I lived for 8 years under President Ronald Reagan, a shallow, stupid, evil man who wrecked the economy and laughed as gay men, and others, died of AIDS, who made deals with our enemies to get elected, and I said, “at least it can’t get worse than this.”
I lived for 8 years under President George W. Bush, a bumbling incompetent, a spoiled scion of Texan wealth, a man who got us into a wasteful, pointless war with the wrong country and killed over half a million people, and I said, “at least it can’t get worse than this.”
Then I lived for 4 years under President Donald Trump, a narcissistic grifter, a rapist, a racist, a convicted felon, a misogynist, a man who promised to deport 20 million people, a demagogue who threatened vengeance on Americans who opposed him, a senile monster, and we re-elected him.
I am now wise enough to finally say, “It will get much, much worse.” We have the president the American people deserve.
My deepest apologies to the millions who will suffer and die in the near future.
Really never understood why people — especially those outside America — have always failed to realise this. US public relations have always been highly effective, it seems.
Hi, PZ. I’m 72, first voted 52 years ago, in November 1972, right after the constitutional amendment that allowed 18-20-year- olds to vote. (I remember standing with my 18-year-old sister in a long line of excited young people that snaked down for two blocks from Silly Hall, all of us eager to make our voices heard, at long last, while other young people we knew were fighting and dying in Vietnam.) That year, what I wanted to hear from senators, congressmen (very few women), presidents, was: we were wrong. We’re gonna stop this stupid war, gonna bring the soldiers home, make sure they all get the medical care and rehab they deserve for the rest of their lives, and make sure this country never does anything like this again. And we are going to allocate half of the national budget every year to go to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to pay reparations. And we are going to recruit millions of young Americans to go to those places we destroyed to volunteer for reconstruction, til it’s accomplished. And I waited, and I voted, and I waited and I voted, and I demonstrated and I sat in, and I organized unions, and those unions got broken and–well, all of that. It’s now 52 years later–and, nada. I’m old and sick and crippled now. I think I’m justified by saying, “we told you so.” I’m sick of these idiots. They fucking brought it on themselves, by never doing the right thing, not once.
nomaduk@1 The German left wing and right wing have a long tradition of anti-Americanism. Only our conservatives seemed to be fans of the US.
Of course for the right wingers and a depressingly high number of leftists this anti-Americanism translates as support for Putin and other enemies of the US, and our fascist see Trump as a shining example.
I grieve with you. I lived through all the same bad Republicans and a few more, but this is the worst. I find it very hard to go on,
Biden needs to use the power SCOTUS gave him without restraint and with extreme prejucide to stop Trump.
This election ..is one helluva argument against Democracy especially in a nation with a population as horribly disinfomed, guillible, easily duped and willfully ignorant and .. as the USA.
I’m so appalled, disgusted and horrified;
How the fuck could Americans vote for the criminal, rapist, racist who tried to destroy Democracy in his Jan 6th Coup?
Two things. First, Republicans didn’t give up when they got their asses kicked — they adapted and came roaring back. If they can do it, so can we. And second, Virginia elects a governor next year; and after that there’s midterms.
So grieve, rest, and then start to regroup. Because for many of us, leaving the US isn’t an option. And besides, Trump’s victory is bound to embolden whatever fascist movements already exist in whichever countries we’d be fleeing to — so running away won’t necessarily make anyone much safer.
Biden needs to use the power SCOTUS gave him without restraint and with extreme prejudice to stop Trump.
That’s not going to happen. The Dems are going to roll over and let the fascists take over because they won fair and square. Because that’s what the law and constitution say we must do. Because respecting the Process is holy dogma to liberals, even when it means handing over civilization to right-wing thugs.
The people have spoken, and most of them want fascism.
@ 6
They didn’t adapt. They never do. They just came back with the same litany of racist, paranoid, religious claptrap they always do.
There isn’t going to be a comeback. There isn’t going to be another election.
It’s over for us.
Definitely in the denial stage at the moment. The ramifications are very bad for so many people, and I don’t think I could have worked any harder to prevent the billionaire fascists from gaining political power.
Sorrow is the order of the day, and perhaps some vigorous scrubbing and raking to create an illusion of order and beauty.
Fuuuucckkkk!
Eight years ago at least there were the excuses that nobody knew what he would truly be like in office and he lost the popular vote. Four years ago that led to a shellacking at the polls.
The past four years have been that of a generally competent administration (except for their stance of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians), so the fascist has been awarded with not just the electoral college but the popular vote too?!?!
I’m going to be raging for a while. If I manage to calm down, then I’ll decide if I need a passport or an unending line of protests to attend.
The people who voted for Trump won. Honestly I kind of just want to know what the average middle class or poor Trump voter thinks they’ve won now. Last time a lot of them inexplicably thought the guy famous for being rich (although most of that was gifts from daddy and banks lending to him after umpteen bankruptcies – loans he defaulted on so the rest of us paid for) would “drain the swamp.” I notice that was conspiciously absent this time because he obviously didn’t do that in his last 4 years.
“Harris ran on positivity. She ran on inclusivity.” The question of the past 8 years has been, are we civilized people, or beasts? Democrats believed strongly in the former. They campaigned as if we were. It’s an admirable, perhaps morally necessary, thought, especially if you ARE a civilized person to believe in the overall goodness of people. But we now know decisively who is who, and how many. And it turns out, a hell of a lot of people in this country are beasts. Whatever becomes of the constituents of our side, no progress can ever be made without accepting that fact.
Honestly, that surprises me more than the fact that he was reelected. A replay of 2016 was one the scenarios that, in my mind, seemed likely to happen. I guess I was wrong there but not in the way I would’ve hoped.
Anyway, at least my state, Maryland, did the right thing. We voted for the sane, democratic candidate. We sent a Black woman to the senate over a popular two-term white male governor. We also made abortion access a constitutional right in the state.
Here’s a little quote from Cory Booker, from a CNN postmortem:
Booker said he had already warned his own staff about not giving up.
“We need to get up the next morning and forge forward,” Booker said. “I told them how much I don’t like hearing people say, ‘Oh, if so-and-so wins, I’m going to go to Canada. That’s just not our history. We’ve seen really bad outcomes out of bad historical events in our country, and we’re here because of the resiliency, the toughness, the strength of our country — and people even in the worst of times dug in and tried to do the best for our country.”
This election wasn’t even close.
I feel like giving up and finding something else to care about.
Then realize that this isn’t really an option.
I still have to live here and deal with reality whether I like it or not.
Good luck to everyone and hope you all survive the next 4 years.
@Akira MacKenzie:
We can’t have a win by force. Even without digging really deep into the knock-on effects you can easily see that it wouldn’t work. For a couple big reasons.
When the SCOTUS handed out presidential immunity they decided that they would be the ones to decide what was and wasn’t immune. Do you think SCOTUS will be fair and impartial when they adjudicate something like this? I don’t.
Republican extremists who like guns have been quietly muttering into their beer that elections were stolen from them. For years. What do you think they’re going to do if Biden stops Trump from taking office? For all their claims about being great christians I highly doubt they’d just “turn the other cheek.”
In the end it would leave us with lots of justification for a civil war or at the very least a terrible uptick in domestic terrorism. Trump is awful but sometimes… he’s just an old man yelling at clouds. Civil wars or a lot more domestic terrorism are both on a whole other level of bad.
And yes, I realize most of the people who think they’re ready for a civil war are clueless imbeciles who probably wouldn’t do anything. But I think there are enough of them that are just dumb as a post and would push past a point of no return with it.
This isn’t just rhetoric or drama.
The various incompetent GOP regimes have cost me a lot.
.1. The Bush disaster.
Two friends killed in Iraq.
My 401(k) like millions of others, killed in the Great Recession.
It was resurrected during the Obama years. Thanks, Obama.
.2. People I knew were killed by the Covid-19 virus.
Two people close to me are still suffering from Long Covid syndromes. They will lose years of lifespan because of this.
How much will the Trump II regime cost me, the USA, and the world?
It is anyone’s guess right now, but it will definitely cost a lot.
Good luck all.
I am going to do what I can to help other people in power mitigate the damage Trump will cause.
StevoR @5: Misogyny.
It will be harder but a nation can still be changed under it’s leadership. Bigots are still terrified of wokeness and like the deep rifts, gamergate, and me too the pushback should not end. All that election passion can go other places. Fascism is still ignorant, incompetent, irrational, and illogical. These things can be pressed from many parts of society.
I am not generally cool with violence but at the moment I can’t help wishing for the lumps sudden demise via falling down some stairs or something equally banal. Perhaps an Elvis style undignified death while sitting on his golden toilet?
My partner keeps saying, “I don’t understand” and “Where are the women?” I don’t know what to say to her but my niece, who is just 23, posted a pro-Trump meme on Facebook about him as a “man for God”. I don’t know what to say to her.
I despair.
But to Raging Bee’s point at #6, Heather Cox Richardson wrote the other day about the depths of despair in the nation with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. The act effectively overturned the Missouri Compromise and opened the west to the expansion of slavery. Within the next 6 years a new party was formed and its candidate elected to the White House. This spawned a horrible war, of course, but it did finally end of mass slavery.
I despair.
As for midterms… will we get have those? Will they really make a difference? I’m not too confident about that.
And to Akira @ #8, I disagree in part. The GOP did adapt…their strategy. Decades ago they started moving toward controlling state governments. Their strategy has worked. It’s one reason they control so much power.
We’ll see where this goes, of course, and for how long. Trump may die or become incapacitated before the end of his term. Vance is just as much a grifter as Trump, but he’s probably less effective.
America, I know you’re not all like this, but you have no excuse.
You know 100% what Trump is like, you saw him double-down on everything that would normally disqualify or shame people. You saw him lie, and lie, and lie…all driven by racism and pettiness.
And you voted him back. Collectively over half of you decided that THIS is what you believe in. THIS is what represents you.
Well, you got it. We in the world now know 100% that America is NOT the home of the free, NOT the home of the brave, and openly racist and sexist and greedy and tactless. You had a chance to prove us wrong in the easiest election ever…and decided you LIKE the prick that won!
Well congratulations, the first time you can say he snuck in, but this time he CLEARLY DOES represent you. Over half of you for certain and probably another 1/3rd who just voted because the local rep promised you a road or a gay ban or something meaningless.
I for one will lower my expectations appropriately to rock bottom, and encourage all to do the same. Don’t expect civility, decency, or social help. You decided you didn’t want it in the end, but prefer the clown show instead of a decent woman leading you. You wanted the dick…well baby you GOT a dick running things now. Enjoy!
Robert Kennedy for health chief. Laughable until you realise the number of people who are going to die.
I remember father, I told him Joe Biden will be jimmy carter. My dad said
“I liked jimmy carter” we talk for hours and we bout understood he was bad, we dislike Hillary ciilton, we were both understood that’s what happened when you force a candidate. I love my dad, I hate that trump is president, but it was so predictable because of bad politics.
As good a summary of the last 60+ years as I’m likely to read, PZ. My feelings exactly.
I also wish I could have voted for Bernie, and will never forgive Obama and the corporate Dems for maneuvering the 2020 primary in favor of the two least popular (by a long shot) and least fit (in terms of policies) of the major candidates.