What a difference a day makes! The day I'm referring to is Nov. 8th, 2016!
This is how I see it anyway!
On November 7th, 2016, the Democrats were happy, supporting their beloved President and the woman that would fill his seat come Jan. 20. 2017. EVERYONE predicted a landslide win for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the upcoming election. The glass ceiling would be smashed to smithereens and females everywhere would celebrate the historic moment. A party to out-do all previous celebrations was being organized! Happy Days were here and also on the horizon.
There was talk of unity for the Democratic party and more progressive measures were being drafted, staff positions were being filled and big plans were being made to cement the Obama legacy into the annals of history.
On that same day, Republicans were described as disorganized and deplorable. They'd spent the last few years stewing over the progressive agenda path the country was embarking upon but if they voiced their complaints they were met with charges of racism. There was a seething rage right below the surface of politeness. People wondered, but there was no way of knowing how far and how deep that rage extended. It was if two foreign languages had been spoken for 8 years and no one cared to take the time to listen to their neighbors.
However on November 7th, ALL predictions agreed that the candidate for the party with the elephant logo was a major loser that would fade from the national scene the next day. There was NO future for the Republican Party, EVERYONE was speculating that this election would become the demise of the Grand Old Party. After a number of potential candidates bit the dust, an arrogant, boisterous, blatantly sinful, billionaire ended up at the top of the ticket and no one expected him to do well across America.
THEN.....Election Day rolled around. The day that changed the course of America.
IT WAS JUST ONE DAY, one 24 hour period! EVERYTHING CHANGED.
I believe the NY billionaire was just as surprised as everyone else in the country. HE WON!
California, New York, and Chicago tried their best but had to concede that middle America AND some former "dyed in the wool" Democrats had come out in droves and voted for CHANGE! Both houses of Congress ended up with the majority being Republican which was NEVER supposed to happen. It was a VOTE heard round the world.
And the national dialogue transformed into an UPROAR! Talk about a 180? A flip? A U-Turn?
Unlike previous elections down through America's history, THIS ELECTION was not going to go down as a "peaceful transfer of power."
Vicious, vile, angry words splattered social media. Protesters lined the streets of major cities carrying signs reading "not my President." A movement was established called the "Resistance." Major news networks declared war as every move the President-Elect made and every word he spoke was dissected and judged. Fake news was introduced for the first time in our history and folks lined up to embrace it as fact if it supported their ideas. The new President "tweeted" and gave the Dems fuel to feed their fire of hatred. A Women's March was quickly and successfully organized to protest in fear that something MIGHT HAPPEN to demean women everywhere.
NATIONAL FEAR was now in vogue. If you refuse to fear, you are labeled a Trump-ette!
The new President could do or say NOTHING that pleased the masses. Every bit of air he breathed was despised. Those that voted for him were maligned as complete idiots, friends and family were as divided as the nation. There was the charge, "you rejected our President, now we will do the same."
Half the country was SILENTLY rejoicing at the new direction the government was taking, while the other half took to the streets, the airways, and the internet. Violence broke out, property was destroyed, fires were set and people were paid to protest all over the country. All those happy, contented folks raised their voices because their hair was set on fire. ALL THEIR CONFIDENCE had been shattered, in that ONE DAY. How could anyone reject the policies of the present administration? It was a shocker-roo!
I saw news videos of people weeping uncontrollably in the streets as if life as they knew it was over! The private grief was even more profound. Hillary's staff members were inconsolable and Hilary went into hiding. "How can we stand to live the next 4 years" was answered without much compassion, "The same way I lived the last 8." Anger was rampant on both sides of the political battle!
In that ONE day we'd become the UNITED STATES OF HYSTERIA. And there is no hope that anything is going to change in the near future. Folks are MAD that their girl lost, they are FEARFUL that their rights are going to disappear, that laws are going to be enforced that will affect them or their neighbors directly, that concentration camps are going to be constructed and FILLED with Muslims, Jews, Mexicans and members of the LTGBQ groups (I've actually heard that from dear, educated friends) and that a wall defending the southern border will keep out every good and decent person that desires to come to the US. Parents of adopted children fear that their child will be deported!
Every man or woman presented for a cabinet position is now characterized as a Hitler type or a member of the KKK. Congressional hearings to approve people nominated have turned into shouting matches of lies, innuendos and grandstanding. Past videos have surfaced showing elected officials drastically changing their positions on important issues to ride the tide of dissension. Folks that once praised their colleagues, now trashed them publicly because that old friend was now being considered for the Presidents cabinet. The Presidents son is under unbelievable intense scrutiny and today Trumps handshake is being analyzed as that of a lunatic. And to top it off there have been calls from formerly decent, hardworking, professional Americans for the new President to be assassinated!!
Basically half of America does NOT LIKE the President and NOTHING is going to change that.
We've lost our minds! How dare we surrender that much power over our EMOTIONAL well being to any politician, no matter what the position.!
And we've forgotten our education. You know, the Civic Classes that taught about the three branches of government put in place so each branch can check on the other from time to time. Legislature makes law, Judicial interprets law and Executive enforces law and if/when one crosses the line there are qualified elected folks in the appropriate position and ready to call it out.
We've forgotten our history. There was a time we were shooting each other and selling people on the auction block. We've fought wars in Europe, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East. We've experienced the assassination of a President, the resignation of another and the impeachment of another. We survived the riots, murders and sexual revolution of the 70's. We experienced a seismic national change as a result of the Civil Rights Movement and grieved the loss of it's leader. Together we grieved the loss of 3000 innocent citizens in one day on 9-ll. And the nation survived!
And we've lost common sense. No amount of protesting, sign waving, or vulgar cursing in the streets is going to change the outcome of the election. It's a done deal. And I am pretty sure NO ONE called an idiot, deplorable, uneducated fool is going to vote for a future progressive candidate. Winning friends and influencing people has never happened through violence and vulgarity. Those silent folks that voted for Trump are watching and they will remember all this!
I don't know the solution to this mess. I DO know that the conflict is not centralized in Washington D.C. It's in the heart of every one of us. We've lost the capacity to be civil.
I predict that ONE DAY some event will occur that will unite us once again and cause us to pause and think about our destructive behavior. ONE DAY something will remind us that we have the capacity to love each other and work together for the good of everyone. ONE DAY something will happen and our foolishness will be revealed.
I wonder what it will be, but I do NOT wonder if we will survive until that momentous event slaps us back to our senses. We will survive, bruised and wounded.
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