Well, I suppose it is time to get started learning the new language of politics.
Trump winning was a surprise, but my mother in law passing away during the night, getting up to find my wife crying at 3am, that was much more depressing.
America will move on, It always has. I remember the fear behind Reagan’s election. We survived.
Tom was right.
So apathy won.
My condolences to your family, Scuzz.
I hope you’re right, but I fear Trumpism is qualitatively different. At least Reagan had been a governor.
There’s never been a President who had neither governing nor military experience. Reagan had been the Governor of the largest state (in terms of population). Washington had led the War for Independence from Great Britain. Ike had commanded the invasion of Normandy. This guy has hosted reality shows and run beauty pageants, and basically blown a lot of hot air all his life. He is the American Berlusconi, if not something much worse. We’ll see.
The numbers look like this:
2012 Obama: 65.9m
2016 Clinton: 59.1m = -6.8m
2012 Romney: 60.9m
2016 Trump: 59m = -1.9m
That’s from an earlier post. It looks like a lot of voters stayed home. Clinton got nearly 7M fewer votes than did Obama in 2012, while Trump got 1.8M fewer votes than Romney. She couldn’t mobilize the 2012 Obama voters for some reason.
I was worried about her chances from the start. She has big negatives that never go away. I thought if it was her against Rubio, Rubio would probably win. I was hoping Cruz would get the nomination because I thought he was the easiest to defeat.
When Trump got it I was overjoyed. I thought once he was playing to the whole electorate, his Bozo antics would no longer work and all the crazy things he said would inevitably sink him. I thought he was the candidate that Hillary would perform best against. It seemed like things were breaking her way.
Instead it’s the opposite. She’s probably the one candidate he could beat. I think if it had been Biden, Biden might have won. I doubt Bernie because of the socialism hobgoblin, but Hillary has always been so beatable.
I dunno. It’s hard to process. I’ll think about it and come up with a new theory every five minutes. I feel like I’ve just been informed a giant asteroid is going to crash into the planet and I’m walking around filled with dread.
Yeah, I’m seeing a lot of wallowing today, and I totally get it. Let the hate flow through you, as Palpatine would say.
But seriously, get out of it as soon as you can do it. Do normal stuff. Grab a coffee. Do some work.
And when you’re ready, and I say this with utter sincerity: get out of your comfort zone and echo chamber. Not here, because we’re all friends…but personally. With friends, family, etc.
Turns out Incendiary Lemon was right. Telling people their ideas and notions are stupid and making fun of them and walling them off is no way to change minds and educate and understand and learn things yourself. And that’s probably pretty unpopular to say, but there it is. Instead of laughing at your Trump-loving uncle this Thanksgiving, try to find some common ground, and go from there.
The numbers look like that because all the votes have not been counted yet. NYT is expecting a minimum of 7 million more votes before this is over, and probably more.
Long, but worth it.
I just can’t get behind that sentiment, triggercut. Trump voters did something genuinely unforgiveable in my eyes yesterday, every single one of them. They sacrificed the safety, health, and happiness of millions of women, LGBTQs, immigrants, Muslims, and other minorities for a literally impossible shot at improving their own lot, or just to saitsify their own sick desires. Uncle Steve might well love Starcraft as much as me, but at the end of the day, he went out to his precinct yesterday and cast a ballot that fundamentally worsens the lives of millions of people in a real, actionable, and sadly possibly nearly permanent way. It’s a little tough to chat the WCS finals with him when I’ve got to think that every time I look him the eyes.
Trump voters yesterday earned my unending, undying hatred. I don’t pretend it’s healthy, or liable to lead to a positive outcome. . . but I cannot fathom responding to their sin in anything but the absolute strongest terms. What they did was wrong on a cosmic scale. Who the fuck do they think they are?
This is the realization I had last night as I was laying down to sleep. I’ve been wrong in my assessment of Trump supporters. Prior to the election, I was certain that anybody who would support Trump could never be my friend and that I could not be friends with them. But this isn’t a healthy way of thinking and it certainly is not the path to unity and understanding of one another.
Yes, I’m an immigrant and a minority in this country. But, in truth, I’m no more fearful today than I was yesterday or the day before. Maybe I should be but I’m not. I still got up this morning and went for my customary jog around the neighborhood. The same people who smile or say “good morning” to me were still there. Also still there were the ones who ignore me and go about their business.
I guess what I’m saying is that the underlying racism in this country has always existed. Maybe racists are more emboldened today than yesterday. But it’s like this. If someone is holding a gun to my head, it doesn’t particularly matter to me if that gun is loaded with two bullets or ten. The only thing I can really change is why they might be holding a gun to my head. And despising and ignoring them probably won’t help here. But helping them understand that we are not that different might.
Someone posted a link to that SNL Black Jeopardy skit earlier. I’ve watched it many times since it aired but it wasn’t until I watched it after the results of this election that it really hit home for me. I’ve experienced my fair share of racism in this country. More than some and definitely much less than others. But I’ve also witnessed the basic goodness and kindness that complete strangers have exhibited towards me. And some of them might have voted for Trump yesterday.
Perhaps I’m naive and idealistic. And I’m probably not expressing my feelings particularly eloquently. But this doesn’t change the hope I still have for my country and its people. My experience is that the good has far outweighed the bad and that the bad can be changed for the better.
Love y’all.
Yes but it was in the Democrats power to stop them. The vote numbers show that the Republicans could never have gained a supermajority or the presidency if the turnout had been even just moderately better.
My condolences from Canada, guys. Sadly the USA is the the cinderblock chained to our ankles, economy-wise, so not really looking forward to the next 4 years.
I guess what I am saying is this:
All that is needed for Republicans to triumph is for Democrats to do nothing.
Oh trust me, I have more than a little vitriol reserved for the Democrats. But at the end of the day, nearly 60m people made a choice that had every chance of landing us here, open-eyed and clear of mind. That they succeeded makes it worse, certainly, in a universal sense, but even if they had not, they still made that choice.
Many more than that decided it wasn’t worth their time to give a fuck.
I’ve been trying to find those numbers, and a more detailed break down. Couldn’t find one sifting through those tweets. Do you have one?
Standing offer for some Big Sky beers, if you want to get (way) out of your echochamber. :-)
I look at it this way: Republicans now control the Presidency, the House, the Senate, 31 governorships and 2/3rds of the state houses. Congrats. Now show me what you’ve got. You have 2 years to implement your agenda with no excuses. If it works and more Americans are prosperous and happy, well done. If it doesn’t, there is nothing to hide behind.
Yes. this piece is good.
You can’t possibly know that all, or even most, Trump voters made their choice “open-eyed and clear of mind.” Certainly your experience of humanity is very different than mine if you believe that most voters of any persuasion are sufficiently well-informed and analytical to grasp the implications of their choices with that degree of clarity, especially when they’re feeling frightened and angry…
In any case, it does no good to make such assumptions. Forbearance and willingness to listen without pre-judging will be needed from all of us if there’s any hope of moving forward.