Tired of Post-Election Rhetoric

Friends, this is getting ridiculous. Please stop denouncing other voters. 

Everyone has the right to their own opinions. This is a democracy.

Please don’t deplore half the country. It didn’t work for Hillary’s campaign and it won’t work for you.

(To be accurate, it was a quarter of the country. Nearly half don’t vote at all, but that means that they’re okay with a Trump presidency, because if they weren’t they’d have voted, one would hope. So please don’t deplore three quarters of the country and a vast majority of states).

We may protest stated policies of the winning candidate. We may mobilize to remind our representatives in Congress that we expect healthy checks and balances to keep the incoming president in line.

Please stop saying that this is the end of our country as we know it, or that we just elected Hitler. Because it simply isn’t true. I understand your frustration and the benefit of hyperbolic ranting, but please be mindful of your rhetoric.

Yes, it’s true that DT had some shady supporters (like white “supremacist” groups), but HC had her share of shady supporters too (like rogue Islamic terrorist-sponsoring states). DT didn’t do enough to distance himself from his unsavory donors, but neither did HC. It’s just that you didn’t hear too much about the shady donations to her campaign, because the media is much more sensitive to right-wing extremists than they are to Islamic extremists. Both candidates were compromised, perhaps one more so than the other, but even that is debatable and impossible to know for sure.

Many voted for DT simply because they feared a nuclear Iran far more than they do David Duke. That does not mean they are willing to tolerate persecution of minorities.

Remember that politicians are opportunists and often make bold statements to rally support and get elected.

There is nothing that DT said that is even remotely fascist, although the media did a good job as showcasing his statements as though he were.

He may not have been my choice or your choice, but he was our country’s choice, so he most likely will become our new president. Accept that fact, because it’s reality.

You may call for a constitutional amendment for popular vote, but it will not change the present reality.

Also, here’s an important thing to bear in mind:

The presidential election is a bit like a sports game. If the team you root for won or lost, YOU haven't really won or lost anything. YOU are NOT the Red Sox or Patriots. They don't even represent you. They are merely making a living like everyone else. It’s just that YOU voluntarily decided to identify as a fan of theirs. That is your choice that you can change at will. You can choose to identify however you prefer, but that doesn't really change reality. Likewise, you are NOT a dem, rep, rino, dino, or otherwise. You didn't win nor lose the presidential election. The country as a whole elected a new president.

Neither you nor your team really won anything. The winning candidate is now going to govern the country, thanks in part to your vote (if you live in a state where your candidate won, or in Maine or Nebraska). But he is just a politician who said whatever he had to say to win your vote. Whether he is going to deliver is an entirely different question. So instead of celebrating, you ought to be planning your next steps, like how are you going to hold the candidate to his campaign promises? Likewise, if he is out of line or his policies are wrong, then how are you going to speak out in protest? He’s not your team that you need to be loyal to. It’s your country that you ought to be loyal to.

Same is true for those who voted for the losing candidate. YOU haven’t lost anything. You may be concerned for the welfare of the country, and perhaps rightfully so. You ought to be planning your next steps, like how will you as a citizen impress upon your representatives in government to maintain healthy checks and balances to help keep the new president in check.

So please stop deploring fellow American voters. And please stop categorizing them by race or education in a demeaning or disparaging way. That's prejudice. Lots and lots of women and people from other racial backgrounds voted for him, and lots and lots of white males vote for her. Some of the most brilliant and educated people I have ever met voted for him, while some of the least educated and uninformed people I have ever met voted for her. And vice versa. This is silliness.

Let’s move on. Just my two cents. Peace.