(I have largely given up writing political posts. But the last two days have made clear some differences in our citizenry that I note below. )
Although I enjoy reading histories and biographies—I specialized in medieval history in graduate school and continue to read in both genres—I have never cared for revisionist history. What if the South had won the Civil War? What if the Germans had conquered Britain in 1940—1941? Such topics spark no interest in me. There’s enough real history out there without speculating as to what might have happened had some dramatic event shot off in a different direction.
Nonetheless, on Day One of Donald Trump’s presidency I feel confident in predicting what would not have occurred had Hilary Clinton taken the Oath of Office on January 20th.
Although I enjoy reading histories and biographies—I specialized in medieval history in graduate school and continue to read in both genres—I have never cared for revisionist history. What if the South had won the Civil War? What if the Germans had conquered Britain in 1940—1941? Such topics spark no interest in me. There’s enough real history out there without speculating as to what might have happened had some dramatic event shot off in a different direction.
Nonetheless, on Day One of Donald Trump’s presidency I feel confident in predicting what would not have occurred had Hilary Clinton taken the Oath of Office on January 20th.
First, I am absolutely certain that 67 Republican members of Congress would not have boycotted Hilary’s inauguration, as 67 Democrats boycotted Trump’s. Whatever you may think of Republican members of Congress—and sometimes I don’t think much of them—they would have understood their civic responsibility and attended the inauguration. They would have recognized Hilary Clinton as their president. They would have regarded their presence at the inauguration as a measure of their respect for that office and for the Constitution of the United States of America.
Nor would mobs of Trump voters have roamed through Washington D.C., smashing storefront windows and hurling objects and invective at the police. They might have been angry enough to turn off their televisions and their computers, but they wouldn’t have engaged in senseless riots whose participants often appear clueless about their cause. Some of these rioters were apparently paid to appear on the streets. I wish just one of them had the guts to say, “Hey, man, it’s all about the money.”
After the election in November, we had numerous reports about the behavior and reactions of those who had supported Hilary Clinton. In some colleges and universities, administrators and teachers canceled exams and classes, and offered students such crutches as coloring books and cocoa. Across the country, particularly in the blue states, we heard reports of Clinton voters inconsolably weeping, going to therapists for help, and vilifying Trump voters. Several liberal friends on my Facebook page reported that non-Clinton supporters simply couldn’t understand the grief they were suffering at her loss. (Really? Let me tell you something. I endured Bill Clinton, barely abided George Bush, and suffered Barack Obama. Sweet friends, I know what you are going through. Get over it.)
Trump voters would not have reacted this way. Had they stayed awake to watch Hilary win the election, they might have gotten drunk, they might have shed a few tears as they watched what they believed to be the last nail sinking into the coffin of our Republic, and they might have gotten up snarling in the morning. But they would have stumbled off to work or to classes, and done their jobs knowing they had lost an election and not the attainment of Heaven.
Finally, some Trump supporters and maybe even some mainstream Republicans would have looked for lessons had Hilary Clinton won the election. They would have asked, “How can we win elections? What do we need to change? What do we need to do to win more votes?”
A segment of those associated with the Democratic Party haven’t taken this path. They prefer to berate the American people as stupid “deplorables,” they boycott the inauguration, they take to the streets, rioting and destroying businesses. They are political toddlers on a tantrum. Meanwhile, their fellow Americans watching and hearing these fits of temper are thinking, “This is the Democratic Party?”
To those of you embittered by the election, to those who think America will now become some sort of fascistic country, to those yelling “He’s not our president,” I could waste an ocean of time delineating the mistakes you are making. Instead, I give you one of your own, Jonathan Pie from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLG9g7BcjKs.
“The key is discussion.”
Debate. Reason. Convince.
And grow up.
Nor would mobs of Trump voters have roamed through Washington D.C., smashing storefront windows and hurling objects and invective at the police. They might have been angry enough to turn off their televisions and their computers, but they wouldn’t have engaged in senseless riots whose participants often appear clueless about their cause. Some of these rioters were apparently paid to appear on the streets. I wish just one of them had the guts to say, “Hey, man, it’s all about the money.”
After the election in November, we had numerous reports about the behavior and reactions of those who had supported Hilary Clinton. In some colleges and universities, administrators and teachers canceled exams and classes, and offered students such crutches as coloring books and cocoa. Across the country, particularly in the blue states, we heard reports of Clinton voters inconsolably weeping, going to therapists for help, and vilifying Trump voters. Several liberal friends on my Facebook page reported that non-Clinton supporters simply couldn’t understand the grief they were suffering at her loss. (Really? Let me tell you something. I endured Bill Clinton, barely abided George Bush, and suffered Barack Obama. Sweet friends, I know what you are going through. Get over it.)
Trump voters would not have reacted this way. Had they stayed awake to watch Hilary win the election, they might have gotten drunk, they might have shed a few tears as they watched what they believed to be the last nail sinking into the coffin of our Republic, and they might have gotten up snarling in the morning. But they would have stumbled off to work or to classes, and done their jobs knowing they had lost an election and not the attainment of Heaven.
Finally, some Trump supporters and maybe even some mainstream Republicans would have looked for lessons had Hilary Clinton won the election. They would have asked, “How can we win elections? What do we need to change? What do we need to do to win more votes?”
A segment of those associated with the Democratic Party haven’t taken this path. They prefer to berate the American people as stupid “deplorables,” they boycott the inauguration, they take to the streets, rioting and destroying businesses. They are political toddlers on a tantrum. Meanwhile, their fellow Americans watching and hearing these fits of temper are thinking, “This is the Democratic Party?”
To those of you embittered by the election, to those who think America will now become some sort of fascistic country, to those yelling “He’s not our president,” I could waste an ocean of time delineating the mistakes you are making. Instead, I give you one of your own, Jonathan Pie from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLG9g7BcjKs.
“The key is discussion.”
Debate. Reason. Convince.
And grow up.