2016

Nov 09, 2016 08:58

Seriously???

Wasn't 2016 bad enough already?

This entry was originally posted at http://helen_c.dreamwidth.org

Leave a comment

Comments 17

zbyszko November 9 2016, 13:59:37 UTC
I can't believe how many idiots there are in this country. : (

Reply

helen_c November 9 2016, 14:51:27 UTC
Alas.

Stupidity is universal (if you knew how pathetic our politicians are. And we elected them.)

But Trump? Really? I think the problem is that at the beginning, everyone thought it was a joke. By the time it became serious, it was too late.

That, and the fact that people are dangerously disillusioned with politics. Something we're seeing in Europe too, and politicians don't seem to get that it's a huge problem.

Here's to hoping he won't be able to do too much harm (though unfortunately, he's already done a lot of harm.)

Reply


finlee November 9 2016, 14:59:51 UTC
Do you have any room at your place? I don't take up much room!

But gotta say - no matter how bad Trump is, Pence is even worse. What a great running mate. I'm sad for my niece and nephew's future.

Reply

helen_c November 9 2016, 15:08:00 UTC
No problem, all my US friends are welcome. (It certainly puts our petty politicians in perspective, much like W used to.)

I kept going from website to website this morning, hoping one of them was going to announce that it was all a sad joke.

Hopefully, he won't be able to do much of anything he claimed he would, right? He can't just single-handedly undo everything that was done in the last 8 years century. Hopefully.

Reply


daybreak777 November 10 2016, 01:34:57 UTC
Seriously.

But that's what I thought before I went to bed last night too. "Really, Universe?" My week wasn't going well before this.

But yeah, really. And you're right. This was a crazy and violent year. I'm not looking forward to 2017.

ETA: I just reread a GoT post in my journal from June 28 where you (prescient you!) wondered about a Trump presidency. And I was all, "La, la, la, I can't hear you" with my fingers in my ears.

Despite the violence I had a great first eight months of 2016 and the summer was amazing. I was living like it was 1999. You know, one of those if-you-didn't-come-to-party-don't-bother-knocking-at-my-door 1999 things. I knew the end was nigh and just wanted to enjoy the ride.

Well, rides end. I know you can't wait until 2016 is put to bed. But me? I'm clinging to my current president for all he's worth until oh so bitter end of this year.

And then? Exactly. That's exactly the question. Hopefully, we'll survive 2017 intact but I honestly don't know what will happen.

Reply

helen_c November 10 2016, 08:26:20 UTC
I doubt even he knows (quite aside from the fact that he's a clown, he seems horrifyingly unprepared).

Does he even have a plan, aside from, you know, building a wall at the mexican border? (Sigh. And we're hearing that in Europe too, by the way. There was talk of building a fence in France to prevent migrants from trying to reach the UK.)

I stumbled on this Tumblr post this morning. It reminded me of what tends to happen to walls.

http://untrustyou.tumblr.com/post/102176318437/november-9-1989-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall

Now, maybe I'm a bit more hopeful.

Reply

daybreak777 November 10 2016, 09:05:29 UTC
Now that reality is setting in, I'm less hopeful. I've heard of some people he might possibly select as attorney general and White House chief of staff and I feel I'm watching an episode of the Simpsons. A Halloween episode. But this is real life.

Walls go down, but they have to be built first in order to go down.

I can't even move to Europe! This craziness is world-wide. It's weird. When a terror event occurs, sometimes you look to the nation's leader to see what the response will be. It can be reassuring to a scared populace. I just don't see people I know looking to what someone on Twitter called the Orange Voldemort for reassuring words. After 9/11 I remember listening to hear what George Bush would do and I never voted for any Bush. But he was president of the United States. This guy, I dunno. People reacted yesterday as if his election was a terror event.

So very odd.

Reply

helen_c November 10 2016, 12:38:54 UTC
Yup. I was a tad more optimistic before I heard he was talking to Sarah Palin. Good Lord.

I keep thinking about this scene in Star Wars, when they elect an emperor and a representative says "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause."

Politicians (even Republicans) took Trump for a joke for much too long... Now that he's here, I hope they'll be able to rein in him.

Reply


loracj November 10 2016, 08:55:31 UTC
as is the norm, they both were gracious in victory and defeat - after the last year of escalating nastiness that spilled over onto all walks of life and ruined social media........
it frightens me how many people really believe that he will "fix" things - like he can snap his fingers and make it happen.

I'm with zbyszko - lots of uninformed idiots in this country and with finlee - I worry about what damage he can do for the future.

Reply

helen_c November 10 2016, 12:45:54 UTC
I think I'm actually more scared of the fact that he was quite moderate yesterday than of anything else. As long as he's acting like a buffoon, the fact that he's unbalanced is clear. (That's why I consider Marine Le Pen in France ten times more dangerous than her father. She makes the far-right sound reasonable and attractive, while he was just a laughing-stock.)

Yes, like all the populists, he has easy answers--blame a category of people and propose to kick them out of the country. That'll fix the problems that come from lobbying, for globalization and from pollution...

The man who, yesterday, was prevented by his team to get anywhere near Twitter, will in two months get the nuclear codes.
They didn't even dare write a story like that in The West Wing...

Reply


silverweave November 10 2016, 21:50:34 UTC
I just feel like crying. One of the many scary things that is worrying me is that I am afraid that people will give up. That turnout won't improve across western elections, that people will settle for not being personally victimised, impoverished, discriminated against as an acceptable outcome or status quo. We have to turn this anger into action wherever we are, because for some of our community it could literally be life or death.

Reply

helen_c November 11 2016, 09:06:53 UTC
I've already read a column in which the journalist wondered what people were so afraid of because at least "Trump will only do damage in America, while Clinton would have involved herself a lot more heavily in international matters ( ... )

Reply


Leave a comment

Up