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| English: Donald Trump at a press conference announcing David Blaine's latest feat in New York City at the Trump Tower. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Let that sink in for a moment.
You just elected a man who has never held office, said horrible things about women and minorities, pledged to build a wall across the southern border to keep out Mexicans and other undesirables, alienated his own Republican party and world leaders (except maybe Russia's Vladimir Putin) to be the next President of the United States.
The votes haven't all been counted as of this writing, but Trump won enough states with significant electoral votes to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. The GOP also took control of both houses of Congress.
For Clinton, the Democrats and all those who didn't care for Trump's misogyny, xenophobia and distrust of the political process, this was a complete blindside. The former First Lady and Secretary of State won the popular vote but lost the election, just like Al Gore did in 2000. But there will be no recount. No 'hanging chads'. And no last-ditch Supreme Court decision. Clinton conceded Wednesday morning.
Trump won this election because of all the Howard Beales out there who were mad as hell and wouldn't take it any more. They were angry at partisan gridlock in Washington, the rising cost and unpopularity of Obamacare, the jobs that had been lost to what they believe were bad trade deals with other countries, and their weariness with a quarter-century of all things Clinton.
Mrs. Clinton lost this election not just because of those pesky private e-mails that made her the focus of FBI investigations, but she also failed to take care of business in some of the states where she was favored. Not only did she lose battleground states Ohio and Florida to Trump, but she also saw Wisconsin and Pennsylvania change from blue to red. In her quest to become the first female president, no one seemed to realize that, after eight years of an African-American in the White House, people might not have been ready for a woman taking charge.
The media also shares the blame for Clinton's defeat. Constant coverage of Trump along with his mistrust for polls that repeatedly gave Clinton the lead gave them a bad name. It seems they didn't take into account the folks who voted for Trump despite their misgivings, but knew better than to share them with pollsters.
President-elect Trump will soon be taking the reins from President Barack Obama, who was once accused of not being a U.S. citizen by Trump. He will be inheriting a divided country that believes he is unfit to serve, and is likely to undo nearly every bit of legislation Obama signed into law. He will also pick a new justice for the Supreme Court.
Other than repudiating all the progress Obama made during his two terms, Trump's agenda is more or less a blank slate. We don't know where he's taking us. And we sure as hell don't know if the country's going to survive him.
Remember, America, you voted for Donald Trump to be your next President. Now we must suffer the consequences.
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