The Election

[MrsK]

I am tired of getting screamed at. Every single night since this horrible election, I have gotten angry texts and phone calls from friends and family, literally demanding from me an explanation as to how this happened, and blaming me (apparently, I symbolize all people who voted for Trump). I am shocked at the absolute lack of sincere self-reflection I am hearing from my family/friends on WHY Clinton lost. Really? You think she lost because all Trump voters are racists? That's your analysis? Essentially, that the condescending "basket of deplorables" is correct? That is about as insightful as blaming Romney's loss on his 47% comment. That's not why he lost.

On that same note, I am shocked at my Republican friends who think we "won." News flash: we did not win. A lifelong Democrat hijacked the party, ran a sophomoric campaign, and remains unable to articulate an intelligent, informed conservative understanding of anything. He's a walking, talking bumpersticker, who's big accomplishment is that he won against a woman who could not come up with her own effective bumpersticker ("I'm with her"--yikes. That's the best you could come up with? That is substantively empty--not to mention incredibly ironic, since the arrow was pointing to the right.) Trump's election was not a Republican victory, other than to have helped down-ballot Republicans (unless you're Kelly Ayotte, I guess.) In my view, the Republicans need a post-mortem just as much as the Democrats do. The Republican message, the conservative message, did NOT sell. Better figure out why.

And I am sick of being called a racist. REALLY REALLY SICK OF IT. And it is such a well-accepted belief--that Trump voters are racist--popularized by the press, that it is socially acceptable to call someone a racist simply because they voted for Trump. And I am expected to nod and accept it. Nope. That is not a discussion; I will not be put in a position where I have to justify to you why I am not a racist. Calling someone a "racist" is really just a way to shut down conversation to assure oneself of a feeling of moral superiority. I was just like everyone else--in a suck-ass position that was not of my own making. I didn't like Trump. I didn't like Hillary. I tried to pick who I thought would do the least damage. You may not agree with my assessment of who will do the least damage, but that does not make me (1) motivated by racism, or (2) in denial about how incredibly crude and crass Trump is.

And I think the irony is rich. Never once--NEVER--did I demand that any of my Obama-voting friends explain to me how on earth they could justify their vote in light of Obama's condescension or Jeremiah Wright or anything else. I never called my Obama-voting friends racists, even though the Obama administration, in my view, has caused much damage to race relation. I respected the vote of my Obama-voting friends and I respected them. And I never rioted. And I never said that Obama was not my president.

I am really sick of this election.

I've been listening and thinking a lot about your response. You are correct. Neither Democrats nor Republicans won the presidential election. Republicans won Congress, which is the status quo. It's not my party but I can live with it. The Supreme Court is a mixed bag, which is what it should be and what I hope it will remain.

But the alt-right won the Executive. Trump eliminated any reasonable Republican candidate in the primaries. He may have run on the Republican ticket but he doesn't represent a mainstream Republican platform. He would not have won if he ran as a third party, as an alt-right candidate. If the choice was Trump on an alt-right ticket vs Clinton vs Any Reasonable Mainstream Republican, the Republican probably would have won.

The alt-right is scary. It is diametrically opposed to the liberal democratic platform which makes it frightening to many and attractive to many. While it is more in line with a conservative Republican platform in terms of birth control, abortion, gun control.... the alt-right is extreme and punitive in its positions. It supports our military but they are hawkish. It supports law enforcement but has no sensitivity to racial inequalities or constitutional protections.

Some would say that the alt-right are skinheads with degrees. They are organized and intelligent and have manipulated our country. They took advantage of the rift between Republicans and Democrats and also the pressure within the Republican party to maintain a united front. Our Republican representatives need to break ranks and take their party back.

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[MrsC]

I have stayed away from this because I don't even know where to begin, I still don't.
Something I read today both saddened and shocked me though. We live in a pretty conservative county right next to a mostly liberal one. It doesn't bother me outside of the fact that my vote counts for nothing. However, last week our school district had a board meeting where several parents showed up to demand that one board member resign. The reason....he posted anti-Trump statements on his private Twitter account on election night. That is all! He refused to resign, which I was happy to hear. It was a total ambush and completely unnecessary. It disgusts me. I want to move.

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[MrsK]

I have stayed away from this because I don't even know where to begin, I still don't.
Something I read today both saddened and shocked me though. We live in a pretty conservative county right next to a mostly liberal one. It doesn't bother me outside of the fact that my vote counts for nothing. However, last week our school district had a board meeting where several parents showed up to demand that one board member resign. The reason....he posted anti-Trump statements on his private Twitter account on election night. That is all! He refused to resign, which I was happy to hear. It was a total ambush and completely unnecessary. It disgusts me. I want to move.

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The idea that people are actually losing their jobs for disagreeing with the president is very frightening.

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[spotty_dog]

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else." -- Theodore Roosevelt

[spaz]

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else." -- Theodore Roosevelt

Love it! He has so many great quotes!