why Not My President is Not My Protest (rewrite)
People took to the streets in cities across the nation to protest the President Elect
I respect the voters who elected Donald Trump to be their representative in Washington DC. It didn’t start out that way. In the beginning of his bid for Republican nominee, I viewed all his supporters as a faceless mass with ideas diametrically opposed to mine. I didn’t think of them as individuals. This 2016 election cycle has taught me a lot. I’ve had to examine my own bias and I’ve been pushed to value and respect the experience and opinions of people that disagree with me. I might even call it cathartic.
I watched this video:
When I shared it, I responded with this comment “Its so good to see the human, struggling but proud and honorable, side to this political fairy tale we are being sold. Because there is so much there that I can relate to; those people are me; in a different place, in a different time. I feel really moved by that.”
That was before the election results came in. Prior to election night, I was living in Denial. I live in the progressive, liberal bubble of California. I thought there was NO WAY Trump would win the election. Boy was I wrong.
I like to admit that because in recognizing that I was wrong, I confirm that I have learned and moved forward in my thinking. Let me be clear, that doesn’t mean that I’m right now. It just means that I am less wrong about my perceptions of the world.
But I didn’t stop at merely respecting the rights of people to have a different opinion than mine and their right to representation. No, I made myself go deeper. I made myself research their reasons and their motivations and I made myself find common ground with them. I looked for ways I was similar to them. I looked for opinions that I agreed with. I looked for challenges they face that I have faced also.
I found humility in my search. I found respect. I found that I care.
I hope Donald Trump cares, too. I hope his promises on the campaign trail were not just lip service. I hope he tries his hardest to back it up with policies aimed at helping the people struggling right now. I hope he will strongly and emphatically renounce racist attacks on minority citizens. Because he is charged with working for the betterment of all the citizens in this great country, starting now. That is the job he applied for and that is the job he has been hired to do. I am willing to give him a chance to prove himself. And if he does a bad job, I will say,
“Donald, You’re Fired!”
Do you think I’m less wrong than I used to be? Is it okay to respect people who voted for a candidate who inflamed racism in our country and advocated violence against citizens? How have your views changed in light of the 2016 election results?
42 comments on “why Not My President is Not My Protest (rewrite)”
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The Honking Goose 
I watched this video with great interest. My husband even stopped reading to listen. Our grandfathers were coal miners. Mine came from Bonnie Blue Virginia, long ago closed, it was a coal town. A lot of Americans do not know what a coal town is. Bonnie Blue is now a closed shell of a place on the mountain. My grandfather came to the Midwest in 1969 and learned masonry.
My husband’s grandfather had many, many jobs after leaving the mines.
I turned to my husband after the 76 guy and asked, “Why didn’t they seek out new employment?” Got the answer I was lookin for when the one guy said some of them are old and cannot read or write, can’t go to school.
I still have friends in coal country. The lot of them voted for Trump. It is very hard to stomach that and love them still. It is. These are not people who are racist bigots or hateful people in general, but people who want to see a way of life returned to their communities. They bought what he was sellin.
I don’t believe it will come back. Mining’s better than fracking, but it’s not better than wind or solar or anything else that reduces damage to people and their environment.
I appreciate your thoughtful commentary, and I aspire to empathize as you do, but I have my own agendas, don’t I?
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Sadly, those times that are remembered as so good were economic booms created by intense resource extraction. The politicians are not going to admit to the populace that level of resource extraction is not going to happen again in our lifetimes. Our country laid waste to mountains, forests, rivers to draw out the coal and timber and oil. Now our economic future lies elsewhere. We can’t return to the past. And let’s just be honest, it was not all barn dances and silver spoons. Those were tough times in many ways, in their own right.
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It was not all barn dances and silver spoons, mmhm.
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So hard to make yourself face up to the fact that other people have the same right to their opinion as you do. Well done.
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Fear and ignorance work hand in hand. By ignorance I don’t just mean people without “book learnin'”. I also include those who live in ignorance of what life is like for their fellow humans. If we are to be “progressive”, isn’t it because we love our fellow humans? I believe Trump is a cynical and shrewd scoundrel, but it is too easy to dismiss those to whom his message has appeal without succumbing to the very thing we may be accusing them of : bigotry.
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This. This was so refreshing to read after all the hate spewing all over social media since the election. It doesn’t matter what side you’re on, we’re Americans and no one needs the hate that spews. No one.
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Agreed. I’ve had to greatly reduce my facebook time lately – there is so much anger and animosity – as if that is going to solve anything. Anyway facebook stinks so I’m glad I’m spending more time on WordPress now.
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Yes!!
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What a thoughtful and humble post. Thank you for including the video. I admit as well, I have been quite concerned, and I pray our President-elect (the more I say it the more I can believe it) will do what he said he would do. There is no reason anyone needs to live in poverty in this country.
Right now, we all need to strive for unity, to look for signs of hope (Pence has already kicked the lobbyists off the transition team), and like a parent does to a child, praise Trump every time he does something positive.
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“like a parent does to a child, praise Trump every time he does something positive” – I can get behind that – good idea.
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“No, I made myself go deeper. I made myself research their reasons and their motivations and I made myself find common ground with them. I looked for ways I was similar to them. I looked for opinions that I agreed with. I looked for challenges they face that I have faced also. ”
May all who possess the humility, courage and love to even listen to an opposing viewpoint become this country’s new heroes.
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That would be lovely. 😀
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I found out that Trump plans to fight NAFTA and the Trans-pacific trade agreements. If he manages that, I’ll be impressed. Those trade agreements only help the multinationals make more money. The Transpacific specifically is a scary piece of legislation!! Perhaps he can do more good than harm (although I somehow doubt it!)
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I don’t like a lot of aspects of those trade agreements and I would be glad to see them go. Whatever Trump is planning, I’m still worried it won’t be an improvement.
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Just looking for the possible good…
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A very thought provoking post. I was thinking I was going to slip into a deep depression when I found out he had won. In fact, I had about a week of the fog of denial. Now I just question what can I do to make things better.
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I think there is uncounted majority of us who would like to see change, but are so busy working to make ends meet that we can’t ‘be the change we’d like to see’ as the saying goes. I know that is true for myself. I’m not going to give up though, because change is always taking place, just we can’t always see it from where we stand.
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I’ll be honest here,I watched this all unfolding from the UK and I have to say I was Horrified I knew that Donald Trump was going to win and I knew if it came to pass what it would mean for the US.the poor will get poorer with no help for education or health care.Donald Trump is a racist and would never have been allowed to run in the UK he would have been arrested for inciting racial hatred under the anti terrorism laws but also Hillary wouldn’t have been allowed to run because of the email investigation and previous links to scandal.Trump won’t help these people all he will do is increase racial tension in the US,increase your National debt…ok he intends to cut taxes but the ones who will benefit the most is big business and rich people.but he wants to increase government borrowing for all these grand schemes but with less taxes coming who is going to pay all of it back?No one…the US can’t keep on borrowing money at the rate it is with out paying it back.And then there is his wish to lift the restriction on drilling and mining but what will happen to the environment?And the extra pollution what will happen with that? Did you know that all the air Pollution that the US creates doesn’t stay over US soil?It gets pulled away by the winds and air currents in the jet stream straight to the UK and then on to Europe so while your air is relatively clean ours gets dirtier and Trump could care less about that too.He doesn’t care about the environment and the ecology of our planet even though it is the very thing that sustains us the human race and that includes Trump.And lets not forget that Trump has a history of going bankrupt several times because he like to spend money and not pay it back doesn’t look good for US finances.oh and then there’s the controls on the banking sector he wants to lift them even though it was the Banking sector that caused the last recession with their irresponsible practices which is why those controls were put in place to make sure it didn’t happen again.No he won’t really help the poor or even the working class and propbably won’t help the middle class…only big business means anything to him.and he will gradually try to erode womens rights and those rights of ethnic minorites and of those who have different faiths…Unless those in the 2 houses decide to stop him but will they….I doubt that too….but the worst thing is how do the 2 worst candidates end up being the 2 people you guys had to pick from….that I just don’t get.I wish the US a lot of luck because I think you will need all you can get,xx Rachel Speedy’s mum
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That’s all bad, true, thanks for the reminder. 😉 Anyway, in four years we can elect a Democrat and then when things get really bad from all Trump’s policies the Republicans can blame the Democrats for the fallout. What a system! In the meantime, we keep making incremental improvement here and there. Like fixing the leaks on a roof, but if you step back you can see the house is on a cliff and the cliff is eroding and the house is about to fall into the sea. But the roof doesn’t leak anymore, so there’s that.
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I really liked what you wrote here. I need to go back and watch the clip, but I just wanted to thank you for your approach to all this. I’ve seen so much nonsense in reactions out there. This was a really refreshing read for me. Thanks 🙂
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I’m so glad to hear that, thanks for the feedback. 🙂
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You are welcome 🙂
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The beauty of our system is that YOU have four years to determine if Trump is performing adequately and at worst he can only serve a max of eight years. Not true for senators and congressmen. Trump has stated that he wants to institute term limits for congressmen and senators. This would require amending the constitution and ultimately require ratification by the states. But, hey, it’s a start.
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I just learned on the news last night that it was Democrats who pushed to change the rules of Congress for bills to pass with a simple majority rather than (what it used to be 60/40 I think). Now that will kick them in pants with a Republican led Congress. That is the kind of irony that delights me. Just when we think we’ve got it figured out, the Universe throws us a curve ball. Keeps life interesting!
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I think I saw that you responded to my comment but I somehow deleted it. I would love to know what yousaid!
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I deleted it, because I wanted to think on my response more, I’ll come back to it soon. 🙂
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That makes me feel better. I thought I somehow screwed up your blog. I’ve done that to mine recently and it’s challenging.
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I’d read the article and saw the photographs taken by this reporter, but the film is just heartbreaking.
It leaves me angry and frustrated. It isn’t even a Dems v. GOP thing. It is how can we allow poverty like this here in America? But I honestly don’t think that Trump will help these folks. He can’t make their economic reality any better. There is no market for coal. He’s a snake oil salesman. At least Hillary said she wanted to get them training for new job possibilities. Trump promised the Eisenhower-era coal industry.
These folks have been on the losing end of progress. And painfully little has been done for them. The same is true for folks pectins a middle class living from a factory job like their dad had. Time, technology and progress — not globalization — is responsible for the loss.
How can we still. In 2016, have people who can’t read? Who can’t get medical and dental care. Who have to collect cans to feed their kids. It’s disgraceful.
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Job training programs are valuable, for sure. But there’s got to be a variety of approaches. What this country needs is a Green New Deal. Government led and backed programs that set a course for an energy and industry sustainable future. And rather than just giving people welfare handouts, there should be work/trade programs for those that are able bodied and able minded. Life is so much more than survival. Most people want to work and contribute to their community, not take hand outs. That would reduce the stigma of social welfare on the side of the recipients and the critics.
There are so many ways we could be doing better for each other as a society. It’s not just about legal rights for everyone. And it’s not just about a living wage either. People want to contribute meaningfully to their community and feel common bonds.
Thank you for being so engaged in this discussion, I really appreciate it. 😀
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I agree completely. But I think that the chances of the GOP doing a Green New Deal are way below zero.
Even the infrastructure programs — exactly the programs that enabled the New Deal to provide good jobs AND build the country are going to be done via “public-private partnerships.” The public will pay the tab and the private will get the profit. Paul Krugman writes about it here
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/infrastructure-build-or-privatization-scam/?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
This is not theoretical. Here in Northern VA, similar public-private partnerships widened The Beltway. It added lanes, mostly by making existing lanes narrower. The cost of these “hot lanes” is high and flexible based on the time of day causing traffic jams as folks try to decide if they want to pay or not. It is quite expensive. But the stupidest thing (well, maybe. That’s a big challenge) is that they made no additions to the bridges. So there are bigger backups as drivers approach bridges, negating any benefit of the hot lanes.
Oh, and the revenue from the the tolls goes to the private part. Forever.
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Yep. That is exactly the type of swindles we are likely to see more of under this administration. I just hope Trump supporters will see it for what it is when it happens and place the blame squarely where it belongs. That is a lot to ask for though, given the state of the press these days. Oh boy. It’s going to be a long four years.
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They won’t. They blame Obama for not doing enough for them when the GOP was united in their opposition to EVERYTHING he did. They are simply better at messaging.
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Obama had eight good years, I wish his administration could have done more though. Did you hear Michael Moore say the GOP keep putting up people like Reagan, Schwarzenegger, Trump; Democrats should run a celebrity, like Oprah. I thought that was funny. Can you imagine in four years, President Winfrey?
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How about Al Franken? Tommy Lee Jones? George Clooney?
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Oh, and none of them improved the world. Don’t even get me started on the damage Reagan did …
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I really appreciate this post. Well said.
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Why, thank you.
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Well I now know that not everyone who voted for Trump are racists and promoting violence probably wasn’t their goal. I just hope everyone pays careful attention to these 4 years because there are a lot of lessons to be learned on all sides. I feel you on the liberal, progressive bubble of California thing 😆 to say I, and my classmates, were shocked on Nov 9 would be the understatement of the century.
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I know, I mean, I cried when it happened. And I’m not someone who used to take much of an interest in politics AND I didn’t want Clinton elected either. It was still shocking and scary (and still is).
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I cried too but the important part is to stay strong and hopeful. Stand up for your rights and keep a level head. 🙂
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Indeed 😀
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