I remember waking up for work one morning in November
approximately sixteen years ago and feeling demoralized by the news. As ballets were still being re-counted in
Florida and we were all introduced to the concept of a “hanging chad,” it was
pretty clear that the country had made a decision to go in a new
direction. After eight years of strong
economic growth, shrinking unemployment, and historic budget surpluses, the
country favored change over the status quo.
Instead of selecting a supremely qualified, albeit slightly robotic
candidate who promised to continue the policies of his predecessor, we had
chosen the likeable, bumbling son of a former President whose personal failures
far outshined his marginal success as the Governor of Texas.
After all of the lawsuits and protests were over, we had
made our decision, and our new President proceeded to take our nation in a new
direction. Afraid of an impending economic
recession, President Bush pushed through income tax cuts for everyone and
enacted new tax rules that overwhelmingly favored wealthy individuals and large
corporations. After the tragedy of 9/11, our foreign policy failures were many,
putting our fellow citizens on the battlefield for political purposes, and
changing the face of the Middle East forever.
The construction business was put back to work, not to re-build the
nation’s crumbling roads and bridges, not to revitalize our railways, not to
modernize our communication and power infrastructure, but to build houses. Big houses, little houses, enough houses to
support an enormous “ponzi” scheme that created scores of billionaires, brought
the world economy to its knees and created the largest economic recession in my
lifetime. The causes of our economic
meltdown are varied and complex, and certainly are not limited to the decisions
of the Bush administration. In 2008, our
nation again felt it was time for a change, and change we did.
Eight years later, under the steady and admirable leadership
of President Obama and in the face of unprecedented obstruction, we have clawed
back to solid ground. The financial
system was saved from total collapse, the American auto industry was rescued,
and a government stimulus plan was rolled out.
A few new regulations were put in place to reduce our risk of another
financial meltdown, and the CFPB was created to protect citizens from unchecked
corporate greed. After bottoming out in
late 2009, our economy has produced a record 73 consecutive months of private
sector job growth. The official
unemployment rate (U-3 rate, as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics),
which peaked at 10% in October 2009, is currently sitting at 4.9%. The budget deficit, calculated as a
percentage of our total economy is 2.4%, after peaking at 9.8% in 2009.
Meanwhile, 20 million people, who previously walked around without medical
insurance, are now covered. Strong rules
have been imposed on the health insurers, to combat those who were
traditionally underinsured or in danger of losing their insurance under certain
circumstances beyond their control. The number of illegal immigrants, which
peaked in 2007 at 12.2 million, has actually fallen by over a million under
President Obama (http://www.pewhispanic.org/interactives/unauthorized-trends).
Despite improvements, not everyone was feeling hopeful about
their own futures. We created lots of
jobs, but they weren’t the same jobs that were lost. We opened some more factories, but they were
staffed to a large extent by computer operators and robots. Small business growth, which both parties agree
creates most of the new jobs in our country, increased, but mainly in large,
urban areas of the country. The number
of jobs available to those without high school and college degrees continued to
shrink. Many of the new jobs were taken
by (legal) immigrants from Europe, India, and elsewhere in Asia. Wages stagnated, as they always do in the
years following a recession, but are now starting to rise slightly. Profitability returned, but most of the gains
went to those who didn’t need the money. Healthcare costs for individuals continued to go up, and
profits continued to go overwhelmingly to those on top.
Our brave men and women in uniform remained
stationed around the world, lives were still lost, and unpopular decisions were
still made in foreign policy. Gun
violence continued to take more lives in our country than in any other
developed nation on Earth. And what about re-building our crumbling roads,
bridges, railways and power grid? Some
of that happened, but only as part of the aforementioned stimulus package. When
the money ran out, future infrastructure spending bills put forth by President
Obama and some members of Congress were blocked as “unnecessary government
spending,” depriving the working class of a much needed lifeline. In 2016, Americans once again voted for
change. Instead of selecting a supremely
qualified, slightly robotic candidate who promised to continue the policies of
HER predecessor…WE CHOSE TRUMP.
Waking up on Wednesday morning, the sun was shining bright,
and the last of the leaves were falling to the ground from the maple tree in my
backyard. My daughter Paige, who was
born just days after the historic election of 2008, was turning eight years
old, and I had been excited for her to wake up, have breakfast in bed, and learn
that America had just elected, for the first time ever, a supremely qualified
woman as President. Instead, after our family
finished singing “Happy Birthday,” after she had blown out the candle and eaten
her birthday donut, my wife and I explained to her that…WE CHOSE TRUMP.
How do we explain to our children the things that we can’t
explain to ourselves? Lacking any
satisfactory explanation, we did what we could to make sure our own
disappointments didn’t ruin her special day.
I, for one, shoved my feelings deep down inside, went to work, did my
job, and prepared for a wonderful family birthday dinner with Paige’s
grandparents. Fortunately, the food,
gifts, and most of all, the company helped make November 9th, 2016 a
great success for our family. What it
means for our country, and our future, depends on where we go from here.
We chose Trump. As
President Obama predicted, the sun continues to rise and set each day, yet I
cannot get these words out of my head. It
is no secret that I am willing to share my thoughts and speak my mind. It should be clear by now where my loyalties
lie. Hopefully, after years of comments,
conversations and compositions, most people can see that my beliefs are guided
by facts, education, and morality, rather than simply “politics”. When I say “facts,” I mean evidence, driven
by an overwhelming desire to educate myself through available channels. When I say “morality,” I refer to the things
that were taught to me at an early age, and those things that we try to instill
in our own children. Politics are a
necessary evil. They are messy, often
dishonest, sometimes immoral, and yet they are how we get things done in a
democracy. Politics requires compromise and
understanding, and often disappointment. To reject “politics” is to reject
democracy in favor of something easier, cleaner and nicer. Our nation is great because of what politics
affords us, and in this instance…WE CHOSE TRUMP.
For someone like me, who fought until the end talking to
voters, posting on social media, and even donating money to candidates, this
loss is a tough one to swallow. If all
of my facts, education and morality don’t point in the same direction as the
result, then what is the point? I had
thoughts of cancelling my Facebook account, or at least taking a much needed
“break.” No more blog posts for me, even though it serves as an important kind
of personal therapy. My emotions swung
wildly from anger to apathy and back again.
What’s next? Where do we go from
here? I wanted to put my head down, wrap my arms around my family and friends,
and focus on what’s best for me. Maybe
Trump can’t do too much damage in two years. Maybe then the people will decide
to elect those who can limit his influence.
Perhaps, in 2020, we can make a better decision. Maybe I’ll just sit back and watch as this
country burns to the ground, doing what I can to protect what is closest to me wrapped
in a fireproof blanket.
NO!...Hell No!
I’ve spent 40 years trying to understand what type of person
I want to be. I decided a long time ago
that I’ll continue to learn and evolve every day of my life (even the really
hard days). This is one of the gifts
that I will pass onto my children, and I’ll spend every day trying to convince
them that is the better way. I refuse to become a person who spends every day
trying to figure out how to make things better for myself alone. I refuse to ignore the privileges that I have
been afforded because of the hard work, sacrifices, and choices of my
parents. I refuse to take for granted
the sacrifices of those who came before me and helped to grant me the comfort
that I enjoy today. I will not ignore
the realities of an increasingly inter-connected world in which most people survive
with so much less. I also cannot ignore
that there are others who have so much more.
I understand that the place that I was born, the place that I currently
live, who my parents are, and the color of my skin have far more to do with my
privilege than anything I can do on my own.
As an American, I believe that if I work hard, make the right choices,
and persevere though challenges, that I will live a good life and have an
opportunity to pass on that good fortune to my children.
No, I’m not going to stick my head in the sand and reject my
morality because 25% of our nation doesn’t believe the things I do. I will continue to believe that the promises
of this great nation can be realized for all of us, not just for those as
fortunate as I am. I will continue to
learn every day so that I can better understand how to share that opportunity
with all people in this great nation that we are lucky to call home.
Being an American doesn’t require me to simply accept the
results of the election and move on with my life. It doesn’t require me to support the
President just because he won the Electoral College. Being an American is about using our
individual voices to speak up for what is right, building a movement of people
who share our values, and pushing for the kind of change that works, regardless
of who is in charge. That is how I
choose to move forward today. That is
how I will continue to fight for the kind of country I want my children to
know.
You see, the truth is this.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both got about 25% of all eligible
votes in this country. The other 50% of
voters decided to sit this one out. So,
the real winner was “I DON'T CARE,” with Clinton and Trump splitting the
remaining votes. We need to take a hard look at
those 50% of our citizens, and figure out what makes then so uninterested,
unwilling, or unable to speak out for the future of their country.
If you voted for Clinton, or even if you just voted “against
Trump,” your voice needs to be heard louder than ever before. I’m not talking about rejecting the results
of the election or violently protesting in the streets. We are beyond that. But for all of us that voted against the horrific
policies and proposals during the campaign, we must be more vigilant than ever
in continuing to convince others that our dissent was justified. For those of us who rejected the hateful
rhetoric directed at racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and refugees, we must be more inclusive than
ever before, to let our neighbors and friends know we are with them. We need to continue to push for the kind of
reforms proposed by Clinton and Bernie Sanders that 25% of our citizens
favored. We need to respect the legacy
and the values that we have been graced with for the past 8 years of the Obama
administration. To the extent that we
agree with our new President, we should support any changes that respect our
morals and values, even if the politics aren’t popular.*
*Editor's Note:
This is stated
hypothetically, of course, since I honestly can’t name a policy or proposal of Trump’s
that I even remotely agree with, based on his campaign.
And finally, if you cast your vote for the winning
candidate, I expect you to own it.
Whatever it was that he did or said that convinced you to fill in the
oval next to his name, I expect you will fight just as hard to make sure he
follows through on his promises. For
most of the millions of people that voted for Trump, I hope you weren’t actually voting
to kick out or keep out people because of their religion, or because he
promised to implement a database to track "certain people". I hope you don’t
sincerely root for government officials to round up peaceful families and rip
them away from their homes and their children. I sincerely
hope that those people represent the minority of Trump supporters, and that
something else convinced you to choose Trump.
Maybe you had a need to feel safe, the kind of safety that
only a giant border wall can provide. I can
only assume, however, that you will express your disapproval when you are asked
to pay more taxes to build this wall, or when the wall isn’t built at
all. When the factories don’t move back
to your towns and beg you to take your old job back, or when large corporations
continue to game the system for the benefit of highly paid executives, I expect
you will hold Trump accountable for his failure to protect working class
Americans. If he is able to push though
his economic agenda, I know you’ll remind him of his promise that our economy
will grow at 4-5% per year, and that he’ll somehow manage to control our skyrocketing national
debt. If he is able to “tear up NAFTA”
and other free trade agreements, I’m sure you’ll be the first people to
complain when prices go up and jobs disappear due to a trade war he created. The first time someone is killed in uniform,
or a diplomat tragically loses their life in a war zone, I assume there will be
an investigation (because we have a right to know what really happened). When Obamacare isn’t overturned, or even if it
is, I expect you’ll complain just as vigorously over rising healthcare
costs. When your neighbor is denied
coverage and gets sick, I assume you’ll offer to pay their medical bills. When Trump takes away the freedom to marry
from your fellow citizens, or the right to control one’s body, I really hope it
makes your life happier. The next time a
mass shooting occurs, or an officer is gunned down, I’m sure you’ll find a way
to blame President Trump for his weak leadership.
75% of our country decided not to vote for one candidate or
the other. That is more than enough to
really take back our country, and demand the kind of change we can truly
believe in.
THANKS OBAMA! (No really, thank you Mr. President, you will
be missed.)
