I don’t really like to be political on the blog, but oh well. We’ve done it America, for better or worse. Or half of America did it. Half did not. Hate won this election. On both sides. Whether it was hate for Hillary, hate for Obamacare, hate for Trump, hate of a democrat nominating a supreme court justice, hate of immigrants, hate of gun control, hate of POC… the list goes on. And that is what bothers me more than Trump actually being president. This bed of hatred is now what we must lie in and I for one don’t want to.
The seedy underbelly of America was exposed and spilled itself into the rhetoric. This has now encouraged the worst of the worst to go ahead and spout what they want now. Even David Duke, white supremacist bag of garbage, said this:
This is one of the most exciting nights of my life -> make no mistake about it, our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump
That should scare you. That should scare Trump as well. Let’s hope he has the guts to address the issue. The country is basically still split down the middle and healing from that may never take place. What kind of America do we have when some of our fellow Americans are now afraid to live here because of who they are?
The right says that now we know how they felt when Obama was elected, but no matter how much you dislike him or his policies, Obama is a decent human being. Back in the Bush/Gore election, I was terribly disappointed, but I didn’t think Bush was a bad human being. This time? Well, there is enough audio and video out there that speaks for itself.
I think Van Jones said it best:
And Donald Trump has a responsibility tonight to come out and reassure people that he is going to be the president of all the people he insulted, and offended, and brushed aside, yeah. When you say you want to take your country back, you got a lot of people who feel they’re not represented well either. But we don’t want to feel that someone has been elected by throwing away some of us to appeal more deeply to others.
But this is more than politics. This is about human beings. We as Americans need to prove that we are better than this. We are. We have to be. No matter who you voted for, call out hate on the carpet when you see it. Hate should not be a presidential platform. You need to be able to look everyone in the eye and say “We all are equal. You matter” I think we kind of said the opposite to half the country.
I truly hope Trump is not the man he seems to be. I truly, truly hope that. I so badly want this to be okay. Maybe he won’t revert to the form we saw on the campaign trail. Maybe he will make good changes. Am I optimistic? Nope. I can only try to make my corner of the world full of kindness and acceptance and equality. If everyone does the same, maybe there is hope.
Now, better get all my doctor appointments in before January before we lose our health insurance…
i respectfully disagree with you Lori………. deb
You’re free to disagree. I truly hope you are right. Fear you are not.
My thoughts exactly! Well said!
You are so right! Thank you.
I never comment on blogs, but I can’t resist here. It probably took courage to politicize your artistic nest. Thank you for doing that. I can’t even find words for this day, and my fears for what lies ahead. I’m looking for my own courage and “we’ll be okay” spirit. . .but I have a ways to go. Thanks, Lori.
It’s not courage so much as just having an opinion like everyone else LOL! I don’t mind people not agreeing with me as long as there is civility. If I didn’t want to hear dissenting opinions, I would have closed the comments.
I agree Lori, we turned the corner of uneasiness with this election and it has not felt like this before. Unfortunately it is what it is. Hope we survive it.
Well written!
I know to a lot of Americans (not you) Europe is something they are not interested in, probably a lot of them don’t even know my country. But in Europe we follow what happens in the USA close. Because in the end all countries need to work together and to Europe it’s just as important as to the US that you have a good president.
I have no idea what is going to happen now. I sure hope he has a lot of good people behind him to help him and keep him from saying stupid things and maybe, just maybe it won’t be so bad.
Beautifully said…
Well said. Proud of you for speaking your mind.
I’ve sat silent for too long.
I can’t add anything to what you said, but I legitimately fear for one of my children’s safety now.
I know you do, Shelley, but know that you have many, many people willing to take on the fight against discrimination.
As soon as Mike Pence was named as VP running mate….I thought of your family Shelley! Sending giant, supportive hugs to all. And hopes that the fears so many have today are proven wrong.
We as Americans have had no true representation in our government for decades. No one of sound mind will willingly take on the job to dig our country out of the mess that all previous administration has done. I cannot say that I hated either candidate but just feel that Hillary did not and would not do our country justice with her inability to keep classified information. As a leader or anyone that has Top Secret clearance, that person should guard classified information. My son is 21 years old and has Top Secret clearance, he is more level headed and safe guarding of all the classified information than Hillary. I am a Veteran and was active duty under the Clinton Administration. I know for a fact that was a tough time for my military career and for one very glad that my son will not have to endure what my husband and myself did. Everyone is allowed their opinion and beliefs, that is what our country was built upon, but we have to do our part to make the changes that we need in our country. Throwing tantrums and complaining like children will not work. Let’s just hope Trump surrounds himself with a strong administration that will represent ALL of our CITIZENS and help our economy to become strong once again.
First off, thank you and your family for your service.
I agree that we need to be more inclusive of representation in the office rather than what was said on the campaign trail. It’s too bad that we also had a previous 8 years of tantrums keeping stuff from getting done as well. America has lost the ability to listen and compromise, but that’s not a new problem.
I agree with a lot of what you said. I also think selfishness was a big factor in people’s choices, and I don’t like that. Winnie’s comment is helpful, and I do think that there must be a great amount of frustration in “politics as usual” to have motivated people to make such a drastic choice. I’m choosing to be optimistic that our entire system of government will still work, and we won’t be subject to the whims of one man.
I am scared shitless Lori – insurance here too & everything else. He is surrounding himself with the underbelly of the Repub party – everything those people voted against! PLUS 56% did NOT vote – lppk where that got you!
I will never accept this man after the crap he pulled!
xoxoxo
Well, we do have to accept it. He was voted in. We have to hope he puts good things in place and doesn’t ruin everything. I hope he does good for America because wishing he fails is like shooting yourself in the foot because you don’t like your shoe.
Well said, Lori…and I hope I’m wrong about all of my concerns also! I am heartsick that so many people have been made vulnerable, that the people who hate have been emboldened to hurt people. I am anxious about how civil rights and social justice will fare. I feel like I don’t know my own country anymore, or maybe that I never really did. But like I told my kids, we have each other and our friends, and we need to stay strong and kind.
Thank you for posting this!!! I’ve been so very upset and frightened. America has just taken a HUGE step backward. Lots of talking with my children about bullies and hate. We are lucky to live in an area of the U.S. that is protesting and that is a beautiful thing to show my children.
Thank you again for your honesty. You are appreciated.
Amen, and thank you.
So well said Lori. xo
Well said, Lori. I just had to tell my husband what you wrote – he thought you are very smart in how you think about things. Let’s hope things will go in a positive direction for our country and people can see the good in things we come across in our lives instead of the hatred we have seen so much of lately. Hoping for the best!
Lori, I respect and appreciate your civil response to this election. I’m sure you can tell we stand on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but I do agree that responding in hatred does nothing for the good of mankind.
This was the first election I voted against someone and not for a certain candidate. It’s been crazy.
Now we can simply go on doing our best to make this world a better place.
Lori, I am very happy Trump won and think Hillary would have been a terrible president. But I respect your opinion and appreciate that you expressed it with civility and dignity. So much nastiness and ugliness has been put out there the last few days; it’s nice to read a post like yours for a change.
Very well-written and I appreciate you going out on a limb and writing it. I agree with you. And you said it much more eloquently than I could have, which is why I’m just not. 🙁 I’m definitely too emotional about it to say something inspiring.
What scares me is how, within only 2 days of this happening, minorities and women are already being harassed. Friends all over the country are sharing their stories of being harassed by Trump supporters and it breaks my heart. 🙁
It breaks my heart as well. It has to be recognized that this is an issue. If Trump could address this, I might actually think there could be a whisper of hope. Not holding my breath, though.
I think we are all really more fearful than we need to be. As women, we need to be strong, to be confident, to be without fear as we face the discriminators in our land. We don’t need to be nasty or rude to do it, we just need to be emphatic and enthusiastic about representing women’s issues in the best of lights. Oh, and honest!
I am not afraid following the election, nor would I have been had Hillary won. I believe the sting coming off this event rests with the DNC. Evidence shows that Secretary Clinton was not the best candidate for the DNC to put forward, and had they chosen more wisely the outcome of the election might have been quite different.
The Silent Majority won this time–those who thoughtfully observed and watched what was going down around them, and made sense of things on their own, without the help of the slanted media.
I am not afraid. I am determined!
I am just as afraid as when I heard Obama say we must kill the enemy when speaking of the Republican Party. I guess politics equals hate. It was a shame there wasn’t a good candidate to vote for. I think the media is a bit skewed so it is tough to know where the truth lies. I believe most people want the world to be better. There has been enough division. Enough victimization. I think people really want to move forward & progress in all aspects.