Fixing the Rift

How do we fix this? I think that’s a question we all need to ask at this point.

We all know what happened this week. A man was elected president that half of the country is celebrating and the other half is condemning. I fall into the latter category. I suppose for the conservatives reading this, that was your exit sign. I hope not. I hope you listen to what I have to say if you’ve made it this far and are interested. Because I don’t want to disqualify someone because of a label or who they picked as a political candidate. But that seems to be where this all is heading. And what’s the answer here?

First and foremost, as a man who has voted Democrat since the age of 18, I think it’s important to address what I feel the Democratic Party did wrong here. Hillary Clinton was a bad choice as our Party’s major political candidate. Okay? Admitted. Yes, she has been a steadfast and hardworking civil servant. But she is not a personality that captures the minds and hearts of the populace. She does not now, nor has she ever had the “wow” factor to become a major face in our celebrity culture. While the logical part of our brains say this should not matter, in our society it does. It absolutely matters. Let’s also address the fact that the DNC seriously screwed up in the way they handled Bernie Sanders. The man was representative of real political change and the party moved away from that to embrace establishment politics and employed some seriously shady tactics. Then, with Hilary, there are the “scandals”. I believe the email issue is completely overblown and that too much has been made of it. But, it was there. It was an active investigation going on during a Presidential political campaign that was too fresh in the public eye to be viewed objectively and the media and the right wing were allowed to nail her with it every chance they got. So, she was viewed as predominantly untrustworthy. Hilary Clinton was always a flawed candidate for President and no amount of celebrity endorsements or rationalization was going to help that. So, she lost. She focused her campaign on how horrible her opponent was and failed to connect with the American People in the states that matter.

Okay, that was the broad forest view. Now, to address the ugly orange elephant in the room. Donald Trump ran on a platform that is scarily similar to other fascists in history. If you do not believe me, please read up on it yourself. I don’t want to add to the empty accusations of the internet, so I’m encouraging anyone who doubts this to do their own research. The Germany that led to the rise of Nazism sounds eerily similar to the state of American society right now. And Donald Trump tapped into the fear, anger, and yes, racism in our society to get what he wanted. I’ve been very upset with educated friends of mine this past week who voted for Trump, ignoring all he has said and done and the arguments for why fall back on three prongs.

1.       He won’t be that Bad/The President doesn’t do that much anyway

2.       He’s better than Hilary

3.       He’ll deal with all of the immigrants and Muslims by “Making America Great Again”

So, the first two reasons while understandable are arguably the scariest to me. They suggest a willing ignorance on the importance of the office President and the blatant racism, misogyny, and ignorance Trump ran with. It means that you’re ignoring not the things implied about him, but the actual things that he said. The things he did. The violence he is on film embracing and encouraging at his rallies. The hours of tapes of him openly acting like a pig in regards to women. The ignorance and mismanagement of so many of his financial endeavours. All of that ignored out of a sense of… what? This is where I get confused. What feeling did he instill in my friends and family members that led them to vote for him not just with chagrin or even doubt but with glee? That is what is so disturbing here. I’m not seeing Trump supporters saying, “Well, what the hell else was I supposed to do? I hate Hilary.” I can at least understand that if not agree with it. But it’s the willful, laughing celebration of hate speech and fascist policies I can’t understand.

And this is where that last one is so scary. The people who laughingly, openly embrace his racism and sexism truly frighten me. And look, I get it. I know that there are videos and interviews with Trump from even 5 years ago where he was talking about being open in regards to Homosexuals and minorities. But that’s not what he ran his Presidential campaign on. He was out of the gate embracing a racist bullying dogma. He was mocking political and ideological enemies because they questioned his views.

And if you’re a conservative or a Republican who has read this far, I just have to ask, is this what you wanted to represent you? How is this the Party of Lincoln? Lincoln who said:

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Or Reagan:

“And that's about all I have to say tonight, except for one thing. The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the 'shining city upon a hill.' The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.”

What happened to that Party? What happened to those ideals? I don’t agree with a lot of the policies of Reagan, but I can respect the man and respect the way he treated the office of president. I can appreciate the discourse he had with the American people and understand the comfort and leadership he provided. And Lincoln obviously speaks for himself. I want that in American politics again. That is how we became the great country that we ARE. And that’s how we can be great again.

At my core, I suppose that I am a liberal. I believe more in liberal ideologies than I do conservative. But that does not mean I want conservatives to fail or the conservative party to evaporate. I want the evangelicals out of our government and I want people to be open minded. But when it comes to domestic policy, foreign policy, trade, and the rules of governance, I want to hear both sides. I want informed, responsible, dedicated people who are genuinely trying to lead. Not spoiled billionaires arguing over who’s right. Not politicians so caught up in who’s funding them that they’ll shill their ideals to the highest bidder. And not a textbook narcissist so desperate for attention that he’ll promise anything he can and incite whatever unrest he can to gain attention.

One more thing before I close this up for the night. The media. I believe the media played a massive role in what has happened. I believe our news media is truly broken. I think that they failed the American people at every stage in this election. There was great investigative journalism done in newspaper and print media, but we saw very little of that. The 24 hour news networks instead played Rock’em Sock’em Robots 24 hours a day. The turned our political system into Itchy and Scratchy with 2 commentators on the left and 2 on the “right”. Only in this case, to get commentators on the right in support of Trump, they had to reach further and further on the shelf to get the most out there, abrasive, reprehensible human beings they could. And they normalized them. By putting these people, who openly lied, denied facts, and spread conspiracy theories on air all hours the day, they condoned their words. They silently validated their view points. They let them speak on and on. Because it was good for ratings. Because it was good for business. And that’s where our Fourth Estate is. They got it all wrong. And they, just like those that thought Trump was a fool but voted for him anyway, they condoned his message of hate and ignorance.

And now, here we are.

I am truly, deeply disturbed by the things I’m seeing in the world around me. Those that voted for Trump won. And yet, they are not acting with class or dignity. They’re calling the people who are shocked and saddened by this turn of events “Dems” “Cucks” “Crybaby’s””Libtards”. They’re attacking anyone who is critical of the president elect, despite that same man screaming for eight years to see the birth certificate of the sitting president. They’re railing against overwhelmingly peaceful protests against a broken system. I’m okay disagreeing with people and I prefer not to fight, but I feel like it’s headed that way. Because as a man who thinks of himself as a Liberal, I’m pissed. I’m furious over what I see happening to my country. I’m the product of a single mother family. I grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I worked cattle farms in my teen years. And now I work 50 + hours a week providing for my daughters. I have earned the right to vote, disagree, and speak my mind. Not that I had to earn it in the first place because it’s one we were born with in this country.

Now, Right wingers who may have made it this far, you might not like the next part.

Liberals, I think it’s time we got angry. And I hope it is finally happening. For too long Right Wing conservatives have painted the Left as the “weak/intellectual” side. When the hell did this happen and how does that make us weak? I think I know the answer but it’s equally frustrating. I know in my case, it’s that I’d rather get along and go along. I don’t want to think about politics. I don’t want to be angry about my government or a presidential election. Disappointed maybe, interested definitely. But not rattled to my core. And I think that’s the key. I grew up with a mother who loved John Lennon, who played “Imagine” in the house a lot. And that’s a hopeful message. But, it’s also a part of the hippy culture that as so long painted liberals as week. Long haired, frightened, un-motivated slackers that want to live off the government and smoke weed. Well, that’s not me. And I damned sure am not living off of the government. I just don’t see the point in restricting gay people’s rights, controlling a woman’s body, or allowing deadly weapons to be wantonly sold. So, I think it’s time we got angry, I think it’s time we stayed angry. Because if I’m representative of the millennial liberal, then I know I am not weak. I know I am not letting anyone do my fighting for me. I know I don’t want my country to go the way so many strong countries have before us. I’m not going to be exclusionary, I’m not going to use simplistic terms to describe my ideological opponents, and I’m not going to abrasively mock anyone who disagrees with me. But that’s not the same thing as just rolling over. I’m also not going to remain quiet, I’m not going to simply accept that my new President Elect chooses a known White Supremacist for his cabinet.

So, in closing, I want to fix what’s broken here. I want the country to heal. But, that can only happen when people open their eyes and see things for what they are. Liberals, Hilary Clinton and the Democratic Party bungled this thing from the word go. We have to own that. And learn from it. Conservatives… Seriously? Trump? I mean, I’m sorry, I was trying to keep it balanced but, come on. That man represents nothing about the ideals so many conservatives have touted for years. And I’m really afraid that in a year, most of us will know that for a fact. But you know what, I don’t want to say, “I told you so.” Because that fixes nothing. If you’re a conservative that voted for Trump, and you see things that are wrong, all I’m asking is that you confront it. That you admit what you’re seeing is not okay, and that you stand up for it. I don’t want to have a political fight with you on Facebook. If you see Trump not owning up to his promise to “Drain the Swamp” I want you to vote for a conservative leader that will stand up to him and push back for what YOU want. And liberals, the Facebook shares of John Oliver videos and Vox articles are all well and good, but it’s time to get up and do something. We need to find our voices, our representatives. People who understand our struggles with school, jobs, and society. Because the establishment that’s in place, the Baby Boomer Left and Evangelical right, they don’t get it. This is our country and I want us all to fight for what’s right about it. To do any less is a failure to live up to the ideals this country was founded upon.