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Democrats Lost. I Want To Be Sure That Democracy Doesn’t.
It is Friday. The end of the week - but not the end of the world. This is my third post on the ‘Topic of Tuesday’ …. and (for now at least) will be my last.
- Post One - You Are Welcome - Is Here.
- Post Two - You Are More Than Welcome - Is Here.
I will explain why I am stopping at the end, but first, if you only read one link through this post - this is it. And as you read it, know that it is dated July 23rd. This not a Monday Morning Quarterback piece - it is a well written thoughtful opinion piece by Tobias Stone as to what might be going on in the world, even before last Tuesday.
The comments were so extensive that it spawned a second post on July 25th. It was extraordinary how the comments were so personal - and sad how ignorant the writers were. That said, this was the quote that stood out to me …
Trump will most likely win this election based on how many people don’t vote, not on how many vote for him. This election is all about the anti-Hillary Democrats and, anti-Trump Republicans.
I have seen no argument that this was indeed not the case.
That said .. onwards. My conclusion (that I will formulate in more detail at the end) is that for the first time ever we need to seriously understand and differentiate on who Trump (the man) is - and what POTUS (the role) will be. In previous Presidencies, they usually get conflated. Maybe not so much in the Bush 2 years, but generally they do - and that is ok.
My thought is that if - in the Trump years - we conflate the two, then we put respect, dignity, transparency, honesty and and and … maybe even the future of America at unparalleled risk.
Let’s start with an extract from an email from one of my readers.
And so much of the Trump vote revolved around issues about work (or the disappearing nature of work) and work’s relationship to identity. In a Calvinist culture (and everyone in the US is a Calvinist at heart) where one’s work ethic reflects one’s chance at salvation, how could the work ‘revolution’ not impact identity?
Oh my - what insight.
Rewriting History
I wrote yesterday of people rewriting history. Or attempting to. People magazine is the latest one. After a female reporter for People was allegedly sexually assaulted, People magazine wrote:
“We stand steadfastly by [Stoynoff], and are proud to publish her clear, credible account of what happened,” editor-in-chief Jess Cagle wrote at the time. “It is heartbreaking that her fear of retaliation by Trump kept her from reporting the incident when it happened.”
And this week they have dedicated their cover to the Trump win including several stories celebrating the Trump family. And then later have published life style pieces on Ivanka and Melania.
The backlash was fast and forceful, at least on Twitter - if you are reading this - check out Twitter now.
On Winning The Election
Yes - he won it. According to the rules. (Despite the election being rigged) - the link takes you to a google search that details nearly 24 million mentions that references when Donald Trump said that ‘The Election is Rigged’
Meanwhile, HRC won the popular vote - and while we all know that this doesn’t matter, because it is the Electoral College that does matter, it does mean that for a few days you are going to get a few people a little bit pissed off.
Ok - more than a little - protests and riots in major cities across America is more than that. So what does Potus-elect do to calm the crowds?
Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!
And his surrogates across the airwaves rush out and tell us that we should just accept that HRC lost - and get behind the new President. (Exactly as Trump did for Obama … NOT).
The Ruling Government We Can Expect
We already knew that Christie (if he manages to stay out of jail), Gingrich, Carson, Guiliani et al were all going to be part of the Trump cabinet. But I wonder if we expected any of this ….
- The architect of the most racist law in modern American history has been named to Trump’s team
- Trump strongly considering Breitbart’s Bannon for chief of staff
- Trump chose Myron Ebell to oversee environmental policies. (Myron Ebell is chairman of the Cooler Heads Coalition, a group of climate change denialists and alarmists.)
Oh - and Palin for Secretary of the Interior.
Thanks god we still have Colbert. His Palin riff his wonderful - and as as he ends the monologue :
Trumps plan to ‘DrainTheSwamp of corruption’ has resulted in bringing back Gingrich, Christie, Guiliani and Palin - which makes sense - because they are exactly what you would expect to find at the bottom of a drained swamp.
But, this one is the most telling ….
Who is ‘Omarosa’ you might ask? Turns out she is not only his Director of African-American reach out - who knew? But she - like Trump is a Reality Show star - having debuted on Season 1 of the Apprentice - but since then appeared in 20 other reality shows. I kid you not. I didn’t even know there were twenty other reality shows ! Her possible role in the future Trump Administration? Small Business Administration.
On Women In The Workforce
Sallie Krawcheck : A Letter to Young Women, in the Age of Trump - sexism in the workplace is rife.
I wasn’t given the great assignments; the more senior woman I worked with was likewise dismissed as “lightweight” (and, lest you think that might have been true, that woman was Safra Catz, now the co-President of Oracle).
In Conclusion
We had an election. Democrats lost. I want to be sure that democracy doesn’t. Trump is not my President. Never will be. But that’s because I am English. My allegiance is to the Queen, who one day will meet President Trump. And, just like Obama, she will separate her almost guaranteed loathing for him as a man from his position as POTUS. Hat’s off to those people who have that ability. Me? My attitude fits in more with these guys.
whitehouse
But if he was my President, that is what I would need to do. So, I would give him a chance. I would certainly first need to work out how to separate my opinion of him as a man from my opinion of him as a President. The former I know. The latter has yet to be seen.
If he really does bring jobs back to America, protect civil rights, support people in the fast changing hard to understand world, fix corruption in Washington, reduce wars, help the environment, tackle climate change … ok it’s wish list that I know wasn’t part of his platform (what was?) … but if he does just one thing that moves America forward, I will applaud. He will have my attention. Even today, ‘repeal ObamaCare’ has taken a turn to be - well - “I don’t really mean ’repeal it” .. .. we will see.
It is just that right now I cannot see a route through to that. And, all in all, my exposure to date reveals a self contradicting, lying bully. So, I need him to move beyond ‘talk’ and in to ‘action’.
First actions, the names of his likely cabinet and advisers are emerging, I am not feeling good. But I will give him a chance. Like Elizabeth Warren, Hilary Clinton, Obama, Bernie at al - I am watching ….
… unlike all the Republican that disavowed him like Ryan and McConnell who are now lining up at the trough to do his bidding and not put such constraints on him.
So what does the report card look like 48 hours in?
We have protests on the streets in major cities across the country, students walking out of school en masse in protest, countless cases of aggression and threats against minorities and the country is told by his surrogates that we should ‘suck it up’ and ‘stop whining’ - because the Democrats lost.
Trump tweeted.
Harry Reid in statement on the election:
“White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear – especially African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans, LGBT Americans and Asian Americans. Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America.
and
If this is going to be a time of healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs: at the feet of Donald Trump, a sexual predator who lost the popular vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate. Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed against millions of Americans. Donald Trump may not possess the capacity to assuage those fears, but he owes it to this nation to try.
48 hours into the ‘POTUS-elect’ stage, I would argue that he has not tried. In fact, his tweets and the people he is talking about putting into power are simply doubling down on the extreme rhetoric he used on the campaign trail.
But then again, it could all change. I mean it isn’t as if he is a Republican. (From October).