Post-Election Fears & Anxieties

[katha]

Oh, and in the sea of general spinelessness and refusal of the mainstream GOP to take any kind of responsibility for Trump, I want to give a shout out to Mitt Romney. He denounced Trump and he denounced him strongly, even though it was clear that he'd face a lot of backlash for it. He could have done the opportunistic thing like many of his colleagues and hemmed and hawed, but he took a stand.

Edited November 9, 2016 by katha

[sleekandchic]

Later today, I will buy elegant stationery.  I want to write longhand to Secretary Clinton, to Michele Obama and to our  President Obama. They deserve my thanks and gratitude, my respect and honor.

I know I don't have to tell anybody here that within three months after President Lincoln was inaugurated, seven states seceded. The confederacy was formed and a rogue President named. Then...Civil War.  Brother against brother, father, uncle, son, cousin.  All in the name of Slavery, the greatest evil EVER against our brothers and sisters.

Lincoln was an extraordinary man.  His melancholy made him personally fragile, but phenomenally strong outwardly.  Look at his photos during that time.  He seemed to melt, to dissolve.  But his inner turmoil was his outward armor.

He held us together.  He loved us.  He KNEW what he was fighting for.

"With malice toward none, with charity toward all, with firmness in the right as God gave us to see the right...."

When I was little, my parents took me to Ford's Theater, then across the street to see the little bed where Lincoln died. I burst into tears. I felt him and his agony. I imagined his feet hanging off the short bed.

I will take solace that Trump seemed conciliatory tonight...that he did not encourage his audience to chant "lock her up." Or to call for hate against Muslims or Mexicans.

Let's try to be proud, let's try to grit our teeth.  Let's channel President Lincoln. He's our icon, our strength and light.  Help us Abe.  We need you.

My husband and I want to start a family.  Now I won't, and I am bereft.  I'm 33, time is running out for me.  However, I have clients who are the most vulnerable among us.  I will protect them with my life and love, against fear and prejudice.

I can't sleep or concentrate. It bothers me so VERY much that he has the House and Senate on his side!

Hang in please!  

[mustbekarma]

I am just gutted.  Any person who posts joy at this election result is getting deleted from my Facebook account. Even worse than having Trump as President are all the nasty homophobes and racists that will be emboldened by this election result. I am so ashamed of this country. America was great.

[Curio]

Is it too much to hope that Trump has been playing the long con this entire time, and he's secretly a liberal who has been posing as a Republican this election, and that's why he's been so vague about his policies? He's an actor and played the role of a crazy conservative to get elected, and now that he's in the office, the GOP majority have to follow his orders, otherwise they'll look like fools. Trump will say a speech about how "conservative" it is to put more money into education and invest in clean energy, and his advisors will be like, "Umm, those are super liberal issues though..." and Trump will be like, "No they're totally conservative, and you're a p***y if you don't agree with me." And then Congress will begrudgingly vote for Trump's liberal ideas because they don't want to lose their jobs or look like they disagree with their Republican president. 

[HoosierJen]

I teach at a Junior/Senior high school in the middle of Trump-loving rural Indiana......I do not want to go to work today. I've been stressed all night and the tears keep welling up, and now I have to spend my day in the middle of a bunch of immature teenagers who will definitely NOT be gracious winners and who will yell in the halls all day about "Trump" and "Make America great again". I just don't know if I can handle it. Today, I wish that I worked in a situation where I could hide in my office or cubicle all day and literally not speak to anyone.

And also, if this election doesn't prove that we need to overhaul education in this country, then I don't know what it takes. We are producing an uneducated, uninformed populace -- with diplomas in hand because we give them out like candy -- and something has to change.   

[QQQQ]

I don't know what to do with these feelings and thoughts.

[Grace19]

Jesus, I can't believe that this man actually won.

I understand why some Christians voted against Hilary, especially with the fear of abortion being legitimized, but what I don't get is why they would vote for Trump. That really baffles me, Trump is the furthest person from a Christian. I m  Christian myself, and Christianity is built on love and not hate, '' Love your neighborer as yourself''. We are thought to love and tolerate each other, not hate and divide, that is not Christ-like at all, why would these Christians vote for a man that ran his campaign on hate?

I also read that most white women voted for him, what do you guys make of that?

 

[bosawks]

I'd gotten lazy, only campaigning when it came to the president.

This shook me and rattled me out of my complacency.  I needed to be out there campaigning for what I believe and who I believe in always and not just every four years.

The first time Pence gets any press for anything Donald will stick him in a back room and we won't see him until 2020.

At least we get to see what the White House will look like spray painted gold....

[AliShibaz]

25 minutes ago, sleekandchic said:

Later today, I will buy elegant stationery.  I want to write longhand to Secretary Clinton, to Michele Obama and to our  President Obama. They deserve my thanks and gratitude, my respect and honor.

I know I don't have to tell anybody here that within three months after President Lincoln was inaugurated, seven states seceded. The confederacy was formed and a rogue President named. Then...Civil War.  Brother against brother, father, uncle, son, cousin.  All in the name of Slavery, the greatest evil EVER against our brothers and sisters.

Lincoln was an extraordinary man.  His melancholy made him personally fragile, but phenomenally strong outwardly.  Look at his photos during that time.  He seemed to melt, to dissolve.  But his inner turmoil was his outward armor.

He held us together.  He loved us.  He KNEW what he was fighting for.

"With malice toward none, with charity toward all, with firmness in the right as God gave us to see the right...."

When I was little, my parents took me to Ford's Theater, then across the street to see the little bed where Lincoln died. I burst into tears. I felt him and his agony. I imagined his feet hanging off the short bed.

I will take solace that Trump seemed conciliatory tonight...that he did not encourage his audience to chant "lock her up." Or to call for hate against Muslims or Mexicans.

Let's try to be proud, let's try to grit our teeth.  Let's channel President Lincoln. He's our icon, our strength and light.  Help us Abe.  We need you.

My husband and I want to start a family.  Now I won't, and I am bereft.  I'm 33, time is running out for me.  However, I have clients who are the most vulnerable among us.  I will protect them with my life and love, against fear and prejudice.

I can't sleep or concentrate. It bothers me so VERY much that he has the House and Senate on his side!

Hang in please!  

What a lovely post. I wish you well and I wish all Americans the very best of luck with this new president. I have expressed my opinion before. I think both candidates were monstrosities and I fear for the future of the world. But I hope for the best.

In the meantime, I'm going to just hunker down and hold on tight.

[Spartan Girl]

There's a special place in hell for everyone -- EVERYONE -- that made this atrocity possible.

But it is two months til inauguration in January. Anything could happen...or at least it's the one thing I'm telling myself from going off the deep end.

[AliShibaz]

17 minutes ago, mustbekarma said:

I am just gutted.  Any person who posts joy at this election result is getting deleted from my Facebook account. Even worse than having Trump as President are all the nasty homophobes and racists that will be emboldened by this election result. I am so ashamed of this country. America was great.

I hope you can take some solace in the fact that many people would feel the same way - no matter who won.

Sadness and shock beyond all belief.

[Macbeth]

I am so pissed.  I was listening to NPR this morning and someone asked if Clinton losing was a sign of the democratic party imploding.  And the moderator said - no not at all the democratic party is still the party of inclusion.

Let's have a look at the Democratic Corporate Party.   I am really pissed with them. 

   What happened or didn't  happen during President Obama's turn: 

               1.   Nobody went to jail after the 2008 financial meltdown.  Instead Americans lost their retirement savings -  while wall street was compensated for losing a trillion dollars.  The DOJ was under his control.  No Republican gridlock preventing him  from prosecuting those criminals,

               2.  Bush  invaded Iraq and destroyed that country - Obama did the same thing to Libya.  I didn't vote him in so he would destroy other Muslim nations.  And Obama did Bush one better - he is backing the destruction of Yemen.

             3.  The NSA spying on everyone.  The drone strikes.   Let's not forget the quote that Obama didn't realize how good he was at killing people.  The lack of transparency.  Going after whistle blowers.   The continued policy that the only way to deal with the Middle East is to bomb it.  I didn't miss the fact that we once again launched another military attack in Iraq during the last couple of weeks.   I am not proud to be an American after 8 years of Obama.

           4.  Let's look at where millennials are at.  Not done well under Obama.  Much hand wringing that they wouldn't pony up and pay into Obamacare.  They were too busy being consumed by their student loans.  Did     we really think they were going to be enthusiastic of 4 more years of this. 

       5.  And let's look at the treatment of illegal immigrants.  Obama has deported more people than any other presidents,  I am not seeing much inclusion here.

The Clintons - let's look at them.

       1.  President Bill -  NAFTA - Kansas remembers their jobs going away.  Welfare reform a/k/a removing the safety net.  DOMA. Hillary with her super predator remark.  Bill signing the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 and less than 10 years later the economy collapses.  More of them please.

      2.  Hillary as Sec of State.  Her role in the debacle of the Honduras Coup and the bombing of Libya.

      3.  The Clinton Foundation.  Who runs a foundation where actual nations donate money? I never heard of this, and I deal with foundations.   You know she is running for President.   WTF.  Of course people are thinking it's a pay to play situation. 

      4.  Hillary's primary campaign.  The super delegates who were voting for her no matter what the vote is.   The DNC in her pocket - the lack of debates -  the debates being held when ratings would be poor.  The AP announcing her victory on the day before California voted.  And polls clearly indicating Hillary would have a hard time beating Trump.

      5.  Hillary's campaign.  Stacking her transition team with neo-cons.  Oh good the generals are backing you -that's what I want to hear after 13 years of war.  Her campaign not getting boots on the ground in the African-American communities until very late in the game.  Her wall street speeches being leaked proving what everyone already knew - she is in wall street's pocket.  Sure you're against TPP.   Bill getting paid 18 million dollars from a for-profit university - I am sure that went over well with the millennials that are being screwed by debt.   The deplorables quote - pretty much lost the election there.

    6.  Hillary I am going to quote your husband a couple of decades later - "It's the economy stupid."

I understand how misogyny, voter suppression, the media getting great ratings with Trump, all played a part.

But the Democratic party is imploding and better have a good long look in the mirror.  Do you represent wall street/military industrial complex or actual people?

I am so sick and terrified over Trump becoming president.  Fuck you Democrats.

[Curio]

1 minute ago, Grace19 said:

I understand why some Christians voted against Hilary, especially with the fear of abortion being legitimized, but what I don't get is why they would vote for Trump. That really baffles me, Trump is the furthest person from a Christian. I m  Christian myself, and Christianity is built on love and not hate, '' Love your neighborer as yourself''. We are thought to love and tolerate each other, not hate and divide, that is not Christ-like at all, why would these Christians vote for a man that ran his campaign on hate?

1

A large portion of my family is like this. It's illogical to me, but they sincerely think that a vote for Hillary/abortion means they'll automatically go to Hell when they die because that's what their pastors preach to them. Nevermind the fact that they're totally okay with changing gun laws to make it easier for weapons to get on the streets, but abortion is the one thing that will send them to Hell. So even though Trump and many of his supporters promote the opposite ideals of Christianity, that one issue is enough to scare them into voting Trump. They aren't voting out of love for Trump, they're voting out of fear of going to Hell. It's very hard to reason with people when the afterlife comes into the picture.

10 minutes ago, HoosierJen said:

And also, if this election doesn't prove that we need to overhaul education in this country, then I don't know what it takes. We are producing an uneducated, uninformed populace -- with diplomas in hand because we give them out like candy -- and something has to change.   

 

Absolutely. Unfortunately, we're basically guaranteed to see more and more universities across the nation suffering from budget cuts, and the quality of education will continue to suffer. 

[ABay]

My only consolation is that I'm too old (and unattractive ) to need birth control. Since I'm white probably not in the first group to be rounded up in spite of union activities. In a year there won't be unions anyway.

[bref]

@sleekandchic, I wish I had a fraction of your grace.

[Silly Angel]

46 minutes ago, katha said:

Oh, and in the sea of general spinelessness and refusal of the mainstream GOP to take any kind of responsibility for Trump, I want to give a shout out to Mitt Romney. He denounced Trump and he denounced him strongly, even though it was clear that he'd face a lot of backlash for it. He could have done the opportunistic thing like many of his colleagues and hemmed and hawed, but he took a stand.

Most of the the Republicans who ostentatiously unendorsed Trump after the pussy-grabbing tapes quietly snuck back into the tent and re-endorsed him. Cowards and whipped dogs.

7 minutes ago, ABay said:

My only consolation is that I'm too old (and unattractive ) to need birth control. Since I'm white probably not in the first group to be rounded up in spite of union activities. In a year there won't be unions anyway.

My fear, which fomented during the heyday of Operation Rescue and the subsequent Bush years, was that the anti-abortion, anti-birth-control faction will take their argument to its logical limit--that sex is for procreation and that it's a married woman's legal duty to do so, meaning they would come after childless married women of childbearing age, demanding doctor's notes from the "barren." I know it sounds dystopian, but it's where the calculation leads if you're extrapolating.

And since we're living in an episode of Black Mirror with a script by Margaret Atwood... 

[motorcitymom65]

This is a nightmare. I cannot believe how angry I am at half the people in this country. The half that don't care about what he has said about Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants and woman.  I knew that there were a lot of dumb people lurking around, but to have it be shown to me so convincingly is shocking. 

The worst part to me is that Trump was right about so much. He will remind us endlesssly that he said he could flip blue states, that the polls were all wrong. That the people wouldn't care about his taxes. His ego and his narcissism will be on full display and it will make me throw up over and over again.

[Quilt Fairy]

I took a couple of sleeping pills last night and told myself everything would have righted itself in the morning.  Instead I woke up into a nightmare.  I've been voting since the 70's. I've sat through a lot of elections that didn't go the way I wanted.  It took 20 years for a candidate I voted for (Bill Clinton) to win. But I have never been as upset and scared about the results of an election as I am today. This is the country taking a huge step back.  That misogynistic racist moron and his gang of small-minded thugs are going to take over the country. I'm old enough that I don't have to worry about an unwanted pregnancy.  But my financial advisor has been after me for several years to take early social security (I was waiting to earn full benefits) but today I may take him up on that. I don't know what's going to be left of the world in a couple of years.

[Guest]

55 minutes ago, Macbeth said:

Her campaign not getting boots on the ground in the African-American communities until very late in the game. 

Her ground game in PA was for shit. In 2008 and 20012, OFA's game was tight. I was called constantly, had my door knocked on nearly every weekend, and had door hangers for both elections left reminding me to vote. This time, in a must-win county, the Dems put in charge a total moron who, from the looks of his resume, spend the last four years working as a waiter after finishing college. I volunteered once at the office and decided to never go back because he was such a tool and clearly in over his head. I should have known then it was all over. 

[Curio]

So...uh...will SNL have to hire Alec Baldwin full-time now? Or will they do an Alternate Reality each week and let Kate McKinnon do her Hillary impression for the next four years?

[katha]

1 minute ago, Giant Misfit said:

Her ground game in PA was for shit. In 2008 and 20012, OFA's game was tight. I was called constantly, had my door knocked on nearly every weekend, and had door hangers for both elections left reminding me to vote. This time, in a must-win county, the Dems put in charge a total moron who, from the looks of his resume, spend the last four years working as a waiter after finishing college. I volunteered once at the office and decided to never go back because he was such a tool and clearly in over his head. I should have known then it was all over. 

The structural issues of Clinton's campaign were partly what cost her the nomination in 2008, Obama was much better organized. I thought she'd learned from that...

[hoosier80]

I went to HRC for President official page and posted a note.  I like the idea of writing out a letter on personal stationery, but I felt I needed to do something right now.  

I thanked Secretary Clinton for her service over all the years.  I am so saddened; it's like a darkness is enveloping the land.  Even if you did not like HRC, she was a steady hand.  Now, we have this?????

I hate to be that person, but I will.  How in the hell were a lot of polls so wrong?  How was Trump so confident?  Ok, there's the constant bragging he does, but beyond that......  I really smell a rat.  I saw the lines of minorities voting in person.  

I know that after a Dem or Repub president, the country tends to shift the other way.  I'm thinking that there's still over half of America that is terrified of minorities, they want it to be back in the good old days of the 1950's, when minorities "knew their place".  They cannot move on at all.  

Trump is such a vengeful person.  For all those who were very vocal against him, I'd be afraid.  Fascists will come up with charges first, then make it fit to the person.  Some of the celebs have enough resources to fight back and maybe the media won't be in his pocket.  

I am literally sick.  Went to bed with some Nyquil hoping against hope something would change.  Thanks to all on this board for literally giving me some glimmer of hope and strength.

[SmithW6079]

12 hours ago, Curio said:

What I find baffling is this idea that America was so bad that we had to make it "great" again. Whether you liked him or not, Obama was a pretty damn good president. Smart, eloquent, no scandals. How did this happen?

"Make America Great Again" was just code for "no more n****ers in charge. And no c*nts either."

12 hours ago, Coffeecup said:

I am frightened and discouraged to see dictators and right wing groups around the world congratulating Trump. President Vladimir Putin of Russia; President Erdogan of Turkey; the trash-talking President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines; Marine Le Pen of the far right National Front in France; and so on. I guess by this time tomorrow we'll see Julian Assange of Wikileaks gloating about the Trump victory and how his fucking Wikileaks helped tear Hillary apart.

At home, we'll be stuck with the Breitbart type Republicans like Newt Gingrich. NG is from my state and we know how bad he is. I'm afraid we can also expect to see the corrupt Chris Christie and the unhinged Rudy Giuliani given positions of power in the Trump administration. And last but not least, we'll probably have to endure seeing the smirking face of Kellyanne Conway all the time, as White House press secretary or something.

I pray we can make it through the next four years without another major recession, a civil war or riots.

The world is moving rightward toward authoritarianism;  America is no different. As awful as Conman Don is, to me, Pence is even worse. Conman Don has no convictions other than the almighty dollar. Pence is no doubt thanking his vengeful, exclusionary god for his chance to turn America into a theocracy. 

Edited November 9, 2016 by SmithW6079
Needed to fix the slogan

[ExplainItAgain]

Devastated. Decided not to go to work today; just can't talk about it.

I feel so bad for HRC. To be THAT close, to lose to HIM, it's so wrong.

[Wings]

1 hour ago, sleekandchic said:

My husband and I want to start a family.  Now I won't, and I am bereft.  I'm 33, time is running out for me. 

Have that family!  Don't deny America future citizens who will be valuable for our country.  Stupid people will continue to procreate.  

[Dancingjaneway]

Not surprised by the outcome. This country was founded by people that owned people, stole land & denied women the right to vote. This country has always been deplorable. 

[sleekandchic]

Thank you wings.  Not doing well at all. Man.

[Kromm]

Ugh.  My most recent waking nightmare is thinking about which icky surrogates get which jobs.

Many,  like Press Secretary don't need any kind of Senate approval. 

[ABay]

I thought about staying home today but should probably be around people even though I'm too fragile to focus on anything more complex than "fire bad. Tree pretty." The cats have endured enough of my stress. Also, faster internet to search for hope. Help me, Google.

[bmasters9]

Here's something from TPIR that fully illustrates how me and a lot of others here feel about the Trump win, and what we all should have done when it was announced that Trump won:

[SmithW6079]

3 minutes ago, Dancingjaneway said:

Not surprised by the outcome. This country was founded by people that owned people, stole land & denied women the right to vote. This country has always been deplorable. 

No, I disagree with that. America was founded by people who were products of their time. These attitudes changed over time -- we fought a civil war that led to the abolition of slavery; women gained the right to vote. America took a leading role in WWII to defeat fascism and in the post-war era. Trump's election represents a step backward, but, like Anne Frank, I want to believe in the ultimate good in people.

[sleekandchic]

You know, yesterday I observed Pence, his wife and daughter, after voting.  They looked glum and faraway.

Then Trump and his wife showed up to vote (why didn't they bring Barron? For gods sake!).  They looked addled.

I was sure their internal polls gave them bad news.

Meanwhile, Sen Kaine and Secy Clinton looked ebullient, alive, happy.

WTF happened?  How did it all go to hell?  Should I stalk Silver and Wang?  Could they REALLY be THAT wrong?  Jesus Christ Superstar, help us all.

[Constantinople]

Now I can't even make fun of British pollsters for being terrible at their jobs.

[Snipsa]

I have been in a slight state of shock today, and I have never even been in the USA.

 

As the citizen of a country with a president that has been charged with rape, corruption, fraud, etc, I can truly emphasize with you guys.

 

It is a sad state of affairs when one of the world leaders vote in a mysogynistic, racist, con-artist; rather than an eloquent, experienced and strong woman.  

Thoughts and prayers to you all from a worried South African...

[shoregirl]

I'm so disappointed in the half of America. I really thought that the KKK endorsing him would be a huge red flag but I guess not.  I will mourn today and say a prayer that he  doesn't fuck up the country that much. Dems need to take a long look in the mirror get their shit together and work their asses off to switch the Congress 2018  and start vetting people for 2020.  Cory Booker, Julian or Joaquin Castro , Chris Murphy and Kristen Gillibrand old be on my short list.

How were all the pollsters so wrong.

[AliShibaz]

26 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

"Make America Great" was just code for "no more n****ers in charge. And no c*nts either."

The world is moving rightward toward authoritarianism;  America is no different. As awful as Conman Don is, to me, Pence is even worse. Conman Don has no convictions other than the almighty dollar. Pence is no doubt thanking his vengeful, exclusionary god for his chance to turn America into a theocracy. 

Someone in this thread quoted Curio as saying that Obama was a great president because there had been no big scandals while he was president and a few other similar facts.

I would like to say that when a president does almost nothing, there will be almost no scandals as well as almost nothing else. Surely that cannot be a valid criteria for greatness in a president.

My hatred and contempt for Obama breaks through all kinds thresholds. I think he has to be one of the very worst presidents the US has ever experienced. I just shook my head in despair on most every day of his presidency. What a Plucker!  I use the word, "Plucker" as in "MotherPlucker" because it would not be appropriate to call any sitting president a "MotherFucker". But I can't think of any other name to describe this dolt!

I loved the fact that he was so verbally abusive towards Trump at that White House state dinner. But now, he will have to swallow his pride as he hands over the keys to the Oval Office to Trump. What a revolting development!

Fuck you Obama. Could you not have thought of anything more destructive to do other than to become President of the USA? I think History will look back on you as one of the biggest chumps that ever entered politics. I just can't believe that Americans voted you into a second term. So embarassing. So sad. Lord have mercy on the USA. They are gonna need it. In spades!

Edited November 9, 2016 by AliShibaz

[NewDigs]

Went to bed last night after NC and FL went not-Clinton. Laid awake for hours afraid to face the outcome.

I am bereft. And stunned. Difficult to process but thanks to all here for the help dealing.

@walnutqueen sorry for Trump on top of your other stresses. Be well. 

And thanks to all of you for some positive posts. @aradia22 I will take your optimism to heart and try. @sleekandchic, you too! I know there are others I haven't mentioned but have appreciated all. 

Poor Hillary. Gutted, is right.

my country...

Edited November 9, 2016 by NewDigs

[katha]

9 minutes ago, sleekandchic said:

You know, yesterday I observed Pence, his wife and daughter, after voting.  They looked glum and faraway.

Then Trump and his wife showed up to vote (why didn't they bring Barron? For gods sake!).  They looked addled.

I was sure their internal polls gave them bad news.

Meanwhile, Sen Kaine and Secy Clinton looked ebullient, alive, happy.

WTF happened?  How did it all go to hell?  Should I stalk Silver and Wang?  Could they REALLY be THAT wrong?  Jesus Christ Superstar, help us all.

I think a mass of people knew that voting for Trump is wrong, but they did so anyway, and refused to admit that in polls. That's also borne out by those figures that show that many of the people who voted for him don't think he's qualified, but that didn't stop them. It's difficult to poll for something like that.

Also, the race in the swing states was close and if what some posters here are saying is true and Clinton wasn't as sharp in her ground game as she needed to be, that's a huge problem for Dem turnout as well.

[Chaos Theory]

Wait!  What?  

I am really disappointed.  I guess I'll call it three steps forward two steps back.   News calls it blue collar over white collar but honestly I think it's white fear.  

I don't know.  Is Trump a product of our times? Is him getting elected just another example of how far we haven't come?  How the hell did we elect a misogynistic racist homophobe as president?

my God what have we done? 

[Hanahope]

7 minutes ago, shoregirl said:

I'm so disappointed in the half of America. I really thought that the KKK endorsing him would be a huge red flag but I guess not.  I will mourn today and say a prayer that he  doesn't fuck up the country that much. Dems need to take a long look in the mirror get their shit together and work their asses off to switch the Congress 2018  and start vetting people for 2020.  Cory Booker, Julian or Joaquin Castro , Chris Murphy and Kristen Gillibrand old be on my short list.

How were all the pollsters so wrong.

Can't do much in 2018, the Republicans gerrymandered the shit out of Congressional races back in 2010. 

[bosawks]

You know, if you're too embarrassed to admit to who you're voting for you probably shouldn't vote for that person.

[Bookish Jen]

I haven't been this frightened since 9/11.

[FuriousStyles]

I wish I had known about this thread throughout the summer and beyond.  Ive been dreading this day.  

IMO, this election was lost when the DNC had to rig the process to get Hillary the nomination.  Bernie could have done the numbers Hillary did last night PLUS pick up those votes that went to Gary Johnson. That would have been the difference in a lot of those battleground states.

But beyond that....I too smell a rat @hoosier80.  Wouldnt surprise me one bit if the Russians or whoever had something to do with this.  And I think back to all of Trump's talk about the system being rigged.  Isnt there a saying when someone constantly accuses you of something its because they are doing it themselves?

I never doubted there were still racists in this country.  There always were and there always will be.  What has stunned me is the numbers.  Close to 60 million people voted for Trump. 60 million people hate blacks, Muslims, Mexicans (and most likely Hispanics at large), gays (Mike Pence is on the ticket too) and have no problem with a man who brags about sexually assaulting and degrading women...or some combination of the above.  Restoring order (Trump touted himself as the 'Law&Order' president) and securing white privelege trumped (yes pun intended) everybody else and the greater good of the country.  My only hope is that their selfishness will bite them in the ass....because thats the only way they'll get it.

Whats funny is I'm not even worried about Trump per say.  I'm terrified of Mike Pence. The career politician who knows his way around gov't.  He will be the next Dick Cheney pulling the puppet strings.  Then there are the rest of the deplorables Trump will have in his cabinet.  Chris Christie, Rudy Guilani.....I'm shivering right now just thinking about it. Kelly Anne Conway doesnt bother me nearly as much as those complete jerks CNN was paying the last couple of months as "contributors". Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and that big headed "I graduated from Harvard Law School so I know more than you" Kayleigh Mcaniny or whatever the hell her name is. Those two are THEE worst.  They were ultimately proven to be right and I'm gonna have to listen to them blovate for the foreseeable future about it.

[bosawks]

On this dark day I give you unbridled joy....

 

[FuriousStyles]

30 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

No, I disagree with that. America was founded by people who were products of their time. These attitudes changed over time -- we fought a civil war that led to the abolition of slavery; women gained the right to vote. America took a leading role in WWII to defeat fascism and in the post-war era. Trump's election represents a step backward, but, like Anne Frank, I want to believe in the ultimate good in people.

I disagree.  Attitudes changed over time?  Nope. Even after the Civil War we had Jim Crow for decades.  To this day the justice system is skewed against black people.  13% of the population but 50% of the poluation in prison. War on Drugs was a war on blacks.  Oh and lets not forget The Voting Rights Act was recently overturned. 

Racist attitudes havent changed...just the way they manifest itself.

[Queena]

Tears fell from my eyes when I had to tell my aunt who's in the hospital and couldn't vote that Trump is.... Damn. Telling her that Hillary had conceded, and that there were no more votes to be counted, and there would be no recount, well, that hurt. I didn't think that I cared so much. What a sad day in America, or at least in my America. Even my husband is angry, and men aren't supposed to care about a woman being president. 

I have a arabic name. I'm not Muslim, but I'm often mistaken for one. There are 3 people in the world with names similar to mine. They're all Muslim and live in the Middle East. They all know that I'm not Muslim, but that I support everyone of every race, creed, color, and religion. They each sent me messages of encouragement. It's usually the other way around. I can only imagine how it feels to be Muslim or Hispanic today. I can only imagine how it feels to have parents who aren't legal, but work hard everyday. 

I need time to get over this. A long time. I need until at least 2020 to get over this. 

[qtpye]

I know a lot of people on this thread are confused to why this happened.  Below is a an article from Jim Newell from Slate Magazine, which is a left leaning magazine.  I honestly believe that at the end of the day, it begins and ends with the candidate.  When a person so naturally qualified for the job is beaten by an orange clown, we have to step back and look at mistakes honestly so it does not happen again.  I think this article is worth a read.

 

The Democrats will now control next to nothing above the municipal level. Donald Trump will be president. We are going to be unpacking this night for the rest of our lives, and lives beyond that. We can’t comprehend even 1 percent of what’s just happened. But one aspect of it, minor in the overall sweep, that I’m pretty sure we can comprehend well enough right now: The Democratic Party establishment has be clowned itself and is finished.

I think of the lawmakers, the consultants, the operatives, and—yes—the center-left media, and how everything said over the past few years leading up to this night was bullshit.

The midterm losses? That was just a bad cycle, structurally speaking; presidential demographics would make up for it. The party establishment made a grievous mistake rallying around Hillary Clinton. It wasn’t just a lack of recent political seasoning. She was a bad candidate, with no message beyond heckling the opposite sideline. She was a total misfit for both the politics of 2016 and the energy of the Democratic Party as currently constituted. She could not escape her baggage, and she must own that failure herself.

Theoretically smart people in the Democratic Party should have known that. And yet they worked giddily to clear the field for her. Every power-hungry young Democrat fresh out of law school, every rising lawmaker, every old friend of the Clintons wanted a piece of the action. This was their ride up the power chain. The whole edifice was hollow, built atop the same unearned sense of inevitability that surrounded Clinton in 2008, and it collapsed, just as it collapsed in 2008, only a little later in the calendar. The voters of the party got taken for a ride by the people who controlled it, the ones who promised they had everything figured out and sneeringly dismissed anyone who suggested otherwise. They promised that Hillary Clinton had a lock on the Electoral College. These people didn’t know what they were talking about, and too many of us in the media thought they did.

We should blame all those people around the Clintons more than the Clintons themselves, and the Clintons themselves deserve a ridiculous amount of blame. Hillary Clinton was just an ambitious person who wanted to be president. There are a lot of people like that. But she was enabled. The Democratic establishment is a club unwelcoming to outsiders, because outsiders don’t first look out for the club. The Clintons will be gone now. For the sake of the country, let them take the hangers-on with them.

What was the line? Hillary Clinton would do well in a general election, because she’d been “vetted” for 20-some years and there was nothing new Republicans could try? Just writing that, I recognize that it’s the funniest line I’ve ever seen, and yet it was the exact argument Clinton used in two separate campaigns for the Democratic nomination.

The ace ground game, the brilliant ad-makers, the top Hollywood talent, and the best analytics operation ever assembled? This was all a joke. The best analytics team in the world, apparently, couldn’t find in their numbers that it was worth making a single stop to Wisconsin following the convention in a campaign against a Republican whose base appeal was in the Rust Belt. Not that an extra visit would have changed the result.

Think of how wrong the entire national media conversation was—and yes, I contributed my fair share—about how the Republicans were being torn apart as a party. I prewrote a piece Tuesday afternoon, to be published in the event of the expected Clinton win, pushing back against both myself and other members of the media, arguing that Democrats and Republicans were both in existential trouble and that, in the short-term context of a decaying political system, Republicans might even have the edge: Democrats could win the presidency most of the time but never a majority of state governments or the House; while Republicans could always win the majority of state governments and the House, and occasionally—probably in 2020, I thought—the White House. This was wrong. Republicans don’t have a slight edge over Democrats in a decaying political system. Republicans are ascendant. Trump has given them a mission. The country is now theirs.

Whoever takes over what’s left of the Democratic Party is going to have to find a way to appeal to a broader cross section of the country. It may still be true that in the long term, Republicans can’t win with their demographics, but we found out Tuesday that the long term is still pretty far away. Democrats have to win more white voters. They have to do so in a way that doesn’t erode the anti-racist or anti-sexist planks of the modern party, which are non-negotiable. If only there were a model for this.

The few Democratic leaders who remain are going to say that it was just a bad note struck here or there, or the lazy Bernie voters who didn’t show up, or Jim Comey, or unfair media coverage of Clinton’s emails, to blame for this loss. I am already seeing Democrats blaming the Electoral College, which until a few hours ago was hailed as the great protector of Democratic virtue for decades to come, and Republicans were silly for not understanding how to crack the blue “wall.” They will say, just wait for Republicans to overreach. Then we’ll be fine.

Don’t listen to any of this. Everything is not OK. This is not OK.

[hoosier80]

I'm sitting here crying.  "Working" from home.  I'm in complete shock.  

On the bright side, I guess, think about how much more HRC would have had to put up with - they were already talking of impeaching her.  Go have time with your grandkids, give the gauntlet to someone else to champion the good fight.  I would have rather it turned out the other way, but someone posted a long article about how now once he's in office (gag), it's more than just slogans and rallies.  He'll tire of it quickly. Everything will be under more scrutiny now; don't think it'll be a cakewalk for him.

[NinjaPenguins]

27 minutes ago, Bookish Jen said:

 

I haven't been this frightened since 9/11.

 

That was a pretty scary day. Still, watching men and women rush into a scene of horror and destruction to try to rescue others made me feel hope for humanity. Seeing people lined up for blocks to donate blood was amazing. America was wounded that day, but you could at least say for sure there were decent, selfless people in it. Today, I have no faith in my fellow man. I'm going to look at my fellow white people and wonder who among them was craven and selfish enough to inflict this kind of damage on the most vulnerable in society. 

Buzz Windrip will be representing us out there in the world. What. The. Fuck.

[Chicken Wing]

39 minutes ago, bosawks said:

You know, if you're too embarrassed to admit to who you're voting for you probably shouldn't vote for that person.

And therein lies the problem of how we got to this. Too many people who are too stupid to realize this very thing, that if they are ashamed to admit that they want to vote for this person then maybe they ought to rethink that choice.

I honestly did not believe in the silent Trump vote thing that his surrogates kept insisting would come out on Election Day. For one, we really didn't see it in the primaries at all. When he started doing well there was talk that his support might be even bigger than the polls suggested because of the reverse Bradley effect, but his subsequent primary and caucus results were always more or less in line with what the polls said he would get. And second, at this point in the election cycle, when Trump was clearly popular and a serious choice for so many, is it really that difficult to admit that you're one of them? To a pollster? I get if you don't want to admit it to your family members or friends, especially if you know they feel the opposite way, but why the hell would anyone feel the need to lie to an anonymous poll when, again, supporting Trump was obviously now an acceptable thing to do in general? Don't get it at all.

Edited November 9, 2016 by Chicken Wing