Where I'm At
Nov. 12th, 2016 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foxinthestarsChange.org petition asking the Electoral College to follow the national popular vote and elect Hillary Clinton.
I hesitated about signing the petition; I am afraid of Trump supporters rioting if this were to actually happen, but a) if I give up on everything they'll be mad about I'd never do anything, and b) this is legal within our system --- and it's a part of our system whose traditional function is already ****ing broken. If the petition works and causes a crisis, maybe that's what it'll take to get the damn thing fixed.
More generally (and this was clarified for me by a long Morning Joe panel featuring Michael Moore, et. al.), President Obama and Clinton taking the conciliatory stance, that's good. Peaceful transition of power is an institution that can get us back out of this mess in four years, they need to do what they can to preserve it while it's in their hands.
For the rest of us though, this "wait and see, give him a chance" thing --- bull****. It's using your best instincts against you. DO NOT WAIT AROUND TO SEE IF TRUMP MEANT ALL THOSE TOTALITARIAN THINGS HE SAID. If he did, don't waste time and get blindsided. If (please the goddesses) he didn't mean it, he still needs to catch holy hell for SAYING it because that was ****ing bad enough and we can't let it become normal.
Re: Trump voters, I'm still in more of a quandary. Many/most of them were not simply racist (see again the Morning Joe panel), and I don't believe in payback (e.g. we can hate them because the losing side hated us before), but I also don't believe in letting people off the hook for the implications (especially such obvious implications) of their political choices. Like, I will try my best not to hate you, but don't ask me to forgive you.
Re: the Democratic Party, though, this has been downright clarifying. I turned 18 in 2000. They have spent my entire voting life pushing respectable centrist technocrats who were supposedly the "safe bet" --- and the only time we won was when we ignored them and took a chance on the hopey-changey brown guy with the scary name (I WILL MISS HIS WHOLE FAMILY). I was there when Al Gore failed to convince GREENS that it was worth picking him over GEORGE W. BUSH (although I failed to vote that time --- swore never to make that mistake again). I was there when Howard Dean was pushed aside (ultimately taken down for the "Dean Scream," dumbest reason I've ever seen) for John Kerry. Back in the primary, my fear was that this would be 2004 all over again, and I really hate being right --- because now I was here when they bent over backward to push Bernie aside for Hillary --- whom I respect and am proud to have voted for, but I've seen once again how the general approach turns out. It's pushing 20 years of this, Dems, LEARN YOUR ****ING LESSON ALREADY. And to my future self and all my progressive friends, next time around, if the DNC tries to tell you a centrist technocrat is the safe, "electable" choice --- IGNORE THEM, THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT.
So yeah, I'm still processing. The shock and anger and grief is coming in kind of a slow, raw, moody burn. True story: the day after the election, before seeing any of the "safety pin" stuff, I found a 2" safety pin on the ground and felt that it was significant and I should wear it. I think I should wear it for the next 4 years, and I hope it will commit me and remind me to get off my *** and not be a bystander. I've also been seeing and slowly thinking about the posts that say, if it's all overwhelming, pick one thing. For days I didn't know what it would be, but now I'm thinking voting rights --- that's the most basic, that can get us back out of this and to a better place. I have strong avoidant tendencies and don't fully trust myself to put my money where my mouth is, but that's what I'm thinking now...
I hesitated about signing the petition; I am afraid of Trump supporters rioting if this were to actually happen, but a) if I give up on everything they'll be mad about I'd never do anything, and b) this is legal within our system --- and it's a part of our system whose traditional function is already ****ing broken. If the petition works and causes a crisis, maybe that's what it'll take to get the damn thing fixed.
More generally (and this was clarified for me by a long Morning Joe panel featuring Michael Moore, et. al.), President Obama and Clinton taking the conciliatory stance, that's good. Peaceful transition of power is an institution that can get us back out of this mess in four years, they need to do what they can to preserve it while it's in their hands.
For the rest of us though, this "wait and see, give him a chance" thing --- bull****. It's using your best instincts against you. DO NOT WAIT AROUND TO SEE IF TRUMP MEANT ALL THOSE TOTALITARIAN THINGS HE SAID. If he did, don't waste time and get blindsided. If (please the goddesses) he didn't mean it, he still needs to catch holy hell for SAYING it because that was ****ing bad enough and we can't let it become normal.
Re: Trump voters, I'm still in more of a quandary. Many/most of them were not simply racist (see again the Morning Joe panel), and I don't believe in payback (e.g. we can hate them because the losing side hated us before), but I also don't believe in letting people off the hook for the implications (especially such obvious implications) of their political choices. Like, I will try my best not to hate you, but don't ask me to forgive you.
Re: the Democratic Party, though, this has been downright clarifying. I turned 18 in 2000. They have spent my entire voting life pushing respectable centrist technocrats who were supposedly the "safe bet" --- and the only time we won was when we ignored them and took a chance on the hopey-changey brown guy with the scary name (I WILL MISS HIS WHOLE FAMILY). I was there when Al Gore failed to convince GREENS that it was worth picking him over GEORGE W. BUSH (although I failed to vote that time --- swore never to make that mistake again). I was there when Howard Dean was pushed aside (ultimately taken down for the "Dean Scream," dumbest reason I've ever seen) for John Kerry. Back in the primary, my fear was that this would be 2004 all over again, and I really hate being right --- because now I was here when they bent over backward to push Bernie aside for Hillary --- whom I respect and am proud to have voted for, but I've seen once again how the general approach turns out. It's pushing 20 years of this, Dems, LEARN YOUR ****ING LESSON ALREADY. And to my future self and all my progressive friends, next time around, if the DNC tries to tell you a centrist technocrat is the safe, "electable" choice --- IGNORE THEM, THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT.
So yeah, I'm still processing. The shock and anger and grief is coming in kind of a slow, raw, moody burn. True story: the day after the election, before seeing any of the "safety pin" stuff, I found a 2" safety pin on the ground and felt that it was significant and I should wear it. I think I should wear it for the next 4 years, and I hope it will commit me and remind me to get off my *** and not be a bystander. I've also been seeing and slowly thinking about the posts that say, if it's all overwhelming, pick one thing. For days I didn't know what it would be, but now I'm thinking voting rights --- that's the most basic, that can get us back out of this and to a better place. I have strong avoidant tendencies and don't fully trust myself to put my money where my mouth is, but that's what I'm thinking now...
