In the words of Little Carmine: "We are on the precipice of an enormous crossroads." A nonsensical butchering of a tired cliche. But Jesus Christ does it fit.
Many are scratching their heads wondering how this could have happened. We know exactly how this happened. You make enough cuts to education generation after generation you end up with an electorate that does not read. You squeeze the middle class so much that you end up with an electorate that is too exhausted to question. You force news outlets to be profit centers rather than loss leaders and you end up with an electorate that is easily fooled.
I was recently at a party where a group of "anyone but Trump" voters were talking about Hillary. They all agreed "I don't like her and I do not trust her." I heard this repeated so many times in a 5 minute window that I had to interrupt and ask "Why?" "Just one thing - can you name one reason you do not trust her? Whitewater? Anything?" Not a single person could articulate it. And then it hit me. We have been brainwashed. Brainwashed into hating, even fearing, this woman that by all accounts has really only ever tried to serve this country. All you have to do to get people to believe something is to repeat it over and over again, like breathing, and after awhile they will forget. They will forget that it is all a lie.
The number of people who "could not bring themselves to vote for her" simply because "she rubs me the wrong way" have caused us to utter the words President Donald Trump. In the words of Louis CK "we have been hazing her; holding her down and spitting in her mouth for 30 fucking years." And she still wanted the job. Still wanted to see how she could make things better for me for you - for teachers, for nurses, for caregivers, for first-responders. But no. You don't like the sound of her voice.
So now we have him. Climate change denying, woman-objectifying, disability mocking, KKK poster boy Donald Trump. We built this. We did not hold the media accountable and they let this carnival spill out in to the streets, into our homes, and onto our ballot.
"It's a republic ma'am. If you can keep it." This was not a dare. This is not about "Let's see how far we can bend it before it breaks" folks. This is a country of ideas - but those ideas are only true to the spirit of America when they are supported by our common principals of decency, dignity, and equality for all. Not the privileged few, not the white ones, not the male ones.
Eight years ago we elected a man named Barack Hussein Obama to the highest office in the land. Barack, Hussein. Obama. That is an awful lot of improbable right there. But we did it. Not once but twice. But less than 24 hours ago arguably the most qualified, seasoned, intelligent, rested and ready candidate to ever run for office was defeated by a purveyor of hate and division - a know-nothing.
We need to understand the source of the momentum in that swing. Because whenever you see such a gross manifestation of hate you better believe its fuel is the most deadly of all emotions. Fear. If we do not get to the bottom of that and really understand it, it will destroy us. And no, we will not get to keep this republic.
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