The Election, Part II

“People need to NOT embrace this “not my president” shit. That’s how we got here in the first place. People who refused to accept Obama, and vowed revenge upon a 50% constituency that raised him up.

And as much of a slap in the face as this all is, as much of a “fuck you” as last night was, we don’t play that game. We actually activate. We give money and we vote and we GIVE A FUCK. Because last night (although guided by racism and misogyny and fear and anger) they gave more of a fuck than us. That’s what it boiled down to. They cared about something. Nothing is more important than giving a fuck, and that’s something we can always control.”

–The Fat Jew, a Great American

How are we here, why, where do go, and what do we do to move forward?

The Washington Post, and New Yorker both published incredible pieces on the subject of the election today, giving insight to the tens of millions of Americans seething with a rage that has brewed for the better part of the last 8 if not 20 years. The deep sadness, and admission to the fact that we did not know our fellow American, and that they have been displaced, out of work, impoverished, and disenfranchised by a system they now hate so much that they took the nuclear option, and sent an agent of raw disruption regardless of the cost. And worse, they marginalized the laws of human decency to do it.

You must have a plan. Each of us and all. We give a fuck, and our work just got twice as urgent, and several unknown multiples more difficult.

I received the above from Josh an hour before our President intoned the same sentiment. We are one nation, and this, soon, is our President. We must embrace this man, and end the divisive vitriol which brought us here. We need to break the cycle, and use this man, work with him, as an agent of change, if we can, and if not we must rely on non-violent protest and other means to defend the beliefs we have.

We must care more now, listen more, help creation more solutions, for every person who voted with her was shocked by how little we knew, and how useless and destructive the media has been. We do not need to resign to normalization; we have real work to do.

Some points brought to my attention today:

• He belonged to the Democratic party at one time
• He blustered and shifted positions throughout his campaign — Half of what he says he may never happen, and he does not have the policy experience.
• He is a threat to much of the progress that many Americans hold sacred — we must define our boundaries for him. Paris climate, gay marriage, abortion — these must be the inviolate. You. Shall. Not. Pass.
• The Republican and Democrats were both severely damaged in his rise — that itself presents an opportunity if we are enough to make one of it.
• This man and this country does not need our hate and rebellion. Yet. He needs our guidance, boundaries, and our compassion for those people who cannot embrace or love us and thus require that much more of our love.

This office an institution is bigger than one man, and we heard Our President say it; transition peacefully, go high, build bridges, and accept the next President.

For the horror and sadness does not lie with Trump, but with the fact that their are 50M people we cannot understand presently, and that abject failure brought us here.

What do we tell our daughters? That a great nation is never built, but becoming. That they are loved beyond measure, and they are being forged and tested because men have broken the ideals of this country so deeply that one woman alone could not heal them; we need all of them, and truly, we need every single person we have marginalized. We tell them that there is a higher good we still trust. And as men, we must accept the truth published decades ago that this the age and rise of women, and our core responsibility is to empower them, and through that process finally learn to empower others.

And most importantly, we tell them that we will hold the line; no man (or President) can degrade women, muslims, blacks, and jews. We have a legal system which can and will hold him accountable for his actions. We must trust in it.

Lastly, note their rage, listen to their words — we are fortunate in many respects that we, who have not been angered over 8 years to a point of boiling rage, have lost. Those, who in their jubilation spew hate, may very have taken to violence. There is a reason for this sequence that we must acknowledge, and thank Hillary for doing her part. It is now on all of us. To watch. To activate around the issues. To protest when needed, and work always.

Acknowledge what our leaders have asked. Peaceful transition. Acceptance that he will be our president. Focus your energies on listening, to your leaders, to your neighbors, and your terrified constituents and children — there are a lot of people in need of compassion right now.

I will be building a plan, and taking queues from some of the senior folks in the Clinton Campaign, who are still on the Hill, exhausted, and hard at work. They are focused on tax rebates for industries to create jobs, on infrastructure development that President Elect Trump has indicated he will support, and on small programs to which millions of Americans can contribute, like web resources, training, and content to help those in need learn new skill sets.

I will attend the inauguration. I will witness this man being sworn in, and in some capacity make him feel the weight of his responsibility to me, to us, and to this country.

And I will strive to exemplify the man our next President and women need us all to be.