielded because of his age and his son's health. I was a bitter Martin O'Malley supporter. But as I watched the way Hillary handled herself through this campaign, and especially during the debates, I gave her the ultimate compliment, making her an honorary soul sister, who could join Reverend Green from Detroit, First Lady Michelle, Tennis Greats Serena and Venus, (the new since the cheating scandal) Badass Beyoncé, Oprah, and me in deporting Trump, shoving him onto a slow boat to his mother's homeland--Scotland--or even better, Siberia.
Although I probably admire Hillary Clinton more at this point than I did Barack Obama when he was first elected, I still will not celebrate the election of the first woman President the way I celebrated that other history-making election. As I said in my memoir, I identify as black first and as a woman second, so shattering the racial glass ceiling was more important to me. But there's also the asterisk issue. I pointed out in 2008 that both of our history-making candidates had an asterisk. Obama is only half-black, and he was raised by his white relatives. Hillary's husband was President, so we will never know how many sexists voted to return Bill to the Oval office, to give him a third term. We will never know how many sexists believe that Bill will be the "real" President. Since most people did not see Obama as half-white and many of those who did hated him even more, his asterisk was not as significant as hers is. Bill has kept a lower profile this election cycle, but he's still being used to reach those mostly working-class, high school graduates who might think a woman should not be the President and Commander in Chief.
The primary reason I won't be euphorically celebrating on Tuesday, however, involves one of those universal themes that English teachers used to discuss--the loss of innocence. Or to put it another way, using my black Southern Baptist roots, "I once was blind, but now I see." When Obama won, I thought we had overcome; I knew there would still be some racism, but I thought we had turned the page and that we would never go back to the kind of overt racism that we have seen in the last few years, and especially during this campaign. I had forgotten American history--Jim Crow, Ronald Reagan, the anti-affirmative action movement--, so I was shocked and angered by the backlash, or as both Bill Maher and I called it, "blacklash," to Obama's election. But I'm ready for the problems caused by Hillary's election. Two of my reasons for supporting O'Malley were: 1) We need to elect a white man (and O'Malley is really white, pale even) to calm down these Tea Party freaks. 2) If we elect a woman, police will start killing unarmed white girls. And, of course, the dirty Republicans (including McCain) aren't even pretending that they are going to honor the people's choice and unite behind our newly elected President. They are promising obstruction and maybe even impeachment.
When the MSNBC commentators announce (hopefully, promptly at 8 p.m. my time) that our new President is Hillary Rodham Clinton, I will not start crying with joy as I did in 2008, nor will I call liberal colleagues and family members to laugh, shout, and sing, nor will I fist bump every liberal neighbor and friend that I see for days. I will simply sigh with relief. But I will still have hope, hope that we will never again see a candidate like Donald Trump nominated to represent one of our major parties.
No comments have been added yet.
