Yesterday was weird. Trump voters couldn’t conceal their smile, Hillary voters didn’t stop shedding tears. It was a tale of two nations.. some extreme went on Twitter to explain that Donald Trump was not their president, they said 11/9 was the new 9/11, and by nightfall several cities had protesters—even violent ones—exuding the idea that the president-elect was not theirs. But he is theirs.. and mine. And everyone’s.
The reaction to the Trump impending presidency is about what would be expected… even supporters have a touch of shock… a “we did this?!” sort of feeling. Markets, which tanked at first, rebounded by the end of the day with the big winners being industries like big pharma and energy that expect to be less regulated during Trump/Pence. As Hillary gave her last shout out to supporters, she silently walked off the stage. Perhaps the last time running for public office? Time will tell..
I said before I was not going to announce my choice .. I still will not. Voting is a time-honored and cherished private moment that a voter has with their own mind.. without noise.. in a booth alone. That is when the truth comes out the most. But I will say this: I almost to the tee accurately predicted the state breakdown of who would win the election and how the vote would end up. So much so that my friend even owes me dinner at a nice restaurant.. The only two states I did not get right: Michigan and Nevada. New Hampshire is still out there so …maybe I will have gotten three wrong? For NH, I picked Trump..
There is a big deal being placed on something else today. The SIMPSONS. Yes, they did a show featuring a post-Trump presidency joke in the year 2000. In the episode BART TO THE FUTURE, Lisa inherits a big budget deficit from Trump. There are viral memes associated with the program showing Trump going down an escalator .. but that was from 2015. And there is another that just popped up saying that the Simpsons show accurately predicted an electoral map of Trump’s victory. But that was from 2012 where Mr. Burns endorses Mitt Romney.
And herein is the trouble of the internet. No research.. quick memes and GIFs… no context. And clickbait.
I stayed off of Facebook for the most part yesterday.. I was really ‘politicalled’ out, especially with a late night of 3am and then waking up again at 5am for work….
Last night my wife and I joined up with some friends for wine to discuss the finality of the election… The group of up acknowledged that I was the only one in the group that actually envisioned the path to victory Trump would take .. They poured another glass of wine for themselves.. and another. They weren’t fond of my prediction then and weren’t happy now that it came true.
But at the end of the conversation, the clash of titans of different political backgrounds agreed: Donald Trump is the president elect. He will address the nation from the Oval Office. He will deliver a State of the Union Speech. He will sign bills. And his photo will be present in all federal buildings.
The protesters last night hurling insults and lamenting him as the president will not stop the course of history. What is done is done. For better or worse, the system once again proved to work and deliver a leader.
But leadership starts from within. From within you. Me. Us. We lead our own lives.
There are two schools of thought concerning Trump. Those in favor like his brash style. They see him as honest. A few even believe him to a new Teddy Roosevelt.
Those who hate him? The see him as a egotistical racist bigoted tyrant. And they stop at that point and don’t accept him.
If the latter is true and he is a horrible man, it’s nothing new. Lyndon Johnson, when he wasn’t busy having extra-marital affairs or picking his dog up by the ears for fun, was also a bigoted human without class.. the Richard Nixon tapes portray a paranoid and delusional man who drops F bombs and racist comments throughout his day.
America has survived through it all. Including civil wars and worse.
America will survive now.
And…..surprises may come.
America may be great again…
Or wait………………weren’t we great already?