Beyond Words

I was home sick yesterday, am still home sick today, and if my doctor is right I will be home sick still tomorrow. Bronchitis and an inner ear infection are the culprits. Constant coughing, head exploding, and bouts of dizziness. Yep, I’m pretty sick. You know what else I’m sick of? Election protests and adult crybabies. Maybe it’s the drugs kicking in, maybe it’s too much time on my hands online, maybe it’s a combination of the two, but as anchor Howard Beale declared in the 1975 film classic “Network,” “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

I’m not going to take the name-calling and I’m not going to be quiet. I’m asked to please be nice online but every time I turn around, someone has posted a “you are a racist” mantra or I see another protest tying up traffic and causing chaos. Why, in this one singular case, are the winners supposed to be obliging and not celebratory while those who lost can sling insults and tear up our country? Not happening!

Call me stupid, but I just don’t get it. All the bellyaching and moaning. I do get that, for some of you, your candidate lost a very heated election in a way no one expected or predicted. Shock hurts. I respect that you loved Hillary Clinton and your heart aches. I really do. But it’s done. Over. Move on. It’s been more than a week and we still have people blocking roads, burning flags, posting insulting comments about their friends, and demanding…well I’m not sure what they’re demanding. That’s the problem. What is their goal? Do they even have a means to an end? Who are these highly-charged and enraged voters?

Well, first of all many of them aren’t even voters. It’s been reported (and yes, by the “mainstream” media) that more than half of the street marchers didn’t vote and in one horrible case, a four-year old died because the ambulance she was being transported in was blocked by protestors. That’s not okay!

So why do they think it’s okay and why are they there?

For some it’s to overturn the system our country uses to elect a president. Candidates win based on electoral votes cast, not the popular vote. This has been used since we elected George Washington and has never been whined about before, even when Al Gore lost the popular vote to George W. Bush in 2000 during that hotly contested race. I don’t remember seeing Gore backers protesting then and I can’t recall any republican riots after two wins by Barack Obama. But, for some reason supporters of Hillary Clinton feel the law needs to be changed for her and for them. Shocker.

ELECTORAL KNOWLEDGE

I blogged about the Electoral College back in July. I had a sneaky feeling it would come up in November. It’s actually fairly simple and simply fair. Basically, each state has as many electors as they do members of the U.S. House and Senate combined. (History class refresher: every state has two U.S. Senators but the number of Representatives is based on population.) States with bigger populations have more reps and therefore more electoral votes. The words “Electoral College” don’t appear in the Constitution but the process of it is outlined in Article One. It reflects our Founding Father’s desire to maintain “separation of powers” and “checks and balances” systems and was adopted at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Perhaps most importantly, it protects minority interests in that all states, even those with lower populations and in rural areas, have equal voices and no one region has enough electoral votes to elect a president. Without it, California, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas would basically elect a president each time. Yeah, that wouldn’t be fair, right?

And yet, as Meredith Whtimore of Lifezett.com wrote, how does destroying a Portland Toyota dealership have anything to do with changing the election’s outcome or the system used to report it? Mobs destroying public and private property does only done one thing Whitmore says, and that’s expose the insincerity beneath the whole “love Trumps love” rhetoric.

OUR LITTLE CREATIONS

What gets me equally enraged is that following the election, some college students were allowed to miss class because they were so depressed. One Yale professor told his students an exam was optional so they could nurse their hurt feelings. Deans have sent messages to staff asking them to gently deal with their students’ Trump trauma. What? OMG. Others as young as high school were allowed to walk out of school in protest. Yeah cuz they vote. Ridiculous.

But, these are the millennials that, as my wise niece so eloquently pointed out, we Baby Boomers raised. It’s no wonder they’re acting like children. All their lives they’ve been encouraged to buy something rather than build something. We gave them participation trophies all their lives, took life lessons out of the schools, worried waaaay too much about self-esteem, and never really prepared them for the real world. In the real world, you win some you lose some. You will be faced with enormous challenges and your share of disagreement. But when you do, you don’t wilt or whine, you put your big girl panties on and go to work…both literally and figuratively. Instead, today we have college counselors encouraging students to bring pets to class for emotional support for the “challenging weeks ahead.” Boys and girls, your candidate losing is not challenging. Getting a job in a country with a $20 million debt, more people than ever on welfare, and a stagnant job market is challenging. Know the difference.

And this is the generation that’s going to lead us in the years to come? Cue the therapists.

Whatever their complaints, they’ve gotten out of hand. Even Bernie Sanders has asked them to stop. But why haven’t Clinton and Obama followed suit? Why aren’t they calling for “peace?” Their silence is deafening.

Your kids are watching people. Wouldn’t you rather behave how you would want them to if they don’t win at something?

STICKS AND STONES

Another complaint making waves is that President-elect Donald Trump is a racist, facist, bigot, sexist, and to even some, a Nazi. I mean. C’mon people. Really?

From there, they go on to call his supporters the same insulting names in addition to ignorant, redneck, and unenlightened. You’re talking to me now honey and that’s where I draw the line. Call my candidate anything you dream up, but call me any of those things and gloves off. Even the nicest dog will eventually bite after one too many smacks. America got mad and now I’m mad. As I’ve said time and time again, I’m a woman. A Hispanic woman. A college-educated Hispanic woman. No mas people. No mas.

And as for Trump’s supporters in general, I’ve talked to many, both in the states and internationally, and I have discovered a lot. While talking to people from Portland, Philly, Newport Beach, Buffalo, and all points in between, the consensus is this:

They are not racist. They simply have grown tired of the Black Lives Matter unrest and the anti-cop rhetoric. They are white and black, mothers of cops, and are proud of their mixed marriages. It’s no secret we live in an increasing racially-divided country but the fact that under a two-term African-American president things got worse is not encouraging to anyone. “Law and order” seemed to resonate with this group.

They are not anti-immigrant. They are rightly worried about the safety of this country and do not support open borders. They see what’s happening in Europe. They witnessed San Bernadino, Orlando and other domestic attacks. They are sick and tired of the PC world. They just don’t feel safe.

They are not sexist. HRC’s loss had very little to do with her sex and a whole lot to do with her. She just wasn’t likeable or trustable to them and they would rather be offended than lied to. They also don’t agree with what Trump has said about women any more than they supported Bill Clinton’s infidelity. In reality, most people I talked to are for equality as they have wives, daughters and even granddaughters. Most would love a woman president, just not that woman. Personally, I think we can do better as women and hope we do. Besides, wouldn’t it be refreshing to have a candidate you don’t have to defend time and time again?

They are not bigots. They have many LGBTQ friends and family who they love and respect. The line was drawn, however, with the whole Caitlin Jenner and bathroom equality dramas being shoved down their throats. Tolerance, they repeated again and again, should go both ways and not only when others agree with you.

They are not religious freaks. They just felt it a little…no a lot…unfair that certain religions are suddenly being given so many rights yet a Christian baker is not allowed to refuse what they bake or not bake. They resent that “Merry Christmas” is no longer allowed but everyone takes the week of Christmas off. They also believe that unborn babies are just that, human babies not fetuses, and that Planned Parenthood should not receive any of their hard-earned taxes.

They are not gun-toting rednecks. Many don’t even own a gun but they see how successful the nation’s strictest gun laws have been in Chicago and support the Second Amendment. They’re probably also the neighbors you’ll call on if enemies come knocking on your door or invade our country.

They are not dumb. Many are college-educated and many more are what make this country work. As Ben Carson said, “The American people are smarter than the media and political elites think they are.” The American people spoke and it’s time to accept it

They are not deplorable. In fact, they think calling them deplorable is deplorable defined. Deplorable means disgraceful, dishonorable, unworthy, unpardonable. Forgive me for chuckling at the irony of that last one.

They are, however, patriotic. They love this country and they are sick of flag burning, NFL player kneeling, and history rewriting. And BTW, Collin Kapernick has reportedly never even registered to vote. Cringe worthy.

They are also middle America and they don’t care what Hollywood thinks or how much globalization might help them. They are hardworking blue-collar folks who don’t work for Google or Microsoft and who know that even one job outsourced is probably going to take food off the table of someone they know personally.

That’s who they are. The heartland. The heart and soul of our country. And to consider yourself smarter and better than them is beyond wrong.

Then there’s the “I’m blocking you and I’m not your friend anymore” people. Really? Are we in junior high or are you just incapable of listening to the other side? I certainly don’t appreciate posts calling me and mine names, but I’ve yet to unfriend one person. That’s kinda how a democracy works and how free-thinking is enriched. It’s called the real world.

In that same boat are all the celebs who threatened to move if Trump won. Last I checked Whoopi, Cher, Spike Lee, Lena Dunham, Ben Cranston, the oh-so-classy Amy Schumer, and even Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg are still stateside. And they wonder why we don’t pay attention to their “advice.” They don’t even walk their own walk. And why do they always say they’re moving to Canada or Australia? Why don’t they move to Mexico, Venezuela, or other places that could use their “political wisdom” in a big way?

Ginsberg is the one that gets me. But, truth be told, her job is reason numero uno why I leaned Trump. In my heart of hearts, I voted for how the future Supreme Court will look for the rest of my lifetime so if Ms. Ginsberg wants to pack her bags on say, January 21, I’ll be okay with it.

I’ve thought about it long and hard and if I owned the media and academia, I would say this: “Congratulations America for choosing not yet another politician who would have arrived in Washington owing so many people so many things, but rather one of your country’s most successful businessmen. Maybe it’s time for this great nation to be run like a business rather than a charity and I applaud you for taking the chance.” It just seems to me that some credit needs to be given to those who are tired of the Washington status quo. I feel fairly confident in saying that if Germany or Brazil elected one of their most successful business leaders rather than a politician, Americans would praise them.

“Please accept with dignity the fact that Americans have rightfully and sanely spoken.”

Meredith Whitmore, Lifezette.com

So there you have it. Key word: dignity. Trump won and, yes, I feel very, very sad for my friends who supported Clinton. I know what it feels like to lose a big one and it’s not fun. But I’m kinda done with keeping my feelings inside and I ask all of you to maturely accept the cards we’ve all been dealt. Only stronger together will we make America great again. Who’s up for the task?