Trumpland
As I turn my head and correct my pillow, I notice for the first time that I’m awake. It’s November 9th and I’ve had exactly 4 hours of sleep. Danielle’s gentle snoring almost lures me back into the warm embrace of my blankets, hugging me as I fall asleep once again. I take a drink of water, ready to hit the snooze button on my alarm and go back to bed. As I grab my phone, I realize what day it is. It’s November 9th. It’s the morning after the American Presidential Election. I’m tired because I was up late, watching CNN to get a feel of the excitement. I’m a fingerprint scanner away from knowing who is to be the 45th president of the United States of America.
For a second I wonder if ignorance truly is bliss. I wonder if it wouldn’t be nicer to not know, to make this a Schrödinger’s cat-like situation where Hillary Clinton both is and isn’t elected president until I check the news. Where my obsession with a once great state decides the outcome of this election. I laugh at myself. I laugh at how silly it is that I’m still doubting the outcome. Of course Hillary is elected president, give the yanks some credit.
I wish I had gone back to sleep. I wish my phone had not unlocked. I wish I had forgotten about the elections. I wish it had all gone differently but it hasn’t. We now live in Trumpland, where rational thought has been abandoned alongside decency and respect. Where a large group of Americans, undermined by the system they now so despise, decided to put their collective foot down and elect a man who is proudly anti-establishment. A man who will say what he thinks. A man who will build a wall to keep the Mexicans out and the jobs in. A man with hands so small, he could fit them inside a pringles can.
Joking is easy and Donald Trump is easy to joke about. I’m sure the late night talk shows will continue to poke fun at a situation that we should fear so strongly. The angry masses will die down, accept that this is the world we now live in and find their way to come to terms with what has happened. And maybe that’s good. Maybe we shouldn’t riot and get angry. Maybe we shouldn’t feel sad or upset. Normalizing is good right? It’s natural. It’s what we do to make ourselves feel better.
Well, in the words of a pussy-grabbing global warming denier who calls himself “The Donald”: wrong. Democrats should be angry. They should be furious but not at the American citizen. More Americans voted for Hillary than for Trump. It’s only due to a system that’s been outdated for a hundred years that he actually won. No, democrats should be angry at democrats.
They failed. Miserably. They failed to see a group of people who lost faith in the system. They failed to nominate a person who had those people behind them. They failed Hillary and Hillary failed them. In a country where the middle class has become invisible to the system, the DNC nominated a woman who embodies that exact system. To millions of Americans she is the face of what’s wrong in their country. They believe her style of politics have led the country they are so proud of to become a jobless wasteland where bad hombres make all the money. A country where Islam poses the greatest threat but politicians are trying to distract the people with lies like global warming and renewable energy.
Trump voters, I understand. I get that you needed this win. I see your issues, your struggles. You want to feed your families. You want to come home after a hard day’s work and know that there’s food on the table. You don’t think about gay rights or muslim rights because they’re not your rights or your issues. You have problems of your own to deal with and you are angry that there’s nobody out there fighting for you. I understand but you’ve made a huge mistake. Electing Trump was not the solution.
I would like to say that I hope I’m wrong. I would like to say that Trump probably won’t be that bad. I’d like to normalize the situation as much as the next man but I can’t. The world needs to know how dangerous this man is, how much is going to change. If you’re not at least a little afraid, you’re not thinking clearly. I’m not one to warn the people. I’m not even an American but I am concerned. You should be too.
In the words of a great man: Love now, more than ever. We need love. Love each other.
