To be honest, Tuesday night was a rather sleepless night for me. And statistically, that was the case for half the American population. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure the other half doesn't fully understand why. I spent Wednesday in an odd funk. Stunned by the results of the election and mortified by the possibilities of its outcome. It's taken me a couple days to process what's to come, and I've come to some conclusions. I've also come to realize a few things.
Firstly, I have a renewed distrust for the news media. I sat in front of the TV at one in the morning and listened to a reporter that explained the ripple of damage that the election of Donald Trump to President will cause to America and foreign countries alike. And from his words, I started to worry even more. I too started to fear again how Trump would affect how America is viewed by other countries. And then I remembered I had felt that way before; when Barack Obama was elected President.
And then the news people moved on to the fact that the Republicans seemed to have secured a majority of the House and Senate, and made the observation/assumption that these Republicans would be able to reign in Trump if he followed through with his "promises" that posed a threat to American and their allies. Another epiphany. At what point in this whole election cycle has the Republicans demonstrated that they could be in control?
No. They failed. And even though Trump supporters now hold their heads high as victorious Republicans, they fail to understand that this party is at its end, and might not survive the next four years, or even eight.
But not just them, the news media failed too. They failed to inform the voters to what would happen. They failed to give us accurate information. They failed to give us unfiltered information. They failed to give us useful information. Just as they we stunned with how Trump managed to beat established-Republicans during the primaries, they again sat stunned Tuesday night as he won the Presidency. Who could have seen that coming? Well, maybe anyone that didn't have their blinders on that such a thing couldn't happen. The belief that America, our America, could do this has surprised many Americans; half of us actually; and that happened because of the complacency of the news media.
Honestly, they have become nothing more than a form of entertainment, just like Donald Trump.
Another thing I realized was that I felt Wednesday morning just like I did in 1992. Remember when that was? That was Bill Clinton's inaugural year. Three years into the Navy, and I felt that he was a mistake for America; but I mentioned the Navy because I also felt he was a mistake for the military. We were already experiencing massive downsizing initiated by President Reagan (we tend to forget that he was the one that put our military strength and the low levels we are at today), and President Clinton posed a threat to our nation's safety because he planned to end our foreign involvements. I had no way of knowing, but two years after I got out of the Navy, we faced the impact of both Reagan's and Clinton's decisions on 9/11.
Remember that date?
No, not Benghazi.
New York.
Arlington.
Stonycreek.
And of course we had to respond. We ignored that Reagan built up Al Qaeda. We ignored that our continued involvement that area during President H.W. Bush upset them. We ignored that our involvement in Iraq also upset them. Then we ignored eight years of attacks during President Clinton's term as we withdrew and they strengthened. Then they attacked under President W. Bush, and we had to respond. But we responded poorly. We did, don't argue. We started correctly, but then someone felt the need to vindicate H.W. (and I'm still not convinced that was W. actually) and we went after Iraq. Eventually we got to "Mission Accomplished" but not really. More importantly, we forgot. America forgot. We forgot important information.
We forgot that after WWII, we spend over a decade in Germany, Italy and Japan dealing with trying to build them back up. But for Iraq and Afghanistan, we seemed to think we were taking too long. So we elected another Democratic President that would get us out of there. And then we forgot again. America forgot again. We forgot important information again.
Since 2000, we have been half of America. Half of America demanded war after 9/11, and half of America was war weary by 2008. Half of America welcomed President Barack Obama's Tour of Apologies and felt if was healing strained relations with our foreign allies, and half of American felt it was a sign of weakness and that we would suffer because of it.
Then we experienced eight years that included Benghazi, Syria, Libya, and the eventual replacement of Al Qaeda with ISIS/ISIL. All horrible tragedies, but all not those in power's fault. We've heard in the last year that Barack and Hillary are responsible for the creation of ISIS/ISIL, but we forgot. America forgot. We forgot the important information. Reagan built up the Al Qaeda that eventually attached us on 9/11, and that we eventually crippled, but then became weary and allowed the to re-brand themselves into what we have today. The New Coke of New York, Arlington and Stonycreek.
So, here we are again. At the end of another cycle, choosing the opposite of what we had before. Assuming that any of this will matter four to eight years from now. Reagan did great things. In retrospect, so did Clinton. But from 2000 until today, we have been a nation divided. 50/50 divided. Every election, there's forty to forty-five percent guaranteed to each party. It's convincing that remaining ten to twenty percent that becomes the key. And they are some wishy-washy folks. They are why we are where we are.
They managed to be manipulated by the news media that steered us into a sense of comfort. Ironically, I'm not just talking about the "liberal left" news media. That "conservative right" news media also feeds it's viewers with slanted information based on their guesses or hopes. Guesses and hopes is all either version of news give us any more. And you realize I did that, right? I called it the news media, and said how it failed us, but I never said if it was the left or right that is being damaged.
That was intentional.
This can no longer be a left and right fight. This can no longer be a conservative versus liberal fight. This can no longer be a Republican versus Democrat fight. This can no longer be an us and them fight. No, we must make this an American fight. An American vision. All of us.
Because you see, since 1988, we have been on back and forth collision course with ourselves, eventually ending with the 50/50 split in 2000 that has remained ever since. But we forgot again. America forgot again. We forgot important information again.
Republicans start wars. Democrats end them. Reagan/Bush started. Clinton ended. Bush started. Obama ended. Trump? I'll come back to that; first the forgetting part.
What wars did we have before The Gulf War and The War on Terror? I wasn't alive for them, but there was the Korean and Vietnam Wars. We entered both under a Democratic President and we exited under a Republican. Huh. That weird. We're so conditioned to think that Republicans want war and that Democrats will end it. At some point that changed. And I changed with it.
Granted, I was young, but I supported President Carter. But over the course of the next twelve years, I became a Republican. I realize now that I was wrong, but not in the way you think. I trusted what Carter said because he had that trusting smile, but I also come to trust Reagan because he made us feel safe. The eventual fall of Communist Russia and the Berlin Wall were powerful things he did. Why wouldn't you love a President like that? So we put him on a mantle.
And that was invoked many times during this election. Unfortunately by those that eventually lost to a guy that used to not be a Republican. I remember what they said about what Reagan did for the military, immigration, the economy, and how the rest of the world sees us. But we forgot. America forgot. We forgot important information.
He downsized our military. His immigration policy was amnesty. Reaganomics. Iran/Contra and our eventual involvement in Iraq.
But that's not my point here. My point is that H.W. Bush wasn't Reagan. W. Bush wasn't Reagan. McCain wasn't going to be Reagan. Cruz and Rubio wasn't going to be Reagan. And no matter how many times Republicans want to invoke him, no one will be Reagan. And we don't need a Reagan. Unfortunately, four and eight years ago we needed a Romney. But the Republican party eight years ago felt the need to reward a dinosaur, and four years ago the damage from the four years before impacted us again.
I won't mince words. I have never felt that Barack Obama was qualified to do the job of President of the United States. But I'm aware that the Republican Party ignored all of that to award McCain for his long service for the party for an individual that could solve the root of all of our our problems. And that favoritism damaged what I feel would have been a better choice four years later.
And here we are. Four years later, and we're faced with an alternate version of that solution and what would have been a better solution back in 1992.
Remember when I said I felt dread in 1992? I realized a little while ago what I felt way back then. He wasn't the better choice. She was. On top of that, I realized that Trump wasn't the solution, Romney was. And because of that, for the first time ever, I couldn't vote for the candidate I wanted. I had to vote for what I was led to believe was the better choice for America.
Led to believe. Yep, from the news media, but also from my network of friends that are Trump supporters. They are so wrong. So horribly wrong. Not for choosing Trump, but for not choosing a core Republican. And that choice made me decide; again, for the first time ever; to cast my vote not for who I wanted as president. Do you understand that? A portion of half the population made me think that the preservation of America required me to vote, twenty years later, for Hillary Clinton.
And therefore that is why the anxiety on Tuesday night and Wednesday day, because I was led to believe from my digital-social friends and the news media that Trump was the most horrible choice.
But I remind you above to the epiphany on Wednesday morning that no one was right, and no one knew. And I remind you the title of this blathering.
Now what?
Well, to be honest, we can't do anything we've already done. I know that this isn't a comfortable time to start this, but we have to realize something. We forgot. America forgot. We forgot important information. We all did. The 50 and the other 50. We have forgotten how to empathize. We forgot how to seek to understand before being understood. We forgot that we all have the same fears and aspirations, but we see or hear Republican/Conservative or Democrat/Liberal and assume the others are wrong. We are both wrong, and we're both right. I know that seems counter intuitive, but we are truly all in this together.
Because while I don't know any Democrats/Liberals that are rioting because of this election, I do know Republicans/Conservatives that will not stop gloating over their win. And like it doesn't even make sense to me because there's still two months before any of the election results impact any of us. And it is that two months that I truly think that both sides need to align. Some of you need to stop bemoaning the results and trying to find a way out of this "nightmare", and the rest of you need to stop belittling the others an gloating like you'v actually accomplished something.
Because you haven't. Not by a long shot. Because while everything above I mentioned that "we" forgot; you have forgotten. You forgot important information. And, they forgot important information. We all have.
Donald Trump is not our answer. Barack Obama was not our answer. And to be clear, Hillary Clinton was not our answer. No we are. We, as a nation, have been divided for too long. Look, I get that this doesn't seem like the right time to try and engage our empathy abilities, but it is. And if you think I'm talking to just liberals or just conservative, you need to heed this most of all. We all, as a nation, have been divided for too long and now is the time to empathize.
Take a moment to understand why people are upset that Trump won. Take a moment to understand why people think he was the only options available. But also take a moment to understand that things now are not at their worst. And they won't be in two months. We'll be fine. How do I know? Because after eight years under President Obama, we are also fine. It's really not as bad as some of us think it is; and for the others, it won't be that bad. I'm not going to be like the news media an claim that anyone can control President Elect Trump,but I will point out that it won't be that bad because we've all forgotten. We've forgotten that Donald Trump isn't a Republican and that while some of his policies seems ridiculously right, much of them are subtly left; and we've either forgotten or we failed to understand.
The truth is this: Before Tuesday, I sought to understand what each candidate had to offer and found that Donald remained vague and therefore cast my voice for her. Afterwards, I see what his one-hundred day plan is and know that much of it won't happen.
We'll be fine. We all will be fine, but we can no longer be complacent and we must understand what the others feel and work towards that goal. We must, we need, to become a United States of America again; and while under President Trump is not the idea time to start, it is the time to start. We need to work together to heal America. No. We don't need to make America great again; we need to heal America. She didn't become bad, she became divided. We can no longer be divided. We must come together in respect for each of our values and beliefs and work towards a joined solution that makes America not only a beacon of hope for its citizens but for everyone in the world. Because whether you think it's because of Trump's nomination or Obama's Tour of Apologizes , we are a joke and we are heading down the wrong path with no hope of redemption.
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