In a year that has already proven that impossible doesn't mean a thing, the American people took that to another extreme last night, voting Donald Trump to be our next president. And as I try to make sense of it all, a few bullet points:
- And that is why you don't call the election weeks out from the actual election. (Associated Press, take note.) I'm amazed at how so many otherwise reputable pollsters and news organizations got this so very wrong; somebody at the Freep has gotta be out of a job after calling Michigan for Hillary maybe 30 minutes after the polls closed.
- On "political correctness" and the last shreds of decorum in politics: Y'know, I'm about as much of a defender of the First Amendment as anybody you'll find. I mean, I work in talk radio; how could I not be? And the second unpopular speech becomes criminalized, it's a step towards an authoritarian government that runs contrary to everything this country stands for. That very principle is a big part of why I could never support Trump's candidacy. But if there's one thing I'm most disappointed about in this election process other than the result, it's the fact that a decent number of his supporters have taken their leader's "war on political correctness" to mean that they should be allowed to be a dick without repercussions. Worse yet is the fact that Trump's election appears to have emboldened morons like these to go out and terrorize people.
That said, it should go without saying that not all Trump supporters are racist, sexist, or homophobic; hell, the majority of them aren't. But there is clearly a loud, vocal subset of his supporters that would have every Muslim in this country shipped out or in an internment camp, that really are scared of the idea of white people no longer being the majority and see other races as inferior, or that believe the LGBT community isn't entitled to the same rights straight folk are. Thankfully, that's not the case among my friends, online or elsewhere, though if I'm wrong and you are one of these, kindly show yourself the door. Because if you think this is acceptable behavior in a civilized nation, you're clearly no friend of mine.
But as it turns out, throwing every nasty name in the book at Trump supporters didn't convince them not to vote for the guy. Keep in mind: the people you're hurling such invective at are still, in fact, people, and you still have to coexist with them for the next four years. Furthermore, you're going to have to win some of them over to have a chance to effect the change you want to see in this country. It's not just die-hard conservatives that voted for this guy, after all; I know at least a few independents and Bernie supporters that voted Trump in the general. While I don't agree with the decision, can you really blame them for not wanting to support a candidate and party that had the fix in for their guy from the start? And adding to the discord and division in this country isn't going to accomplish that, even if your cause is righteous.
- I am, however, skeptical of this narrative that "the people stood up against corruption": only one Senate seat and 6 House seats changed hands. How does this make any sense? The American people supposedly wanted change, and yet they voted to retain 98.5% of the Congress with some of the lowest approval ratings in history. Ya really do get the government you deserve, I suppose. And of course, there's still a vacancy in the Supreme Court to fill, and that will give the GOP control of every branch of the federal government for at least the next two years. I'm just hoping like hell Ginsburg hangs on til 2020.
- Does this mean we're finally done with Hillary Clinton running for President? I mean, by all logical rights, this shouldn't have been this close of a race. It's hard to imagine that any other potential Democratic candidate could have fared worse here. But the Democrats had to go and pick the person with the most possible baggage to run for the office because it was "her turn." And I don't wanna hear about how "third parties" did this to you; you knew how flawed your candidate was, and you didn't make a better choice in the primary. And yet, the people who pointed this out at the time were either ignored or even labeled sexist for not going all-in on Hillary, a rather odd turn considering that many of those cast protest votes for Jill Stein.
You can argue all you want about whether a Sanders candidacy would have gotten it done against Trump, but would he really have done worse? It's hard to see the "socialism" card being played as effectively against him as the "corruption" card was against Hillary, who had the misfortune of representing the status quo in a year where the people wanted change, while also having a fair share of scandal following her around, some of which had more substance than her backers would ever admit. Don't get your hopes up about another Sanders run, either; he'd be 79 on Inauguration Day 2020, making him by far the oldest man to ever take the office. Hopefully Liz Warren takes a run at it in the next cycle.
- I find it amusing that so many of the same people who have spent the last eight years telling anyone who will listen that Obama was "not my president," the people that were threatening to move to Texas and secede from the union if Hillary got elected, the people who yelled to anyone who would listen that the election would be "rigged" if Hillary won it, the people who have insisted that Obama isn't even a legitimate citizen, much less a legitimate president, are now telling everybody else to suck it up and get behind their guy. After, of course, the requisite gloating, which won't be forgotten come 2020. Somehow, the party that has thrown fits every step of the way since 2008 expects the other half of the country to get over it and fall in line behind their guy from day one. And as such, I'm inclined to cut President Trump as much slack as Obama has been given by the other side for the last eight years. Which is to say, none.
I'll say this much: if he does manage to make favorable trade deals, if his childcare proposals come to pass, if he addresses the rising cost of student loans, if he actually takes meaningful steps towards campaign finance reform, I'll be more than happy to give credit where due. At the same time, I will absolutely criticize and call him out when his policies hurt the American people. I worry for the friends of mine that finally got access to health care under the ACA, flawed program though it may be, and will most likely lose it under the new administration. I worry for the gay, lesbian, and transgender friends of mine who potentially stand to face legalized discrimination for being who they are. I worry that the environment is pretty much screwed unless Trump can be convinced that the prospect of climate change would be bad for his own business interests.
- But for all the talk during the campaign, I doubt that Trump will get most of the things he wants. Personally, I just want to be in the room when Trump tries to sell Congress on the idea of term limits and bans on lobbying and gets laughed out of the Capitol building. Of course, this also assumes he doesn't leave that idea by the wayside when he takes office. Do I hate the idea of him nominating at least one Supreme Court justice, if not more? Absolutely. Do I think conservatives are going to get their wish of having Roe v. Wade and Obergefell v. Hodges overturned? Honestly (and thankfully), I don't. Do I think Trump himself even wants those things? It's hard to say. He did come out and criticize North Carolina's HB 2 at times this year, though he has also somewhat defended it, and has stated in the past he would like to make sexual orientation a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (As for Mike Pence, supporter of gay conversion therapy and some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, that's another story.) Do I think "the wall" will get built? Absolutely not. Do I think the promised mass deportations will happen? Doubtful. Are those manufacturing jobs coming back? Not likely. Hell, even the most loathsome of his proposed assaults on the First Amendment won't happen; Congress wouldn't stand for it, and even the most conservative judges he could appoint would never uphold it. Of course, it's hard to know what he truly wants anyway, as his positions have shifted continuously over the years, and even quite a bit during this campaign.
Ultimately, as much as I'd like to jump on the doomsday bandwagon like some of my liberal friends, and as much as I find many of Trump's policy proposals to be positively reprehensible, this isn't going to be the last presidency in U.S. history. This country has survived a civil war, two World Wars, countless other military conflicts, stock market crashes, terrorist attacks, and some truly awful presidencies. (The 43rd comes to mind.) And yet, we're still here.
And if there's one other thing that gives me some semblance of comfort, it's this: there's still half of the country that feels the way I do, they're not going anywhere either, and their fight doesn't end because of one loss at the ballot box. Look, people, you're not moving to Canada, and rioting in the streets over the results of a fair election won't change the outcome. So take that energy and put it towards something productive, because there's a lot of work to be done to make sure the progress made in this country doesn't take a step backward. Get involved. Get informed. Make your voice heard. Hell, run for office. And, y'know, maybe put aside the "you're all a bunch of racist, sexist homophobes" rhetoric away for a while; if we're going to win hearts and minds, maybe blatantly insulting people isn't the best way to accomplish that.
- One final thought in all of this... In the span of a week, the Chicago Cubs won a World Series and Donald Trump got elected president. I'm almost forced to ask:
Might this be the Lions' year?
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