More thoughts on the election...
While I should be solely focused on last-minute preparations for my exam on Tuesday(!), I remain plagued by the election and the reactions on both sides, namely the "left." I am sincerely empathetic to how the people who wanted HC to be the next president and do not claim DT as their president. I am. Even as a person who voted for DT (although if BS had been the democratic candidate, he may have received my vote because I actually liked him as opposed to my opinions about HC), I KNOW that he was very vocal against many protected groups, religions and cultures and that many view my vote for him as a vote in favor of those aspects of his candidacy. As the "left" calls those who voted for DT racists, homophobes, and other hateful labels, I can't help but get angry. While I cannot understand fully what it means to be gay or black or hispanic or Muslim or any other group that feels threatened by the fact that the "right" seems to reject these people, I am empathetic to the way they feel. I am not racist or homophobic. I care about a person's character. What moves me so much about these protests is that they seem to contradict in some ways, what the "left" stands for and a disrespect of the American democratic system.
I will admit, when our current president was first elected eight years ago, I wasn't happy. He was not my first choice and still wasn't four years later. But, I could appreciate and applaud the fact that he was our first black president. Did I get over my feelings about him during his term? Not really but I still supported him as our president. His success was my success, his failures my failures.
I do want to touch on HB2 as well. This was a widely discriminatory bill that was passed a few months ago in North Carolina. While it was dubbed the "Bathroom Bill," there were so many other aspects that were discriminatory that the media failed to cover. Politicians are sneaky creatures. Regarding the restroom aspect of this bill, it was one incident that spawned this legislation. ONE incident. There is little to no documentation or any trend in these types of incidents and yet here we are, with a law that has affected SO many people. I did not support it and wanted to smack our governor. I can respect his position and his fervor of support and refusal to back down to the media, to the "left," etc. but I can still disagree with him. It's called compassion.
Compassion. Something this nation (and the world) could use a lot more of. This election cycle brought out some of the deepest and darkest aspects of people's character that I wish I could unsee. Such hate and lack of general humanity displayed on both ends of the spectrum.
You know what? I'm sorry (not sorry) that your candidate did not win. The seemingly impossible happened. I didn't even really think DT had a legitimate chance at winning but when you (middle America, Christians, Republicans, etc.) feel bullied, forgotten, beat down and have the chance to change the status quo of the past eight years, you will do it. Obviously. And it wasn't just middle-class, white males that voted for him. If that were the case, he wouldn't have won. I think both candidates were poor choices for the presidency but it is what it is. Those were our choices. Think about how many people didn't even bother to vote for president. That should tell the "left" think that their candidate wasn't the right choice either.
As we move forward in the next few days, weeks and months before DT assumes the position as Commander in Chief, I hope the riots will stop. I hope the violence will stop. Can we talk about the fact that after a boy admitted that he voted for DT in a mock election at school, that he was yanked out of his chair by other boys and beaten up. The teacher was in the room! And, yet, he got beat up. Or the girl who was bullied on social media by a classmate(s) because of her vote in a mock election (the bullies were punished by the school). Or, have you seen the video of the white man who was beaten up by 3-4 (I'm sorry to say) black men for supposedly being a DT supporter? That while he was being brutally beaten, one of the men is seen going through his car, allegedly stealing items from his vehicle and when he tries to pull that man away, he gets hit in the back of the head and further beaten. Horrific. And, because I feel it needs to be said, I would feel just as outraged if it was a black man being assaulted by a group of white men. That kind of violence is inexcusable. And, while those are just a few examples and by no means are identifiable by everyone who is protesting DT's victory, it is an example of how f***ed up everything is. If it was the other way around and Trump supporters were doing all this shit, the "left" would...I don't know what they would do. Laugh? Call us sore losers. So that is what I call them. Sore losers. There is nothing to do about it now. If you are so upset, begin preparing for the next election.
But until then, I hope we can move forward. I hope the hate speech and tantrums will stop. Hopefully, DT can bring about the change he promised and ultimately, that people will support our president and our country.
Oh and RC -- you haven't won yet. Absentee, provisional and military votes still need to be counted. I hope you get egg on your face. But, if you do win, I hope you repeal HB2 and don't completely screw up our state. We could use some reform regarding education, that's for sure. Did you know that in lottery states, that slowly budgets quit funding education and rely solely on profits from the lottery? I did not know that until a few weeks ago...it makes me sick. No wonder we rank so low compared to the rest of the country in education. See? That is one example of why I like having friends and colleagues with different political views. You can learn from each other. I hope the next few months bring unity to this country. And that the man brutally attacked in the intersection gets justice.
Less than 40 hours until IT is time...
While I should be solely focused on last-minute preparations for my exam on Tuesday(!), I remain plagued by the election and the reactions on both sides, namely the "left." I am sincerely empathetic to how the people who wanted HC to be the next president and do not claim DT as their president. I am. Even as a person who voted for DT (although if BS had been the democratic candidate, he may have received my vote because I actually liked him as opposed to my opinions about HC), I KNOW that he was very vocal against many protected groups, religions and cultures and that many view my vote for him as a vote in favor of those aspects of his candidacy. As the "left" calls those who voted for DT racists, homophobes, and other hateful labels, I can't help but get angry. While I cannot understand fully what it means to be gay or black or hispanic or Muslim or any other group that feels threatened by the fact that the "right" seems to reject these people, I am empathetic to the way they feel. I am not racist or homophobic. I care about a person's character. What moves me so much about these protests is that they seem to contradict in some ways, what the "left" stands for and a disrespect of the American democratic system.
I will admit, when our current president was first elected eight years ago, I wasn't happy. He was not my first choice and still wasn't four years later. But, I could appreciate and applaud the fact that he was our first black president. Did I get over my feelings about him during his term? Not really but I still supported him as our president. His success was my success, his failures my failures.
I do want to touch on HB2 as well. This was a widely discriminatory bill that was passed a few months ago in North Carolina. While it was dubbed the "Bathroom Bill," there were so many other aspects that were discriminatory that the media failed to cover. Politicians are sneaky creatures. Regarding the restroom aspect of this bill, it was one incident that spawned this legislation. ONE incident. There is little to no documentation or any trend in these types of incidents and yet here we are, with a law that has affected SO many people. I did not support it and wanted to smack our governor. I can respect his position and his fervor of support and refusal to back down to the media, to the "left," etc. but I can still disagree with him. It's called compassion.
Compassion. Something this nation (and the world) could use a lot more of. This election cycle brought out some of the deepest and darkest aspects of people's character that I wish I could unsee. Such hate and lack of general humanity displayed on both ends of the spectrum.
You know what? I'm sorry (not sorry) that your candidate did not win. The seemingly impossible happened. I didn't even really think DT had a legitimate chance at winning but when you (middle America, Christians, Republicans, etc.) feel bullied, forgotten, beat down and have the chance to change the status quo of the past eight years, you will do it. Obviously. And it wasn't just middle-class, white males that voted for him. If that were the case, he wouldn't have won. I think both candidates were poor choices for the presidency but it is what it is. Those were our choices. Think about how many people didn't even bother to vote for president. That should tell the "left" think that their candidate wasn't the right choice either.
As we move forward in the next few days, weeks and months before DT assumes the position as Commander in Chief, I hope the riots will stop. I hope the violence will stop. Can we talk about the fact that after a boy admitted that he voted for DT in a mock election at school, that he was yanked out of his chair by other boys and beaten up. The teacher was in the room! And, yet, he got beat up. Or the girl who was bullied on social media by a classmate(s) because of her vote in a mock election (the bullies were punished by the school). Or, have you seen the video of the white man who was beaten up by 3-4 (I'm sorry to say) black men for supposedly being a DT supporter? That while he was being brutally beaten, one of the men is seen going through his car, allegedly stealing items from his vehicle and when he tries to pull that man away, he gets hit in the back of the head and further beaten. Horrific. And, because I feel it needs to be said, I would feel just as outraged if it was a black man being assaulted by a group of white men. That kind of violence is inexcusable. And, while those are just a few examples and by no means are identifiable by everyone who is protesting DT's victory, it is an example of how f***ed up everything is. If it was the other way around and Trump supporters were doing all this shit, the "left" would...I don't know what they would do. Laugh? Call us sore losers. So that is what I call them. Sore losers. There is nothing to do about it now. If you are so upset, begin preparing for the next election.
But until then, I hope we can move forward. I hope the hate speech and tantrums will stop. Hopefully, DT can bring about the change he promised and ultimately, that people will support our president and our country.
Oh and RC -- you haven't won yet. Absentee, provisional and military votes still need to be counted. I hope you get egg on your face. But, if you do win, I hope you repeal HB2 and don't completely screw up our state. We could use some reform regarding education, that's for sure. Did you know that in lottery states, that slowly budgets quit funding education and rely solely on profits from the lottery? I did not know that until a few weeks ago...it makes me sick. No wonder we rank so low compared to the rest of the country in education. See? That is one example of why I like having friends and colleagues with different political views. You can learn from each other. I hope the next few months bring unity to this country. And that the man brutally attacked in the intersection gets justice.
Less than 40 hours until IT is time...
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