Normally I avoid writing about politics here. For that matter I don’t post much on social media about the topic either. Better to keep people guessing. This is an exception.
Today I posted an opinion piece on Facebook by Garrison Keillor regarding yesterday’s election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. An old friend of mine took issue with the article and its pessimism of a Trump administration. We agreed to disagree, but it got me thinking about my own deep misgivings of what is to come. I’m treading lightly because I have other friends, colleagues and even family members who voted for this man.
The Trump campaign was the most cynical and pessimistic I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. It was that way through the primaries and the general election. It was gutter level degrading to so many that I found the cognitive dissonance required by some to vote for him astounding. The fact that a large number of Christians were willing and able to support him was the most puzzling to me considering his character is antithetical to Christian values. That is not to say all Christians voted in his favor. Plenty of us saw Trump for who and what he is.
Sadly, there are a large number of people who, like my friend, think the country is swirling in a toilet. I don’t share the feeling, but Trump’s message obviously resonated with voters who believe this strongly. As Keillor points out change is coming. To paraphrase Tom Brokaw from last night, voters have pulled the pin on a grenade and rolled it across the country. But no one who listened to Trump during the endless campaign season can really be surprised if the change that’s coming hurts those who are already suffering the most.
Hillary Clinton in office would have been a bumpy ride. She was a flawed candidate but very smart and very qualified. For whatever reason — frustration with the entire system, apparently — America decided that someone with no civic experience whatsoever should lead the country. It’s a bit odd to me that the party decrying Barack Obama’s lack of experience in 2008 would elect someone with even less, but it is what it is. That said, based on Trump’s rhetoric, this scenario is most terrifying from a foreign policy perspective where presidents have a much freer hand than they do domestically.
On a personal note, particularly as the father of a young daughter, I find Trump abhorrent. Fortunately my little girl is too young to understand or care how a man who openly bragged about sexual assault during the campaign was voted leader of the free world. My hope is that I don’t have to explain it four years from now.
An honest question to Trump supporters: What if the major change you’ve voted for makes things worse for the country and you? What if this was one big shell game where you were conned? What if, in Trump’s words, it’s a total disaster? What then?
The country is built to endure bad presidencies. What it can’t withstand is the disappearance of the middle class, which has been shrinking since the Reagan administration. In 1992 I was in a college class where we talked about these kinds of issues. One of my classmates was fearful, if not adamant, that another revolution was coming. It seemed a bit alarmist if not outright silly at the time, but it’s a discussion I’ve remembered through the years. Today I’m not so sure she was wrong, except on the timing. Frightening thought, yes?
There is some good news for those dismayed by last night’s result. There is palpable anger but no mandate here. Clinton won the popular vote. Neither candidate had a majority, but this can’t be overlooked. The much-maligned electoral college did exactly what it was supposed to do, but even here the result was close: 279 to 228. (Side note: This is only 507 of the total 538 electoral votes. Some races still haven’t been called at the time of this post, but the overall outcome isn’t in doubt.) Trump may be an agent of change, but there is a large and vocal contingent that can’t stand him.
Accept the result of the election. It’s over. Protest if you must, but remember there will be another election. Those of us who refuse to share Trump’s cynical view of America must fight against it. Act locally. Do our part to make the space we live in better for those around us. In 2020 fight to make sure someone like this doesn’t get into the Oval Office again. My daughter will be counting on us.