I am writing this on the morning after. If I were a religious woman I might say that the result of the U.S. presidential election is a sign of the upcoming Apocalypse. But I’m not religious so I will have to try to make sense of it right along with minds far brighter than my own.
American voters wanted change. They got it.
American voters are angry. They’ve spoken that anger.
American voters are fearful. They’ve elected a bully to make them feel safe.
The last time I felt this wretched about events in the U.S. was on 9/11. The time before that was at the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Even at the age of 13, I was interested in what went on in the world. When the announcement was made that the U.S. President had been killed I burst into tears and ran into the washroom. A slightly older girl mocked my tears and said, “Oh, for God’s sake, he’s not even one of ours. Quit crying. Don’t be stupid.”
Some people may well think the same thing now: “Trump is not our problem…so stop whining about it.” Except that he is our problem – and the rest of the world’s problem – given how truly tiny this global village of ours has become.
Some are saying that liberal elites were just too arrogant to take Trump seriously. Well, the elites have been stunned into unbelieving silence now. Hillary Clinton was seen by many to personify the American political establishment. Her defeat is the American version of Brexit. The Brits, in a self-defeating move to leave the European Union last June, made it at least plausible that the same anti-elite, anti-globalization, anti-establishment rhetoric could carry Trump to the White House and it did.
Bernie Sanders understood the frustrations of those living precariously from paycheque to paycheque and while I believe Hillary Clinton did too, she was unable to convey it. Interestingly, many former Sanders supporters switched their vote to Trump instead of Clinton. While I was initially a huge fan of Bernie, the unseemly fervour of his fan base scared me; it is no real surprise that extremists at both ends of the spectrum often have more in common than one might think.
The U.S. may have elected a black president but racism did not die with his election. Likewise, sexism is still thriving nicely on both sides of the border. Maybe it was just too much to have a woman – especially a woman who was demonstrably the most qualified person ever to run for the top office – follow the first black man?
I have been trying to put myself inside the heads of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton today. How must they feel to have their experience, integrity, intelligence essentially rejected by a populace they have served for decades in favour of a person so eminently unfit for the job? They are strong beyond words and they’ll be just fine but I’ll bet they’d like to take a break and sit in a nice dark closet for a few hours.
Trump is going to wield far more power than President Obama did thanks to the hostile Congress Obama faced every day. Trump has no political experience beyond this ugly, divisive campaign. The past 18 months have shown him to be impetuous, mean-spirited, petulant, xenophobic and the list goes on. How will he handle that power? Some months back, a Republican who did not support Trump told Americans not to worry. That if Trump did miraculously win, “the grownups will take over.”
Maybe. But until very recently, the people around him were unable to persuade him to control his baser instincts until in the final days when someone took his Twitter account away from him. I hope that those checks and balances meant to keep the top dog from running amok are strong enough to rein in someone as volatile and rabid as Donald Trump.
I know that this initial shock and horror will fade. I know the sun will continue to rise and set. But on a personal note, I am done with the U.S.
Normally, we’d be soaking up the sunshine in our southern home by now, biking and kayaking and visiting the wonderful parks. Due to my mom’s health, a wish to have Christmas at home and a desire to miss the worst of the Trump nonsense, we aren’t leaving until the new year. I think I’ll have a fight on my hands from my hubby but my intent is to go south as planned, pack up our stuff, sell our villa and head home. There are lots of places in the world with winter sunshine.
I already know that my level-headed husband will want to give me time to calm down… but I’m not riled up; I’m sad and disappointed and disgusted. He’ll ask, “In the big scheme of things, how is a Trump win going to change our nice Canadian lives one bit?”
My husband is an adult and he gets to make his own choice. But I cannot continue to go to a place now proven to be filled with people who are broken, frightened and angry – and armed! – and who are now freed by this Trump win from any normal constraints of decency. We got a taste of it during the election and I cannot bear bumping up against that kind of energy every day.
Approximately 56 million Americans voted for Hillary Clinton and 57 million voted for Trump. There are 56 million stunned and brokenhearted citizens who are experiencing the shock of seeing that they live in a country that supports hatred of women and people of colour, sexual assault, imaginary facts, xenophobia? The people who voted for Trump deserve what he gives them (or likely won’t give them) but the others don’t.
America – I know you won’t even notice – but it is over between us. And it isn’t me. It’s you.
Cartoon credit – someecards
Following a career in the hospitality sector and the acquisition of a law and justice degree in her 50s, Dale embarked on a writing career armed with the fanciful idea that a living could be made as a freelancer. To her own great surprise she was right. The proof lies in hundreds of published works on almost any topic but favourites include travel, humour & satire, feature writing, environment, politics and entrepreneurship. Having re-invented herself half a dozen times, Dale doesn’t rule anything out. Her time is divided equally between Muskoka and Tampa Bay with Jim, her husband of 7 years and partner of 32 years. Two grown ‘kids’ and their spouses receive double doses of love and attention when she’s at home.
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Karen Wehrstein says
I feel your pain, and that of a lot of other people. We might be asking our Syrian refugees to move over and make space for American refugees. I actually have two friends down there who are considering it, and last night the Immigration Canada website crashed, as I have never seen a Government of Canada website do…
Morris Eccles says
The swamp can only be drained by a business man not the establishment.
Morris Eccles
John Mccaig says
I am most certainly not a rabid supporter of Donald Trump. However we do live in a democracy where one person – one vote is the single most important freedom we have. It never ceases to amaze me how the left wing (Liberal – NDP – Democrat) people think they have the ONLY opinion that counts. Rightly or wrongly, 57 million people preferred Trump to Clinton and he is going to be President for the next 4 years. We in Canada could have given the US lessons on change for change sake after our own election last year when Canadians decided to replace our government with one that is going in a direction that is 180 degrees opposite. Much as dyed-in-the-wool Liberals may scoff, over one third of Canadians felt similar feelings about replacing the Conservatives with the Liberals. Although obviously without comparing Trudeau to Trump, we voted to change direction and personality of our leader and install someone with virtually no experience over someone who had led us for a decade. It is too bad that Dale (and so many others) are “sad, disappointed, and disgusted” by the results in the USA, but life will go on. This is why we live in democracies, and we all better accept it. As has been said many times, we get the government we deserve, so let’s just wait and see what this one brings.
Paul Clayson says
Like the American woman on the CBC panel last night, you have written off Britain after Brexit. Most Canadians, and nearly all Americans, have not taken the trouble to study what has been happening in Britain. Post Brexit, the UK will emerge stronger than it has been for many years.
Brexit was a rejection by the voters of EU bureaucracy. The US result is a rejection of US bureaucracy. But will the Republican party pay it more than lip service?
Rob Millman says
I agree 100% with your comments, Dale. Although Mr. Trump was surprisingly conciliatory in his acceptance speech, I think that we were “treated” to far too many glimpses of his true character during the campaign. He is wealthy; he is famous; he is “entitled”. And as you say, he does not have an opposing-party Senate to navigate.
Besides Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton, I feel most sorry for Mr. Trudeau. Instead of a kindred soul with whom to deal, he finds himself with somebody as diametrically opposed to him as possible. Since the 2000 election, which Bush stole from Gore, I have never been more concerned: Dubya, however, was too benign to truly worry about. On the other hand, The Donald is a bully with a quick fuse; hardly an ideal trait for a national leader.
The nuclear clock reached 11:59 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I will be very interested in seeing the adjustment on January 20, 2017.
Ron House says
I respect Dale however you are out to dinner on this issue. Trump was and is not the perfect candidate or President Elect, however he is a hell of a lot better than the corrupt Hilary and the Clinton Gang. She is a nasty person, who is under lots of investigations as Is the corrupt Clinton Foundation . Read more than the main stream media and investigate the Clinton group and you will realize that they are part of the Establishment that Trump has been fighting the past 2 years and it appears he has won most of those fights. Washington is corrupt and very self serving and that is why the average American, small Town people flocked to Trump to clean up the mess in Washington , which Hilary was a major player in. Trump is smart and does not have the baggage Hilary had and has. The people of USA if you look at the results said no to Hilary and voted against her and the continuation of the left/Obama policies. do not sell your place in Florida, over reaction which Jim will not be happy with. If you want more details re the scum bag Clintons I would be happy to provide same.
Jean bagshaw says
Listening to CBC radio this afternoon, I heard an American contributor comment that Mr. Trump said he was going to say things that were controversial, to suck all of the oxygen out of the room in order to steal attention away from the other candidates and to get lots of free media coverage. Well he did that in spades! The public has seen Mr. Trump and heard his words, almost exclusively for months. The media has been successfully manipulated into giving Mr. Trump an almost free media ride to the White House. I pray that Mr Trump didn’t really mean everything that he said and that his actions will not mirror his rhetoric.
Marg Wood says
Sad,disgusted and disappointed!! PLEASE! The American people have spoken! No new American President in my life-time has had any major affect on our Canadian way of life. You will survive!
Dianne Adams says
Totally agree with John McCaig – the people voted for change and they will certainly get it…..BUT, let’s wait and see what it will be before passing judgement and making comments on the as yet, unknown??
Karen Wehrstein says
Actually Hillary Clinton has won the popular vote. As I write her margin is about 700,000 voters, and will increase to over a million, possibly two million, as the votes remaining to be counted are in Democratic-leaning states. The reason she is not president is an antiquated system of “Electoral College” votes that over-represent rural states, so that one person actually isn’t precisely one vote down there. There’s a bipartisan movement to get rid of it (see http://www.nationalpopularvote.com.) Absolutely, democracy should rule.
Karen Wehrstein says
Clip this prediction: Trump will do nothing to drain the swamp. He will instead jump right in and cozy up to the establishment, except for those members he wants to take personal revenge on. I have followed this campaign closely and every indication is that Trump is exceptionally selfish, far more than most politicians or businesspeople. For him it is all about feeling important and idolized.
Linda Kelly says
Mr. John McCaig has it right.
Take time to inform yourselves on the horrendous facts of the Clintons, from the time Bill was Gov. of Arkansas!! Corrupt. Calculating. Power Hungry. Womanizer !!!
Examine the facts of Whitewater, and the death of Vince Foster. In my informed opinion,
it was NOT suicide.
I don’t LOVE Trump. I didn’t vote. He wasn’t my choice; neither of them was.
But now, it is What it is. The sky will not fall, the sun will continue to rise, Huntsville will survive as a great place to live. Hug your kids, go to work, play, live.
Just stop hating. Re-read comments by Ron House.. he has it right, as well. The
Clinton Machine is very dirty… Canadians have no idea how evil they are.
Weird as it may seem, US & Canada will be way-better without the Clintons in
control.
David C Jefferson says
The swamp can only be drained by a business man? Is that what you are?
A pompous, arrogant, smug, self-absorbed narcissist. Takes one to know one I guess.