Greetings and Salutations;
It is now the second day since the election, and, while my mind is in a very dark place still, I am sane enough to consider some questions and thoughts about the next four years.
Right now, though, the emotions are very raw. The huge percentage of the voting public that voted for Secretary Clinton are in mourning, both for that loss, and for what it will mean for our country in the future. That future looks pretty dark right now.
The Social Media is full of Right-Wing Trolls, gloating about their “Victory’ and telling those of us who are Liberal that we should get out of of the country, or stop being babies, or any of a dozen other contemptuous things.
In what might be an amusing turn of events, the Right-Wingers have already started saying that we need to pull together as a people, and give the Donald the respect he “deserves” having won the office of the President. The irony here is strong, considering that this is coming from a group of people who have spent eight years disrespecting President Obama in some of the most foul and childish ways. Many of us have sworn to give the donald exactly the same amount of respect that he and his party have given the past two Democratic administrations…that is..none at all. If the donald works very hard, in four years he might earn enough respect to keep people from spitting on the ground when his name is mentioned. However, his path is very narrow.
Another disappointing aspect of this election is the fact that, in spite of the apparent interest in it, according to statistics gathered on Tuesday, some 45% of Americans did not vote, in spite of being eligible to do so. The fact that almost half of the electorate had so little respect and care about their nation, their fellow citizens and themselves to take the time to vote is, alas, not surprising, but it is so sad that it brings me to weep for all of us. Out of the remaining 55% that DID vote, the donald got 25.5% of the votes. Secretary Clinton got 25.7% of the votes. The remainder went to the spoilers and wanna-bes of the Libertarian and Green Parties. Now… this is the second time in the last five elections that the winner of the popular vote has LOST the Electoral College. There is little else to say about this, alas, as that will never change. The Republicans are the ones that benefit the most from this scheme, so they will put up roadblocks to any attempts to change it.
After some contemplation, I have posted variations of the following statement to various social media: “For y’all who voted for the donald. Remember that whatever happens in the next four years, YOU deserve it; YOU asked for it”. Of course many of the Right-Wingers are happy about this…others, who think a bit more deeply, are not.
So..the reality is that the country has elected a man to the Presidency who has shown himself to be a racist for decades. Starting with his anti-black renting policies from the 1970s that got him a Federal Civil Rights case, to today, when the official newspaper of the KKK rejoiced at his election, and a large percentage of his voter base are White Supremacists of some stripe. The country has elected a man who has been recorded time and time again bragging about engaging in sexual assault on women. The country elected a man who has said, several times, not only how much he admires dictators in the world, including Putin and Kim Jong Un, but, has stated that he believes that the First Amendment needs to be changed to weaken it and make it easier to suppress dissent. The country elected a man who is documented as lying some 95% of the time! The list of reasons that the donald is bad for Democracy goes on and on and on. And yet, the voting public, by a slim margin, elected him President.
One of the reasons that a large percentage of his minions stated for electing him was (essentially) that they were tired of the status quo in the Federal Government, and wanted to burn the house down to get a change. They also said that they supported the donald because he was not afraid to speak his mind. Well, having said all that, one of the facets of last Tuesday’s election was that almost EVERY incumbent Congress person was returned to office! Again…the irony here is amazing and, I fear, speaks to the lack of ability to engage in critical thinking that Americans suffer from. Also…I have tried asking the minions over the past year…which thing is it that the donald says do they support. He has a continual track record of saying two contradictory things – often within hours of each other – and claiming that is what he believes. Most of the time, I get no reply. Sometimes I get insults and purile name calling. Sometimes I get excuses that what he says is not what he really means. Usually, if I get a response that addresses the question, they, like the donald, pick one stance and claim that the other one did not exist.
So…while there is so much more that I could address here, I am going to leave some of it for future postings…
I want to end by asking the question “What can we do to mitigate the destruction looming over the country?” Much to my frustration, I have no magic wand that I can wave to make everything better. However, there are some things that we can do.
- Get your Congress-Critter’s email and snail mail addresses, and their phone numbers. Put them in your contact list, and use them on a regular basis. When you see a news article that reports of anyone attacking the Constitutional rights and protections of you or your fellow citizens, take five minutes and contact your Federal Representatives. Let them know that this is unacceptable. Also, urge your friends to do the same thing. There are two forces that will move a politician. These are checks from lobbyists, and a tall stack of letters and messages from constituents. Make sure that there is a tall stack on their desks. If you find out about a company supporting a policy you do not agree with, contact your Representatives to let them know this is unacceptable, and taking funds from that company will have negative feedback. Let the corporate offices know that you will not patronize their shops because of this attitude of theirs. Again…urge your friends to do the same thing.
- Vote. The fact of the matter is that the donald took the Presidency by the slimmest of margins. In some states, it was just a few thousand votes out of millions of votes cast. This means that if a small percentage of those 45% of voters who gave up had come out and voted, today would be a different day. We Democrats have a problem with being easily dissuaded, because, I suppose, we are – at heart – pessimists. We have to fight against this demon whispering in our ears, and vote. Every Vote Matters. On that point…do not skip any election. Vote with the same enthusiasm in the mid-term elections that one would vote in the Presidential Election. The state and local elections are closer to each of us, and have far more of an influence on our lives.
- “All that Evil Needs to succeed is for good people to do nothing”. This does echo the topic of despair that I touched upon above. Now, though, I am looking at the non-political part of our lives. One of the truly sad things that I have seen over the past 16 months is a flood of out and out lies from the Right-Wing on the Social Media, and in life. I do not advocate seeking out conflict, but, to remain silent when lies are posted is betraying ourselves and our principles. I asked, in a blog entry a bit ago, when it was that lying became OK in today’s world? I was reared by my parents to be a tolerant, patient, TRUTHFUL citizen. Yet everywhere I turn these days, I see politicians and business owners producing the most obvious lies, and having the people swallow them as if they are the sweetest truth in the world. This, to be up front about it, makes me a little crazy. I have been blocked by a number of Right-Wingers on Facebook, for example, because I have called them on their pushing lies. I have posted the truth, and, provided links to back up my statements. When I ask the Right-Wingers to do the same, I get insults, name calling, and blocked. However, if we are going to claim that we are ethical humans (and I do not care if you are Atheist, Agnostic, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, or whatever) then, we MUST NOT condone and accept lies as acceptable.
- 4) Let us not demonize our opponents. President Obama, yesterday, made a very good point. He said: “Now, everybody is sad when their side loses an election, but the day after we have to remember that we’re actually all on one team. This is an intramural scrimmage. We’re not Democrats first. We’re not Republicans first. We are Americans first. We’re patriots first. “
Over the past decade, the tendency for one side to demonize the other has grown, and today, we are reaping the whirlwind from that evil seed. Democrats are not demons. Republicans are not demons. The fact that we have treated each other as such for so long is a big reason that the negative issues of society are so bad right now. It is very easy to push people into a little box and define what they are. However, as I have asked before…who believes that, when the election is over, and the Democrats and Republicans meet in their offices, that looking at each other as demons set on destroying the country is going to create an environment where the Nation will be improved? I am well aware that this is such an ingrained part of the scene that it will take years – if not decades – to change. However, if we want America to exist long enough to celebrate its third centennial, we had better get to working on it.
Pleasant dreams…
Bee Man Dave
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