About Last Night: Election 2016 is a Wrap

This post will not make much sense. I stayed up late last night watching the returns, had too much wine while I watched, and woke up early to a morning that was a soggy as my pillow. I do not have enough adjectives in English or Spanish to express how I feel about a Trump presidency. I am going to giggle at some memes and hope I can find some coherent thoughts after Thanksgiving.

The people have spoken. I wonder if this would be a different post if Bernie Sanders had a fair chance in the primary. I also wonder what would have happened if the American people had demanded the news outlets actually reported the news and not the Trump circus we were given. Since I do not have access to a WAYBAC machine or DeLorean, I can armchair quarterback all day long and still come up blank. Alas, I cannot say.

As station after station reported the numbers, the idea that Clinton could lose was incredulous to me. I was never a fan, never with her, never excited about Clinton as the first female president. We deserve so much better for a first. I did think she would address the people in my life a lot more fairly than Donald Trump but one of my students passionately stated, “Look at what she did in Haiti. That will show you what she would do to America.”

It was no secret Hillary Clinton was not a favorite. I disliked arrogance. Clinton’s hubris (thank you Colin Powell for this addition to my vocabulary), Clinton’s presumption that this election was hers for the taking.

This loss reminds me of The Simpson episode 11 in season 10. After a drunken Homer and Pals vandalized Springfield, the children were given a curfew. A back and forth of kid versus parents ended with both sides dissing and dismissing the senior citizens complaining about the noise. The Senior Citizens did not just get mad, they got mad and voted, creating a new curfew for all young people.

I am not pointing out that the seniors voted. What I point out is that the seniors were dismissed and no one gave a thought about their feelings. The 2016 election is this episode.

Changes for future elections:

Voter Education. There was so much more on the ticket than president. Also, teach people how to split a damn vote.
Less pundits, experts, and talking heads. How many people did not vote because the forecast was a Clinton win?
Let the people pick their leaders. As vile as some of Trump’s speeches were, he was chosen by people who agreed with something he said. Out of eleventy billion potential candidates on the Republican ticket, it was Trump that resonated the most with the people. Clinton was screwed when she allowed the DNC to cheat Bernie Sanders out of a fair primary.
Get rid of the dominant two party system. Americans want a choice.
Hold every news outlet accountable for the coverage of these last two years. Instead of reporting news, the country was treated to a circus.
Black people, stop falling for the okey-doke. A candidate needs to do more than dab and whip to get our support.

Give yourself a few days to let these feelings sink in. Then get ready for some hard work. It’s coming.