So it's the morning after the 2016 US election. Trump won. Dear God in Heaven, Trump won. We can look forward to four years minimum of misogyny, homophobia, isolationism, racism and God only knows what else.
The main reason voters are citing is that they wanted "change." They wanted an outsider who would come in and "shake things up."
To which I say, be careful what you wish for.
After the mess he inherited when he assumed office in January 2009, President Obama has been steadily, quietly and determinedly reducing the national debt and rebuilding the economy. Unemployment is at an historic low. And he has not gotten one iota of credit for it from the people who voted Trump last night.
I remember reading some years ago about something that I thought was the most peculiar thing I'd ever heard of. Apparently there is a segment of the Japanese population, usually the older folks, who are literally incapable of hearing Japanese if it's being spoken by a Westerner. The idea that only Japanese people can speak this beautiful, complex language is so deeply ingrained that even the most fluent of Western speakers is heard as gibberish. They just can't get their minds around the idea.
I wonder if the same thing isn't going on here.
I wonder if there isn't so much white anger and fear bubbling below the surface that some people simply cannot accept the idea of a black leader making things better. Which Obama has done, in the face of hatred, obstructionism and deep, deep partisanship. My sister, who testified before Congress in Obama's first year in 2009, overheard two Congressmen saying to one another that "this guy gets NOTHING." Anecdotal, but certainly arguable in the light of ensuing events, what with unfilled appointments, executive action having to be taken over legislation, and all the other political crap we've had to deal with for eight years. I think that some people have their heads so deeply in the sand that they simply cannot see how much better things are than they were eight years ago. There is a whole cycle of memes to be found that start, "if Obama were white...." I think there is a lot of truth to be found there.
Which is why we find ourselves as Americans witnessing our first black President turning over the keys to the White House to the first candidate endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.
My heart is broken today, and I don't know if it will ever be mended. I'm nearing the end of my days, but I fear for the world my daughter now will have to live in, in an America divided by hate; an America that seems to say it's OK to treat women and minorities badly; an America that turns a blind eye to global warming until it's too late to reverse it; an America that I truly believe will find itself feared and shunned by the rest of the world.
The main reason voters are citing is that they wanted "change." They wanted an outsider who would come in and "shake things up."
To which I say, be careful what you wish for.
After the mess he inherited when he assumed office in January 2009, President Obama has been steadily, quietly and determinedly reducing the national debt and rebuilding the economy. Unemployment is at an historic low. And he has not gotten one iota of credit for it from the people who voted Trump last night.
I remember reading some years ago about something that I thought was the most peculiar thing I'd ever heard of. Apparently there is a segment of the Japanese population, usually the older folks, who are literally incapable of hearing Japanese if it's being spoken by a Westerner. The idea that only Japanese people can speak this beautiful, complex language is so deeply ingrained that even the most fluent of Western speakers is heard as gibberish. They just can't get their minds around the idea.
I wonder if the same thing isn't going on here.
I wonder if there isn't so much white anger and fear bubbling below the surface that some people simply cannot accept the idea of a black leader making things better. Which Obama has done, in the face of hatred, obstructionism and deep, deep partisanship. My sister, who testified before Congress in Obama's first year in 2009, overheard two Congressmen saying to one another that "this guy gets NOTHING." Anecdotal, but certainly arguable in the light of ensuing events, what with unfilled appointments, executive action having to be taken over legislation, and all the other political crap we've had to deal with for eight years. I think that some people have their heads so deeply in the sand that they simply cannot see how much better things are than they were eight years ago. There is a whole cycle of memes to be found that start, "if Obama were white...." I think there is a lot of truth to be found there.
Which is why we find ourselves as Americans witnessing our first black President turning over the keys to the White House to the first candidate endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.
My heart is broken today, and I don't know if it will ever be mended. I'm nearing the end of my days, but I fear for the world my daughter now will have to live in, in an America divided by hate; an America that seems to say it's OK to treat women and minorities badly; an America that turns a blind eye to global warming until it's too late to reverse it; an America that I truly believe will find itself feared and shunned by the rest of the world.
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