So where do we go from here, that is, those of us who didn’t vote for Trump?
On a feeling level I want to continue cursing the darkness, but my mind tells me that won’t do any good. So what now?
If we are honest, at a basic level there is not much we can do. Trump holds all the power.
If he does what he said he would do, we will soon be living in an ugly America. (If he doesn’t, he will prove he is the most effective shyster in history).
A Republican controlled Congress will also be up to no good, doing all the things they have dreamed of doing.
Look for them to cut Food Stamps, raise the eligibility age for Social Security, make Medicare a voucher program, renege on U.S. participation in the fight against global warming, and, of course, give more tax breaks to the “job creators,” you know, the people who are rich.
That leaves those of us who didn’t vote for Trump pretty much out in the cold for the foreseeable future.
So, again, where do we go from here?
I think the answer is that we keep doing what we have been doing, opposing everything Trump tries to do that goes against our commitment to compassion, justice, and fairness.
That is what I plan to do. I have heard the calls for all of us to try to get along, but that is like saying all the world needs is love.
Sounds good until you step into the real world of people like Stephen Bannon, Trump’s Senior Advisor, who is an anti-Semitic, racist, Nationalist.
That appointment confirms what common sense told us to begin with. Donald Trump is the same person today he was before he was elected.
He is just as unfit and unqualified to be president today as he ever was. The only thing the election changed was who has political power and who does not.
As Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson recently wrote: “No one should pretend that Trump will be a normal president. No one should forget the bigotry and racism of his campaign, the naked appeals to white grievance, the stigmatizing of Mexicans and Muslims. No one should forget the jaw-dropping ignorance he showed about government policy both foreign and domestic. No one should forget the vile misogyny. No one should forget the mendacity, the vulgarity, the ugliness, the insanity. None of this must ever be normalized in our politics.”
But my continued opposition extends to Trump supporters as well, most especially evangelicals.
I have never believed they represented genuine Christianity, and the more than 65% support they gave Trump proved that for me beyond doubt.
A faith that would lead someone to support Donald Trump is the kind of faith I never want to have.
So I plan to continue criticizing the beliefs and practices of evangelicals who sold their soul for political gain.
That’s my plan, continuing to say and do what I have been saying and doing.
Who knows, I may even end up in the streets with kids a lot younger than I am, if opposing a Trump presidency and a Republican Congress requires it.
I think they truly understand the threat our nation is facing.
If good things happen during Trump’s tenure, I will applaud it, but in the meantime, this is not a time to withdraw or to pretend like all the things that frightened us during the campaign have suddenly gone away.
They haven’t, and neither should we. After all, Trump won, but we represent the majority of those who voted, and I suspect most of those who didn’t.
Should we dare borrow a phrase we actually loathe and say, “We want to take back our country.”
For the first time I think that actually has a ring of truth to it.
The Gray Panthers are alive and well. We’ shall overcome! …again! We helped end a war, we can dump Trump! …at least his wrong-headed policy and actions! It’s becoming clear we need a united resistance to Trump’s taking America into a full oligarchy.
I like your thoughts Rollie!
This didn’t post in my email, Rollie. Sorry. Right on!
I’m with you Jan. The appointment of Bannon speaks volumes of who Trump is and will continue to be. I will accept Trumo as president but no way in hell will I accept his hateful agenda. Like so many others, I too long for a less devided country but that seems unlikely when divisiveness was at the heart of his campaign. Words matter as does his record.
Wilbur, I’m afraid we have to say, “And now it begins.” What a sad chapter in American history.
He might hold power over us externally but not our power from within. As Rollie mentioned: We’ shall overcome!
Monica, that hope is born of faith, ultimately, shaken as it may be.
It’s hard to accept that I am praying that the leader of my country is indeed the snake oil salesmen I have come to think he is, and that his campaign was a pack of lies.
Sara, I think all of us would like to be wrong about him, but nothing in the past or present suggests we are. If you are praying at all you are ahead of me at the moment. I confess that I have not yet reached the point where I can offer any prayer related to Trump.
Listened Hillary speak tonight in DC at CHildren’s Defense Fund award ceremony. She looked completely wiped out but her words were powerful. They only made me more sad and angry to even begin to wonder how she must feel. Our nation’s heart ( majority… over 1 mil more votes for her than DT) ache for her as we ache for ourselves loss in leadership and inspiration.
DCPS HS students ( 6,000) took to the streets yesterday.
A favorite sign read ” Will give you 1 Donald Trump for 10,000 refugees”
Children are bewildered, angry, scared. This motivates me more than anything.
Dixcy, this terrible decision may unify progressives to do more for the things we believe in than we have been doing. That is my commitment. I know it is yours as well.
Jan, thank you! I haven’t been following your blog regularly. Now I’ve signed up. It is good to have support. I have been tempted to hide in my Tahoe Hobbit hole for the next 4 years and I know I mustn’t do that. “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” Blessings – Susan
Susan, thank you for following my blog. The Hobbit quote is perfect! A reminder of what we all must do, difficult as it is. No time to retreat now.
As a “heart driven” and “big picture” person I identified most to your own feeling of disappointment with the “democratic party” in your last blog. They have not been “progressive”, supportive of the middle working classes, for decades choosing instead to adopt for governing the elite visions of neoliberalism (privatization, financialization, commodification etc.). Bill Clinton’s administration catapulted those values with the cancellation of Glass-Steagall, supporting NAFTA, dropping Aid to Families with Dependent Children etc. Purely elitist, technocratic and corporatist. I recently responded to a mass email from Senator Warren by telling her (or her staff) that the #1 thing the DNC must do to revive itself is to simply become PROGRESSIVE again! There are already some signs of this potential but we’ll all have to promote that in whatever ways we can. Thanks for this thoughtful post
So glad you sent your message to Senator Warren’s office, Bob. If enough of us do that, they are bound to get the message, given the massive loss the election represents.
Jan,
My even greater concern than this despicable man occupying the White House is that those who voted for him embrace the feelings of racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and religious intolerance that he was able to exploit. These people with those views include family members, friends, neighbors and those who attend our churches. They were there before this election and will be there in the future, regardless of what/how Trump does. This is the truly scary part — and is what we must call-out, address and never compromise with! Thank you as always for providing the framework for such action! Bill
We will do it together, Bill. That’s for sure.
“If you repeat a lie enough, people will start to believe it.” concerning all the “isms” you mentioned. Personally I don’t believe Trump to be racist, etc., etc. etc. The Dems got it wrong–they seem to think the election was about “personality” and Hillary pushed that into the ground, along with media. Too many people were ridiculing, hounding Rep. voters, and finally HRC used the term “Deplorables” for Rep. voters. Bad mistake. Late night “comedy” got it wrong, talk show hosts got it wrong. It was NEVER about personality–it was about policy, programs, platforms. The Government is/was not working FOR the people; it was working to maintain “the swamp” who were enriching themselves and leaving the common man jobless and helpless. Even now, after Brexit and USA elections, Australians are “getting the message” to get big government off their backs. People do NOT want global government. I was asked by a friend in CA who was a HRC voter, “What’s going to happen to this country when Clinton wins? Will the Republicans revolt? Will Trump cause trouble?” Well, the shoe actually is on the other foot! Republicans never caused any “street trouble” when Obama won and they didn’t like it; but look at the behavior of the Dems now !! It’s “deplorable” to see the streets of some cities. The Dem party is in disarray, starting notably at the convention where Debbie W-S was found out. Later when Donna B. cheated. What do the Dems say about the ethics of those things? Seems there’s lots of corruption in the party that needs looking at. Clinton policies which she didn’t emphasize too much were just too unimportant in the big picture for A LOT of people; so they just shut up (to avoid the mocking ridicule) and just flipped her off and voted Trump. Bottom line: WHY do Dems think that they are “entitled” to Rule Forever anyway??
I don’t know what planet you are living on, but it isn’t earth. Nothing of what you described was what went on in the election. Trump offered no policies, just racist, homophobic, religious discrimination talk, and disrespect for women and the handicap. After she interviewed him, reporter Andrea Mitchell commented that he didn’t know one thing about any place in the world.
If Trump is not a racist, what do you call his questioning of President Obama’s birthplace? It’s easy for you to dismiss it, if you are white, which I assume you are. But dismissing it is disgusting, frankly. Trump choosing Bannon as his top advisor shows the kind of man he truly is.
There is much that was and is wrong with the Democratic Party, but Republicans have not done one thing to help middle income Americans. Never had. Remember who was president in 1928 when the Great Depression hit? Now y you want to ignore the fact that they are the ones who caused the 2008 economic collapse aswell, and then President Obama had to fight them every step of the way to save us from going under as a country. I am sick of hearing people say get the government of their backs. Just what do you not want to government to do – drop Medicare (you may see that happen now), drop Social Security, drop Medicaid, drop Wall Street regulations again after they sand the country in 2008, stop maintaining roads and bridges, or making sure food is safe? Just how is your life impaired by the government, and then ask yourself how your life is better because of it.
I suggest you get you do some serious research before you make the kinds of claims you make.
Oh, good grief. DT mouth isn’t “politically correct” is well known; still not the issue, or did I not say that already. Also, check websites on birth certificate–there are those who “say” it is fake; however, people are letting go of making it an issue anymore. I know something about Social Security numbers: smaller numbers start in the eastern USA (200’s, 300’s), and get larger as you go westward–400’s in MN, IA, MO, AK etc. 500’s in ND, SD, NE, etc. Obama’s SSN is numbered where he never lived, was used by another person, now deceased. So . . . we let that one go too. As far as cutting government, start with regulations that businesses want cut back, simply for reasons of ultra-paperwork. Give Medicaid to the states to determine, which takes out a level of “administration costs” for starters. Return education to the states to compete for improving public education. Allow vouchers so kids can flee their horrible school and get to private education institutions. Quit federalizing everything when it doesn’t have to be federalized to be efficient or effective.
Everything about the “birther” movement was a racist lie. To suggest that in spite of what you try to imply are reasons to believe Trump was right, people have “let it go” is the equivalent of saying whites in my native South “let go” of segregation. Acts of racism are not something you “let go.” They are something for which you repent. And it is a hell of a lot more than not being “politically correct.” Your suggestion that that is what it was for Trump is an insult to every person of color in this nation.
Get your own blog if you think anyone wants to listen to you.
Let’s not forget how he also wants to roll back the hard won environmental policies to save the earth for us and future generations. One bright spot is some clean energy is making more business sense now. Fewer places actually run on coal.
Amy, you have named what is probably the most threatening issue we face as a nation and world. That Trump and Republicans want to ignore it and even go backwards is both a sin and a crime. Thanks for the reminder.