Deanie87

Not sure exactly where this belongs, but I guess here is as good as anyplace. So just as a follow up, I called pretty much all of my Congressmen, my governor and Speaker Ryan's office. Here are the results: Speaker Ryan's mailbox is full (LOL.) He has a numbered directory per issue, but you can just leave a general message (when the box is not full I guess.) My governor is Larry Hogan a Republican who did not endorse Trump. (Although he is angling to get the FBI HQ in MD so we'll see how that goes). Anyway, they were relatively polite and told me that they would pass on my message and concerns. My congressman is Elijah Cummings and I know that he is working hard to keep Trump in line so I pretty much just offered my concerns and my support for his efforts. They seemed to be thrilled to hear from me and told me to keep up the good work. The other congressmen/women in my state are Democrats except one. They were all nice and thanked me for calling. Now the office of the lone Republican, Andy Harris, was not quite as thrilled to hear from me. I started in on my spiel and the female staffer interrupted me and asked where I got the idea to call the office from. She asked me if I got it online off of some partisan website. I told her that no, I was very concerned and was calling Speaker Ryan, the Governor and all of the Maryland representatives. She then said that this was about the 17th call she had gotten about Bannon and Trump today. I started to explain that as MD's lone Republican that Harris had a responsibility to his state, but she cut me off, thanked me for my call and disconnected. Now, this particular district is home to the Klan seat in Maryland so I am not shocked, but wow. I now encourage all Marylanders out there to call and make their opinions heard.

That is exactly how I feel. I never understand what is going on from one episode to the next. Also, HOW HARD IS IT TO KILL CHARLIE????? My god, push him down the steps, feed him to a tiger, poison his drink, plant a bomb in his bed and blame it on the terrorists! More than one person on this show is a killer or at least an accomplice, why not do the world a favor and kill someone who deserves it?! Are you telling me that whats her name in the fantastic blue turban can't mix a bit of rat poison in his sidecar? Good lord. Also, what the hell with Ralph and Alice (just got the significance of their names, by the way)? I feel like the writers have sort of been hinting at some sort of unsavory relationship between them, but now he is just ready to turn into Charlie the Second and order her around. Not that she seems to be capable of more than wearing flouncy dresses and blinking away non-existent tears that actress can't quite produce. Ralph used to be interesting and complex, but he is dead to me too now. The only thing I'm rooting for now is for the Scottish Outlander to get gay-married to Aafrin's father because they are just about the only two that I can stomach on the show anymore, and even Aafrin's dad is pushing it LOL!

Where is Anonymous when you need them?

I'm beginning to think that they will just skip the trial altogether and there will be a time jump, per usual and we will hear all about it when the show returns. I haven't really seen much about the trial itself, other than Jo saying she has to testify. There haven't been any court scenes in the promos and as far as I'm aware, no BTS court stuff. I really wanted to see Alex's defense and his real time reaction to the verdict, as well as Jo and DeLuca's testimony, but it just doesn't seem to be happening. It doesn't really makes sense for the show to return with the trial, that seems much more of a cliffhanger-y thing, but a lot about the show doesn't make sense to me these days so it won't surprise me.

Yup. And I live in Rockville. It's like these racists were holed up in a bunker or something, just waiting for the call/signal to go full hog. It's not even isolated incidents-it's like the tommy gun effect or something. My mind can't wrap itself around what's going on. Hi guys! I'm in Ellicott City and grew up in PG County, and it is just depressing watching that on the news and especially the response. As I mentioned, I have gotten 3 emails home from our school district since the election, and of course my school district includes Columbia, MD, which is supposed to be such a beacon of diversity and hope. It's really sad. I am going to call our one Republican congressman today along with our Republican governor. I doubt it will help (especially with the Governor) but I feel that it is the special responsibility of the sane and moderate Republicans to be vigilant and to ensure that Trump and his minions be held in check. They as a party allowed him to be their candidate, so they need to be held accountable. Of course it is ALL of our duty, Democrat, Republican or somewhere in between to keep this country's liberty intact and to be vigilant, but I still feel that the Republicans really need to be held accountable.

Why do you say it's ridiculous? I live in a pretty diverse area and I have gotten 3 emails in the last two days from my son's school district about racial incidents that have occurred in the wake of the election. Look around, this isn't an isolated event. Just because you and yours may not be affected by the ugliness that Trump's candidacy and victory have encouraged doesn't mean it isn't happening. I seriously doubt anyone in Oprah's orbit is feeling the effects either.

Have there been any examples, anywhere, at any time in his life that Trump has helped anyone ever, if it didn't also benefit him? I am truly asking. He claims that he has given millions away to charity, but a very dogged reporter looking for signs of it, never found it. His foundation certainly wasn't legit, nor was his University. Most of the other candidates, Democrat and Republican, have some kind of charitable giving, activism, platforms, etc. somewhere on their resume, but I don't think I've seen anything resembling that on Trump's. But, yeah, maybe he will become a new person once he's in office.

I got Stephanie's point to a degree, but I also saw it as a conciliatory gesture on Jo's part because they had just patched things up. Rather than Jo trying to find an excuse for why Stephanie was so good, I thought Jo was trying to find common ground. Again, I see Stephanie's point, but I thought that her over the top reaction was uncalled for.

I don't want an apology from Trump because it won't mean anything. What I do want is for him to come and "tell it like it is" to his more rabid followers and denounce the attacks that have been happening and denounce the KKK and denounce the very ugly factions who hold him as their savior. THAT is what I need from him and he just doesn't seem to want to do it. Which kind of sucks for him because they are going to be his problem now. I still don't think that he quite understands that he is expected to lead this entire country, and not just the MAGA Pepe the Frog contingent. You want to know about real life consequences? I have gotten 3 emails from my son's school district in the last 2 days about racially motivated incidents in the schools. That is happening all over the country. Those of his followers who ARE racist are now emboldened and seem to believe that this is what The Donald wants from them. So hooray for all of those people who don't have to worry about this kind of stuff, good for you. But lets not pretend that the people who are feeling the effects of what this election has brought forth are worrying for nothing. And as for being weak and falling on our knees in despair, JFC its been all of 3 days since he won, people have a right to their reactions. The anger and the strength and the fight will come, and it will come sooner than later.

That is truly and respectfully what I was asking in my post above. What motivated you (assuming you voted for him) and how do you feel about the bigoted stuff that he and some of his more rabid supporters have said and done? I'm sorry, but I can't just pretend that Trump didn't say or do those things. If they didn't bother you then that's my answer. If they did, but you voted for him anyway, then I sincerely want to know why. Personally, it was unacceptable to me therefore I couldn't vote for him, though I didn't love Hillary. But I get that it wasn't that unacceptable to others because clearly they voted for him, and I am sincerely wondering about that. I am not calling anyone in this forum a racist or a bigot, but like it or not, Trump is, or at the very least, he doesn't reproach those of his followers who are.

For whatever this is worth, my husband works for a German company and talks with Germans and colleagues from other countries all day long, and has done for over a decade. The day after the election, his colleagues were very upset and very worried about the US. One person in particular actually told him, "this is how it begins." Now, I don't know this person, I wasn't on the call, and my husband has said that many of the Germans that he works with are a bit disdainful of America in general LOL! BUT they take this kind of stuff very, very seriously and they are super, duper vigilant about it as well, and will not tolerate any kind behavior (even jokingingly) that may seem to include even a whiff of fascism, etc. At least at my husband's company and at least among every single German that he works with. I will say that this really gave my husband pause and he came downstairs quite shaken after that conversation.

And if I'm not mistaken there was some lube and other things in plain view on the bedside table. That could do it too!

So I guess I'll respectfully ask those who voted for Trump if they can understand the point of view of those who are now sad and sincerely afraid, either for their personal safety or for the future of our country. And if so, how do you feel about that? Do you think that people are overreacting? Do you think that Trump was misunderstood? Do you agree that Trump said some truly despicable things, but that this is just politics as usual or is it more that, "yeah he's not real nice, but his threats and hate don't affect me or anyone that I really care about so it's worth it?" Is it just because you always vote Republican no matter what? Do you truly have no reservations about supporting a candidate who was endorsed by the KKK and white supremacy groups, and never renounced them? Or is it that again, it doesn't affect anyone you know personally, so it doesn't really matter to you? I guess what I"m trying to understand is how all of these non-bigoted, open-minded people justify the things that they heard him and many of his supporters say and do (and I do mean heard and said because its on both audio and video, its not just rumor or a photoshopped meme)? To me, it seems that for Trump supporters, it is either that whatever "change" he is going to bring is worth fellow Americans feeling unsafe and unwanted in their own country, at the very least, or that on some level, they agree with his positions? What is it that I'm missing? For those Trump supporters who want to celebrate his win and praise the upcoming administration, I would suggest starting a new thread. I doubt many people from here will bother you there.

Is it bad that I would have been semi-okay with the hairy, bearded Frank being under the sheet, but now I will be 100% devastated if its buzz-cut, clean-shaven, shirtless, Frank? Because I will be. He and Bonnie have renewed my interest in this show and I desperately need them to be together. The collegiate canoodling of Wes/Laurel/Asher/Michaela will be put to shame beside the dysfunctional, murderous, orphan love Fronnie/Bank. God and Annalise willing.

I think that these are great points. But now that Trump is filling the swamp right back up with all the people that are part of the problem, and he is doing the things that people hated Hillary for (getting into bed with Wall Street, etc.), where do these people go from here? When their lives DON"T get better and Trump isn't the ONLY ONE who can fix things, then what? When the dreaded Obamacare is rolled back and people still can't get affordable insurance or any insurance? This is all going to become apparent sooner rather than later. So what happens then? Trump is a con artist and I think even his supporters will come to see that eventually. I just hope that things don't get too drastic before that happens.

Ok, so I guess Trump is slated to be the next President (I say slated because I am not 100% convinced that he will actually go through with it.) Going forward, how is this going to work? He now is the leader of the entire country, not just the rah-rah kool-aid drinkers at his rallies. I don't think that he is capable of understanding WHY people are protesting against him or WHY the disgusting things that he said during the campaign have people truly frightened. So now, I NEED journalists to sit down and force him to reconcile all of this, to the point that he is capable, and to have his posse address these things as well. Not deny that he ever said them, not downplay what he said or say that it was misconstrued, but actually and truly take responsibility for this stuff. And all of the hypocritical Republicans who are now falling over themselves to work with him, THEY need to be held accountable too, and I want to hear specifics on how they are going to control him and stop this country from becoming a dictatorship or fascist regime. They also need to admit that they understand why people are so unhappy with Trump. I'm not asking them to sympathize because they never, ever will, but I want to hear that they understand. As far as the whys, it just doesn't make sense to me. People say that want someone who is not a political insider. Well, they're getting Guiliani and Gingrich. They say that they want an end to corruption (I mean, really, with this guy) and biased media. Well, welcome to Goldman Sachs and Breitbart (not even Fox news but fucking Breitbart!). These are the people he is going to surround himself with. At the same time, he HAS to walk back some of the stuff he said. He can't jail Hillary, he can't force Mexico to pay for a wall, he can't magically bring factory jobs back to Detroit. So WHO exactly is going to be happy with him at the end of the day? And I just can't imagine that he is going to be able handle losing support from all sides. I know people who have voted for Trump (though they absolutely will not admit it now that he has actually won, go figure), and they can't/couldn't advocate for Trump without saying HIllary's name. I didn't love HIllary either, but I could go on about her qualifications without ever mentioning Trump's name. How are the many lawsuits pending against him going to work? How will his banishment of the press work? How will his many conflicts of interest work? How is a man with his temperment and narcissism going to lead a country with this much division? Sure, Obama did it, some may argue with the degree of success, but Trump is not Obama (understatement of the year). I understand that he has a republican congress, but I'm not even talking about lawmaking. I'm talking about leadership and governance. How will he be able to do it? ETA - because I was posting before the Harry Reid stuff came out. Maybe I am being delusional, but the stuff that Harry Reid just said, is the stuff that I need to hear from Paul Ryan, Mike Pence, Preibus, etc. I know better than to think that I will EVER hear from Rudy or Newt, but I need someone in the Republican party to acknowledge who their candidate is and what they are going to do to control him. One last edit, because while I do need to hear acknowledgments about what their candidate is, they can shove their calls for unity up their asses. Trump won based on a campaign of hatred and divisiveness. Calls for unity from him and his ilk now that they are actually in charge of this unholy mess, are completely meaningless.

I'm sure that Jo isn't telling Alex. My hope is that she is telling someone who Alex trusts, like Mer, Arizona or even Richard, so that Jo will have someone sympathetic in her court when Alex finds out. My guess, though, is that it is Stephanie or Leah, who are in no position to advocate for Jo with Alex at all. And I guess the trial won't start until after the break. Good god the pacing on this show is atrocious.

Ok. I have been reading this thread, but haven't posted. But today I have reached my limit (which I guess is pretty good, all things considered) and made my one and only political post on FB. It was in response to a relatively mild post from one of my acquaintances from college. The poor thing was simply lamenting that she wasn't excited to vote and she was sad that she had to vote for the lesser of two evils. I mean, compared to some of the stuff that I have read, that was downright bi-partisan. But for whatever, reason, it was what sent me over the edge. I responded that for many, many people in this country, voting for Hillary wasn't the lesser of two evils, it was voting for the right to not feel fear in their own country and that if she could maybe pull her head out of her ass and talk to people that don't have her white, straight, Christian, upper middle class experience, that she would realize that plenty of Americans have a lot more at stake in this election than we do. (We, because I am also a white, straight, Chrisitan-ish, upper middle class white woman, so I KNOW these people). I am SO tired of the majority of people I know pretending that Trump and Hillary are equally abhorrent. I'm so tired of it. I have a very large family and it is very racially mixed, and I admit that I have benefitted from talking to people who are not necessarily like me, and maybe many of my acquaintances haven't had that experience, but for god sake, its not like we live in Amish country and they have no awareness of the society around them. Ugh. So after that, I met another politically compatible friend for a bit of a drinking lunch at the local chain restaurant up the street. An off-duty employee of said restaurant proceeds to show up in a MAGA hat and a "Hillary for Prison" tee shirt. I swear to god, three other women, also apparently there for a drinking lunch, TOOK A SELFIE WITH HIM!! Our poor non-white waitress was seriously almost near tears and I am appalled that she has to work under those conditions, which of course, I relayed to the manager. Even though the guy (who was probably all of stupid 18), was off duty, the manager (who was probably all of stupid 23) asked him to leave. This election can't be over soon enough, but I really, really am sad and fearful of what Donald Trump's candidacy (and all that goes with it) has unleashed in this country. I truly am.

I do think that we have seen some glimpses of Jo and Alex missing each other, just not what we are used to on Grey's with the elevator rides and longing looks. Alex told Jo that he wanted to come home and he looked pretty shaken when she came down to the clinic the first time. She was quick to tell all her friends that she didn't care that Leah and Alex used to hook up and we all know what "not that I care" means in Greys-speak. Grey's used to give each character/couple a tiny bit of something each episode so that the audience could check in with them, even if they didn't have anything else going on. They seemed to have stopped doing that around the time that Harper/McKee took charge. Now each character gets 1-2 episodes of good screentime and the beginning of a story, then it gets dropped for 4-5 episodes while they act as sounding boards for other characters, and those storylines gets started. Its not just Alex and Jo either. This happened with Jackson/April/Ben, it happened with Calzona and it is currently happening with the Triangle from Hell. I just don't think that the writers' room is very cohesive. I have to think that all if this is going somewhere in the finale and after, even if it isn't where I want it to go or even if it doesn't go nearly as in depth as it should. We are not even 1/3 of the way into the season and it sounds like (hopefully) Jo's secret will come out during the finale. I simply can't imagine Alex not caring about that, or Jo not caring how Alex feels about it.

Its not even that Alex and Mer are a married couple. Its that Alex is the Alice/Mrs. Garrett to Maggie, Meredith and Amelia. I'm not even kidding when I say that I can totally see the series ending with the four of them living together in that house Golden Girls style. The gals will have their adventures in dating and surgery, reminisce about the great loves that they each got to have, maybe each have a kid or two, and Alex will clean up the mess, watch the kids and give them pep talks when they need it. He doesn't need any kind of life of his own when he has his FAMILY!!!!!! I wish I were kidding with this, I truly do. Also, how stupid are these doctors that they can't recognized alphabetical order?

It continues to boggle my mind that this show insists on telling the same stories over and over and over, when they have actually come up with original and interesting stories that just get dropped or stalled. We have seen Owen deal with the kids issue before, we have seen a story where the interns/residents don't get taught, we have seen the pitfalls of trying to co-parent with someone who you are not married to anymore, we have seen triangles galore and we have seen forced sister bonding. But we haven't seen a widow with three kids really trying to be a single mother or try to realistically manage a new romantic relationship, we have never seen the real affects of Alex's violence or him trying to come to grips with his past and his anger, we have never seen domestic violence addressed in any real way, we have never seen Richard really try to connect with Maggie and finally put his past with Ellis to rest. These are things that I want to see, not more hand wringing about the lack of teaching that will never go anywhere, not outside consultants coming in to challenge our doctors, not 50 more stupid triangles, not contrived breakups/arguments that could be solved with a 10 minute conversation. We have seen all of this a million times. WHY won't they even try to tell the stories that haven't been recycled many times over? I will never understand how this show chooses what stories it deems important to tell and, especially, those it deems not important to tell.

I have liked the Jo/DeLuca scenes for the most part, and under different circumstances, wouldn't hate them together romantically, although I also think that DeLuca isn't really all that equipped to handle Jo's darkness either. Jo certainly needs all the friends she can get. But, the absolute last thing she needs is to fall into another relationship, seeing as how she is only defined by her previous relationship now. That, and there is just no one else that I want Alex to end up with. While I won't be shocked if they eventually go the Merlex route, I agree that Jo and Alex aren't done yet either at this point. Jo has been pretty cold, but Alex has already said that he wants to make things right with her and come home and he definitely seemed affected by her presence in the first clinic episode. I mean, they do own a house together, but I guess that isn't going to be addressed. It would be nice to get a scene of them having a real conversation, however. The one scene that I didn't like was DeLuca getting pissy with Jo about talking to Alex, and then Jo justifying it. DeLuca came across as pretty condescending and tinged with that O'Malley-esque "nice guy" quality that grates on me. He has every single right to hate Alex and to think that Alex is a horrible person, but he doesn't have the right to pout when his brand new friend Jo talks to Alex, for any reason. Either way, I didn't see any kind of romantic interest on Jo's part in that scene, thank god.

Okay then, I do admit to laughing when Earn came back and said, "there is a tiny hidden pocket!" To be honest, I was surprised that the cop agreed to dig through the pockets at all, but he apparently draws the line at secret, hidden pockets!

Of course Jo lying is on Jo and she's lost Alex because of it. And yes, there's definitely a few times in previous seasons that make it just plain weird that she's married. And, who knows what even happened in their relationship during the year time jump. But, it is what it is because now its been revealed that she's married. I had high hopes for Jo's storyline but that's basically gone now. She apparently doesn't care, says a line here and there and eats a cookie. Honestly, I know that Jo being married is canon now, which means that she has been lying and leading Alex on for years. But it is so blatantly obvious to me that the husband was thought up right before the finale (earlier episodes of that very season completely contradict her being married), that I just can't be furious with her for lying and leading him on. The most honest and realistic response to Alex asking Jo why she never told him is for her to say "Because I just found out myself." Of course, this isn't the way its going to go down, but unless the show can completely write their way out of the contradictions, then I just don't see Jo as someone who has maliciously and selfishly treated Alex this way. Regardless of what the writers are trying (badly) to tell me now. Jo definitely has her faults, but treating Alex poorly and doing harm to him on purpose has never been one of them.

That makes sense, but does Earn see it all the time? I always get the impression that he (and Van) are a little more...sheltered, I guess is the right word? Like he knows of that world, and he knows of people in that world, but that he himself isn't of that world. I thought that his parents' house looked generally middle class, not rich, but not a violence-prone neighborhood either. I guess it was that they kind of laughed about it later, maybe it was shock. They didn't know the guy, but still.