It’s Mourning in America
When I went to bed shortly after Pennsylvania went red, I told
myself that we’d survived 8 years of Ronald Reagan and 8 years of George W.
Bush (barely). The Founding Fathers created a framework that has
held together for more than 2 centuries and I have to believe the nation will
continue.
I get that people who were hurt economically in the Great
Recession are mad. I get that a significant portion of the country is
frightened by the changing demographics. It’s been that way for our
entire history. I get that this was a “change election.” What I have
trouble understanding is just what kind of change they want.
Change how exactly? Do we go back to Republican
economic policy that delivered the Great Recession and the deficits that were a
result of Reagan's tax cuts? Do we go back to being a manufacturing
economy that requires unskilled labor, and throw the remarkable increase in
productivity brought about by the technology revolution out the window?
How exactly will our government in Washington work
collaboratively? It was the GOP that declared 8 years ago they were
going to obstruct everything proposed by the new president. And now
after delivering on that promise and grinding the wheels of government to a
halt, they’ve been rewarded with all 4 branches of power. Donald Trump's
view of the world is sharply different from a significant portion of the GOP in
Congress, so will things be all that different?
Are we going back to the days anyone who wasn’t a heterosexual
white Christian male was a second-class citizen? Racial tension is higher than when
Obama took office and he’s being blamed. But in truth, the Alt Right
and Donald Trump spent 8 years delegitimizing Obama’s very right to the office.
I think that a Trump administration will be a disaster, but it
won't be the end of our democracy. What happened in this election is something
different than a change of administration.
Donald Trump unlocked Pandora’s Box and the things that are in
there scare the hell out of me. The Alt Right has been
legitimized. Open racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, and bigotry of
all stripes are now part of public discourse. Trump may not be any
of those things, but he won this election with the open and enthusiastic
support of those who are.
I can only hope that ultimately love does trump hate.
