Several friends asked me this morning why I haven’t written
a blog about the election. In reality, I
started to write several times, but found the words hard to come by. I am stunned, disheartened, and afraid. My mind is muddled today by the confusion
over the outcome of the election, and the extreme fear of the future. There are many excellent thought pieces being
posted online this morning. Most express my feelings, and perhaps yours, better
than I can today. You can seek them out.
Briefly, my basic thoughts on the Trump victory … he tapped
into several kegs, not any one of which could fill his glass alone but
collectively added up to enough electoral votes (though apparently not enough
popular votes) to bring him victory. He
was excellent, a master, at painting a dark picture of America that was largely
false … and he promised with few details to bring us out of the depths of this
great make-believe chasm. It is
difficult to turn down a promise like that.
He was also very successful at awakening the racist
underbelly of America that had been slumbering under decades of both Republican
and Democratic presidencies. Like it or
not, his anti-Muslim, anti-Mexican, anti-women, anti-LGBT rants (along with
supporters from the KKK) found an audience that finally had a candidate who
espoused their views.
He was also very good at personally attacking his opponents
in such a way that his vapid characterizations became reality in the eyes of
some voters. Using rude childish behavior with demeaning catch words such as “lying,”
“little,” “stupid,” “crooked” he painted all his challengers as unfit
candidates and human beings. Like
calling a kid on a school yard “big ears,” or “four-eyes,” you do it enough and
it begins to stick.
He also was running
against a deeply flawed candidate whose baggage bogged her down (and of course,
no favors were done by Mr. Comey’s fourth quarter interference). His unconventional (and some may argue unlawful)
threats of arresting his “nasty” opponent and his encouragement of cries to “lock
her up” all added up for a Trump victory.
Though highly qualified, Ms. Clinton suffered in likability and represented
the establishment that Mr. Trump made voters feel is the problem.
Finally, I can’t go without expressing my thoughts that the
news media has become an embarrassment and is largely responsible for the
outcome of this election … particularly the broadcast media. Many newspapers did admirable jobs of covering
the issues, but with so few people reading print anymore, the power of the
press had been hugely diminished.
Television, for the most part, grasped onto the entertainment brought by
a TV reality star turned politician granting him unfettered access to “news”
broadcasts with little analysis of substance.
It is easy for TV stations to cherry pick the most salacious and titillating
soundbites which lure in viewers for the entertainment factor. TV news did a deplorable job of providing any
insight into this election and the issues.
And while they can now go back to their regular fare of car chases and
neighborhood stabbings, their shortcomings in providing a public service (for
both candidates) should prompt outrage among the dwindling number of
viewers.
This morning, Mr. Trump said he wants to bring us all
together. After his incendiary talk
during the campaign, that may be extremely difficult to do. As Hilary Clinton spoke live this morning
several hours after Trump’s plea, traders on the floor of the New York Stock
Exchange broke into chants of “Lock her up.” And Trump surrogates appearing on
a handful of talk shows today reiterated their candidate’s demands that people
be rounded up, jailed, and deported immediately. The candidate who depicts Mexicans as rapists
and murderers, who mocks an individual with a physical disability, who calls
for a ban on people based on their religion has a long way to go to bring us
all together.
I will likely lose some “friends” on Facebook after this,
and that is fine with me. This morning,
I actually unfriended two “friends” who were gloating about the Trump victory
in language reflecting the unleashed bravado that their candidate exhibited. They won’t see what I write here now because
I have unfriended them, not for their political views, but rather for
displaying the type of hatred that I am afraid Mr. Trump has legitimized through
his fiery rhetoric and threats.
As of this writing, more than half of those who cast their
votes did not want Trump to win. Yet he
is the new president. I will support him
as best as I can, which admittedly will not be an easy task for someone I find
so morally, socially, and politically reprehensible.
