Thoughts The Morning After The Election

Lynn, We've got to be realistic about who we are and what we control.  My only concern with the Forget "Why" post is the author is making assumptions about what Trump WILL do and already gearing up for the equivalent of political guerilla warfare.  I suspect (and hope) that much of the campaign rhetoric was just that, and words will not become actions.  And if the hateful stuff does become action, than the pushback will be appropriate. 

Elizabeth, We all will, and I'm more of the "let's see what he ACTUALLY does" view.  At the end of the day, I don't expect a HUUUUUGE wall on the southern border, I don't expect a stop to immigration, etc.  There are too many reasons that make those "promises" totally unviable. 

Janice, My opinion is that elections aside, each of us should be looking for ways to make a difference in our communities and to find a way to minimize the Us Uns vs. the We Uns (insert reference to Pogo!)

Michael, A lot of what I'm seeing on FB over the last few days indicates a lack of understanding (e.g. why the electoral college exists), the desire to blame (e.g. the elections results are what they are because of 3rd party voters...while ignoring that neither main candidate provided a compelling enough case for 46% of registered voters to be bothered to leave their homes and vote), and oversimplification (ALL Trump supporters are racists, etc).  But it's not a one party problem.  I don't recall the Republicans being overly excited (to understate massively) about Obama being elected 8 years ago.  I'm counting on the checks and balance system to do it's job and keep ALL Americans protected.

Jon, there is that choice.  Some battles are in no need of being fought, others deserve every ounce of resistance we have.  That decision will vary person to person.

Vicki, No doubt I have the same objection to the media.  Do NOT try to influence the outcome.  Quite tired of all the polls that are trying to point us to WHO to vote for.  Provide the facts, don't bias it and let us make our own decisions.

Patrick, You have company here, I coudn't personally select either of the two mains.  The solution to winning and losing was who got more of those people to turn out.  The Dems weren't able to inspire enough of the 46% to get out of their chairs and come cast a ballot.  I'm hopeful that after the initial angst the country will be able to get back together, although considering the long term resistance to Obama, I probably should expect that.  Bill

Jeffrey, No doubt, we're in a profession that can generate its own rewards, it's just a matter of how much effort we want to put into the tasks required.

Pat, We got to where we are with much complication.  It's not as simple as the pundits would lead us to believe (seriously, the only reason Trump won is because he got a bunch of stupid racists to vote for him??).  People got tired of being told what to do, who to vote for.  People frustrated with the stagnation in DC.  Desperate enough to try ANYONE not part of the existing cadre.  Now people on both sides continuing to lash out, and that needs to be condemned by the leaders on both sides.  Time to remember Obama's main point, we are all AMERICANS.  Hoping that come January the Trump we see is the pragmatic businessman and not the inciter we saw during the campaign.

Brigita, Unfortunately some of this IMO comes back to the failure to continue teaching people how to lose gracefully as kids.  When we get trophies for just showing up, the wrong message is sent.  The world is competitive, sometimes brutally harsh and you've got to bring your "A" game, and even with that, some days we're going to come in 2nd place, and maybe a lot farther out than 2nd.  No matter which way this election ended, there were going to be a lot of disappointed voters.  Hopefully we as a people can get past this and work towards making improvements to how our goverment serves its function.

Mary, I've been a lot of other places over the years and while I might enjoy visiting other countries, there's no place I'd rather live than HERE.  We have our flaws as a country, but still a great place to live.

Mary Jo, No argument there.  The last few months have featured completely ignoring logic, facts and reality.  It's okay if MY candidate does this, but let me point out YOUR candidate doing a similar thing.  Hypocrisy has run amok for months.  Hoping we can get back to something resembling "normal" soon, but something has to give to get there.  A lot of people are going to need some serious convincing that Trump is capable of doing the job and also NOT condoning the idiots out there who think they have a free pass to hate.

Bruce, A couple of coats of paint and some varnish and it cleaned up pretty well :)

Harry, I never felt it wasn't great so I never cared for that slogan.  We're still a great country, just different than in years past.

Jan, I know it wouldn't be well received, but have thought for a long time that some type of universal service requirement wouldn't be a bad thing.  Doesn't have to be military service, but either way I think it would give people a better perspective on how to work with others and about being part of something bigger than just yourself.