God was so good to me when he let me find the American Solidarity Party before this election. I am afraid I might sound like I've been brainwashed or part of a cult, but far from that! It is just so nice to be in with a group of people who are like minded in this unsettled time of divisiveness and worry. Being back on facebook really intensifies it. I have to figure out how to be engaged there but not too much. Hard balancing act!
I was prepared to be upset no matter who won the election. But with Clinton I was prepared to be upset in the same old way I've been upset the last eight years. With Trump I am just terrified by his personality and how he seems to bring out the worst in a lot of people. We'll see how it goes.
I am happy my representative Barbara Comstock won. I am happy that the Senate and House are Republican enough that they should be able to pass prolife things. I will be happy if they defund Planned Parenthood. I do hope that they take that money and give it to crisis pregnancy centers and community health centers. What are the chances, do you think?
While I understand the reaction to Trump's election given all the hysteria during the election season, I do think the losers are behaving really badly. Of course the winners are gloating and making them feel worse. But so many on the left really are intolerant. I remember being so freaked out about the cult of personality surrounding Obama. Many of his supporters really seemed to think he was some kind of god. But nobody was out protesting or burning flags that I recall. You know what they were doing instead? Many went to church and prayed. The left (or at least the media show of the left) goes out into the street, disrupts traffic, burns flags, smashes windows, chants violent obscenities. I said to Rick last night, either they stage an actual coup or they take it like a man! None of these hissy fits, please.
I had a conversation with someone who voted for Trump yesterday. She is a smart person who I have admired for a long time. She is completely convinced of the rightness of her vote. She is far from being bigoted. She is an immigrant herself. But she is prolife and that is the factor that the left has a huge blind spot about. It doesn't even calculate for them. I think they are really paying big for this blind spot. People were terrified by the aggressive push for abortion, the whole taking Americans to court because they don't want to fund contraception, forcing the Little Sisters of the Poor into court, or driving people out of business because they don't believe in same sex marriage. There is a lot of thuggery on the left. Think about it. People have been marching for 43 years against Roe v. Wade but the media by and large ignores it every year. 43 years! These are dedicated people. Many Americans were terrified of 4 more years of aggressive secularism. They really don't want the president forcing their kids to share showers with members of the opposite sex. That's what it comes down to. And then the left has so little regard for anyone who thinks differently from them. The minute you object you are painted with the most vitriolic, demeaning language. These people were painted into a corner and they reacted. A lot of people didn't want Trump. He was not their first choice but given the two they had to choose from, he at least appears to be someone who will stop the anti-religious fervor of the left; they held their noses and voted.
There are already some positive firsts. Trump's campaign had the first woman to head a successful, presidential campaign. Melania is the first non native First Lady. Trump picked an African American Republican to lead his domestic transition team. Also, reports are coming in that African-Americans and immigrants voted for Trump. It is good to know that groups are not monoliths the way the media likes to portray everyone. Viviane was in her ESL class last night and she said the woman from Mexico sitting next to her admitted she had voted for Trump even as the English teacher was in front of the class inappropriately clutching her pearls over it all.
I am, though, worried about immigrants, and the economy, and terrorism. I am worried about foreign relations and tensions. I am worried about jobs and the poor. I am worried that in the end Trump won't come through on his prolife promises. I am worried the whole 4 years will be eaten up with scandal and incompetence. I think the Democrats will be vicious and unprincipled. They will foment chaos and violence. The media will aid them. I think Trump is way too thin-skinned and unstable to take it. I think he'll lash out. I think we are in for very troubled times because we have two sides that refuse to cooperate, to see the best in each other.
I hate the fact that the same man pro-lifers have pinned all their hopes to is also a man that white nationalists openly support. Of course the racial division wounds were reopened or became front page news under Obama. But, dear Lord send us a leader, someone in the culture, who can heal this wound! The one thing I was happy about when Obama was elected was the fact that he was a man of color. I felt like the U.S. had finally put that evil behind us. And it is true, we must have made strides for him to be elected. The white men in middle America voted for Obama! But apparently, getting rid of racism is a very tortured and long journey.
I just find Trump odious in every regard. I really do, but I hope for the best and I want to be clearsighted and not be clouded by emotion.
I happily voted for Mike Maturen and Juan Munoz. I took off my #nevertrump bumpersticker. Why be negative? I've got my American Solidarity bumpersticker up now. I'm looking to build a reasonable 3rd party to maybe replace one of the two corrupt and crumbling parties. Before the election, everyone thought that party would be the Republicans. Now it looks more like the Democrats. Though maybe after a term of Trump, the Republicans will be vulnerable as well. But even if that doesn't happen, we can at least be a force that can temper the national conversation.
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