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2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumResponse to my family -- originally posted as anonymous
Response to my friends and family about this most devastating presidential election in my lifetime.
I dont think you understand me right now. I think you think this is about politics. I think you believe this is all just sour grapes; the crocodile tears of the losing locker room with the scoreboard going against us at the buzzer. I can only tell you that youre wrong. This is not about losing an election. This isnt about not winning a contest.
This is about two very different ways of seeing the world.
Hillary supporters believe in a diverse America; one where religion or skin color or sexual orientation or place of birth arent liabilities or deficiencies or moral defects. Her campaign was one of inclusion and connection and interdependency. It was about building bridges and breaking ceilings. It was about going high.
Trump supporters believe in a very selective America; one that is largely white and straight and Christian, and the voting verified this. Donald Trump has never made any assertions otherwise. He ran a campaign of fear and exclusion and isolationand thats the vision of the world those who voted for him have endorsed.They have aligned with the wall-builder and the professed p*ssy-grabber, and they have co-signed his body of work, regardless of the reasons they give for their vote: Every horrible thing Donald Trump ever said about women or Muslims or people of color has now been validated. Every profanity-laced press conference and every call to bully protestors and every ignorant diatribe has been endorsed. Every piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation Mike Pence has championed has been signed-off on. Half of our country has declared these things acceptable, noble, American.
This is the disconnect and the source of my grief today. It isnt a political defeat that I am lamenting, its a defeat for Humanity. I am angry that our candidate lost because our candidates losing means this country will be less safe, less kind, and less available to a huge segment of its population, and thats just the truth. Those who have always felt vulnerable are now left more so. Those whose voices have been silenced will be further quieted. Those who always felt marginalized will be pushed further to the periphery. Those who feared they were seen as inferior now have confirmation in actual percentages.
Those things have essentially been campaign promises of Donald Trump, and so many of our fellow citizens have said this is what they want too. This has never been about politics. This is not about one candidate over the other. Its not about ones ideas over anothers. It is not blue vs. red. Its not her emails vs. his bad language. Its not her dishonesty vs. his indecency. Its about overt racism and hostility toward minorities. Its about religion being weaponized. Its about crassness and vulgarity and disregard for women. Its about a barricaded, militarized, bully nation. Its about an unapologetic, open-faced ugliness.
And it is not only that these things have been ratified by our nation that grieve me, all this hatred, fear, racism, bigotry, and intoleranceits knowing that these things have been amen-ed by our neighbors, our families, our friends, those we work with and worship alongside. That is the most horrific thing of all. We now know how close this is. It feels like living in enemy territory being here now, and theres no way around that. I wake up today in a country I no longer recognize. I am grieving the loss of a place we used to love. This may be America today but it is not the America I believe in or recognize or want.
This is not about a difference of political opinion, as thats far too small to mourn over. Its about a fundamental difference in how we view the worth of all peoplenot just those who look or talk or think or vote the way we do. Grief always laments what might have been, the future we were robbed of, the tomorrow that we wont get to see, and that is what we walk through today. As a nation we had an opportunity to affirm the beauty of our diversity this day, to choose ideas over soundbites, to let everyone know they had a place at the table, to be the beacon of goodness and decency we imagine that we areand we said no.
The Scriptures say that weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning. We cant see that dawn coming any time soon. And this is why Susan and I grieve for our fellow citizens.
Please stay safe and keep up the good fight.
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Response to my family -- originally posted as anonymous (Original Post)
pbmus
Nov 2016
OP
SHRED
(28,136 posts)1. Beautifully stated!!
pbmus
(12,422 posts)2. Thank you and please stay safe
My Leftist credentials are public and well recorded.
Just hoping for no midnight raids I guess...but that's being paranoid right?
TuxedoKat
(3,818 posts)4. Thank you
i read this when you posted it before as anonymous. It is so beautifully written. You expressed so much of what I was thinking too.