swan_tower @ 2016-11-09T08:11:00
I broke down crying last night.
Because I thought my country was better than this, and instead it proved itself to be worse. And it will go on getting worse, in ways big and small, because soon we will have a president and a legislature and a Supreme Court that do not care about the well-being of women or minorities or LGBTQ people or the environment or anything other than themselves, and because every small-minded reactionary bigot in the country has just had their bigotry validated on a nationwide scale. Because this is what the Republican Party has created, and the older generation who took a country that worked and systematically broke it, and the white citizens of the United States who fear the rest or else just don’t give enough of a damn — not every one of them, not without exception, but in the aggregate.
And I don’t know how to fix it. Because it can’t be fixed, not in any simple sense of the word. The best we can do is batten down the hatches, join hands with one another and achieve whatever good we can, however small. Not just for the next four years, but for a generation or more to come, because make no mistake: the damage from this will be lasting.
I don’t really know how we’re going to do that. Maybe tomorrow, or the day after that, I’ll be able to think about it.
Not today. Today, I don’t even know what to do with myself.
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I cried to. I am applying to grad school this month and will be going for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I'll be focusing on conservation and restoration of ecosystems.. Knowing that this small field will shrink is concerning... I'm worried for my friends and for myself. I have several friends that are immigrants and am acquaintances with Muslims from Africa. People keep saying that he won't be able to do much.. That may true, but he can impact how people feel. Will all the racists and sexist people come out now? Will I start experiencing sexism more frequently? Will my friends hear hurtful remarks?
This is going to be a long four years.
Harry Truman once said in response to political attacks, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!" But Marie, what do you do when the kitchen is on fire and the house is threatened?
I was gratified to see one political map - the votes of the 18-25 year olds - almost completely blue across the country. That suggests there is hope. This election was funded by the last group of very rich, very cranky, and very selfish old white men. They are a dying breed. They will be replaced by their offspring who, I suspect, will be part of the "Me first" crowd. They won't contribute to anything other than their own indulgences. The new group of today's young idealists, mellowed a bit by the harsh reality of the world, but still sincere in wanting to make a difference to save humanity, those youngsters of today will be your refuge and your strength and sorry for that Biblical cliche - it just came out.
In the meantime, understand that what will happen will eventually get undone if it doesn't work to make america and the world a better place. I, for one, believe that Paul Ryan and mitch McConnell are in for a rude awakening. They are about to experience the wrath of Sir Donald. They wouldn't support him; he will crush them in ways we can't think of - the price for their failure to support him substantively.
I love, respect and admire President Obama. He was one of the best in my lifetime. but he was young and a tad naive and he allowed Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to flex their muscles too much early on. Obama's inside circle advised him strongly to stay away from health care even though the current system was broken. He ignored their advice. In the end, Nancy's and Harry's overreach for power doomed the Democratic Party in ways they are still feeling. I like and admire both - but the President, not the congress, need to be calling the shots. That is oversimplified, but that is what the voters expect.
The Democratic Party insists on appealing to our intellect, but the average voter has the intelligence of a retarded titmouse. Donald understood that; Hillary did not. In the end, the total score was an evenly divided electorate; but Trump, although professing that the electoral system was rigged, knew how to play the people where he needed to to change light blue into light red. Can you say Pennsylvania?
I n the end, I think the Republican Party as it was prior to Trump, is dead. I grew up as an East Coast republi8can; by today's standards we were liberal. We championed strong defense nationally, SMALL central government, pro business and the bill of rights. Thank you Barry Goldwater for destroying that Party. I fear Hillary was the democratic version of goldwater. Barry knew how to seize a nomination. He worked dlegates starting from nixon's 1960 defeat. By 1964, he was unstoppable. hillary did the same with the super delegates. She seized the nomination. The results weren't as humiliating, but in the end, what could have been a Democratic victory up and down the line, has turned in to a Republican juggernaut.
As my mother would have said, "relax, this too shall come to pass. The sun will continue to come up." Yes, the environment is a major concern, and maybe we have all contributed to its degradation and eventual destruction. Or maybe in the grand scheme of things, this is all part of the natural order of things.
If you read this far...my warmest thanks. Keep doing what you do. In the end, we will all have made a difference.
bob Orr