Re: Politics and Current Events

by **Enail** Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:24 am

I don't think I've ever felt so horrified by an election outcome, and it's not even for my country. All the reporters on CBC are switching wildly between looking like they're at a funeral and slightly hysterical, bleak joking. I can only imagine how awful it must be for all of you actually there. Many wishes for rights and safety for all of you.

by Wondering Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:38 am

Can we come visit you for 4-8 years, Enail? Sad

by **Enail** Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:42 am

I hear Nova Scotia's where all the cool kids are wanting to move to Razz

by **eselle28** Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:47 am

I am quite drunk, in the middle of getting drunker, and partway through a Keanu Reeves themed marathon. I started with Bill and Ted and am currently on Point Break. ("Life sure has a sick sense of humor, doesn't it?") I figure next will be John Wick. Avoiding The Matrix because, well...

by **eselle28** Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:54 am

To the extent I can be pragmatic, I can just say that I am pretty sure I don't have health insurance anymore, or at least won't within a set amount of time. And also that I'm really super glad I have two years left on my IUD and not that many more years left on my fertility.

by Wondering Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:56 am

I had to stop drinking because I was literally close to vomiting. I wish I was still drunk. Sad

by **Werel** Wed Nov 09, 2016 3:44 am

What a miserable thing. A sad and shameful thing.

by **Robjection** Wed Nov 09, 2016 4:49 am

Enail wrote:I don't think I've ever felt so horrified by an election outcome, and it's not even for my country. All the reporters on CBC are switching wildly between looking like they're at a funeral and slightly hysterical, bleak joking. I can only imagine how awful it must be for all of you actually there. Many wishes for rights and safety for all of you.

This. I really hope you guys can make it through this.

by Aggrax Wed Nov 09, 2016 6:47 am

I'm afraid for my life right now. Obamacare is the only reason I have insulin. If I lose that I won't be able to pay for it anymore without pulling heavily from my family's income. I don't know if I could live with myself if I did that to them.

by nearly_takuan Wed Nov 09, 2016 6:48 am

Lost the electoral and the popular. Slightly more than anticipated voter turnout.

I can't make any excuses for my country at this point. Can't just say it happened 'cause the electoral system is flawed or there's too much apathy. It's looking like we have a different problem: we really are just surrounded by bigots, or at least by people who don't seem to realize electing a bigot as our primary representative to the world is a supremely bad idea.

All I can say is I'm sorry. I cast my own vote but took no further action; passed up the opportunity to get involved more thoroughly in politics outside my state and donate my time to the cause of... well, not dooming the world. I'm aware that I couldn't have made a huge difference all by myself anyway, but I'm also aware that there exists a number of people who feel the same way who could then have made a difference if we'd all done something.

I'm really, really, really sorry.

And I guess I blame apathy a little bit. Plus the fact that it was raining in Philly.

by BasedBuzzed Wed Nov 09, 2016 8:16 am

This whole thing is absolutely bizarre.

Farage, Le Pen and Wilders congratulate the man, so the notion that this will have its effect on the elections in other countries is pretty big (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the right-wing splintering over here will absolutely nuke any chances of a cohesive coalition of right-wing people). Also, Duterte was one of the first to congratulate Trump too, so Pax Americana based on every world leader being completely unhinged is also possible scenario. After all, this type of thing isn't unique to the States in the Western world: https://twitter.com/trillburne/status/635237675092480000

Moreover, 1/3 of Trump voters say he isn't trustworthy, 1/4 say he's unqualified to be the president. It's bonkers. As an aside, third party voting actually made Trump's victory less crushing, with Gary Johnson getting as much as over 5 percent in some states (this is presuming the weed lmao demographic would have voted Republican otherwise). Finally, Trump did better among black and Latino peeps than Romney: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/08/politics/first-exit-polls-2016/

Holy moly.

by **reboot** Wed Nov 09, 2016 8:44 am

Whelp that was depressing. Hate always wins

by **Hirundo Bos** Wed Nov 09, 2016 10:44 am

What Enail and Robjection said. I'm far removed from the consequences of this, but hope the best for all of you who aren't.

by jcorozza Wed Nov 09, 2016 10:51 am

I am both heartbroken and terrified at the same time. I'm glad I don't have kids yet because I don't know how to explain this to them. Or why the electoral college exists and continues to fuck us over. Or why there are people on my feed posting things like "well, DNC, this is what happens because you didn't pick Bernie". Like, shut the fuck up, those people. This is serious shit that will affect people's lives. Let's all pray that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is immortal.

by WJMorris3 Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:29 am

I didn't vote for Donald Trump, but he is my President, and I hope he does a good job.

by **reboot** Wed Nov 09, 2016 12:33 pm

I think I am going to have to find a new job. Refugee assistance in the US may not be viable much longer

by jcorozza Wed Nov 09, 2016 1:10 pm

Yeah, and if he cuts a lot Medicaid, mental health for the non-wealthy will basically disappear, so I may be in that boat too, reboot. And my clients will be fucked.

by **reboot** Wed Nov 09, 2016 1:25 pm

jcorozza wrote:Yeah, and if he cuts a lot Medicaid, mental health for the non-wealthy will basically disappear, so I may be in that boat too, reboot. And my clients will be fucked.

I guess we are just going to have to take it day by day, but I am completely not functioning today. I do not have the words I need to reassure people and just want to curl up under my desk and cry or go outside and start punching people

by Glides Wed Nov 09, 2016 1:40 pm

This might have been the worst night of my life. As I'm sure it has been for many of you too.

Fuck.

The worst of it is that even though I'm definitely in that group of people this fucker wants to kill (Jewish), I'm not in nearly as much danger as any black, Latino, Muslim or LGBT Americans now are.

I've spent the entire night having person after person desperately contacting me and calling me and begging me that things won't get that bad and that they're not going to die. Primarily women, some men, all of whom don't fit Mein Fuhrer Trump's definition of who is allowed to live (white, Christian, heterosexual, male).

I keep desperately searching for some kind of kernel of hope, some tiny little thing that'll keep us going for the next four years, with a government controlled almost entirely by fundamentalist Christians, the very people who have spent all of human history slaughtering with impunity.

America died yesterday. It's either a theocracy or a dictatorship now, and I'm not sure which I prefer out of the two.

RIP America:

July 2, 1776-November 8, 2016

by caliseivy Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:00 pm

I think today is the first time I've actually flipped out in the comments section of a friend's post because I am so fed up with the bullshit responses people are making about why Trump is a better choice than Clinton. I'm minimally saved by the fact that my work environment likely spares me from having to interact with any Trump supporters, but I doubt this morning will be the last time I lose my shit at someone.

This is all disappointing, but unsurprising. I've seen a lot of people express surprise that there was such a large base of bigots in America, or that all Millennials didn't vote for Clinton, but that base has always been there, just much quieter; Trump emboldened them and I worry the fallout of encouraging the bigots is going to be pretty big and immediate.

I read somewhere that a large number of people (Florida?) decided to vote for Harambe. Is that true? I hope not, but I'm also a pessimist.

by BasedBuzzed Wed Nov 09, 2016 3:14 pm

It's a rumour that 11k votes in that state went to the ape (Harambe, not Trump). It's surfaced out of nowhere, but back-of-the-napkin math says such a number would not have tilted that state in favour of Clinton anyway (plus this election has been a playground for trolls starting rumours to upset people, and this is one of the best moments to induce rage). Also, lowest voter turnout since 2000.

by **Robjection** Wed Nov 09, 2016 3:39 pm

caliseivy wrote:This is all disappointing, but unsurprising. I've seen a lot of people express surprise that there was such a large base of bigots in America, or that all Millennials didn't vote for Clinton, but that base has always been there, just much quieter; Trump emboldened them and I worry the fallout of encouraging the bigots is going to be pretty big and immediate.

Yeah, as upset as I was by the result, I wasn't all that surprised by it.

by Wondering Wed Nov 09, 2016 4:53 pm

They were emboldened before Trump, honestly. The GOP courted that fringe right when they came out of their racist woodwork against Obama as birthers and the like. They're what led to the Tea Party. And the GOP kept courting them and courting them to bolster their numbers. And that led to Trump.

I am terrified. And I hope those of you who are in different countries and think this doesn't affect you are right. Because I don't see that. I see Trump taking down the whole world. In war or economic policies or both. And the US will not now be there to stop Putin from rolling over whatever parts of Europe he wants, either.

by **Enail** Wed Nov 09, 2016 5:19 pm

I think most of us in other countries are pretty afraid of how this will affect us too. This vote has done a lot to make the world a scarier place for almost everyone.

by **reboot** Wed Nov 09, 2016 5:21 pm

Enail wrote:I think most of us in other countries are pretty afraid of how this will affect us too. This vote has done a lot to make the world a scarier place for almost everyone.

And it is not like the world was not scary enough already

One positive note, Sheriff Joe Arapaio lost the election, so yay

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