Donald Trump is our next President
Photo by Herman Yung
I've been alone with my thoughts most of today and I guess it's best to sort of try to write out a few things about last night's election results while it's all still fresh in my mind. It will be just over 24 hours since the polls closed in NYC as I write this post. The last 24 hours has seemed totally unreal to me, like a nightmare akin to what Marty McFly must have experienced as he saw Biff take over his city in an alternate present. I feel like I'm living in that alternate timeline with no time machine to bring me back.
And so this is where we are: The country has elected Donald Trump to be the 45th President of the United States in a heart-wrenching battle at the polls that left me and many, many others completely stunned as the results rolled in. How did this happen? How did a man who spoke so much hate and nonsense garner so much support and actually end up getting the most votes to win the election? Every poll prior to Tuesday put him at a huge disadvantage against Clinton and yet here we are trying to figure out how we all got caught with our pants down. The numbers and the polls lied to us. In hindsight, it seems as though Donald Trump pulled the ultimate fast one on us all.
I woke up this morning feeling completely numb. I just couldn’t believe how Tuesday night had turned out. I felt betrayed by every media outlet that gave Clinton a 70+% chance of winning. I thought this country would be safe from a bigot operating in the highest office…
I’ve thought a lot today about what Trump as the President of the US means. It means that America is a terrible place. A place that I just no longer feel inclined to boast about or be proud of. How could I? How could I knowing that half the country essentially voted and agreed with somebody who doesn’t respect the Constitution nor understands how government even works. Let’s not forget that this is the same man who tried so hard to discredit this nation’s first black President with a stupid “birther movement” that didn’t end until this year. There’s just so much to say I don’t think my mind can focus on any one thing for too long before going crazy.
Trump as our president means that America is in it for the entertainment, not for the actual well being of its citizens. It most likely means at least 4 years of climate change denying when this country has already signed the Paris Climate Agreement. It means the possible repeal of a number of progressive reforms that have given so many hope in this country. It’s all in danger now because not only did Trump win the Presidency, the House and Senate are a majority Republican as well and the Supreme Court is open to being conservative leaning — an after-effect of this Presidency that will most likely last way beyond Trump’s White House years.
This is all a little jumbled at the moment but I just had to write this all down. We aren't a lost cause, but we've definitely got much more work to do than I imagined after voting in a black president. I'm sure I'll get right to it once this shock wears off.