Post-Election Fears & Anxieties

[starri]

Bodega Cats is my go-to Internet therapy.  I'd actually like to be a bodega cat in my next life.

[fastiller]

@starri - I wanted to be the mouser cat at 10 Downing Street (or at least be the person to take care of the mouser cat/s) until I realized it'd mean leaving my little one here in NYC!

[honeydo7]

We are definitely a "Rainbow" family......relatives of all faiths, colors, religions, ethnic backgrounds & lifestyles, if Trump becomes  president......I'm afraid his hateful supporters will try harming our children, since they consider mixed-race people (of all ages) sub-human & believe they deserve to be exterminated. 

[NextIteration]

Bless Obama he's giving the stem-winder of his life.

::sniffle::

[ruby24]

Oooh, where is it? Is it on right now?

[partofme]

5 hours ago, wings707 said:

What are you afraid of if Trump wins?  There are many fears about this situation, I am curious to hear specific reasons from everyone.  

• Elimination or privatization(which is the same thing) of social security.  I'm still too young but my mom gets it and I want to get it some day
• Elimination of medicare
• Elimination of Obamacare (my employer health insurance is way too expensive and crappy but I know that's the insurance company's and my hr department's faults, not Obamacare's)
• Supreme Court nominees
• tax cuts for the rich, tax increases for everyone else

[rcc]

39 minutes ago, NextIteration said:

Bless Obama he's giving the stem-winder of his life.

::sniffle::

I watched on C Span. He is and always has been a great speaker. Then they cut to Trump in Florida saying the same tired crap. One extreme to another!

[fastiller]

5 hours ago, wings707 said:

What are you afraid of if Trump wins?  There are many fears about this situation, I am curious to hear specific reasons from everyone.  

 

7 minutes ago, partofme said:

• Supreme Court nominees

BINGO!!!!

I'm also worried about how a Trump win will legitimize all the awful things he's said.  Which is why I want HRC to win in a landslide.  To show that we're really not a hateful, hatefilled country.

On the flip side (& I'm going to put this poorly): I know that we didn't all of a sudden become a racist country when President Obama was elected, I know that racism existed before that.  It just seems that white men (& some women) suddenly realized they were no longer the top of the pecking order and that anger made the racism seem so much more pointed and angry (as opposed to it being just based upon stupidity & ignorance).  So, my fear, should HRC be elected: I see a similar thing happening with sexism and how it'll manifest.  White (& other) men will see their grip on power lessening.

Edit: @rcc - here's another 'from one extreme to another' - VP Biden drafted VAWA (Violence Against Women Act); now we've got a serial groper and his sidekick the guy who wants to bring us back to pre-Roe days.

Edited November 2, 2016 by fastiller
To answer RCC.

[Spartan Girl]

The official stills from the upcoming Beauty and the Beast movie that were released today were very theraputic.

[Wings]

1 hour ago, Shannon L. said:

 

 

1 hour ago, starri said:

Bodega Cats is my go-to Internet therapy.  I'd actually like to be a bodega cat in my next life.

 

Thank you for these!  

[Quilt Fairy]

Quote

What are you afraid of if Trump wins?  There are many fears about this situation, I am curious to hear specific reasons from everyone

Trump doesn't have policies, he has agendas.  I fear not just him, but the gang of thugs he will have around him to make all the decisions he doesn't want to deal with.

[Padma]

12 minutes ago, partofme said:

• Elimination or privatization(which is the same thing) of social security.  I'm still too young but my mom gets it and I want to get it some day
• Elimination of medicare
• Elimination of Obamacare (my employer health insurance is way too expensive and crappy but I know that's the insurance company's and my hr department's faults, not Obamacare's)
• Supreme Court nominees
• tax cuts for the rich, tax increases for everyone else

war. torture. killing families of suspected terrorists (why stop abroad?)  Abuse of power of the FBI and CIA and IRS.

SC going hard right for generations and using it to relax gun laws, repeal Roe v. Wade and reduce Frist Amendment rights esp. free press and free speech.  He says he'll promote Christianity and "make dept stores say "Merry Christmas" so apparently freedom of religion could also be threatened.  He clearly doesn't understand the Bill of Rights. And has no concept of "innocent until proven guilty" -- note, promising that Hillary will be "locked up".

[fastiller]

Then there's the recent video of rescuers pulling a dog from the rubble after the recent earthquake in Italy.  That'll help, right?

 

[car54]

I find the fact that this candidate has made these people come out of the woodwork like this absolutely terrifying.

White nationalists plot Election Day show of force

[NewDigs]

 

Our cat's favorite toy is a fish-on-a-string-on-a-stick.  The first time he caught it he stuffed it into his mouth and tried to walk away. Didn't get very far. This little guy reminds me of that.

[starri]

I feel bad that he can't eat the fish. 

[rcc]

I just saw for the first time a commercial from the Clinton campaign showing children watching Trump on television mimicking handicapped people, etc. That is one effective commercial.

[NewDigs]

4 minutes ago, starri said:

I feel bad that he can't eat the fish. 

The kitty is fine!! He's getting exercise with a little mental agility. I'm sure he will be rewarded for his efforts. 

Don't make me get the bats!!!

lol

Edited November 2, 2016 by NewDigs

[Quilt Fairy]

This is my favorite quote from the movie The American President, spoken by Michael Douglas' President Andrew Shephard.   It always seems to ring true:

Quote

We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only : Making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle age, middle class, middle income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character and you wave an old photo of the president's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism. You tell them she's to blame for their lot in life. And you go on television and you call her a whore

.

[NextIteration]

1 minute ago, rcc said:

I just saw for the first time a commercial from the Clinton campaign showing children watching Trump on television mimicking handicapped people, etc. That is one effective commercial.

What state are you in, and what network did you see it on?  This played huge here in MN on MSNBC before the DNC and for weeks after.  For me, the new heart breaker is the Captain Kahn ad.

[Wings]

12 minutes ago, NextIteration said:

What state are you in, and what network did you see it on?  This played huge here in MN on MSNBC before the DNC and for weeks after.  For me, the new heart breaker is the Captain Kahn ad.

 

Wow, I have not seen this new one. Very powerful. The one with the kids runs frequently and has for awhile. Good, as well. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

53 minutes ago, NextIteration said:

What state are you in, and what network did you see it on?  This played huge here in MN on MSNBC before the DNC and for weeks after.  For me, the new heart breaker is the Captain Kahn ad.

This is the only ad that has brought me to tears.

[car54]

If Hillary wins, Mr and Mrs Kahn need to be at her inauguration.   In my opinion, they've been her most effective supporters (with the Obamas).

That commercial breaks my heart every time.

Right now I love the commercial she has playing here about children and families being the heart of her Presidency if she wins.  I wish people could see more of that side of her--I love the way she is with the kids.

[partofme]

1 hour ago, NewDigs said:

 

Our cat's favorite toy is a fish-on-a-string-on-a-stick.  The first time he caught it he stuffed it into his mouth and tried to walk away. Didn't get very far. This little guy reminds me of that.

Awwwww so cute.  I love kittens.

[Quilt Fairy]

I feel badly I  haven't contributed to the cute kitties, etc., theme.  Here are some squirrels I found when I was looking for a Halloween desktop wallpaper (from the wallpaperswide.com website):

Edited November 2, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[MissT]

Recent transplant to Florida from PA.   I proudly cast my vote today for Hillary.   I feel a sense of relief that I got it over with.   

[Menrva]

4 hours ago, starri said:

Bodega Cats is my go-to Internet therapy.  I'd actually like to be a bodega cat in my next life.

Oh my god, how did I live in NYC for 6 years and never see this?!? That is all kinds of awesome and hilarious. 

[Wings]

18 minutes ago, Menrva said:

Oh my god, how did I live in NYC for 6 years and never see this?!? That is all kinds of awesome and hilarious. 

This was posted by a Latino thus the word Bodega for shop,  but look carefully at the signs.   I don't recognize the letters specifically but this was taken in the middle east. 

I think the board of health in NYC would have a problem with this.  LOL! 

Edited November 3, 2016 by wings707

[starri]

1 hour ago, wings707 said:

I think the board of health in NYC would have a problem with this.  LOL! 

You will take cats out of our bodegas over a lot of people's dead bodies.  They're technically against health codes, but people would riot.

[Wings]

I love a shop cat or dog. There is a little scraggly Poodle (I think) named Charlie that hangs out in a gift shop/cafe.  He is not allowed to go in the cafe part but he does.  He skulks in very low to the ground with his ears back.  Then his owner says, "I see you, Charlie," and he bounds out with a 'who me' attitude.  I was just looking.  Such a precious little guy.  

[GHScorpiosRule]

I don't know if this will help my anxiety, and I do wonder if Drumpf saying what he did--the ridiculous comparison that this email "scandal" of Hillary's is her "Watergate," had HBO add All The President's Men to their movie line up. Because it was just added and I'm watching it, because one: it's a fantastic movie; two: it's sad and makes me bitter/angry that today's journalists aren't even a tenth as good as Woodward and Bernstein were (the fact that Woodward has turned into a total asshole and hack is even more depressing); three: it soothes me to know some justice was done, and makes me hope history will repeat itself. And four: I am a masochist.

Edited November 3, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[Moose135]

I watched that on TCM the other night, @GHScorpiosRule, they had several old political movies on. It is a terrific movie, and yes, there aren't enough good journalists - who are allowed to be journalists - around these days.  I attribute part of the problem to the day news went from being a public service to one more line item on a corporate balance sheet.

[backformore]

I keep checking the poll numbers on 538 , and I'm anxious about Hillary's lead slipping.

At the same time I'm watching the Cubs blow their lead, going into extra innings.

The anxiety is too much.  I think I might have to drink that bottle of wine in the fridge.  

Staying drunk until the election is over may be my only option

[ebk57]

2 minutes ago, backformore said:

I keep checking the poll numbers on 538 , and I'm anxious about Hillary's lead slipping.

At the same time I'm watching the Cubs blow their lead, going into extra innings.

The anxiety is too much.  I think I might have to drink that bottle of wine in the fridge.  

Staying drunk until the election is over may be my only option

Never a bad option!

[photo fox]

The Chicago Cubs just won the World Series, y'all. After 108 fucking years. I'm a Cardinals fan, their biggest rival, but I have so much joy right now. 

Anything can happen.

Even my asteroid.

#FlyTheW #NoMoreNextYear

[backformore]

Ok - my anxiety is better now.   I'm a Chicagoan, Cubs fan from way back, but I don't watch games very often.   This game took FOREVER, what a nail-biting, anxiety- provoking last couple of hours.   Nobody around here is sleeping, there are fireworks going off all over the place.  

Now I need Hillary to win, and the universe will be in order. 

[lyric]

Fireworks here too - holy cow...people are losing their minds.

I hope we're setting off fireworks next Wednesday too, kids!

[maraleia]

The Cubs winning the World Series has calmed me down a lot. Now all we need to do is get Hillary and the rest of the Dems elected.

[biakbiak]

Game 7 of the World Series predict the election: It's happened 8 times in a Presidential year when the AL wins a Republican wins and when the NL win it's a Democrat.

I live in SF but not a Giants fan and when the Cubs were playing the Giants I suggested it would be awesome if they were the first team that Hillary hosted at the WH. SHe could invite Michelle and the Sox fan Barack could stay home!

[Kromm]

Looking at election maps updated today I have a sick feeling in my stomach that we may have another election come down to FLORIDA.

I think we all know why that's scary.

[33kaitykaity]

12 minutes ago, Kromm said:

Looking at election maps updated today I have a sick feeling in my stomach that we may have another election come down to FLORIDA.

I think we all know why that's scary.

She actually doesn't need Florida.  If she holds Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Minnesota,, Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, all solidly behind the blue wall, then she snags any one of Nevada, Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, or Florida, the official swing states, it is over.  He will have no path.  

Playing with this map is addicting.  

http://www.270towin.com/

[Kromm]

8 minutes ago, 33kaitykaity said:

She actually doesn't need Florida.  If she holds Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Minnesota,, Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, all solidly behind the blue wall, then she snags any one of Nevada, Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, or Florida, the official swing states, it is over.  He will have no path.  

Playing with this map is addicting.  

http://www.270towin.com/

Why does 270towin have Wisconsin as gray?  It's the only map I've seen that as now.

But if it's really at risk? This end result would be scary.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Kromm

[33kaitykaity]

13 minutes ago, Kromm said:

Why does 270towin have Wisconsin as gray?  It's the only map I've seen that as now.

But if it's really at risk? This end result would be scary.

See what I mean?  It is so easy to play what-if with each scenario.  The poll that came out today by the Marquette University Law School for Wisconsin was referred to as the "gold standard" by Chris Hayes, so it sounds pretty straight-up to me.  It had HRC up by 6%, 46% to 40%.  

[Danny Franks]

1 hour ago, Kromm said:

Why does 270towin have Wisconsin as gray?  It's the only map I've seen that as now.

But if it's really at risk? This end result would be scary.

Is Evan McMullin not still in the lead in Utah? That's the only state that seems to have an alternative conservative candidate that appeals to a lot of people  (Gary Johnson is a clown). So even in this bleak scenario, Trump still wouldn't have enough to win.

But the state polls still look just about good enough. And I think Hillary will win in Florida. It's just the fear of any more revelations between now and election day that scares me. With Trump, there are so many scandals that it's become white noise, and the media won't focus on any of them  for long enough. With Clinton it's the same big scandal, revisited.

[biakbiak]

17 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

Is Evan McMullin not still in the lead in Utah? That's the only state that seems to have an alternative conservative candidate that appeals to a lot of people  (Gary Johnson is a clown). So even in this bleak scenario, Trump still wouldn't have enough to win.

But the state polls still look just about good enough. And I think Hillary will win in Florida. It's just the fear of any more revelations between now and election day that scares me. With Trump, there are so many scandals that it's become white noise, and the media won't focus on any of them  for long enough. With Clinton it's the same big scandal, revisited.

One thing that will be interesting is the GOTV effort which Obama's ship was tight and right in 2008 but there was still a solid GOTV by Republicans in both 2008 and 2012.  Hillary has a good GOTV in most states and Trump and the RNC are basically not even close to any GOTV campaigns for the Presidential ticket. Tightening polls help Clinton because there are actually people urging voters to vote in a targeted (not rigged way) helping make sure their voters have everything they need get to the polls including dropping off absentee ballots to rides to the polls versus Trump who seems more interested in having his voters go to districts they don't even vote in to harass people.

Edited November 3, 2016 by biakbiak

[Danny Franks]

That's very true. I'm far from an educated voice on this, but I've seen people say that successful GOTV campaigns can add up to a 2-3% bump, on top of polling. And if you also factor in the likely rise in Hispanic first time voters who haven't been factored in to polling, it seems even healthier.

Also something to ponder, Princeton Election Consortium posted this electoral map that looks only at students in primary and secondary education:

 

A sign of things to come for the GOP if they don't modernise, cut away the toxic parts of their party, and embrace younger, more tolerant voters and minorities.

[Spartan Girl]

I'm trying to believe that the Cubs winning is a sign that everything is going to be ok.

[sleekandchic]

This is a reply to wings's question about what we fear if Trump is elected. 

So many reasons, but I'll stick to my deepest concerns:

Trump is a liar and a phony.  And he lies so effortlessly.  "I never said that";  "I never met him, don't know who he is"; " I never touched any woman inappropriately; never met any of those lying accusers;  no one has more respect for women than I do."

And as he tells those lies, he KNOWS there is video and audio PROOF to show that he's lying.  But he doesn't care.

He can't be trusted by us or by our allies. No one can trust a chronic, pathological liar.

And the manner in which he pits American against American, and how he attempts to sow hate and distrust among us, all the while scapegoating people of different religions or origin or colors, make me see Hitler every time I look and listen to Trump.

Bannon and Conway are tortured dissemblers of the truth, using circuitous, doublespeak word salads and blatant hypocrisy to present their lies and obfuscations. They are Goebbels to Trump's Hitler.  And we will see and hear them every single day in a T administration.

Trump's promises to accomplish almost all his agenda on "Day One" betrays either a basic misunderstanding of our democracy and its mechanisms or, maybe worse, the Big Lies he's willing to tell his (mostly) poorly-educated supporters in order to get their votes.  He won't care if they're disappointed when they realize they've been betrayed.

And I believe that Trump has no interest in governing.  He wants to be a monarch; he wants to do the photo ops, the state dinners, the international travel.  He wants to be introduced by trumpet flourishes.  He, therefore, will turn over the daily nitty gritty to Pence, an irrational, ridiculous, hypocritical bigot, who believes he can pray the gay away and mandate funerals for fetuses whose mothers legally abort.

I believe FBI Director James Comey intervened improperly last Friday to derail HRC's path and to prop up Trump's.  The basic dirty nature of what he did last week needs to be repudiated and rejected.  Manipulating an election is unAmerican and treasonous.  We need to send our response loud and clear on November 8th. And we need to be prepared that Comey might not be finished with Hillary yet.

President Obama has been a statesman, an intellectual, a humanitarian and a gentleman of the highest order.  I so much respect his constant efforts to measure his words when speaking  -- to be thoughtful in how he expresses himself as our representative to the world.   His efforts always to use diplomacy before considering military intervention are praiseworthy.

The thought that Mr Obama could be replaced by that ignorant, lying, racist, misogynist person, as MY president,  makes me sick.  

And with Trump's ultra-thin skin, his hair-trigger temper and his self-confessed ignorance and lack of any intellectual curiosity, yes, I believe he will want to use nuclear weapons to even scores and to put other countries in their place.  If Trump teams with Putin and the other despots he admires, God help our world.  He will be commander in chief, and in the final analysis, no check or balance or cooler head will stop him from doing what he wants to do.  Add to all that,  the fact that the Trump Organization will continue with business as usual with his children in charge,  and  Donald Trump's every decision, domestic and foreign, will be with HIS financial interests of primary concern

Donald Trump can never be a worthwhile  steward of the United States.  He will destroy us in a hundred ways.  He doesn't love his country.  I don't believe he loves ANYBODY (including his children or grandchildren) other than himself.  He is dangerous.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Lisin
Fixed floating quote box for you :)

[PatsyandEddie]

Standing ovation for sleekandchic! 

[tenativelyyours]

My reason for not wanting A drumpf win actually is simple.  While I believe that the Constitution is and should be considered a work in ongoing progress -- something that needs to adjust to the needs of the people as times and issues change or grow or disappear -- it is still the framework of our Democracy.

Forget the creature on the Republican side.  Forget the flawed Candidate on the Deomcratic side.  There are all kinds of reasons why the first is not qualified to be President just on facts alone in terms of being qualified plus pages of subjective takes on his behavior past and current.

If Drumpf wins it means that one body of government willfully and with open determination shit on the United States.  It took the Constitution and wiped the asses of Mitch McConnell and other Republican senators and then told us to be happy with that.  It doesn't matter what party you belong to.  Your feelings of President Obama.  The fact that this small body of men decided to deliberately flout the Constitution is appalling and should be appalling.  A general election is not a point the United States should ever enter into willfully with an empty seat on the Supreme Court.  A group of elected officials with no national mandate should never, outside of the actual lawmaking process, be allowed to decide national matters beyond that scope of their Constitutionally defined powers.  Never.   A party affiliated group of elected officials should not be allowed to anoint themselves as being outside of the Constitution no matter who is President.

And though a vote for Drumpf is not an outright advocacy of this incredible egregious power grab by a disguised by elected status oligarchy, it is a type of fascist power grab no officials from any party should ever have been allowed to perform while the nation was distracted by the shit show that was the campaign.  And it fascism.  It is so ignored but rather horrific when the very elected officials who have their positions and authority through the Constitution then tell the People, they are not abiding by that very document and framework. 

Drumpf winning legitimizes that heinous power grab.  Drumpf winning means that it will continue to happen.  Drumpf winning means that a minority gets to decide matters for a majority.  And only lets Democracy work when it works for them.  People rightly express fears of the Drumpf family with Pence as their hatchet man trying to continue to subvert the Constitution and push through laws that suit their dogma and not the ideals and values of the nation itself.  But in simply refusing to comply to the Constitution and putting the nation at even more risk of chaos and uncertainty in a tight election, there already was a huge step towards tyranny.  By simply asserting their powers as elected officials and then declaring themselves absolved of their duties and responsibilities.  These elected officials have already subverted our Democracy in a crippling fashion.  And even if Drumpf sits and spends his entire Presidency admiring himself in the shine of his desk in the Oval Office, his presence there tells people like Mitch McConnell that the American people are stupid and lazy and apathetic enough to let him and others like him to assert their own privileges at the expense of an entire nation.  And that should be the scariest shit of all for anyone who thinks this is a nation of rights.  Of striving to serve the people and insure freedoms and liberties.  Of being a People.  Because right now.  With one segment of one branch of our government holding another branch essentially hostage while robbing the rights of the third entirely in the matter?  That's Hitlerian levels of a power grab no matter how it lacks for glamor in the media.  And to top it off?  We have Mussolini Lite possibly getting the chief position of the Executive branch.  Only this time he has a Lavrentiy Beria as his right hand man in Pence.