I will not cast myself on the hot coals and suffer because the election did not turn out as I hoped. Like Howard the Duck, we appear at this early hour to have have managed to elect a smart-ass cartoon figure, but sadly what can you do now. As it turns out there are some silver linings.
Republicans now have to make some hay. They have for a decade wrought only vitriol and contempt failing in almost every regard to deal with the issues of the country in anything approximating a meaningful way. Now they must do what they promised -- find a better version of Obama Care (they won't but I hope the ball has been moved a bit), solve the Syrian situation (they can't and expect to hear a lot about how Obama is to blame for quite some time), and find a way to end the dreadful deficit they've moaned on about for years now (they will sort of forget about it now that they have the bill). Usually Republicans just pass their tax cuts and quickly lose interest, but this time I suspect they will have to lift and tote a bit more before they can report back to corporate headquarters.
They will have to continue doing what they've been forced to do for most of the campaign since they were trounced by Trump and that is to make excuses for a spectacularly crude fellow who in all likelihood might be the most contemptible bloke to stumble into the White House. (At least all that hand-wringing moralizing about Bill's infidelities will finally disappear I hope.) That he will bring along his better-seen-than-heard wife and his odious family is going to offer up ripe opportunities for the comedy shows. (I hope they were serious about all that no political correctness stuff...just saying.) I imagine the GOP will get mighty weary of the dope they've hung around all our necks before this shebang is over with.
And they've got a "great big beautiful wall" to build. (No mention of it in his acceptance speech I noticed. Hmm.) Now it's been little discussed in recent days, but if the Donald doesn't build it he'll lose his cred pretty much instantly (and hopefully his incessant lying will rub folks a bit rawer as President) and when he builds it, the rest of his cred will wither away when it doesn't really change things much. All those jobs he's been promising to desperate folks in rust-belt states that truly deserved better service from their politicians had better start popping up. I don't think Trump voters are the wait and see kind anymore, not when they've been promised a return to glory days which have only somewhat to do with trade deals and a lot to do with technology.
For the Democrats it's a great day as we can finally shake the hoary Clinton mystique once and for all. I was never a fan of Hillary and never wanted anyone of her generation to take the helm after Obama. Giving the nod to Hillary was a wave to history (a wave goodbye as it turns out) and a move mindful of what the GOP did for Dole way back when. It wasn't her turn; it's no one's turn and the sooner we learn that lesson once and for all, things will get better for all of us. What was and is still needed is new blood, new ideas and fresh notions about how to actually improve the lives of citizens in these United States. Berni tapped that need and desire for fresh ideas and after four years of the shine rubbing off of Trump's overeager promises maybe, just maybe this country will once again be in the mood for some good governance. If the Dems are smart (not yet proven) they will prepare for that day.
So I see the arrival of the Trump era as just four more years where I will pay less attention to the news and read more dandy novels and comics and see more fine films. Politics is something I need to wean out of my system for a while, like any toxin.
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Many years ago, my dad was up for a promotion at work. It came down to a choice between him and a lady named Cheryl; Cheryl got the promotion, and Dad was really upset about it.
ReplyDeleteCheryl was starting her new position on a Monday. That weekend, Dad was working around the house and threw out his back, really really bad. By Sunday night, he could barely move.
On Monday morning, there was Dad at the kitchen table in his shirt and tie eating breakfast. I could tell he was in tremendous pain, but he was eating toast and drinking coffee.
"Why are you all dressed up?" I asked.
"I'm going to work," he said.
He went; I think he only stayed half the day, then came home at lunch and stayed home for a couple of days until his back sorted itself out.
Later, I asked Dad why he went to work that day. "You were hurt, you had a legitimate reason to stay home," I said, "Why put yourself through the agony of going to work?"
Dad said, "If I didn't go to work that day, everyone would think it was because I was upset Cheryl got the job and I didn't. I'm not going to let people think I'm petty like that."
That was an important lesson to me: there are times when you don't get your way... but those are the times you have to put aside your anger and disappointment and keep moving forward.
I'm disappointed with how the Election went. I dread what could happen during a Trump presidency. Nonetheless, I will support my government, my nation, and my president to the best of my ability, because that's what Americans do. We're not called the "United" States for nothing.
Respect the office, even if you don't respect the office holder. That makes sense to me, I'm a chain-of-command guy myself. That requires trust and loyalty though at some basic level and I've had bosses who didn't have those traits, and we now have a national leader who truly doesn't have the personal qualities to leader, but he is. Maybe he'll get better now that the weight of responsibility is on him and his shooting from the hip style will cause all sorts of mayhem. Maybe.
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Not the outcome I wanted either, but I hope we don't all totally disengage and retreat to our comics because of this.( I probably will need a few days away to decompress, though.) I think at the very least we can bear witness so we don't have to keep learning the same lessons. With all branches of government in one party's control, it's in their self-interest to not be overtly destructive and to perhaps even make some advances for those who elevated them (cutting corporate taxes will not work with these guys this time). In two years, an easily disappointed base could toss them out of Congress. What this indescribably weird event has done for us is to upend the fossilized establishment in both parties (one in particular) and may force them to think more about affecting peoples' lives and less about personal entrenchment. What we may have to understand is that the hate that so mightily grips our people comes, like all hate, from fear. If we face each other and try to understand without prejudice, the hate may go away.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding myself laughing a lot as I already hear the Republicans backing up the train as they realize the extremism that's been bandied about is now actually thought by some to be done. Trump has never been the problem, it's the folks who normalize his behavior and stand aside while he pushes over yet one more norm. Now that he's at the top of the heap, I suspect he'll learn that his footing is very unstable and he'll loathe the constant pressures of the job pretty quickly.
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Utterly stunned. I can’t even get my head around this yet…Sort of feels like when Bush/Cheney won reelection in 2004 – only worse…
ReplyDeleteTrump will pass. They all do. I'm now twelve Presidents come and soon enough go. Many were fine men, a few were real assholes. Need I say more. Be strong.
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