11.21.2016 09:40 PM

This week’s column: pinned to the wall

My family member is pinned to my wall, like an insect.

It’s a bit clinical, perhaps, but it’s apt. Ever since Donald Trump shocked the world, and rode a wave of white resentment and rage into the Oval Office, I’ve been thinking a lot about my relative. He used to be a Canadian, and normal. But now he lives somewhere in the United States, and he doesn’t seem very normal anymore.

And he is a devoted supporter of Donald Trump.

So I have figuratively put him up there: him the bug, me the entomologist. I watch him – “pinned and wriggling to the wall,” in that celebrated T.S. Eliot stanza – and try and understand him, and those like him.

When he was still a Canadian, he was a Liberal and a liberal. He was well-educated; he was urban, urbane. Agnostic, caustic. He was funny and smart. He was born in Montreal, like most of our Irish Catholics family was, and then he ended up in Ottawa. A public servant. A bureaucrat.

The usual stuff happened: divorces, kids, job changes, upheaval. Life’s curveballs. He changed, a bit.

I’d run into him in bars in and around Ottawa. His appearance, his look, was different. He seemed angry, really angry. He was particularly angry about women, and he’d say things about women that actually shocked me. He’d say what he wanted to do to women, not with women. “Locker room talk,” Trump calls it. It was uncomfortable, so I started avoiding him.

And then, he slipped into some Bermuda Triangle, and we all lost track of him. He was in Europe, or something. Next thing I knew, he was living in the States – a battleground state – and he was married with kids. His wife wasn’t white. They went to church regularly, I heard, and he strongly disapproved of popular culture and progressive values.  

He read Mark Steyn and the like. He called himself a Republican, but he was on the outer fringes of that once-great party. When I saw him at a wedding, once, he told me what a relief it was not be a Canadian anymore, and to not have to worry about Quebec separatists or multiculturalism or any of the trivialities that preoccupy us up here.

Still seemed angry, though. It was still there, his suburban middle-America reverie notwithstanding.  

A year or so ago, we all heard he had gone full Trump. He was even working for Trump. So, I silently re-committed to avoiding him. I did not want my kids exposed to someone who supported someone who was a sexist, racist lunatic with fascistic leanings.  

My wife and I started volunteering for Hillary Clinton whenever we were in the U.S. We worked for her in three states, knocking on doors, stuffing envelopes, doing whatever was needed.

We all thought she was going to win. We never thought Donald Trump would, not for a minute.  

Since his electoral college victory, of course, things have gotten just as bad as you’d expect. Trump’s transition to power is in chaos. He’s been on the line with Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin before he’s talked to his NATO allies. He’s made a white supremacist and anti-Semite his most senior advisor. He’s scoffed at conflicts of interest. He says he will eradicate Roe v. Wade, and a woman’s right to choose. He says he will round up and deport three million people. He’s surrounded himself with conspiracy nuts. He’s going to tear up trade deals, and target Canadian exports. He has gone back on Twitter to say that “professional protestors” have been “incited by the media” against him.

And, in just a single week, the U.S. bond markets have lost a trillion dollars in value. Hate crimes have exploded, with hundreds being reported by the independent Southern Poverty Law Centre – and with attacks on Muslims up some 70 per cent. And that woman who, as a 13-year-old, says that she was raped by Trump? She dropped her case against him, because she was getting too many death threats.

I reflect on all of this, and more, as I peer at my relative on the wall. I don’t understand him, at all. But I need to, if I want to prevent something like Trump from happening again. Even up here, in the form of Kellie Leitch or someone else.

Was it anger? Racism? Sexism? Populism? What propelled a member of my own family into the arms of a monster like Donald Trump?

Reflecting on all that, it occurs to me that it isn’t my relative who is pinned to the wall, now.

 

45 Comments

  1. dave constable says:

    2020 you can go down there and work for Tulsi.

  2. The Doctor says:

    I have a pretty open mind, but absolutely the most depressing and shocking thing I have witnessed recently was going to the Breitbart news website, and then reading the comments section for a minute or two (which was all I could take). God, it’s depressing. Orwell would have a field day analyzing it, too, the way Breitbart et al. toss chunks of red-meat propaganda to these obsessive hate-filled losers, so they can hate some more. And you realize the Goebbels was doing the same thing, just without the benefit of the Internet. I’ve never been one of those knee-jerk anti-Americans, but I have never been so disappointed with America and Americans in my life.

    A guy who runs the gym I go to nailed it on election night. He sighed and said “There are a lot of angry people down there.”

  3. Al in Cranbrook says:

    A day or two before the final vote I made two points here: a) If Clinton loses, watch for rioting, smashing and bashing from the left. I was criticized. I was also right, full stop. And b) Remember Brexit. Right again.

    I’ve posted in the past that people are getting sick and tired of being told what to think, what to say, what they can’t say, and what the so-called “experts” have decided is best for everyone. You name it, an “expert” will wave a magic wand and solve it for you, for the government, for the climate, for the economy, for God Himself…assuming He’s actually even paying attention at all.

    The “experts” have ordained that climate change is caused by the human race, and they have the “adjusted” statistics and data to prove it. And so that becomes the official narrative du jour, from government, from the MSM, and especially from the left. God help anyone…including experts with a different appraisal of the facts…who defies the narrative, because nobody else will. As pointed out by people of great intelligence and insight, we’ve pretty much eliminated God from the narrative, even by law, so now the masses have wrapped themselves around this new religion of global warming, if for no other reason than many people need something to believe in to give their lives purpose. Saving humanity from themselves has always been a favorite of the left, and thus climate change is an ideal fit…truth be damned!

    The “experts” had their way on the economy, and now America is up to its collective ass in $19 TRILLION worth of federal debt. They had their way on trade, and now tens of millions of Americans are struggling with massive unemployment, and trying to merely make ends meet. Entire cities that once were hubs of entrepreneurship and enterprise are now wastelands of abandoned factories, while infrastructure crumbles about them…think, f’rinstance, Detroit. They had their way on immigration laws, and now some 12 million illegal aliens compete for what jobs do come available. They had their way with the formation of the European Union, creating a vast and extremely expensive of lifetime bureaucrats democratically accountable to absolutely nobody, who dream up regulations for even the most inane and inconsequential aspects of economic activity, ultimately choking off even the slightest desire to ever get started on a project in the first place. And a British unemployed fisherman from a long line of fisherman has to watch foreign boats working the same waters he no longer can by law.

    Such is the arrogance of the leftist mindset now that they actually believe they can even “regulate” the GD weather, be it by edict, taxation, or deferral (I’m enjoying my lifestyle too much, so I’ll pay you to cut back yours instead…and if you don’t, I’ll wave money in the face of politicians who will gladly make you do it anyway. And I will fly around the world in my private jet to give speeches to other stinking rich and famous people to encourage them to do the same! Not to mention the hordes of useful idiots soaked of the quasi-religious environmentalism movement, who will trip over themselves to back me and my rich pals to the hilt! Because that’s just the way we roll, pal! Get used to it! )

    Universities have become, in a word, a joke! Not just merely and annoyingly left leaning as before, but now outright Marxist! Free speech means not a damn thing within those halls any more! Once bastions of open debate and challenge, they’ve been systematically reduced to centers of indoctrination in politically correct thinking and acquiescence to the narrative du jour…and again, God help anyone, student or professor, who doesn’t toe that line to the tee…think, f’rinstance, Jordan Peterson.

    In Vancouver, the mayor…anf former big shot in the Tides Foundation…has managed to enact a ban on natural gas by 2030. The cleanest, most abundant form of energy on the whole GD planet, BANNED! To be replaced by…well, nobody has much of a foggy clues in hell yet, but rest assured they’re working on it. God forbid people can afford to heat their blessed homes!!! Meanwhile, in Ontario people are facing $800/mo. energy bills…and still rising! But HEY! Ontario has a plan to save the planet from climate change! Not in actual measurable terms, mind you, but it’s the right thing to do. All those poor people freezing in the dark? Yes, that is unfortunate, but…you know…that’s life, eh? Can’t solve everyone’s problems…least of all the problems we created in the first place.

    Fentanyl has killed over 500 so far this year in BC, mostly kids. Of all the stuff I’ve listened to about how to deal with this crisis, I have yet to hear one single bloody word on TV or the radio about what should be done to the bastards who are peddling this death to our children!!! Meanwhile the “experts” keep telling anyone who will listen that the “war on drugs” won’t work. I can guarantee it won’t work…if we don’t start backing up our words with our damned justice system!

    Today I heard the so far this year 127 police officers have been killed in the line of duty in the US this year. It’s become a veritable open season on cops, stoked by the (liberal) MSM’s insatiable appetite for sensationalism, and again, truth and honesty be damned to hell!

    And so on, and so forth.

    People are fed up, Warren. That’s the message in all of this. Trump was merely the handiest vehicle at the right time. Clinton represented more of the same old, same old…indeed, she offered up nothing but.

    It’s a message that so far clearly is lost almost entirely everyone on the left side of politics.

    Always remember that universal law: The pendulum swings. Such is the nature of duality.

    • Kevin Laddle says:

      Climate change, racism, xenophobia and crass intellectualism. This post is Trump in a nutshell.

    • Erik Valkenburg says:

      Been a lurking reader for a while on here but that was an awesome comment! I agree 100% Al.

    • doconnor says:

      The economic problems haven’t been caused by the left-wing, but by right-wing “experts” who tend to spin theories without gethering empirical evidence to see if they are correct. There is a reason economics is caused the dismal science.

      The science behind global warming is well tested and is believed by people across the political spectrum and has been studied since the 1970s and warned about since the 1980s. If you have an alternative theory, let us know.

      Arresting drug deals has little effect because they are quickly replaced and doesn’t end people’s addictions.

      Most of these 127 police killed dies in auto accidents and other causes.

      • godot10 says:

        The problems of the world are caused by “progressives”.

        1) Bill Clinton, because of political expediency (he didn’t want to be Willy-Hortoned…Al Gore dug up Willy Horton, like HIllary was the original birther) enacted criminal justice reforms in the nineties to fill up the private US prison system with 2 million young black men, or as Hillary’s calls them, super-predators. Most of them, ironically, couldn’t vote in this election because they lost their right to vote in the nineties.

        2) Bill Clinton and his bankster (Summers and Rubin) gang repealed Glass-Steagal, and refused to regulate derivatives, which was one of the primary causes of the Great Recession which has devastated working America.

        3) Bill Clinton facilitated the rise of the neocon’s. Regime change in Iraq was US foreign policy even before Bush got to office.

        4) Bill Clinton allowed China into the WTO with proper safeguards for working America.

        5) Bill Clinton abandoned working America after NAFTA was signed with next to nothing in worker transition programs and investment.

        6) He allowed the first tech bubble to happen, instead of taking measures to contain the tech bubble.

        7) George W. Bush then sent the sons and daughters of working America to die in his stupid Mideast wars.

        8) George W. Bush totally ignored the mortgage, housing, and structured finance bubble which has devastated working America, doing nothing to correct the errors of Bill Clinton’s economic team.

        9) George W. Bush accelerated the rise of the surveillance state, and the American Empire as a rogue terrorist regime which bombs and tortures.

        10) Obama legitimized and normalized Bush’s surveillance and terror state. He expanded drone warfare. Obama and Hillary started more stupid regime change wars in Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine.

        11) Obama bailed out Wall Street, 1%’ers, and oligarchs from the Great Recession, and abandoned Main Street working America. Obama and Holder did not prosecute a single bankster for fraud for the structured finance crimes of the Great Recesssioni.

        The three worst presidencies in US history. That is what has led to Donald Trump.

    • Kevin says:

      Wow. Immigration, private jets, natural gas and fentanyl. Your stream of consciousness thing is a bit much at 8 in the morning.

      Your closing point is bang on, though. The pendulum certainly does swing.

    • Ron says:

      Rant away and enjoy The Botox Presidency.

    • Nicole says:

      I think the Republicans move to put Pence in his place before that. Let Cheeto go wild on Twitter for a bit, continue breaching ethics and conflict laws with foreign governments and then Pence looks way more moderate than he actually is. And if the GOP are the ones to get the crazy Cheeto out, they look like heroes and mid terms may not be such a turn to the Democrats.

    • Lance says:

      LOL You laughed, said he couldn’t possibly win. You were wrong then, wrong now, and will be wrong then.

    • Patrick says:

      If you think the “war on drugs” has not succeeded because of our justice system how do you explain how the fact that it has also been a costly failure in the United States?

  4. Robbie Armstrong says:

    Because you are in the business of persuasion, may I suggest that you check out this blog entry as part of your research?

    http://blog.dilbert.com/post/153080448451/the-cognitive-dissonance-cluster-bomb

  5. PJ says:

    It appears the normalization of Donald Trump is underway. He has a anti-sematic White Supremist in the West Wing and it’s as Trump campaigning on bigotry and misogyny never happened. The MSM is willingly going along with this.
    Yes HRC needs to look in the mirror and contemplate what she did wrong to loss this election, ignoring the complaints of Democrats on the ground in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

    However, all those who voted for Trump, need to own the fact that they voted for bigotry, and misogyny, no matter if it was economic anxiety that caused them to go to Trump.
    Small l-lberals, who despised HRC , the Bernie or bust supporters,not enough of whom gave a damn to show up and vote for HRC need to own this.

    I may be Canadian, but this election sure pissed me off. Voting isn’t just a right, it’s a responsibility. Those who chose not to vote or voted for Trump failed. There can never be any justification for voting for bigotry and misogyny.

    As far as people saying they are tired of political correctness, what is political correctness. As I understand it minorities are saying no more. No to racial slurs, no to homophobic comments. No we do not listen to that crap and and we will call you out if your going to spew that garbage.

    There is a reason that past GOP Presidents were not as blatantly bigoted as Trump. Nixon, Reagen, Bush 1 and Bush 2 understood they had to govern for all Americans.
    I heard I judge tell newly sworn US citizens they must accept President Trump as their President. But I never heard Trump tell all Americans “I am your President.”
    He has not said a single thing since the election to calm the concerns of minorities in America and the world at large.

  6. JustCallMeRick says:

    Regardless of why they voted for him (axe to grind, ideology, Team Red, single issue, etc..), what frustrates me is why they believed he was the right INSTRUMENT for the change they wanted. I don’t think the man has a single redeemable quality-morally, ethically, intellectually-the whole spectrum. As they say in programming, garbage in, garbage out.

  7. billg says:

    There is a University in Wisconsin that called in Police, and, is investigating a student for a hate crime that took place on its campus.
    The student in question wrote on a pink post it note in regards to the US election, “suck it up pussies”.
    By the way, Vancouver’s safe injection site area of 4 city blocks now records 2 overdose deaths a day, but no one saw that coming.
    In regards to Al’s comment, that’s why the pendulum is swinging so far back it is a little scary.

  8. Curt says:

    Great rant Al! You have hit the nail on the head on all those subjects.
    Warren, I see a similar pattern developing in Canada. Appears PMJT is doing a lot of dictating from his airplane. People are starting to notice.

  9. Peter says:

    Was it anger? Racism? Sexism? Populism?

    I’m trying to imagine a group of conservatives resolving to figure out why so many supported the Libs/Dems and saying “Was it careerism? Elitist herd mentality? Hollywood? A corrupted media? Political correctness?”. I’m guessing you might think something is lacking and end up more than a little insulted.

    Trump, Brexit, steady GOP successes since 2010, the tectonic European shift to the right, etc. etc. All predictably explained by far too many progressives with the same boilerplate patronizing character flaws (you forgot to mention age and lack of education) that end up serving as compliments to themselves. I admire your resolve but I think you (pl.) could do with a new playbook.

  10. Eddie says:

    All this hyperbole regarding Trump. He didn’t win the election. The Democrats lost it by running a poor campaign with a flawed candidate. The Democrats need to look at why they lost and fix that instead of all this hand wringing about Trump being in power. There will be a lot of battles that need to be fought democratically in the next four years. The left needs to grow up – don’t count on Trump screwing up as a path to victory.

    Dismissing the people who voted for Trump as not worth consideration is short sighted. They voted and they’ll vote again. They have more in common with traditional Democrat working class messages but the Dems ignored them. If the Dems rely on a strategy of winning New York, California, minorities and soccer moms then they will perpetually lose. They need to grow the tent, not dismiss those outside it.

    • Nicole says:

      The stats show that white working class (I.e. Under $50k) voted for Clinton. So this false narrative about the working class won’t help them. Now there are people who voted for Obama who didn’t come out and vote. Those are the ones they need to reach.

      That and working the electoral college system much better. After all HRC did win the popular vote.

    • Charlie says:

      Nope.

      Firstly, as it stands, Clinton is winning the popular vote by a margin for about 2 million votes. The “Dem strategy” is clearly an effective one in winning more votes over a larger cross-section of Americans. Yes, there are some changes that Democrats need to make when it comes to dealing with economic issues, but these are massive attitudes shifts that Americans as a whole need to make when it comes to jobs and economic security for the middle-class.

      Secondly, you’re right, Trump didn’t win; the electoral college shafted another Democratic candidate. The structure of the electoral college and the swing-state nature of fly-over country gave a false win to a candidate who failed to capture the popular vote.

      [Note: the majority of city centres across the US –where the the highest concentration of population exists– all went to Clinton.]

      Thirdly, fucking Florida.

      Fourthly, there is no lesson here for the Democrats. America fucked up. Trump’s path to the WH was paved by lies, demagoguery, external interference in the American democratic process and dog-whistling. Don’t diminish the entirety of this situation to just another typical election result, and one from which Democrats can learn. Its not a loss, its a devastation that Democrats will work through — but not without vociferously contesting the outcome that shouldn’t have been.

      Your assertion of hyperbole is idiocy at its height. The reality of this predicament is serious and has major consequences. As we speak, we are learning that Trump’s daughter sat in on conversations with a foreign leader. That is to say, the head of an multi-million conglomerate was sitting in on a private phone call between a two heads of states. We’ve seen the unqualified sycophants that he’s appointed to central roles in his administration this week, in addition to the Twitter fight he picked with the cast of Hamilton.

      This shit isn’t normal, and admonishing Trump supporters is absolutely a natural reaction when the result of their actions effects everyone.

      Your introspection is coming off as pontification and is disconnected from the new reality the world is facing. Donald Trump has given people a lot of reasons not to be complicit with his presidency, the anger, concern and fear is legitimate.

      • Lyndon Dunkley says:

        Complaining about the electoral college may be satisfying but its also a little childish after the election. If America is so dissatisfied with its mechanism, then it can make the effort to change it prior to the next Presidential election. You cannot simply assume the popular vote would be static without the EC in place. In a country with less than a 60% voter turnout rate, can you guarantee that there aren’t two million more disenfranchised repubs in the heavy blue states than disenfranchised dems in the heavy red ones?

        Furthermore, looking at the county by county breakdown of the election doesn’t really suggest the “dem strategy” is winning over a larger cross-section of Americans, nor does the number of Republican Governorships nor the Senate or HOR. (I know, I know, bloody gerrymandering)

        • Charlie says:

          I actually agree with you 100%

          I’m simply pointing out the ridiculously asymmetrical system by which the American voting system is structured. The results of Nov 8 show once again why the EC does not accurately reflect popular support and can produce results that aren’t in line with over all projections.

          Having said that, I’m on the same page as you. I believe, just as in the case of the primaries, if Americans have a problem with the system by which they elect their politicians, then complaining about it every 4 years is insufficient. What matters is what Americans do to fix the system for future elections.

          Look, theres a lot of problems with the election system down south and I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I just want to be clear that Trump is not exactly the President for a wider cross section of Americans. His support is extremely homogenous.

      • Peter says:

        Fourthly, there is no lesson here for the Democrats

        Are you sure about that? Since 2010, the Dems have apparently lost about 900 federal and state seats and the GOP now controls the governorships of over thirty states and all branches of the federal government for the first time since 1928. Plus there was Brexit and the tectonic shifts in Europe. The only Dem success was Obama’s re-election, which can be explained more by his classy character than support for his politics. Would you really advise the Dems that the road to future success is to change nothing, whine about the electoral college, admonish Trump’s voters (double-down on calling them deplorables?) and make pious declarations not to be complicit in his presidency? That sounds more like a state of denial than realistic politics to me.

  11. Michael Bluth says:

    Progressives need to actually listen Trump voters instead of dismissing them as sexist/racist/fascistic.

    • Ron says:

      Yes as soon a Trump voters put a sock in their rhetoric. Good luck with that.

    • The Doctor says:

      Well Michael, why don’t you go to the Breitbart comments section and tell us what the “message” is that we’re supposed to listen to? Because what I see there is commenters using white supremacist symbols as their online avatars, saying how they want to urinate on, string up and immolate those people they disagree with, such as Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, etc. Is that the message I’m supposed to listen to?

      • Michael Bluth says:

        I did go to the breitbart site. The comments sections had a bunch of comments from sore winners, but nothing actually racist or sexist.

        • The Doctor says:

          My God, you are full of it. I just went to the site, spent no more than a minute and a half on the comments section:

          – commenter says electrify the Wall, so Mexicans will be barbequed

          – another commenter says stock the Rio Grande with crocodiles and piranhas, so Mexicans will be eaten alive

          – another commenter says this: “Mexican culture is the most depraved, satanic, idoltourous (sic), violent and corrupt society in the world.”

          Nah, nothing racist at all.

  12. Mother Mary says:

    Rather than looking at one insect, you should look at the 7.4 billion insects on planet earth. You will see things more clearly…

    Western Feminism, Eastern Patriarchy

    After the defeat of Hillary Clinton, there is a feeling that the ascendency of women has stalled. Demographics largely explain this trend. Western feminists are in decline. Consider 3 of the most powerful feminist politicians – Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel and Dilma Rousseff – between them only 2 children – 4 children below replacement fertility (2.1). By contrast, consider Marine Le Pen and Sarah Palin – between them 8 children – 4 children above replacement fertility. This trend can be observed across Europe and the Americas. Feminists go the way of the Last of the Mohicans. Populations of traditional women are holding their own.

    Globally, males now outnumber females by 66 million; females are a minority at 49.55% of global population. Preference for sons in India and China is driving the trend. China accounts for 75% of the male surplus worldwide. Both China and India are infamous for widespread gender selective abortions and female infanticide. China and India – 37% of world population – is corrupting the value system of the world and exporting the notion that females are inferior to males.

    Africa, while not as imbalanced demographically, is generally not a good place for females. Of the 150 million victims of female genital mutilation most are in Africa. Polygany (male-only polygamy) is legal in much of Africa and Arabia. Older wives are shunted aside when younger, more nubile wives are brought into the household. Birth control is frowned on or non-existent – why, for example, Niger has the highest birth rate on the planet. Condoms are frowned on or non-existent – why the majority of females with HIV-Aids are in Africa.

    The implications for feminists are sobering and counter-intuitive. For one, abortion on demand, long a central doctrine of feminism, should be abandoned. Abortion is now one of the primary killers of females. Left unchecked, it will ensure a return to the mores of a thousand years ago when women were merely chattels and glorified domestic slaves. Imagine a world, especially in the context of global democracy, where 55% or 60% of the population is male. Political power for women will be elusive.

    This data suggests that the most radical act a feminist can do is have 3 or more babies. Feminism without new feminists will cease to exist. While the software of feminism may exist in books, it will need the hardware – human bodies – to continue. Basic biology. Further, these babies should be by non-Asian, non-African males – after all, it is self-evident that Asia and Africa are regions that consider females less valuable and desirable than males. This implies a total rejection of moral and cultural relativism and a definitive end to the Multicultural Revolution.

    I, for one, have never wished feminists ill. It has been my experience that many have suffered severe traumas – rape, assault, impoverishment, mental illness, relentless brainwashing. Hillary Clinton’s defeat was largely due to the outrageous behaviour of Bill Clinton, Anthony Weiner and such like. Angela Merkel’s troubles began in earnest with the criminal behaviour of “men of Arab or North African appearance”. Dilma Rousseff’s flawed ideology is the result of being brainwashed by operatives of the hyper-macho Fidel Castro. Objectively, these are abusive relationships.

    Traditional women should reach out to feminists in a spirit of non-judgement and non-patronizing compassion. As we observe groups like the Islamic State and Boko Haram trading in girl sex slaves, all women can agree that these are the darkest of days for women and girls. Women must band together to end female genocide and oppression or suffer another hundred years of total submission to men.

  13. dave constable says:

    Various things our mainstream media did during the 1950’s when I was high schooler gave me pause, and they have pulled many stunts since. It constantly surprises me how easy it is for our media to get us to hate someone or other, and to raise a war fever. So, I do not sympathize with them at all about what they are going through as technology, and a wider choice of info, by passes them.
    But these moves in Washington by the incoming administration to call in assorted ‘stars’ of their news media is a tad bothersome. It looks like a first step to using the state power to control info way more than it was controlled before.

  14. Eddie says:

    The link provides a good summary of HRC’s of some reasons HRC lost. Dems got popular vote but lost electoral college. That’s a sour grapes explanation when everyone knew POTUS is picked by electoral college and not the popular vote. This is like saying one team should have won the hockey game because they had more shots but fewer goals than their opponent. Losing is painful but ignoring your own team’s weakness instead of blaming the victors is not how you win the next time.

    The article below mentions some truly impressive up-and-coming women in US politics.

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/dont-cry-for-the-first-woman-almost-president/article/2005473

    • Lance says:

      Exactly. Team A wins four games against Team B with scores of 2-1, 3-2, 1-0, and 2-1. Team B wins one game with a score 23-2. Team B scored more goals, however, lost the series four games to one.

      Don’t hate the players, don’t hate the game, and don’t hate the rules that EVERYONE plays by. You can’t accept a victory with the same rules and be happy, yet wear sackcloth and ash when you lose by those rules. Or in more common parlance – suck it up, Buttercup. Hells, there is even a law being drafted to that effect.

  15. I Would Have Voted Trump says:

    Look, I’m old enough to remember all the panic when Ronald Reagan was elected POTUS. He was surrounding himself with “Nuke the Pukes” advisors who were telling him that a nuclear war was “manageable”, he was a proponent of “voodoo economics”, he was a race baiter and demagogue. And sure enough he was never loved by half the American population during his Presidency. But now in hindsight it would only be a hardcore few leftists that would cling to the idea that his Presidency wasn’t, on aggregate, a great success for America.

    Now please – I’m not comparing Trump to Reagan. Two very different personalities. But what I am arguing is that there are historical precedents for doomsday predictions being overblown. Americans have inalienable rights that no President, cabinet, congress or senate can take away.

    That said, I’m happy to read you are trying to “understand” the Trump voter. Because once you understand someone and their motivations you are on the path to forgiving them. I hear a lot of vitriol about how many racists, sexists and bigots there must still be in the US, and no doubt there are, but they are a minority that would not have gotten Trump one electoral college vote. For most people, racism is not part of their lives, they voted for other reasons. But the Left is sooooooooo angry, so unforgiving of these voters and making no attempt to understand why, and it’s instead driven those who voted for Trump further into that camp. I saw a poll the other day that if the election were held again, today, Trump’s vote would increase.

    Lena Dunham, going into the desert to talk with the canyon and listen to the rocks in order to come to terms with what happened is a prime example. Maybe her cause would be better served by going to western Pennsylvania and talking and listening to Trump voters. But then again, we know a lot of people on the Left talk a good game about forgiveness but are actually vindictive animals who see life as a pyramid of power and are only interested in being on the top.

    • Ron says:

      I get it. Trump the victim, like he isn’t vindictive or only interested in being on top.

      Well have at it Don, but make sure to build that wall. Your supporters are waiting.

      They won’t like it if you waffle or back away, and the backlash will be on you.

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