A few thoughts on the election

[yendi]

"We'll come out with our fists raised
The good old boys are back on top again
And if we let them lead us blindly
The past becomes the future once again"
Sleater-Kinney, Combat Rock

You can't 'love' queer people and vote for a ticket that has someone who wants to electrocute gay people straight.

You can't. You don't.

— Emma Evans (@TrancewithMe) November 10, 2016

Much of circuitous journey through my Stages of Grief in response to the election has been on Twitter. But I do have some thoughts that go beyond 140 characters. These are still random thoughts, though, not something meant to resemble a coherent essay.

1. Needless to say, I'm not happy with the result. And while I'm pissed at a lot of folks/institutions over it, in the end, I have to be pissed at the American people as a whole. We should have done better.

2. While I do think there were things Hillary could have done better, campaign-wise (the lack of attention to MI and WI as polling tightened there and Trump campaigned there was appalling), I also fucking HATE the idea that the winner should be the better campaigner, or the person who checks some magic box that has nothing to do with governing. The idea that we as a nation made this appalling choice because some folks weren't properly pandered to? Fuck that. If Hillary lost WI or MI or wherever and would have won those states with more visits (or fewer from Trump), then the election was decided by voters who are willfully ignorant and self-absorbed to the point of it being pathological. That says something sad about our country (and probably the world, in light of Brexit). We've long been taught that education fights ignorance, but I'm not sure anything fights willful ignorance.

3. Beyond my own group (white males -- more on that identification later), I'm not included to talk about groups that had lack of turnout that might have helped change things. It was an issue (and speaks again to the willful ignorance issue above), but until white folks (and white men in particular) get their house in order, complaining that more PoC should have voted seems like throwing one big fucking rock in the middle of a glass house.

4. Onion piece: Man Wearing ‘Jewmerica’ T-Shirt Never Dreamed He’d See This Day. Yeah. One of the "great" things Trump wants to help bring back is outright antisemitism. While I suppose that having the opportunity to experience the fear my grandparents experienced might be interesting for some values of that word, I'd be pretty content to not have to do that, thank you very much.

5. I've been saying this for months on Twitter, but I wanted to repeat it here: Trump might be vile and an asshole, but he is absolutely fucking mainstream for the Republican Party. Actually, he's to the left of most of the core, including his running mate and most of the folks he beat in the race. Awful as he is, Pence or Cruz or some of the other folks out there as bad if not worse, both for their horrid views (Pence's stance on homosexuality is every bit as appalling as Trump's on immigrants) and because they actually have some knowledge of how to use the political system.

6. I do wonder about whether the Republican Party will overcome the issues that divided it this year. I think it will, not least because they're in power, and want to exercise it. It's not unreasonable to suggest it already started happening, Marco "Little Marco" Rubio's decision to run for the FL Senate (against his own promise, and for a job he basically left derelict) probably helped Trump carry the state. I suspect that the folks who really criticized Trump will either still find a way to overcome their distaste (McCain), or not matter (all Bush family members, Glenn Beck, Romney, etc -- a lot of folks not currently a part of the system anyway).

7. Speaking of the Senate, that's as disastrous as the presidential race, of course. I've seen some folks ague that at least everything that goes wrong will be clearly laid at the feet of the Republicans, but the problem with that argument is that a lot of shit will go wrong.

7.5. Could people who should be smart enough to know better please stop posting the meme about how the last time the Republican Party controlled the House, Senate, and White House, it led to the Great Depression? It's literally been less than ten years since the Republicans controlled all three (and yes, they screwed things up big time then, too, just not at the Depression level; also, comparing political parties today to ones in 1928 is moronic, unless . With so many legitimate things to criticize, making shit up (and mindlessly passing on memes based on shit people make up) isn't necessary.

8. I've seen a log of false equivalency bullshit out there, essentially telling LGBT people, Latinx folks, Muslims, and others that this is no different that what people dealt with under Obama. That's ludicrous, of course. There can be laws that are passed that go against my core values, and which I find appalling and likely to make the world a worse place (like, say, W's entire environmental platform); likewise, there can be laws I like that someone on the other side might find a horrifying and personal overreach (like gun control bills). But none of these are the same as laws (or politicians advocating laws) that explicitly deny humanity to people like Pence's belief in conversion therapy, or Trump's press to ban Muslim people from the country.

9. A friend wrote on FB, "A clarification, paraphrased from something I just saw on twitter: when I say that if you voted Trump, you aren't my friend, I am not saying I hate anyone. I'm saying that based on that vote it sure sounds like you hate me." I think that's one of the best summaries of how folks are reacting, and why folks who are getting upset at people getting upset need to maybe simmer down. Incidentally, I'm seeing most of the "calm down" talk coming from the ranks of the white cishet left, not the right.

10. A different friend wrote on FB, "There will be those of you who don't understand these feelings nor their depth. And there is more than likely no way I can get you to understand. If that describes you, know that this isn't the place to ask "Why?" or tell me I shouldn't feel this way. Answering the former is exhausting and the latter is trolling." That applies to me, too. If you're genuinely incapable of understanding, please step back for now.

(Both of the FB writers are on LJ, but I'm reluctant to tag them and associate separate accounts unless they want it.)

Comments

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

You don't have to be American to feel appalled and dismayed by this. Yes, I know, I'm on the other side of the Atlantic... and it's not far enough!

American politics affects British politics, my wife and sole bread-winner of the family works for an American company. Trump casts a long, long shadow...

[avivasedai.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling I'll be seeing a few more of my friends writing on their LJs to try and get out their reactions to this election. I already have. I don't want to look through FB; I am in the "denial" stage, and also going for some escapism in the form of books and even a movie last night, in the theater!

[yendi]

*Nod* I mean, we live in a global world. Brexit affects me, too, and there are dozens of ways countries are interconnected.

[yendi]

*nod* Escapism is too often easily dismissed (as if people were literally always in escapist mode, instead of needing a break), but it's vital.

[drwex]

There are lots of things I (think I) understand about this disaster, but even more I do not. I cannot shake the feeling that if we do not understand we will be unable to prevent this from happening again.