The post below was written the day after the election, I didn't post it because I felt like something was missing and I didn't like it. Now I realize that it wasn't that I didn't like it it was that I didn't want to disagree with people. I didn't want to add to the hate and anger and basically all the negativity that is out there but I think some of the things needs to be said.
Also I think that it needs to be pointed out some of the stuff I said was true. Already Trump has backed away from a lot of the things he said in the campaign. Gay marriage is the law of the land. There might be some fencing around Mexico but it sounds like he is already away from the wall idea. He was talked about nice Hillary was. It is almost like he saw a group of people who weren't getting what they wanted and gave it to them and it worked.
The funny thing is that what the losing side is doing is the same thing the winning side has done for the last eight years that had the losing side so angry!
Lastly let me say that this is meant to be something to get people thinking. I am not trying to sway anyones mind because in these kind of things that can't be done very often. Everyone who hates the President Elect is going to hate him. If he gave them $100 dollar bill they'd be upset it wasn't in $20's. The last thing people want to be shown, and trust me I fall into this all the time, is that they were wrong. That what they believed as truth was wrong. I am not attacking anyone I just want people to stop thinking with their hearts as much and think with their heads. Look at things objectively and hopefully see that things might not be what you saw. That this could have been one giant sleight of hand.
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I had refrained from saying much about this election because there was so much out there flooding the market so to speak. So much hatred and confusing information the last thing I needed/wanted to do was to add my garbage to it. But I feel like I need to say something here. It might be unpopular but let me say it...
It is going to be okay.
Everyone take a deep breath. Our new President Elect is perhaps not the President we want but the President we deserve. Why do I say that?
Because what Trump has said is what a lot of people believe and think. That is what we want right? We want to have a President that represents "us" correct? Well we have that now. We have a man who no one thought would win...well that isn't true. I said he would win the day he announced he was running.
Also we as a nation created this monster! We were the ones who kept talking about him. "Did you see what he said today?" "Oh my God (Becky) did you see what happened at the Trump rally last night?" We couldn't turn away like a bad car crash.
Another problem with all of this is that we allowed "the media" to influence us. We no longer looked to journalist for our information instead we got our info in 140 character "sound" bites. We watched as people like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow spewed their hate filled rhetoric at us and we lapped it up like cats to a bowl of milk. Whichever side people were on we had people to follow like good sheep. We allowed non factors like Clinton's email servers and Trumps wife working before her work visa to be factors.
But there is another reason that this could be a good thing and it is the President we deserve. This country is sick...
Why do I say that? Look at what Donald Trump exposed. He exposed that we are still full of hatred and every *ism you can think of. He, perhaps unwittingly, turned the mirror back on this country and showed us that we have a LONG way to go.
But the thing to remember it isn't just hate on one side. Look at the responses and reactions from people as President Elect Trump was winning. I saw things like we are all monsters and how scared people are. I want to steal something from Dan Rather:
As Trump took the podium for his first speech, not as a party candidate but as the president-elect of the entire United States, his tone was of the utmost importance. He seemed to be reading off a prompter carefully prepared words. But he started with a statement of magnanimity for HIllary Clinton. He spoke of binding the wounds of division. He promised to be president of all Americans. He spoke of a great public works project and protecting veterans.
He was optimistic in speaking of the future. Notably missing was any talk of some of the drastically contentious hallmarks of his campaign - building a wall, a Muslim ban, the NATO allies - just to name a few.
You can be deeply skeptical of his motives and refuse to forget all that he has said and that has transpired. There is a looming verdict for history to level and it is a story still to be written. There is also a real question with Trump’s ascension whether the ends justify the means - whether the truth matters. Be all that as it may, we need to have a peaceful transition of power. That is an unmoveable hallmark of the stability of our democracy.
Trump said that campaigning was difficult. Well, governing is much more so and that is now in his hands. He has made a lot of promises. We will see what he keeps. He said their work is just beginning. That is an understatement.
The world is on edge. The country is deeply divided. The markets have gone off a cliff. World capitals are erupting in anxiety. Huge segments of the American public are in panic - going through the shock of grief. This is the world that is now Trump’s to contend with. Do we really know what we have wrought?
This is a conversation that I need you to be a part of. Do not opt out. Your voice matters now more than ever. I will continue to be here in the days and weeks ahead. And we shall endeavor, together, to find a path forward in the best of America’s ideals.
Courage.
We are at a crossroad in this country and honestly I don't like where we are going. Not because of the President Elect but because of the way people are reacting. For the eight years I've see people say things like "Obama ain't my President" and his supporters say things like "he won get over it". The people who said this are whole hardheartedly against some of the things that President Obama stood for. Things like "Obamacare" and equal rights for non-straight people (which I am completely for the later, the first I have a lot of problems with). Often this is due to upbringing and religious believes.
I started this entry on Wednesday, the day after the election, and I am continuing on 11/11. Trump has released his
100 day plan, which I didn't see before the election, and honestly there isn't anything horrible on it. I don't like that he is going to stop funding the climate change programs the U.N. have going but I do like that he is going to funnel that money to fix Americans water and environment. The one that worries me the most is "First, cancel every unconstitutional executive action. memorandum and order issued by President Obama" Mostly because I don't know of anything unconstitutional he did, but then again it is all interpretation isn't it. So that is slightly worrisome for people but everything else on the list I either agree with or can see where the President Elect is coming from.
Do you know what isn't on the list? A lot of what people are afraid of. No where does it say he is going to kick out all non-Americans. He is going to remove people here illegally but is that a bad thing? I ask that seriously because I don't see how punishing a criminal (which they are) is a bad thing. I believe he should give them an express path to citizenship and say 90 days to comply with said express path. However if you break the law, even a law you don't agree with, you run the risk of the punishment. Yes he wants to suspend immigration from "terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur". You can argue both sides of this but at the end of the day I don't believe this is out of hate but out of concern for the people of this country.
Honestly what has happened is that people don't watch enough professional wrestling (I know, here the fat man goes again). Trump is a wrestling fan, at least he knows about the product. He has personal friends with the McMahon family. He hosted 2 Wrestlemania's in the late 80's, was involved in one and is actually a member of the WWE Hall of Fame .
What Donald Trump did, I hope and I pray, is "worked" the American people. Watch his speeches for the last two years. He would just ramble until he said something the crowd would cheer and then he would focus on that. So he said some bad things but because he wanted to get the people to cheer for him and vote for him. Not saying he should have said those things and I could be completely wrong but this is how I am seeing it. It is no different then James LeBron talking about how many championships he is going to win to get the crowd to cheer or Hillary saying things that will get cheers. It is part of good speech writing is knowing the audience and saying what they will support. Back to the wrestling idea is that he would get the crowd so fired up that when the "heel" or "bad guy", who was Clinton in this case, came out they were ready to kill her. Back in the 60's, 70's and even early 80's wrestlers were so hated they would get stabbed because they either said or did horrible things or the good guy would SAY they did and said horrible things. This is what Trump did. He would find out what the people in Diamondale Michigan hated about President Obama or Clinton and focus on that. When in Mudlick Kentucky he would do the same. He did it over and over and over again. He won because he convinced people he is like them. Stone Cold Steve Austin was popular because he drank beer and bad mouthed his boss. The Ring Master Steve Austin was not popular because he was just a guy who wrestled.
I guess the whole point of my ranting and raving here is to say that we need to look at what he DOES not what he has SAID. I am not excusing what he said and some of it was disgusting and shouldn't be said but I want everyone out there to get a mirror and look into it. Have you never said something in a group of friends that later on you can't believe you said? Said something that isn't how you feel because you were angry or upset or excited? If you haven't you're a better person then I am.
I don't want Trump to fail because him failing means the country fails and this is my country! I am not the most patriotic person in the world but I don't wish it to fail.
Lastly I want those anti-Trump people who are upset because of what their children will learn from the President, what are you teaching them? What are your actions and words teaching them? Growing up I didn't look at Presidents or sports personalities or anyone like that for my role model. I looked at my parents and grandparents to know how to behave. What are your children learning from you now?
