“Richard, what’s going to happen to us?” ~Abby this morning after hearing that Donald Trump will be our next president.
Abby and I live a quiet, rural American life. Major changes in presidential politics don’t effect us all that much. My great concern however, is that we as a nation might be about to undo some very significant progress, such as the Iran nuclear deal, marriage equality, and abortion rights.
Are we about to enter a period of shallow flag-waving and unpopular war such as the Bush era, or are we headed down a far darker path?
I remember in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected, the right turned into a bunch of babies. I remember one in particular, “Carissa,” who was so butt-hurt that she actually blogged, “You are not my president.” I resolved at that time to not be like Carissa, that no matter who we elect, we elected them. Sometimes you get your candidate, and sometimes you don’t.
Yesterday I predicted Clinton would win, and I was wrong. It is now time to accept that Donald Trump will be our next president and try to work together to keep America great. I wonder, though, how many people will end up regretting this decision.
It is a terrible, stressful, deeply disturbing morning. It is like the morning after 9/11. So big that you just can’t get your arms around it. It requires you to look so deeply into the future to try to predict how things will work out, that you just give up in frustration, because no one can look that far ahead, obviously. This might be the first time ever when it becomes really and truly necessary to pray. Pray for the economy (stocks crashed overnight). Pray for peace (Donald now has access to nukes). Pray for the press (he’s threatened to sue those who disagree with him). I mean, I don’t have any other answer, no place else to turn. These are desperate times, and it’s only Nov. 9.
This morning, I stand chastened for thinking the American people were too smart to elect a man like Trump. My fellow Americans were too generous and wise, I thought, to elect a regressive strong-man like him as president. I was wrong on so many levels. The next four years will be hard on us as a nation and as a people. I fear the voters who elected Trump will be very disappointed in their choice, and very quickly, when their lives get even worse. And for those of us who have liberal and progressive hearts and minds, we may be on the receiving end of anger, hate and possibly violence. This day after the election, things look very bleak and dark to me. I hope I am wrong.
I would join my thoughts here with yours were that I had any. Numb.
I traded votes with Tom Jackson, a journalist from Lawton who lives in Ohio. I voted for Gary Johnson, and Tom voted for Hillary Clinton. I wanted my vote to mean something, and Tom didn’t want Johnson to lose a vote.
This loss is devastating, but we learned a lot about ourselves as individuals, and as a nation. We now know who our bigoted friends and family are. And we now know where the cracks in our country’s foundation are. These areas have always been a problem that we didn’t see, either because we didn’t want to see, or because we didn’t know any better. Either way, now we know what we need to fix.
Richard, no I don’t agree with your view of things. Prayers to our Lord above saved this country. However, I do respect everyone and their opinion. I have been wondering why you deleted me has a friend, (I love your photography and Abby is a wonderful lady). I understand now. I will still enjoy your pictures no matter what our differences are.
The only reason I ever unfriend anyone is if they post something untrue.