I could do some finger pointing but at the end of the day, we are all in this together. Yesterday I wrote about my faith in America. I know some of you may find my next statement strange under the circumstances, but I am encouraged by the election results.
Former Secretary of State, Madame Hillary Rodham Clinton, is winning the popular vote of the people. With our antiquated electoral college system of installing a President, I know that may ring hollow but let’s give it some thought. Despite the efforts of evil, good triumphed. We proved that despite rules that quantify state electoral votes per population, that same population thought Hillary Clinton was the better (wo)man. I am sure a lot of us have endured the smug glare of our Republican friends today as they passed by our cubicles and chatted at the water fountain but in the words of comic Monique Marvez, “evil always overplays its hand.” When the outrageous and frankly impossible pledges of President-elect Donald Trump fizzle, like a 1960’s Russian space satellite, reality will turn your Cheshire grinning coworkers into the cat who ate the canary. Temporarily full but without their pet!
Trump succeeded in rallying a shrinking base of angry, bigoted, male white voters who looked to blame their lack of progress on others. Sure, the middle class has taken a beating since the Reagan administration but the idea of turning on ourselves is absurd if we want to survive. I, for one, am bloodied but not bowed. As a matter of fact, I am buoyed by the notion that a majority, no matter how small, of Americans still believe in fair play. Most of America resisted the ideas of racism, resisted the ideas of sexism, resisted the ideas of religious bigotry and most of all embraced the idea of inclusion. The minority has their victory for now but the race is not always won by the swift but it is always won by the persistent.
Some of us are in fear. Fear is a great motivator but fear eventually turns into optimism and optimism into a triumph for good. I fielded the sad phone calls of friends until past midnight and my only words were a phrase I have lived by for years, “the truth is an easy master to serve and a lie will enslave you.” Donald Trump’s followers were seduced by a lie and will in the next four years, fall victim to the enslavement of those same lies. He will not work to bring manufacturing back to America because it will cost him too much personally, steel for his buildings and furnishings to outfit his hotels, all imported. He will not renegotiate trade deals because his foreign bank loans are at stake. The wall is a pipe dream and the economy is headed for a downturn because of eliminating Obamacare. We concentrate on the upfront cost, as if lives don’t matter. The ancillary loss of revenue by drug companies, durable medical devices and insurance premiums will be a tremendous burden on the GDP once the Affordable Care Act dies. His lack of an idea for a replacement other than saying, “something much better” will literally lead to the deaths of many. Take heart my friends just like the dawning of President Barack Obama the cascading sunset will soon mark the end of the Trump administration.
I hope you Voted in 2016!