Wednesday, November 9, 2016

2016 US election: I am looking at you...

I think it helps to write things out, it makes you feel better about a situation.  I have avoided posting anything political for this election season, but now that it is done I wanted to share some of my thoughts. 

1. I am looking at you America. This is the 2nd most embarrassed I have ever been to being an American in my life.  As someone who has spent the majority of their adult life outside of the US, and who spent a lot of time outside the US during the Bush administration; it's going to make it harder to be outside the US.  Apart from that, I am simply dumbfounded that someone who says and does the things he does was voted in by the American people.  This is not an America I represent, and not an America I want to be a part of. 

2. I am looking at you social media.  I am not going to post something about how this is the time to move on from our differences and lets all try to work together.  I don't think we should stop fighting against racism, fear, misogyny, and all of the other hateful things that Trump promotes.  Also, it's important to remember that 90% of the things he says he will do, probably (hopefully!) will never happen.  

3. I am looking at you Hillary.  You just couldn't play a clean game could you?  There's a preschool lesson here: Cheaters never prosper.  I mean, seriously, who really cares about a bunch of emails that may or may not contain classified information?  People praised Snowden for sharing that stuff with the rest of us.  There's no doubt that you had sensitive, embarrassing and probably politically condemning information on it, but you just had to cheat & lie.  It was just one more thing to stack on the pile, then you had to cheat Bernie out of the running.  We get that you really wanted to be president, but you lost to TRUMP!  How did that even happen?!?  People saw you as just another part of the political machine.  You must come across as really sleazy, if the Donald Trump, who's made a career of being awful, seems like a better person than you. And now, we are stuck with him, all because you couldn't win with out cheating, and you got busted. 

4. I am looking at you Democratic party.  At the last election, I criticized the Republican party for not putting up a competitive candidate.  In a period where the country was tired of the 1%, they put up a 1%-er (Mitt Romney).  I thought, "Read the room, Republicans".  Then in a year where the country is fed up with the ineffective political machine, where people are tired of two-faced politicians, the Democrats put up the Queen of the Machine.  Does she have the qualifications? of course!  Was she experienced? definitely! She probably would have been a great president, but she was Claire Underwood  (the similarities are uncanny).  She was a part of a political system that people were just sick off.  She was not someone people were excited about, she was someone that seemed less horrible than a dirty old man.

5. I am looking at you Republican Christians.  There has not been a single argument from a Christian that I have heard that has legs.  "He says he's a Christian" So does Hillary, and she's been saying it since the 90s (or earlier for all I know), and he just started saying it at the start of this election cycle.  "She's a liar"  So is he, check any fact checker. Don't kid yourself that there isn't a politician out there that hasn't lied a TON, it's all part of the game. Saying horrible things is not "telling it like it is", it's just being mean/ un-Christlike. "She wants to kill babies"  Again, so did he until this election cycle, conveniently.  But we can tack all of those up to partisanship.  What it came down to Christians, is that most of you had a stronger connection to a political party than what you say is true.  This is a guy who has bragged about sexually assaulting women.  He confessed to doing these things.  He encouraged violence at rallies.  He made numerous racist remarks. And while media has downplayed this aspect, he has been married 3 times, because of marital infidelity, and bragged about trying to get a women to cheat on her husband with him. But, apparently, all of this is not as bad as someone who is probably/allegedly/ok-almost-definitely a liar?  I don't get it, I have never seen him act in a way that would make me think- "hmmm, this is the guy for conservative Christians."  Sure, you like Mike Pence, and he matches your values, but he is not the President, and it's not likely he will be. Trump has made it abundantly clear that Mike will not be charge, and that he is his own man.    

6. I am looking at you Baby Boomers.  Wow, you guys came out to vote. Way to go. Just like Brexit, the youth of a nation have been impacted by a group of disenfranchised (mostly white) boomers.  The world is changing, it has changed.  Trump's antiquated view of the world is destructive, and doesn't represent the direction the world is going. I am sorry you didn't feel welcomed in this world, and you felt the need to "make America great again", but that America you remember wasn't great for everyone. [Fortunately for us, this is a 4 year deal, sorry UK.]

7. If nothing else late night television is going to have a great 4 years.  Donald Trump is an entertainer, and he will certainly entertain... (I just hope it's not at the expense of others)

Ok, whew, that feels good to get off of my chest.

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