Today I woke up feeling nauseous. The morning of November 9th 2016 has my stomach in knots, because Donald J. Trump–the orange, xenophobic buffoonish billionaire and media mogul turned “politician” was just voted in as the 2017 President Elect.
The host of “Celebrity Apprentice” is now our leader.
It feels like a cruel sick joke, or even a movie honestly. One of those movies about a pre-apocalyptic future that no one ever thought would happen, but did. And therein lies one of the main reasons Donald Trump was elected–no one really believed it could happen. Well, let me rephrase that. No Democrats, CNN/MSNBC media pundits or establishment elites thought it could happen. When Trump announced his candidacy, they laughed. When he started winning states in the primaries, they laughed, albeit in amused disbelief. From where these elites backing Hillary Clinton sat, no one in their right mind could possibly vote for a bigoted lunatic celebrity for President of the United States. But unfortunately, these “omniscient” elites sit on silken cushions in whichever of their three mansions they choose to reside in that day as they speculate about the political climate and possible election outcomes.
They saw it all as entertainment. The godforsaken mainstream media loved it:
“Our ratings are skyrocketing! Did you see his most recent Tweet? We’re gonna make bank off of this guy! When can we have him back on? I mean there’s no way he’ll actually win, so we might as well milk this while we can.”
This was a YUGE mistake on their part and a gross misinterpretation of our political climate and of the overall psychology of the American people in the current state of affairs. These pundits, these wealthy elites of society, the Clinton donors and the loyal Democrats who blindly follow this neoliberal doctrine, are so out of touch with average American life that they could not fathom this as a plausible outcome.
The average American is angry right now. More so, the average working class American is angry, but the lower income working class has become so large of a population that you can actually feel the tension in the air if you really stop to observe and talk to the people around you. The people of the US hold our government in contempt. They are (rightfully) disgusted by our politicians and their lack of integrity–their lack of balls in the face of ever-looming, ever-demanding, ever-greedy special interests. The American people aren’t buying the charade anymore. They may have been systematically “dumbed down” over time, but they are not blind enough to think that our government actually works for us anymore. Our government kowtows to and bleeds for corporations and money.
So, needless to say, I am frustrated when I see my college-educated liberal friends so quick to blame anyone other than their beloved Democratic party for the debacle that is occurring. Yes, Jill Stein of the Green Party, who got about 1% of the popular vote–its her fault that Hillary Clinton lost. Or wait no, its Gary Johnson the libertarian candidate’s voters who robbed Clinton of “her turn.” Because anyone who voted 3rd party, which is by definition an anti-establishment stance in the political sphere, would have definitely voted for Clinton, the physical embodiment of establishment politics, over Trump if there had only been two choices.
Note my sarcasm here. This logic that neo-liberals have is completely bananas and it takes all the restraint I have not to start a comment war on Facebook in the midst of all this idiocy.
Not to mention that there are plenty of women out there who are convinced that their darling Hillary lost because she has a vagina. They actually think this happened because of good ol’ sexism. They don’t think it could possible be because she was involved in more scandals than I can count on my two hands since she was First Lady in the 90’s, including Travelgate, Whitewatergate, Emailgate, Benghazi, the smearing of Monica Lewinsky….no it couldn’t be because of any of that that she lost. In fact, plenty of liberals actually think those scandals were “made up propaganda” by the right wing. Maybe if they looked up and read about a single one of those scandals they would see they were not created out of thin air by the alt right loonies.
So no, it was sexism that cost her the election. It couldn’t because she’s untrustworthy to over 50% of Americans, it couldn’t be that she profits from weapons deals with Saudi Arabia, a country that still stones women to death and executes gay people. It couldn’t be because she not only voted for the Iraq war, she pushed for it and told George W. Bush to look at it as a “business opportunity.” Yes, a business opportunity that destroyed the lives of thousands and thousands of Iraqi civilians and the lives of American soldiers as well.
And lets not forget her domestic policy. Throughout her campaign, she was silent on issues like the North Dakota Access Pipeline and supported dangerous methods of energy extraction like fracking because she has been getting donations and blank checks from the fossil fuel giants. She doesn’t support the legalization of marijuana or the de-militarization of our police force, which includes the disproportionate violence inflicted on African-Americans and Latinos by the police, because she has been taking money from big pharma and the Private Prison Industry.
Remind me again how this person could possible be anybody’s feminist icon.
I guess for some privileged white females who haven’t done their research, Hillary is great. People like Lena Dunham and Amy Shumer think she’s just dandy and rebuke anyone who could possible disagree. But then again, when was the last time either of them worked 60 hours a week on a 7.50/hr salary just to survive? Their version of feminism is what has been aptly dubbed “white feminism.” It only includes the comfortable, the well-off, the educated women of society who are not struggling financially. The rest of the female population who either voted third party, Trump, or not at all? Well, these women are an “embarrassment” in the white feminist Hillary voters’ eyes. Because nothing, and I mean no issue whatsoever, is more important than Donald Trump catcalling women and “grabbing them by the pussy.” Nothing could be more important to people’s every day lives than this reprehensible language–when your biggest problem is whether to buy the Louis Vuitton bag or the Coach shoes.
That’s the devastating crux of the “lesser evil” paradox we just saw in this election. People were so desperate for change in this dying economy and in our incompetent government, just like they were in 2008 when Obama was elected on a campaign that promised change, that they went all in on Trump. He tapped into what they felt the most–financial struggle and impending doom. And meanwhile, those who were sipping their lattes and going to Bonaroo had their heads so far up the asses of the corporate media echo chamber agenda that they were actually shocked when Trump won.
Its time to wake up, neoliberals. This is the state of the country, and you’re not going to fix it by burning the American flag (though I will respect your right to do so) or by telling Trump supporters that they are racist pieces of scum. That will backfire. It backfired again and again throughout Hillary’s campaign–calling half the population “deplorables” who “live in their parents’ basement” doesn’t exactly make them want to vote for you.
No, now you have to listen. Even if it pains you, you have to listen to what the Trump supporters are saying to you, to Hillary, to the Obama administration, and to establishment politics.
Because what they’re saying is a resounding “You’re fired.”
mollywentworth 