Back again after one year of a surreal and hectic political campaign. Bernie Sanders lost the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton, whom in turn lost the general election to Donald Trump. A completely unforeseen event. However, in hindsight, the symptoms for a Trump win were already apparent. I spent the year off-blog trying to get a real feel for this election, in early February, I felt that this election was unlike an other and that attempting to predict or speculate on the future events was beginning to date very quickly. By July, we had our two nominees: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and businessman Donald Trump for the Democratic and Republican nominations, respectively.
From the outset, Hillary painted herself as a centrist alternative to Trump. However, after the 2016 Democratic party platform was drafted with 80% of Bernie Sanders' ideas stitched into it. She was forced to be the liberal alternative to her rival. Trump and Sanders shared very few superficial populist ideals. However, many former Bernie supporters refused to consider a vote for Hillary on principal. Choosing instead to vote for a third party candidate in former Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian party and former physician Jill Stein of the Green Party. There were a few Berners that decided that Trump was the lesser evil and voted for him instead.
The political pundits, the sacred polls, and just about every Democrat thought that a Hillary victory was inevitable. However, the polls were never correct and every pundit basing their opinions on them were in for a long fall. The Trump victory was a gut punch to many Democratic voters who were built up in anticipation for the Inauguration of America's first female President. I went with my mother and uncle to watch the Mel Gibson-directed film, "Hacksaw Ridge," in the late afternoon of Election Day. The AMC theatre in Norwalk, California that we occasionally visit has a nook where a bar called MacGuffin's now resides. Before returning to the show and coming back from the rest room, I stopped in front of the MacGuffin's to view a live feed from CNN displaying the current state-by-state voting. It seemed like Trump was winning by a low double digit, something like thirteen ahead of Hillary. I didn't think anything of it. I had followed the elections in 2008/2012 fairly closely. I felt that if Florida and Ohio started to move in his direction that it would be an appropriate cause for concern. When we finally returned home from at the end of the night, maybe around 9pm or so. In almost rapid succession, every state started to move in Trump's direction. They called Florida and Ohio. The pundits on CNN kept reminding the audience that Hillary could still eek out a victory. But by midnight or one A.M. We knew that Hillary was not going to be the nominee. The election was still not called in New Hampshire, Minnesota or Michigan at the time, I believe. Depressed and defeated, my younger brother and I, drove to a local Food4Less and purchased Smirnov vodka. We were preparing for a long night. We sat out on our porch when we got home and we tried to rationalize what happened. All hopes for the future felt evaporated. That morning, we proudly casted our votes for Hillary and Democratic down ticket and we still lost.
Over the next two months, President-Elect Donald Trump made it abundantly clear that his incoming administration would not be too dissimilar from candidate Trump's campaign. He appointed the most anti-science Cabinet in American history and made prophetic diatribes attacking people that criticized him via Twitter. He made it known that the traditional practice of "one president at a time," was an age-old concept. He would comment on world events, on attacks made by critics and made bold accusations, very similar to what he had done during his campaign. What gave me solace, was that despite everything, Hillary won three million more votes than he had.
On January 20th, 2017, the United States inaugurated Donald Trump as its 45th President. His inaugural crowd had at best, a lot of free space available. His inaugural speech was a repurposed campaign speech. He called out to end the "carnage" in Chicago, he said that he will succeed where other Presidents had failed (many of whom were seated nearby), and instead of trying to unite the American people he chose to drive the wedge further. In the week since his inauguration, I've woken up to a CNN update on my tablet that details each executive order that he has made and the other imbecilic actions he's currently taking. The day after his inauguration, millions of women staged marches on every continent on the planet in defiance of anti-women legislation and by extension, Trump's sordid history with them.
I don't know what the future may hold. We haven't even discussed the Russian influence in our election. But President Trump has stated that he intends to make good on many of his campaign promises. He has said that Mexico "will pay for the Wall." He has threatened China, which may end up creating a trade war. He has signed executive orders allowing America to disengage from NATO and the UN. None of which bode positively for America's future. He once criticized President Obama for "leading from behind." Yet Trump has done everything in his power to continue peddling isolationist, protectionist and anti-globalist nonsense that he is effectively insuring the fall of America from the world's stage. Mr. Trump must have no problem with leading from behind as long as it is he who is doing it.
From the outset, Hillary painted herself as a centrist alternative to Trump. However, after the 2016 Democratic party platform was drafted with 80% of Bernie Sanders' ideas stitched into it. She was forced to be the liberal alternative to her rival. Trump and Sanders shared very few superficial populist ideals. However, many former Bernie supporters refused to consider a vote for Hillary on principal. Choosing instead to vote for a third party candidate in former Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian party and former physician Jill Stein of the Green Party. There were a few Berners that decided that Trump was the lesser evil and voted for him instead.
The political pundits, the sacred polls, and just about every Democrat thought that a Hillary victory was inevitable. However, the polls were never correct and every pundit basing their opinions on them were in for a long fall. The Trump victory was a gut punch to many Democratic voters who were built up in anticipation for the Inauguration of America's first female President. I went with my mother and uncle to watch the Mel Gibson-directed film, "Hacksaw Ridge," in the late afternoon of Election Day. The AMC theatre in Norwalk, California that we occasionally visit has a nook where a bar called MacGuffin's now resides. Before returning to the show and coming back from the rest room, I stopped in front of the MacGuffin's to view a live feed from CNN displaying the current state-by-state voting. It seemed like Trump was winning by a low double digit, something like thirteen ahead of Hillary. I didn't think anything of it. I had followed the elections in 2008/2012 fairly closely. I felt that if Florida and Ohio started to move in his direction that it would be an appropriate cause for concern. When we finally returned home from at the end of the night, maybe around 9pm or so. In almost rapid succession, every state started to move in Trump's direction. They called Florida and Ohio. The pundits on CNN kept reminding the audience that Hillary could still eek out a victory. But by midnight or one A.M. We knew that Hillary was not going to be the nominee. The election was still not called in New Hampshire, Minnesota or Michigan at the time, I believe. Depressed and defeated, my younger brother and I, drove to a local Food4Less and purchased Smirnov vodka. We were preparing for a long night. We sat out on our porch when we got home and we tried to rationalize what happened. All hopes for the future felt evaporated. That morning, we proudly casted our votes for Hillary and Democratic down ticket and we still lost.
Over the next two months, President-Elect Donald Trump made it abundantly clear that his incoming administration would not be too dissimilar from candidate Trump's campaign. He appointed the most anti-science Cabinet in American history and made prophetic diatribes attacking people that criticized him via Twitter. He made it known that the traditional practice of "one president at a time," was an age-old concept. He would comment on world events, on attacks made by critics and made bold accusations, very similar to what he had done during his campaign. What gave me solace, was that despite everything, Hillary won three million more votes than he had.
On January 20th, 2017, the United States inaugurated Donald Trump as its 45th President. His inaugural crowd had at best, a lot of free space available. His inaugural speech was a repurposed campaign speech. He called out to end the "carnage" in Chicago, he said that he will succeed where other Presidents had failed (many of whom were seated nearby), and instead of trying to unite the American people he chose to drive the wedge further. In the week since his inauguration, I've woken up to a CNN update on my tablet that details each executive order that he has made and the other imbecilic actions he's currently taking. The day after his inauguration, millions of women staged marches on every continent on the planet in defiance of anti-women legislation and by extension, Trump's sordid history with them.
I don't know what the future may hold. We haven't even discussed the Russian influence in our election. But President Trump has stated that he intends to make good on many of his campaign promises. He has said that Mexico "will pay for the Wall." He has threatened China, which may end up creating a trade war. He has signed executive orders allowing America to disengage from NATO and the UN. None of which bode positively for America's future. He once criticized President Obama for "leading from behind." Yet Trump has done everything in his power to continue peddling isolationist, protectionist and anti-globalist nonsense that he is effectively insuring the fall of America from the world's stage. Mr. Trump must have no problem with leading from behind as long as it is he who is doing it.
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