CNN was on in the background, the sound turned off. It didn’t matter, however, because the heat of the discussion came through in vivid colors all the same. It’s all bad, it’s all hot, it’s all gonna burn down.
With the sound off and other distractions around me, however, it was easy to find some kind of hope. People passed by the noise and hardly registered it all in the hotel lobby. Life went on. Life will go on, once this nonsense is all over in a month. What will go down then?
The short answer is that America will be the same, but America will never be the same. Trump and his people more or less promised us all along that they would burn it all down and they will. We live in a different nation now, one which will have to reboot somehow from the ashes of what is left of civil discourse. Following a strong repudiation of Trump this might not be a bad thing.
Let’s all pray for the same things – and all be thankful for our gifts.
I know it’s always easy for a middle aged pale male to say this, but I feel like I have to say it anyway. No matter what happens, I’ll survive. No, there is no excuse for someone like Trump leading this nation and yes, people who don’t look like me will not survive as well as I will.
But Trump is going down in terrible flames and he will set everything alight that he can with him.
Where we will stand when this is over is that no one can deny that racism exists. No one can deny that sexism exists. No one can deny that white America is a fantasy based on a series of made-up “facts” that are used to justify what is really nothing more than a collection of feelings.
How we deal with the reality that closes in on us between November 8th and January 20th is another thing altogether. It will be up to Clinton to bring us back together somehow, and it will be up to the media to get the message out.
After what I’ve seen on CNN, the professionals will be eager to not hate their job anymore.
Many hands make lighter work. Many different hands make the work a triumph.
How will America change as a result of all this nonsense? The short answer should be that those of us who care, really care, should tune out about now and save up our energy. We know what’s going to happen and it’s not good for anyone to watch this crap. Just turn down the noise, walk past, and smile. There’s other work to be done.
After this is all over, the real work will start. That’s when we can tune back in – when the volume is down.
When that glorious day come we talk about how women are treated. We can talk about race for once and maybe do it with an open heart. We can get a good start now that it’s all out in the open.
Keep the faith. When everyone around you is losing theirs, please keep it for your brothers and sisters. They’ll need it. We’ll all need it.
And we’ll be ready to make good use of it.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 
Well said. After defeating Trump we will need to have open honest discourse about race and gender and find a way to uplift everyone.
That is what I hope can happen. My guess is that in the silence immediately after the election there will be a time to change the subject to something more positive.
The last couple months I’ve been outlining some essays on the lessons of this election. The news coverage will always try and teach us some macro lessons about society but I wonder what the micro lesson are for our own behavior.
A good point. It’s not what we as a society learn as much as what each person learns. One less may be that politics really is awful. I hope isn’t the lesson most people take from this. More people being turned off will only make things worse.
Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
I think most of us have wondered what this divisive election year and the ugly environment it has created will bring when all is said and done. Too much has been said and done to simply return to the status quo of a year or two ago. What will our nation look like? How will we mend the fences, fill in the rifts that have been caused by all the hate and rhetoric? I have certainly asked these questions and many more, and have contemplated writing about it, but the questions in my mind had no answers. My blogger-friend, Erik Hare of Barataria, however, has written a very good post about it. He has no firm answers, either, but he has vision well beyond my own. I urge you to read his post and drop him a comment to let him (and me) know your thoughts.
Thank you very much!
I have been pondering this for a long time … you said it far better than I could have, so I am re-blogging. I didn’t ask this time, but since you’ve never denied me, I thought it was safe that you wouldn’t mind. 🙂
You are always welcome to reblog! Thank you!
Excellent , perceptive, insightful post…..Wholeheartedly agree with you. A reappraisal of the Nature of the USA is long overdue….. Hopefully, a ‘better USA’ will emerge. 🙂
Thank you! We have to work at it, nothing is automatic. But it can happen.
Indeed, it can happen! 😉
Good post. Should Clinton win, she needs to follow through with her commitment for bipartisan dialogue. It may not hurt for her to nominate a Republican or two to her cabinet, as did Obama. Truth be told, that is her history as a Senator where she gets her highest marks. I would hope GOP leaders will tell people the truth that the election is not rigged against Trump. He is losing because he is a poor candidate and has been from the get-go. This kind of reporting should have been done last year, so a more reasonable GOP candidate would have won the nomination.
I am also counting on this. I am presuming that Ryan will still be speaker, but look at how he is defending his own principles and people first. He will also want to work to get things done, I believe.
A key reason for them to do so, would be the rise of a third party, which may happen anyway. But, more importantly to show they can do their job and work collaboratively.
If Mr Sunshine can’t keep the faith no one can! 🙂 Seriously this is good advice & everything changes once Trump is gone from the constant news cycles.
That’s ma job! 🙂
It is so hard to have any faith in the system with this garbage. My advice is to not pay attention to any of it.
That is a good plan, IMHO.
Words from a pale male carry hope when you agree you are going to roll up your shirt sleeves and get dirty. We all have to get dirty before anyone can feel clean after this
Amen. I agree to get dirty. We are all dirty already, might as well make work of it.