Well, it’s been a crazy week, hasn’t it?
I wrote a whole post the other day but decided against putting it out there. What good would it do? Even though I’ve been avoiding the news and political talk shows, there were already too many words out there online and on the airwaves. People were just babbling– trying to figure out how this happened, why it happened, who to blame and what was coming next. Even where to march in the streets or where to run and hide. It has been practically a Tower of Babel and it has turned into a drone that is incomprehensible to most of us, with little meaningful communication being made.
In the past few days, I’ve calmed a bit. Oh, I am still angry at the sheer absurdity of the whole thing. I am still angry at an electoral system that allows one candidate receiving almost 2 million votes more in the popular vote than her opponent, as the future final outcome is now being estimated, to somehow lose. 2 million votes, That is like saying to someone in a state like South Carolina or Oregon that your vote doesn’t matter. It is that many votes being disenfranchised.
I’m less angry at the Trump voters. It’s not like they came out in droves as the press initially indicated. Mitt Romney had more votes than Trump in 2012. I still am a little incredulous that they bought what he was selling, considering that two years ago he embodied everything most of them hated– a smug, privileged, big city, big shot who bragged about the college that attended and only flew over the heartland in his jets on his way to his private enclaves. Why they believed that he is somehow going to bring back coal mining and steel factories is beyond me. Given his background and his past performances, how they came to see him as the savior of blue collar jobs is beyond my feeble brain.
I am most angry at the Democrats who just sat this one out when it was an election that was easily within reach and had so much importance in the direction of our country. All of the gains achieved over the past few decades in equal rights for all, environmental issues (clean air, clean water and climate change), renewable energy and energy independence, women’s rights, universal healthcare and in so many other issues are definitely in peril. Not to mention Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.
And based on the people (many lobbyists and far right ideologues, by the way) that have been put forward as possible players in this administration, it seems like a credible threat. Regaining those things that may be lost will take a huge effort, a lot more than it would have taken to protect them my simply voting. All the Dems had to do was show up and this could have been avoided.
But while I still somehow believe there is still a chapter in this story not yet revealed, that there will be a plot twist in the next few months that will shock us all, we have what we have. I hope for the best and pray that my fears are completely unfounded. I hope that Trump somehow transforms the reckless, hateful candidate into a president that represents all of us, including the 62 million who voted for his opponent.
To the 60 million or so Trump voters, including the some 20% of you who voted for him even though you believed him to be temperamentally unfit to be president, I say, “Congratulations.” He has a lot of promises to answer for and I urge you to hold him to them. And he should be able to move quickly now that he has a GOP House and Senate to back his every move.
No excuses now. It’s yours and Trump’s baby now. Let’s see some results pronto!
But a reminder: those of us who didn’t vote for him hold you responsible for his actions. You have more or less a co-signor on a loan with Trump. If he defaults, you will be asked to pay for it. And if you know his background, get ready to open your pocketbooks.
And to the 90 or 100 million of you who didn’t vote: get your head out of your ass and get into the game. You might think it doesn’t affect you but it actually reaches deeply into many aspects of your world. Participate. Don’t let someone else set the course on your journey. Vote, for chrissakes.
Okay, enough of that. For today’s Sunday Morning music I was going to, since I consider myself a great fan of his music, play a Leonard Cohen song in honor of his passing this week. But I thought instead I would play something that might seem curious to some. It’s the garage band classic 96 Tears from ? and the Mysterians. You might think it references the tears shed this week from the Dems but that’s not the case. It’s actually a break-up song that is about exacting a little future revenge, about turning the tables on the one who hurt you. Making them feel the same pain you felt.
This is a neat version with the lyrics from the band. So, for all you folks out there struggling to come to terms with this election, sick of hearing the gloating from GOP trolls and pundits, keep this song in your heads. Let it be your mantra moving forward.
Hey, try to have good day. Seriously.
Redtree Times 