Election Night II: Load Balancing Boogaloo
November 8, 2016 8:47 PM Subscribe
The US Election night isn't over, but the server's capacity to serve tonight's original election thread is, so we're kicking open a new one right here. Hold on to your butts, folks, and be good to each other; see also a MetaTalk logistics thread, and you can hang out in Chat for more free-form chatter; let's try to keep this focused on updates about the national race.
Previous thread is here, but please load gently.
Previous thread is here, but please load gently.
I have never been this terrified in my life. Were there comforting words in the last thread?
posted by Andrhia at 8:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by Andrhia at 8:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
This is shameful.
posted by waitingtoderail at 8:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by waitingtoderail at 8:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
What is going on cortex, we've had threads way bigger than this
posted by boo_radley at 8:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by boo_radley at 8:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
From Canada: I'm so, so sorry.
And of course I know we're fucked along with you...
posted by Beardman at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
And of course I know we're fucked along with you...
posted by Beardman at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
How is this happening?!
posted by Hicksu at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Hicksu at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh hello. Here is an election II theme song for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twdpYiW6B8A
posted by dame at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by dame at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
the most ragevomit inducing part of all this is how gleefully, viciously, hatefully empowered all his supporters will be from now on. literally no matter what the outcome is today, white supremacy is going to be stronger than almost any of us have ever seen within our lifetimes, and this time around they have so many more people to hate, so many more vulnerable people for them to brutally harm 100% free of consequences.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [216 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [216 favorites]
My heart goes out to Hillary. What must she be thinking?
posted by carmicha at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
Super Deluxe has all the latest happenings on their electoral map
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
New thread means we start the night over again. Right? RIGHT?
posted by guiseroom at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
posted by guiseroom at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
There were no comforting words, just people nervously glancing at their watches, wondering when to call the time of death.
posted by RedOrGreen at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by RedOrGreen at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Well...
I have no words of comfort.
Let them gloat over their victory.
Remember when I said that there is no safety to be found in the Northern Hemisphere?
That still holds so very fucking true.
posted by PROD_TPSL at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have no words of comfort.
Let them gloat over their victory.
Remember when I said that there is no safety to be found in the Northern Hemisphere?
That still holds so very fucking true.
posted by PROD_TPSL at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
MA is going to give me legal weed, but I'll be paranoid enough as is. Wisconsin, you could have given us back one of the best Senators in Feingold, instead you're going to help anoint Donald Trump as president of this piece of shit country.
posted by haveanicesummer at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by haveanicesummer at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Maddow: "Well, the math is getting easier."
Gallows humor that makes me long for the gallows.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Gallows humor that makes me long for the gallows.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Love and courage to anyone who is scared right now. I sure as hell am.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [37 favorites]
posted by mrjohnmuller at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [37 favorites]
So anyway, the faithless elector in WA state, will he come into play?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm numb.
posted by tivalasvegas at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I posted this in the Brexit thread. Apparently I was right. Sometimes I really hate being right.
posted by SisterHavana at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by SisterHavana at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Even Trump seemed to believe he was losing. The polls, and especially the media, have failed badly. It's going to be a long night of heave drinking. I hope the urbam count catches up.
posted by Gelatin at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Worth noting: Trump doesn't cooperate with anyone. Short of the finger-on-the-button scenarios (which, I admit, are scary enough on their own), the people on the right who called him out for being "too liberal" weren't wrong: he's not anti-gun-control so much as he's been convinced that "2nd amendment" is a magic phrase that means "you can't tell me what to do;" he's not anti-abortion so much as he's been caught by fictional horror stories (he's been pro-choice in the past), and he's absolutely incompetent on matters of actual policy. Oh, and everyone in his own party hates him, and it's mutual.
I want to say, "the next few years would be bumpy as hell but not as catastrophic as [insert name here]," but I can't quite. However, it is worth noting that he doesn't actually want Cruz's agenda, Walker's agenda, or Pence's agenda.
He won't be spearheading any changes - he's not the Ideas Guy. The issue becomes, whose lies does he listen to most; who does he agree to sign off on anything they bring to him. And how soon will he scare or anger enough of his party to get himself impeached.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [49 favorites]
I want to say, "the next few years would be bumpy as hell but not as catastrophic as [insert name here]," but I can't quite. However, it is worth noting that he doesn't actually want Cruz's agenda, Walker's agenda, or Pence's agenda.
He won't be spearheading any changes - he's not the Ideas Guy. The issue becomes, whose lies does he listen to most; who does he agree to sign off on anything they bring to him. And how soon will he scare or anger enough of his party to get himself impeached.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [49 favorites]
Tonight is a victory for misogyny. A victory for racism. A victory for ignorance. A victory for violence and bigotry. America, you could have chosen a woman who was qualified, honest, and inclusive. Instead you chose a man who offers you nothing, and himself everything. I love you, America. I hate you, America.
posted by gumpstump at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [147 favorites]
posted by gumpstump at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [147 favorites]
How is this happening?!
Perhaps not ones with so many hundreds of people desperately refreshing in search of some hope for humanity.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Perhaps not ones with so many hundreds of people desperately refreshing in search of some hope for humanity.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Good work mods! I'm sure it's chaos - but thanks again for keeping the lights on best you can...
posted by inflatablekiwi at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by inflatablekiwi at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
WHAT DO WE DO?
Can Obama still pull off a late-term dictatorship?
posted by dis_integration at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [32 favorites]
Can Obama still pull off a late-term dictatorship?
posted by dis_integration at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [32 favorites]
Can't. be. happening.
posted by goofyfoot at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by goofyfoot at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I just got home from being an election judge in my tiny township, and it went really well. Great weather, great turnout, no problems. Democracy!
I have beer now. I'm not sure I have enough.
posted by mgar at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I have beer now. I'm not sure I have enough.
posted by mgar at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Fuck all those people. The honeymoon will be short, like tomorrow morning when we see what happens to the economy.
posted by bongo_x at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by bongo_x at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
Good lord, Trump is bad enough but the thought of Mike Pence freaks me the fuck out. Is this real life???
posted by futz at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by futz at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
lalochezia may i interest you in this useful twitter account
posted by poffin boffin at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I don't even understand what's happening right now.
posted by xyzzy at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by xyzzy at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
I think NH and Mn will probably hold on but I can't be sure. PA is dead tight. But MI... I just don't think it can happen (and WI is gone anyway).
posted by Justinian at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Justinian at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
My niece and nephew, who are being raised Muslim, are almost 3 and 5.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
My heart goes out to Hillary. What must she be thinking?
"Do I run or do I stay and fight?"
Right now, I hope to god she runs.
posted by Talez at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
"Do I run or do I stay and fight?"
Right now, I hope to god she runs.
posted by Talez at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
In 2008, I allowed myself to be taken in by optimism, just for a bit. Before returning to the safe blanket of ideological cynicism.
I really hoped tonight would have been a rerun of that night.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I really hoped tonight would have been a rerun of that night.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
The Guardian map has PA, MN, and NV leaning blue. Assuming that holds, Clinton needs to pick up MI and WI or MI and IA. Which is still possible, from what I can tell, since some more Democratic-leaning cities in both states haven't fully reported yet?
posted by eviemath at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I am myself a straight, white, cis, hetero male. But I am so fucking filled with rage about this that I cannot fucking stand it. I have to go to work tomorrow night and look at the smug shitty faces of the prolapsed anuses who helped this happen, whether "this" is utter catastrophe or just near-catastrophe.
WHAT THE GODDAMNED FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE. I AM NOT SURE IF THIS IS A QUESTION.
posted by Scattercat at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [99 favorites]
WHAT THE GODDAMNED FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE. I AM NOT SURE IF THIS IS A QUESTION.
posted by Scattercat at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [99 favorites]
'Bigger than Brexit': markets, US dollar plunge as Trump takes Florida
posted by Mister Bijou at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Mister Bijou at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
The good news is I've stopped crying!
posted by zeusianfog at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by zeusianfog at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Also the death penalty is having a successful night. Journalist's gallows humor could become frighteningly literal.
posted by haveanicesummer at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by haveanicesummer at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
So is our moral duty as rule-of-law abiding citizens to accept an electoral college loss if we manage to win the popular vote? Or are we allowed to hit the streets and shut down the country in the name of preserving actual majority rule? Do we have more allegiance to the constitution, or democracy?
If it's the latter, we would need to act tomorrow.
posted by chortly at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
If it's the latter, we would need to act tomorrow.
posted by chortly at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Well guys. Let's move forward. In the worlds of Marquês de Pombal after the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, "Bury the dead, feed the living."
Trump was right. We were wrong. The media elite were wrong, who knows what else we were wrong about. Let's move forward.
posted by Telf at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
Trump was right. We were wrong. The media elite were wrong, who knows what else we were wrong about. Let's move forward.
posted by Telf at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
I have to respond to this from last thread:
Everyone, please, tone down the rhetoric here. We are going to wake up tomorrow and our kids and families will be fine.
Tell it to the Muslims, the Latinx, our queer friends, the African-Americans, the Natives defending out water at Standing Rock, and basically everybody who doesn't share a religion and skin tone with Archie fucking Bunker.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [234 favorites]
Everyone, please, tone down the rhetoric here. We are going to wake up tomorrow and our kids and families will be fine.
Tell it to the Muslims, the Latinx, our queer friends, the African-Americans, the Natives defending out water at Standing Rock, and basically everybody who doesn't share a religion and skin tone with Archie fucking Bunker.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [234 favorites]
This is so so so so so so sad. I can't even understand this happening. We came planning a party tonight - now I want to go home and snuggle my cats.
posted by arnicae at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by arnicae at 8:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Interesting question posted on 538, rebutting my own position about people voting for outsider candidate against status quo: " If the justification for Trump’s candidacy was that people are sick of Washington and want change, why aren’t more incumbents losing?"
But I don't know if that refutes the theory. How many plausible outsider candidates were running against incumbents? Also, I think it's more likely there a multi-causal effects at play. But man, if you can't beat trump, who can you beat, you know?
posted by smoke at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
But I don't know if that refutes the theory. How many plausible outsider candidates were running against incumbents? Also, I think it's more likely there a multi-causal effects at play. But man, if you can't beat trump, who can you beat, you know?
posted by smoke at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
>literally no matter what the outcome is today, white supremacy is going to be stronger than almost any of us have ever seen within our lifetimes, and this time around they have so many more people to hate, so many more vulnerable people for them to brutally harm 100% free of consequences.
And it is a time of strong realization for the rest of us that we have a responsibility to act. We are not helpless.
posted by Dragonness at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
And it is a time of strong realization for the rest of us that we have a responsibility to act. We are not helpless.
posted by Dragonness at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
Is anyone else currently drinking champagne and feeling like their doing so on the deck of the Titanic?
posted by OntologicalPuppy at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by OntologicalPuppy at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
Remember this feeling the next time an election comes around. Volunteer, both for the polls or a political party. Do something, it distracts from the gnawing terror.
posted by halifix at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by halifix at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
guys there's still a chance dark horse candidate Giant Asteroid could come out of nowhere and spare us a trump presidency
posted by entropicamericana at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [43 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [43 favorites]
OMG CLUTCHES THREAD, you don't know the despair I felt when the thread went down. It was like every bad thing was instantly true because Trump is fucking winning.
Honestly, I am having so much personal distress that I want to stress something to everyone. Please don't do anything to hurt yourself. We need each and every one of us no matter what happens. We will all be there for each other going forward. Your family needs you, metafilter needs you, the country needs you. Hell, the "let's go strangle some third-party voting Floridians" kickstarter needs you.
posted by threeturtles at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [27 favorites]
Honestly, I am having so much personal distress that I want to stress something to everyone. Please don't do anything to hurt yourself. We need each and every one of us no matter what happens. We will all be there for each other going forward. Your family needs you, metafilter needs you, the country needs you. Hell, the "let's go strangle some third-party voting Floridians" kickstarter needs you.
posted by threeturtles at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [27 favorites]
:(((((((
posted by DynamiteToast at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by DynamiteToast at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
What the heck is going on? I've been away from the news all day, and come back to crazytown?
posted by Kevin Street at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Kevin Street at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
also maybe we should close the other thread so that one godawful troll doesnt take advantage of its potential lack of moderation
posted by poffin boffin at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Octavia Butler must be spinning in her grave right about now.
posted by sutureselves at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by sutureselves at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
... and this is why you don't laugh Joe Biden out of the room when he says you need to stop ignoring all the poor people in Appalachia.
God, and Feingold is losing too. I like Feingold.
posted by pan at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
God, and Feingold is losing too. I like Feingold.
posted by pan at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
Wisconsin, you could have given us back one of the best Senators in Feingold, instead you're going to help anoint Donald Trump as president of this piece of shit country.
Now I understand how people in Ohio and/or Florida felt in previous elections. [hangs head in shame and despair]
posted by carmicha at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Now I understand how people in Ohio and/or Florida felt in previous elections. [hangs head in shame and despair]
posted by carmicha at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I want to send love to the metafilter activists who have been on the phones trying to make the difference in this election. You serve as an example of how we need to move forward in the coming years.
posted by angrybear at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [50 favorites]
posted by angrybear at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [50 favorites]
It's devastating. Why even tell the truth, why be kind to people, if you can be a monster, literally talk about assaulting women on tape, and become president?
posted by Buckt at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [69 favorites]
posted by Buckt at 8:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [69 favorites]
Short retype of a reply to:
“Worth noting: Trump doesn't cooperate with anyone”
After seeing how Jesse Ventura failed to get much of anything done in Minnesota, this might be a glimmer of hope.
posted by traveler_ at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
“Worth noting: Trump doesn't cooperate with anyone”
After seeing how Jesse Ventura failed to get much of anything done in Minnesota, this might be a glimmer of hope.
posted by traveler_ at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
As a black man of an immigrant family, I am very fearful for my young nephews and nieces and my brother in law. I knew white America hated black and brown people and I hope this election finally puts any doubts to rest.
posted by RedShrek at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [29 favorites]
posted by RedShrek at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [29 favorites]
Godspeed to our country, our fellow countrypeople, and the world at large.
posted by gucci mane at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Gotta make sure I don't accidentally wear a red baseball hat tomorrow.
I confess to leaving the President line empty on my ballot. Two very flawed candidates. But the more flawed one looks to be a winner. Scary. Not so much that he is winning, but that there are so many people in this country who feel so disenfranchised from the establishment, dem or repub, that they do the kamikaze vote for Trump.
posted by AugustWest at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I confess to leaving the President line empty on my ballot. Two very flawed candidates. But the more flawed one looks to be a winner. Scary. Not so much that he is winning, but that there are so many people in this country who feel so disenfranchised from the establishment, dem or repub, that they do the kamikaze vote for Trump.
posted by AugustWest at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Whatever is going on here, it's more than just Trump. Trump is surfing the wave of decades of destructive rhetoric. There are a lot of votes yet to be counted, but this is a real national historical low point. I don't know what else to say about what's going on beyond that. I think at some point, it's going to be time for a long national look in the mirror.
posted by feloniousmonk at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by feloniousmonk at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
I am so sad and just terrified. Just when I think I'm as sad and as scared as I can be, I think something like, "Oh, yeah, he wants Newt Gingrich in the cabinet," or remember how much earlier in the evening, my brother-in-law in France texted to predict this very situation... AS A JOKE. Wow. Wow.
posted by Miss Scarlet with the Candlestick in the Lounge at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Miss Scarlet with the Candlestick in the Lounge at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
This would be the 'chicken butt' part of 'guess what?'
posted by srboisvert at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
The Fix: Four totally plausible paths to a Trump-Clinton tie.
I swear, if this thing goes 1800, I'm going to have some words for LMM.
posted by zachlipton at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I swear, if this thing goes 1800, I'm going to have some words for LMM.
posted by zachlipton at 8:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't think democrats failed to get out the vote. I think we worked harder than we've ever worked. Turnout numbers were huge and record-breaking.
It just turns out that more Americans are utterly fucking deplorable than we thought. No one needed to call them to get them to the polls. They came of their own accord. Fueled by hate.
posted by the turtle's teeth at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [120 favorites]
It just turns out that more Americans are utterly fucking deplorable than we thought. No one needed to call them to get them to the polls. They came of their own accord. Fueled by hate.
posted by the turtle's teeth at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [120 favorites]
I can't imagine MN going for Trump. But I couldn't imagine the US going for Trump either, so here we are. I feel so sick.
posted by Elly Vortex at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Elly Vortex at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
269-269 NBC.
posted by goofyfoot at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by goofyfoot at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I feel so sick. After everything that's happened this election season...I had no idea. None. I've been so full of hope, and now it's just sadness and shame.
If anyone wants to talk or commiserate or do the Facebook thing (not that I'm on much these days) and not crowd up this thread, please feel free to MeMail me. Sometimes a shoulder to cry on can be a help.
posted by Salieri at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
If anyone wants to talk or commiserate or do the Facebook thing (not that I'm on much these days) and not crowd up this thread, please feel free to MeMail me. Sometimes a shoulder to cry on can be a help.
posted by Salieri at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm confused and revolted.
I'm physically ill.
I'm numb.
All this, plus I don't want to laugh. Not just that I can't—I actually don't want to feel the sensation of laughing. I don't ever recall feeling this way.
posted by Rykey at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
I'm physically ill.
I'm numb.
All this, plus I don't want to laugh. Not just that I can't—I actually don't want to feel the sensation of laughing. I don't ever recall feeling this way.
posted by Rykey at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
1933 Germany. God help us all.
posted by localhuman at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
posted by localhuman at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
Time to start scrubbing my internet presence
posted by schmod at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [21 favorites]
posted by schmod at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [21 favorites]
My heart goes out to Hillary. What must she be thinking?
Well, she's probably not thinking that she should just give up on society. She's probably thinking about the very large number of people who _did_ vote for her, and wondering how all that can be harnessed for the future.
posted by amtho at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
Well, she's probably not thinking that she should just give up on society. She's probably thinking about the very large number of people who _did_ vote for her, and wondering how all that can be harnessed for the future.
posted by amtho at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
Everyone, please, tone down the rhetoric here. We are going to wake up tomorrow and our kids and families will be fine.
Yes, but the damage will be on a more global scale. Trump's victory, or even near-victory is going to be a red flag to fascism around the world. There's already a tide of it flowing across the world (Europe, India, etc) but if the US, as a great global power had decisively rejected it, there would have been a chance to stem it. This is a fucking global disaster.
posted by tavegyl at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [73 favorites]
Yes, but the damage will be on a more global scale. Trump's victory, or even near-victory is going to be a red flag to fascism around the world. There's already a tide of it flowing across the world (Europe, India, etc) but if the US, as a great global power had decisively rejected it, there would have been a chance to stem it. This is a fucking global disaster.
posted by tavegyl at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [73 favorites]
This is so damned embarrassing. How could we pick such a monster? I'm just really frickin' sad right now guys.
posted by lovecrafty at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by lovecrafty at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm literally vomiting while my other half cries and hyperventilates.
posted by infinitywaltz at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by infinitywaltz at 8:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I foolishly didn't go straight to bed this evening and now am stuck watching the results with sick dread. At least I have the good company of fellow MeFites. Good luck to everyone out there. We can make it through the night together at least.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016
via MSNBC, Senator Schumer will be the presumptive Senate Minority leader.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
What happens now?
I work in the arts. My partner is a civil servant. What will happen to us?
My parents are retired civil servants. My partner’s parents are an artist and the part owner of an restaurant employment agency. What happens to them?
I have friends who are queer, and people of color. What will happen to them?
What happens to all of us on the Trump Shit List?
The queer people, the people of color, the disabled, the refugees, the non-Christians. What will happen to us now?
What happens when all the gains we made over the last eight years… over the last century… are undone like a sword through a knot?
What happens now?
It’s the uncertainty that kills me.
posted by SansPoint at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [39 favorites]
I work in the arts. My partner is a civil servant. What will happen to us?
My parents are retired civil servants. My partner’s parents are an artist and the part owner of an restaurant employment agency. What happens to them?
I have friends who are queer, and people of color. What will happen to them?
What happens to all of us on the Trump Shit List?
The queer people, the people of color, the disabled, the refugees, the non-Christians. What will happen to us now?
What happens when all the gains we made over the last eight years… over the last century… are undone like a sword through a knot?
What happens now?
It’s the uncertainty that kills me.
posted by SansPoint at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [39 favorites]
Mod note: One deleted - ugly, stop, don't bring that in here right now, it's not time.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
I'm one of those usually silent Canadian mefites. I'm watching from here with my friends and still hoping for the best. I'll go back to my silent lurking now.
posted by devonia at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by devonia at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Well, she's probably not thinking that she should just give up on society. She's probably thinking about the very large number of people who _did_ vote for her, and wondering how all that can be harnessed for the future.
She's probably thinking that more people will have voted for her than will have voted for Trump. Does that make it better or worse?
posted by Justinian at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
She's probably thinking that more people will have voted for her than will have voted for Trump. Does that make it better or worse?
posted by Justinian at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
It just turns out that more Americans are utterly fucking deplorable than we thought.
Don't forget the complete gutting of the VRA.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Don't forget the complete gutting of the VRA.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
This would be the 'chicken butt' part of 'guess what?'
posted by srboisvert
Needed this laugh. Thanks.
posted by azpenguin at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert
Needed this laugh. Thanks.
posted by azpenguin at 8:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
“There is a wall of which the stones
Are lies and bribes and dead men's bones.
And wrongfully this evil wall
Denies what all men made for all,
And shamelessly this wall surrounds
Our homesteads and our native grounds.
But I will gather and I will ride,
And I will summon a countryside,
And many a man shall hear my halloa
Who never had thought the horn to follow;
And many a man shall ride with me
Who never had thought on earth to see
High Justice in her armoury.
When we find them where they stand,
A mile of men on either hand,
I mean to charge from right away
And force the flanks of their array,
And press them inward from the plains,
And drive them clamouring down the lanes,
And gallop and harry and have them down,
And carry the gates and hold the town.
Then shall I rest me from my ride
With my great anger satisfied.
Only, before I eat and drink,
When I have killed them all, I think
That I will batter their carven names,
And slit the pictures in their frames,
And burn for scent their cedar door,
And melt the gold their women wore,
And hack their horses at the knees,
And hew to death their timber trees,
And plough their gardens deep and through—
And all these things I mean to do
For fear perhaps my little son
Should break his hands, as I have done.”
- Belloc
posted by Smedleyman at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
Are lies and bribes and dead men's bones.
And wrongfully this evil wall
Denies what all men made for all,
And shamelessly this wall surrounds
Our homesteads and our native grounds.
But I will gather and I will ride,
And I will summon a countryside,
And many a man shall hear my halloa
Who never had thought the horn to follow;
And many a man shall ride with me
Who never had thought on earth to see
High Justice in her armoury.
When we find them where they stand,
A mile of men on either hand,
I mean to charge from right away
And force the flanks of their array,
And press them inward from the plains,
And drive them clamouring down the lanes,
And gallop and harry and have them down,
And carry the gates and hold the town.
Then shall I rest me from my ride
With my great anger satisfied.
Only, before I eat and drink,
When I have killed them all, I think
That I will batter their carven names,
And slit the pictures in their frames,
And burn for scent their cedar door,
And melt the gold their women wore,
And hack their horses at the knees,
And hew to death their timber trees,
And plough their gardens deep and through—
And all these things I mean to do
For fear perhaps my little son
Should break his hands, as I have done.”
- Belloc
posted by Smedleyman at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
I can't tell you how utterly crushed I feel. I have a 6 year old daughter who is the center of my life and I desperately wanted her to grow up knowing that a woman could be president and what the rest of the US is saying is that no we don't want a woman as president. We would prefer a racist, sexist, bigoted coward to a supremely qualified female candidate.
What the fuck is wrong with us? Why do so many Americans harbor such hate in their heart? Why do lots of good people need to be punished so that a white majority can maintain their privileged spot?
Seriously fuck this, I am so fucking angry that angry farmers from Wisconsin are fucking deciding this presidency right now. God luck with those family farms when the Republicans get to work.
posted by vuron at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [49 favorites]
What the fuck is wrong with us? Why do so many Americans harbor such hate in their heart? Why do lots of good people need to be punished so that a white majority can maintain their privileged spot?
Seriously fuck this, I am so fucking angry that angry farmers from Wisconsin are fucking deciding this presidency right now. God luck with those family farms when the Republicans get to work.
posted by vuron at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [49 favorites]
All these bloviators on TV now talking about whether Clinton's "unlikeability" explains tonight's result, or maybe white working class disillusionment, or Trump's ability to "tell it like it is," and nobody's got the goddamn gonads to mention racism and misogyny.
Say it loud, and say it bluntly: misogyny and racism powered this election.
posted by ActionPopulated at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [80 favorites]
Say it loud, and say it bluntly: misogyny and racism powered this election.
posted by ActionPopulated at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [80 favorites]
Time to start scrubbing my internet presence
too bad the nsa keeps back-ups
posted by entropicamericana at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
too bad the nsa keeps back-ups
posted by entropicamericana at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I am so so so so scared. I know I'm in California, so that's some safety, but fuck. I am a Muslim American naturalized citizen. What am I supposed to do? My brother says we hold on for four years. I don't know that we can.
posted by yasaman at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [43 favorites]
posted by yasaman at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [43 favorites]
Someone in the old thread said:
Why does this feel different? Because Trump is worse?
It's different because Bush and Reagan, for all their flaws, were not sociopathic narcissistic xenophobes who openly said "We have nukes, why not use them?" A Trump presidency isn't four years of regressive policies we can reverse later--as bad as that would be. It's four years of the whole damn world holding its breath because we have no idea what that guy might do. I would gladly make someone like Romney president for life if it saved us from one term of Donald Trump.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [123 favorites]
Why does this feel different? Because Trump is worse?
It's different because Bush and Reagan, for all their flaws, were not sociopathic narcissistic xenophobes who openly said "We have nukes, why not use them?" A Trump presidency isn't four years of regressive policies we can reverse later--as bad as that would be. It's four years of the whole damn world holding its breath because we have no idea what that guy might do. I would gladly make someone like Romney president for life if it saved us from one term of Donald Trump.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [123 favorites]
I'm genuinely scared. I've been having a three hour panic attack that I can't seem to quell.
posted by gern at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by gern at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I can see the cracks exposed in families, in people who had plans, in projected futures. I cannot find more words, because there are none.
posted by holgate at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by holgate at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
A tie is decided in the House of Representatives - it is no salvation
posted by thelonius at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
1933 Germany. God help us all.
. Start planning.
Start getting TIGHT with your city government, because the first order of business is to prevent the police from being an instrument of Trump's will.
posted by ocschwar at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
. Start planning.
Start getting TIGHT with your city government, because the first order of business is to prevent the police from being an instrument of Trump's will.
posted by ocschwar at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
R senate, R House, Trump as prez, and multiple open SCOTUS seats.
I have difficulty looking at that and carrying on as if it's business as usual
Maybe it'll seem different tomorrow.
posted by Lord_Pall at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
I have difficulty looking at that and carrying on as if it's business as usual
Maybe it'll seem different tomorrow.
posted by Lord_Pall at 8:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
i tuned out for a few hours and just checked back in now.
wow.
wow.
posted by Golem XIV at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
wow.
wow.
posted by Golem XIV at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
traveler_: "After seeing how Jesse Ventura failed to get much of anything done in Minnesota, this might be a glimmer of hope."
Donald Trump is going to have access to 100% of the security briefings. He's got quite a bit more embodied power than any governor.
posted by Mitheral at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Donald Trump is going to have access to 100% of the security briefings. He's got quite a bit more embodied power than any governor.
posted by Mitheral at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Just a thought - I wonder how corb is doing...
posted by RedOrGreen at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by RedOrGreen at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
We're paddling hard to keep up, bear with us.
What is going on cortex, we've had threads way bigger than this
Multiplicative effect of large-ish thread and lots of people loading it.
cortex, Chat link is broken
Fixed!
posted by cortex at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
What is going on cortex, we've had threads way bigger than this
Multiplicative effect of large-ish thread and lots of people loading it.
cortex, Chat link is broken
Fixed!
posted by cortex at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
We have an opportunity here. To go from the Winston Churchill quote:
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts."
To the Winston Churchill quote (adapted):
"If these United States should last for a thousand years, the people would still say: This Was Their Finest Hour."
We stay. We fight for what we believe in. We are not beaten.
posted by susiswimmer at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts."
To the Winston Churchill quote (adapted):
"If these United States should last for a thousand years, the people would still say: This Was Their Finest Hour."
We stay. We fight for what we believe in. We are not beaten.
posted by susiswimmer at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
If I go to bed now, this can be a bad dream that I wake up from, right?
posted by rmless at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by rmless at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Don't worry, we can still impeach him.
He's got two court cases coming up in a few weeks, and they're not going away.
posted by Autumnheart at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
He's got two court cases coming up in a few weeks, and they're not going away.
posted by Autumnheart at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
ocschwar: Start getting TIGHT with your city government, because the first order of business is to prevent the police from being an instrument of Trump's will.
It's too late for that. I live in NYC.
posted by SansPoint at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
It's too late for that. I live in NYC.
posted by SansPoint at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
hope everyone who voted third party or left that blank feels real good about the next four years
thanks for sacrificing the rest of us on your altar of ideological purity
posted by Anonymous at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016
thanks for sacrificing the rest of us on your altar of ideological purity
posted by Anonymous at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016
After all we've done, every battle hard-won
Every hair gone gray in the name of this place
In a history plagued with incredible mistakes
Still I pledge my allegiance to these United divided States
posted by nicebookrack at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Every hair gone gray in the name of this place
In a history plagued with incredible mistakes
Still I pledge my allegiance to these United divided States
posted by nicebookrack at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
We lost. Time to hit the drawing board d
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Canada's immigration website has crashed. (real)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
Oh god they just asked Rudy Giuliani which cabinet post he would like
posted by cacofonie at 8:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by cacofonie at 8:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I am so so so so scared. I know I'm in California, so that's some safety, but fuck. I am a Muslim American naturalized citizen. What am I supposed to do? My brother says we hold on for four years. I don't know that we can.
posted by yasaman at 5:56 PM on November 8
Sending you love, yasaman.
posted by scarylarry at 8:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by yasaman at 5:56 PM on November 8
Sending you love, yasaman.
posted by scarylarry at 8:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
I know I'm in California, so that's some safety, but fuck. I am a Muslim American naturalized citizen. What am I supposed to do? My brother says we hold on for four years. I don't know that we can.
Yes, I take the smallest bit of comfort that I also live in CA.
I am not going to tell you how to feel, I can't imagine. I can tell you that California will not let jack shit happen to you. Period. Tell people in the other states to move here if they are also afraid.
posted by Justinian at 8:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
Yes, I take the smallest bit of comfort that I also live in CA.
I am not going to tell you how to feel, I can't imagine. I can tell you that California will not let jack shit happen to you. Period. Tell people in the other states to move here if they are also afraid.
posted by Justinian at 8:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
Don't worry, we can still impeach him.
Yeah, Mike Pence as the backup plan. That'll go well.
posted by waitingtoderail at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [57 favorites]
Yeah, Mike Pence as the backup plan. That'll go well.
posted by waitingtoderail at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [57 favorites]
This is going to be bad for tourism.
posted by clavdivs at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
Have all the early ballots been counted?
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Everyone, please, tone down the rhetoric here. We are going to wake up tomorrow and our kids and families will be fine.
Tell it to the Muslims, the Latinx, our queer friends, the African-Americans, the Natives defending out water at Standing Rock, and basically everybody who doesn't share a religion and skin tone with Archie fucking Bunker.
Also, what happens to all the families with health insurance once Congress repeals Obamacare and replaces it with ...? And every immigrant here under the Dream Act, or even less? What happens to our children who grow up in a world where racism, xenophobia, and misogyny are acceptable? Not to mention the massive economic crash that's coming?
posted by Capri at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [60 favorites]
Tell it to the Muslims, the Latinx, our queer friends, the African-Americans, the Natives defending out water at Standing Rock, and basically everybody who doesn't share a religion and skin tone with Archie fucking Bunker.
Also, what happens to all the families with health insurance once Congress repeals Obamacare and replaces it with ...
posted by Capri at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [60 favorites]
via MSNBC, Senator Schumer will be the presumptive Senate Minority leader.
That's good, because he made sure the Democrats are in the minority.
posted by Gelatin at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
That's good, because he made sure the Democrats are in the minority.
posted by Gelatin at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Everyone, please, tone down the rhetoric here. We are going to wake up tomorrow and our kids and families will be fine.
I have a Girl Scout meeting tomorrow night. My girls are Mexican American, the children and grandchildren of immigrants. They have been scared of Donald Trump for MONTHS. They know he hates them. They know he hates their families. We learned about government several meetings back and they wrote a letter to Barack Obama--in it they said "please don't let Donald Trump be President because some people want to stay with their families." No one told them to say that, this is what's on their minds--children 8, 9 years old are thinking about this and worried about this and scared for their families. And that was when we were all "sure" that Hillary would win.
Anyone saying it'll "be fine", please give me a script for how to talk to them tomorrow.
posted by phunniemee at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [123 favorites]
I have a Girl Scout meeting tomorrow night. My girls are Mexican American, the children and grandchildren of immigrants. They have been scared of Donald Trump for MONTHS. They know he hates them. They know he hates their families. We learned about government several meetings back and they wrote a letter to Barack Obama--in it they said "please don't let Donald Trump be President because some people want to stay with their families." No one told them to say that, this is what's on their minds--children 8, 9 years old are thinking about this and worried about this and scared for their families. And that was when we were all "sure" that Hillary would win.
Anyone saying it'll "be fine", please give me a script for how to talk to them tomorrow.
posted by phunniemee at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [123 favorites]
This Canadian can't watch anymore. I am sorry my American friends; maybe there is still hope out there tonight, but it will have to find me in the morning.
Goodnight America. Stay safe.
posted by nubs at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Goodnight America. Stay safe.
posted by nubs at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm genuinely scared. I've been having a three hour panic attack that I can't seem to quell.
Take care of yourself. We can get through this together, okay? We are not alone in this. *hugs*
posted by Defying Gravity at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Take care of yourself. We can get through this together, okay? We are not alone in this. *hugs*
posted by Defying Gravity at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
My take? I am despondent but not too surprised to find myself living in a country populated with fucking idiots...
posted by jim in austin at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by jim in austin at 8:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
So Trump gets impeached and we get President Pence. Oh yay.
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
This is just so bizarre to me. I live in Minnesota, which is fairly liberal but not exactly California or anything, and I don't know a SINGLE open Trump supporter. In fact I know many working-class, white, retired dudes who are extremely vocally pro-Hillary. Yesterday, anyone in my circle who said they were even Trump-curious would have been ostracized. Clearly people are behaving very differently in the polling booth than they do in public.
But I am choosing to look on the bright side. The latent racism and sexism was always there; it was just hidden by social politeness. Yesterday, it was possible to say that a small percentage of America was hateful, but the majority was fine. Now that the hate has been exposed, we'll be that much more motivated and focused in working to fix it.
posted by miyabo at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
But I am choosing to look on the bright side. The latent racism and sexism was always there; it was just hidden by social politeness. Yesterday, it was possible to say that a small percentage of America was hateful, but the majority was fine. Now that the hate has been exposed, we'll be that much more motivated and focused in working to fix it.
posted by miyabo at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Wasn't expecting to spend the night trying to reassure my crying girlfriend that if the worst happens we will still find a way, any way, to keep getting her treatment for her brain tumor. Really going to be hard to coexist with people who want to fuck with her life and the lives of millions like her.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [111 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [111 favorites]
Things likely going up in smoke: Iran nuclear deal, Obamacare, Supreme Court, Roe v Wade, International Relations with China, International Relations with Mexico, what else?
posted by leotrotsky at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
This is gonna really suck, isn't it? I mean like out loud like my parents used to talk about. Where you went to segregated dances and drank at fountains that said whites only?
Growing my beard and brushing up on my Farsi.
posted by Sphinx at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Growing my beard and brushing up on my Farsi.
posted by Sphinx at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Wonder what James fucking Comey is doing tonight.
posted by wildblueyonder at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by wildblueyonder at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
Anyone saying it'll "be fine", please give me a script for how to talk to them tomorrow.
step one: remind them of the importance of being a cis white heterosexual man
step two: welp
posted by poffin boffin at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
step one: remind them of the importance of being a cis white heterosexual man
step two: welp
posted by poffin boffin at 9:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
Oh, any kind of nuclear security, as well.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Trump will do everything possible to destroy Obama's legacy.
Mass deportations are not an impossibility.
My God, Secretary of Defense Flynn!
WOLVERINES!!!!!!!!!
posted by Golden Eternity at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Mass deportations are not an impossibility.
My God, Secretary of Defense Flynn!
WOLVERINES!!!!!!!!!
posted by Golden Eternity at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
How were not only the pre-election polls wrong, but also the exit polls? Like, all of them? How is that possible?
posted by indubitable at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by indubitable at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
posted by kuatto at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by kuatto at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
So when do we start the underground railroad to help our queer or PoC or non-Christian or trans friends escape out of the country?
posted by FritoKAL at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
posted by FritoKAL at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
Things likely going up in smoke: Iran nuclear deal, Obamacare, Supreme Court, Roe v Wade, International Relations with China, International Relations with Mexico, what else?
Climate change treaties.
posted by nubs at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
Climate change treaties.
posted by nubs at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
It is not going to be fine. It may be fine for white, cis-gendered, hetero (or at least hetero-passing) people like me, but it is not going to be fine for everyone else. Do not pretend otherwise.
I'm going to bed. I have to go to work. While I still have a job to go to. Fortunately, my job is contingent on the demands of rich elites to have high class entertainment, which isn't likely to be impacted too much.
posted by SansPoint at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
I'm going to bed. I have to go to work. While I still have a job to go to. Fortunately, my job is contingent on the demands of rich elites to have high class entertainment, which isn't likely to be impacted too much.
posted by SansPoint at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
As a Jewish woman, I am absolutely terrified. Granted, I live in a blue state, so that is some small comfort, but still...
posted by SisterHavana at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by SisterHavana at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
great_radio: "Can anyone provide a link of the original "This is fine. Everything is fine." comic?"
This is fine.
posted by t3h933k at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is fine.
posted by t3h933k at 9:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
National Parks, Progressive Taxation, Equal pay, minimum wage, the EPA, Department of Education, NATO
posted by Lord_Pall at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Lord_Pall at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Can anyone provide a link of the original "This is fine. Everything is fine." comic?
This is fine.
posted by carsonb at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is fine.
posted by carsonb at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's not over. Not that we can do anything but pray. But if you can, do that now.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Better Pence than Trump. Pence has at least some passing experience with governing and the Constitution. Trump does not.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Autumnheart at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016
Mod note: Some comments deleted. Don't go after each other, don't poke known sore points.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
So when do we start the underground railroad to help our queer or PoC or non-Christian or trans friends escape out of the country?
Please don't do this.
posted by zutalors! at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
It wasn't a joke.
posted by FritoKAL at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [49 favorites]
posted by FritoKAL at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [49 favorites]
From Matthew Merlino:
Five stages of Democrat grief:
1. Blame third party voters
2. Call out non-voters for their white privilege
3. Call your opponents stupid
4. Hint at some revolutionary action after a year of calling anyone to the left of Clinton a dreamer with no real policy details
5. Agree to take the higher ground and cooperate with Republicans because we just have to put our noses to the grindstone
Yeah. The sooner we process this, the sooner we can go on fighting fascism -- together.
posted by grobstein at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Five stages of Democrat grief:
1. Blame third party voters
2. Call out non-voters for their white privilege
3. Call your opponents stupid
4. Hint at some revolutionary action after a year of calling anyone to the left of Clinton a dreamer with no real policy details
5. Agree to take the higher ground and cooperate with Republicans because we just have to put our noses to the grindstone
Yeah. The sooner we process this, the sooner we can go on fighting fascism -- together.
posted by grobstein at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.posted by Rumple at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [52 favorites]
I'm genuinely scared. I've been having a three hour panic attack that I can't seem to quell.
Same. My pulse is through the roof and I seem to have forgotten how to breathe properly. And it took several tries to type this with everything spelled correctly - hands are shaking.
posted by pemberkins at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Same. My pulse is through the roof and I seem to have forgotten how to breathe properly. And it took several tries to type this with everything spelled correctly - hands are shaking.
posted by pemberkins at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Love and hugs to everyone, not really capable of forming any other thoughts about anything. Thank you to everyone who tried.
posted by Artw at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by Artw at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
Please don't do this.
Don't do what? I mean, we need to start organizing. it's not unreasonable to talk this way.
posted by Miko at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [44 favorites]
Don't do what? I mean, we need to start organizing. it's not unreasonable to talk this way.
posted by Miko at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [44 favorites]
Please don't do this
Why not? or were Trump's speeches just chit chat with friends in the locker room?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
Why not? or were Trump's speeches just chit chat with friends in the locker room?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
The country just went full-on reactionary, as I've seen it do for my entire adult life. So in a way this is nothing new to me. I just wish we had the ability to stay calm, make sound investments in the future, and i don't know, actually give a crap about our level of discourse on the national stage.
posted by Room 101 at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Room 101 at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
The words "rogue nation" are gonna come up, frankly
posted by middleclasstool at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by middleclasstool at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
What the hell. Our government is going to be led by folks like Mike Pence. Newt Gingrich. Rudy Giuliani. Kellyanne. Kid Shitler. Chris Christie. Redpillers. Gamergaters. White supremacists. Trump's SCOTUS appointees. Paul Ryan.
Hell.
posted by darkstar at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Hell.
posted by darkstar at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
anyone here remember when we used to have a Voting Rights Act?
posted by beerperson at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
posted by beerperson at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
Don't forget the updated version: "This is not fine!"
posted by bawanaal at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by bawanaal at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
if not impeached you may have 16 yrs of Trump, Donald followed by Ivanka...
posted by Wilder at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Wilder at 9:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's going to be so much worse than any of us can imagine.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
The gun is not at our heads yet. I have lived trough times of no hope before and I think so has everyone here. I am going to stay alive, because when you live to TELL, you still win. I give everyone permission to run or fight as needed.
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Focus on local elections and on 2018, folks. Consider running yourself - for water board, school board, county positions. The far right worked their way uo from these "minor" positions, and it paid off. Guess this our turn.
posted by msalt at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by msalt at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
I'd been joking with my partner that it was nice of Lin-Manuel to write Hamilton so that was a really beautiful and inspiring story of the American experiment before democracy as we know it is destroyed....I never thought that would actually be a possibility.
posted by TheLateGreatAbrahamLincoln at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by TheLateGreatAbrahamLincoln at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
This is going to be bad for tourism.
No way. Cheap holidays on the back of a busted buck, ahead.
posted by unliteral at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
No way. Cheap holidays on the back of a busted buck, ahead.
posted by unliteral at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Calling it a night. Lots of work tomorrow.
Lots of work for a while to come. Best to you all, and I hope you get a few minutes of rest.
posted by Mooski at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016
Lots of work for a while to come. Best to you all, and I hope you get a few minutes of rest.
posted by Mooski at 9:04 PM on November 8, 2016
My wife is asleep. I keep begging the universe to change this possibility before she wakes up and asks me.
posted by nakedmolerats at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by nakedmolerats at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
So painful. I am at a Washington democrats party and a dude was legislating the primary. Clinton isn't "inspiring". Barf. So yeah there's some under bus throwing.
posted by R343L at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by R343L at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Please don't do this
Why not? or was Trump's speeches just chit chat with friends in the locker room?
Don't do what? I mean, we need to start organizing. it's not unreasonable to talk this way.
For one, I'm a PoC, and don't like the "our friends" language when we are right here. Two, I'd rather not be smuggled out of the country. Three, quit ginning up fear. Especially if you are white.
posted by zutalors! at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [45 favorites]
Obama's only thought right now needs to be preemptively pardoning Hilary for any imaginary crimes.
It's going to be that bad.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
It's going to be that bad.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
she can still win right? please tell me it's still possible.
Possible, but very, very unlikely.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016
Possible, but very, very unlikely.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016
I used to believe in America, that people were fundamentally decent. I don't know what to believe anymore. The thing we thought was the worst case scenario (Hillary squeaks by with a Republican Congress) is now the best case scenario. At this moment, this is not my country.
posted by dannyboybell at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by dannyboybell at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
ErisLordFreedom : And how soon will he scare or anger enough of his party to get himself impeached.
This is the worst case I've been screaming about at the top of my lungs to anyone who will listen; Trump, if elected, /will/ get impeached. He has too many skeletons, too many shoes about to drop, too little self control, and a broad base of even-the-usually-faithful-Republicans against him.
And being president is a lot different than running. Running you can say all sorts of crazy shit because it isn't impacting policy yet, but once in office, people have a much lower threshold for bullshit. Particularly when that bullshit directly affects their lives.
So, /when/ Trump is impeached, we get the far more terrifying event; Pence as president. The man's stated platform is to undo any kind of abortion rights, undo gay rights, and generally do as much as possible to roll the clock back on the achievements of women's rights right back to the 1930s or so. Trump is a terrifying clown- he is chaos in orange. Pence is a specific and dangerous threat to pretty much everyone who isn't a straight white male. (who isn't an atheist.)
I went so far as to predict that if Pence gets into office, we might actually see the Pope chastise a sitting president. Pence's Catholicism clearly hasn't embraced many of the changes Francis has been putting in place, and I can absolutely see that causing friction.
And for a Catholic who is /so/ very faithful that policy is derived from your beliefs, having the Pope call you out is like being told you are headed for a quick trip to the hot place when you die.
posted by quin at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
This is the worst case I've been screaming about at the top of my lungs to anyone who will listen; Trump, if elected, /will/ get impeached. He has too many skeletons, too many shoes about to drop, too little self control, and a broad base of even-the-usually-faithful-Republicans against him.
And being president is a lot different than running. Running you can say all sorts of crazy shit because it isn't impacting policy yet, but once in office, people have a much lower threshold for bullshit. Particularly when that bullshit directly affects their lives.
So, /when/ Trump is impeached, we get the far more terrifying event; Pence as president. The man's stated platform is to undo any kind of abortion rights, undo gay rights, and generally do as much as possible to roll the clock back on the achievements of women's rights right back to the 1930s or so. Trump is a terrifying clown- he is chaos in orange. Pence is a specific and dangerous threat to pretty much everyone who isn't a straight white male. (who isn't an atheist.)
I went so far as to predict that if Pence gets into office, we might actually see the Pope chastise a sitting president. Pence's Catholicism clearly hasn't embraced many of the changes Francis has been putting in place, and I can absolutely see that causing friction.
And for a Catholic who is /so/ very faithful that policy is derived from your beliefs, having the Pope call you out is like being told you are headed for a quick trip to the hot place when you die.
posted by quin at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
So... if you're thinking, right now, that you may have to live the next four years of your life under President Trump, just remember that you might actually be getting your marching orders from Mike Pence. (Not that that's significantly better, mind you.)
One day this past May, Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reached out to a senior adviser to Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who left the presidential race just a few weeks before. As a candidate, Kasich declared in March that Trump was “really not prepared to be president of the United States,” and the following month he took the highly unusual step of coordinating with his rival Senator Ted Cruz in an effort to deny Trump the nomination. But according to the Kasich adviser (who spoke only under the condition that he not be named), Donald Jr. wanted to make him an offer nonetheless: Did he have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history?
When Kasich’s adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father’s vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy.
Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of?
“Making America great again” was the casual reply.
posted by Clay201 at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
One day this past May, Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reached out to a senior adviser to Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who left the presidential race just a few weeks before. As a candidate, Kasich declared in March that Trump was “really not prepared to be president of the United States,” and the following month he took the highly unusual step of coordinating with his rival Senator Ted Cruz in an effort to deny Trump the nomination. But according to the Kasich adviser (who spoke only under the condition that he not be named), Donald Jr. wanted to make him an offer nonetheless: Did he have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history?
When Kasich’s adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father’s vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy.
Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of?
“Making America great again” was the casual reply.
posted by Clay201 at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
IA is called for Trump according to the Guardian map. Which means we need some sort of Democratic surge in MI and WI... ulp.
posted by eviemath at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by eviemath at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
The astounding thing here is how many people lied to pollsters, not just on the phone, but exit polls too. Is this an indictment of people voting for someone they were ashamed to own even semi-anonymously, or for society for not allowing people to speak their minds? Maybe Clinton could have dug deeper on her message and program, and won, if she knew where the electorate really was, not where they felt compelled to appear to be?
posted by MattD at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by MattD at 9:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
she can still win right? please tell me it's still possible.
I don't believe so: "Clinton needs to win Pennsylvania. The problem is that her lead has dropped to about 7,000 with plenty of votes left to be counted in Republican areas. Meanwhile, the city of Philadelphia has had almost all of its votes counted."
posted by danb at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016
I don't believe so: "Clinton needs to win Pennsylvania. The problem is that her lead has dropped to about 7,000 with plenty of votes left to be counted in Republican areas. Meanwhile, the city of Philadelphia has had almost all of its votes counted."
posted by danb at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016
At this point, even if Clinton wins, I think I'm still going to remain stunned by how many votes Trump got for quite some time. I've had to recalibrate my pessimism and cynicism multiple times already this election cycle. But apparently not enough.
posted by at home in my head at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by at home in my head at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Dollar falling.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
"The Road" just got about a hundred years closer.
posted by Slinga at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Slinga at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Ahhh don't do this to me I need my MeFi
In election news, Florida legalized suicide, so clearly they want to drag America to hell.
posted by numaner at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
In election news, Florida legalized suicide, so clearly they want to drag America to hell.
posted by numaner at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
aaaanyway i guess i don't really have to worry abt becoming addicted to painkillers anymore since i won't be able to get healthcare at any price
posted by poffin boffin at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Dammit. I got married this year, and now the country is handing power to people who want to make my marriage illegal.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by rmd1023 at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Good news, everyone! CNN sez Clinton currently ahead in PA by 0.1%.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Sys Rq at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Woke up because the baby was crying. He's back to sleep. We are wide awake. This is saddening in so many ways.
posted by sciencegeek at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by sciencegeek at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I'm Australian, and I feel sick. Genuinely, pit-of-stomach sick. I have not met one single person who thinks this is good.
Trump viscerally horrifies me. America, you have my deepest sympathy.
posted by Salamander at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
Trump viscerally horrifies me. America, you have my deepest sympathy.
posted by Salamander at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
Impeaching Trump still leaves Mike Fucking Pence as president.
posted by Catblack at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Catblack at 9:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
remember when the shrub won and everyone went "well, how bad could he be, really?" [ff 8 months past inauguration...]
posted by entropicamericana at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
unliteral: "This is going to be bad for tourism.
No way. Cheap holidays on the back of a busted buck, ahead."
From where? Canadians and Brits won't have any money and Trump will be at quasi war with everyone else.
posted by Mitheral at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
No way. Cheap holidays on the back of a busted buck, ahead."
From where? Canadians and Brits won't have any money and Trump will be at quasi war with everyone else.
posted by Mitheral at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
On another forum: "I'm not so upset about the new Macbook Pro any more."
posted by thelonius at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [70 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [70 favorites]
Whoops I was being optimistic as recently as 30 minutes ago and now I'm favoriting all the defeatist comments. Well I'm in for the revolution guys.
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
The simple reality is that people are going to die because of tonight's result. The Republicans are going to dismantle Obamacare and some people are going to lose their insurance. Some of those people will just get sick and have to declare bankruptcy. Some of them will die. Some of those people are posters on the blue.
Don't patronize them with the world will go on because for a percentage of Americans their well-being just went out the fucking door.
All because Trump promised to talk big about jobs when those fucking jobs are never going to come back.
The truth is that Rural White America wanted a hero, and baring that they wanted a bully. A bully that could bully the rest of America like they feel they've been bullied. Sorry but I have nothing for contempt for those people.
posted by vuron at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [129 favorites]
Don't patronize them with the world will go on because for a percentage of Americans their well-being just went out the fucking door.
All because Trump promised to talk big about jobs when those fucking jobs are never going to come back.
The truth is that Rural White America wanted a hero, and baring that they wanted a bully. A bully that could bully the rest of America like they feel they've been bullied. Sorry but I have nothing for contempt for those people.
posted by vuron at 9:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [129 favorites]
Any guesses on the possibility of a bank run tomorrow?
posted by lumpenprole at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by lumpenprole at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
to be fair though she didn't have a very good email setup
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
I'm feeling... maybe this is just kind of numb, at this point.
I sent an email to my mother asking if she voted for him.
There's only one answer to this that means I can go home for Christmas and feel safe in her house.
I keep trying to tell myself that I've made it this far without support from my parents. If my dad is dead now, it's not like he was there for me before. If I never speak to my mother again, it's not like she was there for me before.
I'm Hispanic, and my mother is white, and I'm pretty sure she voted for him, and I'm distressed by the idea that he could win, but I'm not sure it makes my life any easier if he doesn't. I can only just barely deal with the knowledge that this much of the country is okay with voting for a man who openly abuses women and spouts racism at every opportunity. But it's not just the country. It's my mom.
I don't win this.
posted by Sequence at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
I sent an email to my mother asking if she voted for him.
There's only one answer to this that means I can go home for Christmas and feel safe in her house.
I keep trying to tell myself that I've made it this far without support from my parents. If my dad is dead now, it's not like he was there for me before. If I never speak to my mother again, it's not like she was there for me before.
I'm Hispanic, and my mother is white, and I'm pretty sure she voted for him, and I'm distressed by the idea that he could win, but I'm not sure it makes my life any easier if he doesn't. I can only just barely deal with the knowledge that this much of the country is okay with voting for a man who openly abuses women and spouts racism at every opportunity. But it's not just the country. It's my mom.
I don't win this.
posted by Sequence at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
Make plans. Really, make plans, proper plans, the plans that Mormons are instructed to make by their history. The existence of California and Trumplandia in parallel is not a sustainable national settlement.
posted by holgate at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by holgate at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I just looked at the 538 snake and the WI votes. It looks to me like Clinton can *easily* win WI, MI, PA and the election.
The Trump P=.84 looks dumb to me. This is going to be a late night. There are way more than enough votes yet uncounted for Clinton to win. Aren't most of the uncounted votes in the biggest cities? What am I missing?
posted by bukvich at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
The Trump P=.84 looks dumb to me. This is going to be a late night. There are way more than enough votes yet uncounted for Clinton to win. Aren't most of the uncounted votes in the biggest cities? What am I missing?
posted by bukvich at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Is it too late to ask for Trump's tax returns? I'd still like to see what's in them.
posted by Room 101 at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Room 101 at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Impeaching Trump still leaves Mike Fucking Pence as president.
Even worse. If somehow how both get impeached, Paul Ryan becomes POTUS.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Even worse. If somehow how both get impeached, Paul Ryan becomes POTUS.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Raise your hand if you were for eliminating the filibuster about two hours ago and are suddenly finding yourself convinced by the arguments in favor of keeping it.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
Don't blame me, I voted for Kod....Fuck, I'm not in a joking mood. This election is far from a laughing matter.
posted by bawanaal at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by bawanaal at 9:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I consider this a call to action. Even if she wins.
posted by goofyfoot at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by goofyfoot at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
The sea of red hats in the Trump headquarters is chilling. They're the new black shirts.
posted by apricot at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by apricot at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Hey guys I'm about to board my Auckland to San Fran flight and I don't know what kind of country I'm landing in. My home isn't my home anymore. Having dual citizenship is cold fucking comfort at the moment. See y'all on the other side.
posted by supercrayon at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by supercrayon at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
It's not going to be fine. I want to say it will but I can't. Yes there is so, so, much that Trump is going to do that will not be fine. But we only have a small window left to not completely fuck up the globe with climate change and America has just elected a guy and a party who thinks it's BS.
Not sure how anything can happen with the US on board. With Clinton there would have been still hope. Climate change is going to have reprcussions on everything and there is just no way that Trump and the dolts he's going to put on his 'team' have any ability or the intellect to deal with the consequences.
The only hope right now and a really hate to say it because it's so not good for the US, is for the rest of the world to band together against it. The climate change fight is not going to be pretty.
This is a nightmare come true.
posted by Jalliah at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
I know that being white and living in Massachusetts and having a job with health insurance makes me incredibly privileged in this dark universe we're about to enter into, so I promise, I'll find a way to be strong and do what I can to help all of you who are going to be going through even more hell than I am, but right now, I just feel so weak and despondent and terrified and just so so lost.
How did we get here? How do we keep going?
It all just looks so dark. I can't believe I have to wake up and head to work in the morning. How do we find the will to go on?
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
How did we get here? How do we keep going?
It all just looks so dark. I can't believe I have to wake up and head to work in the morning. How do we find the will to go on?
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
This is some real bullshit here.
posted by Sphinx at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Sphinx at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
vuron: "The simple reality is that people are going to die because of tonight's result. The Republicans are going to dismantle Obamacare and some people are going to lose their insurance. Some of those people will just get sick and have to declare bankruptcy. Some of them will die. Some of those people are posters on the blue."
People die in an economic crash from all sorts of reasons. The upcoming crash is going to be horrible; deep and wide.
posted by Mitheral at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
People die in an economic crash from all sorts of reasons. The upcoming crash is going to be horrible; deep and wide.
posted by Mitheral at 9:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
It's not going to be that bad, it's not going to be good, but it's not going to be the end of everything you hold dear. The US government is more than just one person.
posted by FallowKing at 9:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by FallowKing at 9:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
My savings are now worth 12% less than 4 hours ago — a Mexican.
posted by Omon Ra at 9:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by Omon Ra at 9:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
Impeaching Trump still leaves Mike Fucking Pence as president.
Pence is nightmarish. But not launch-the-nukes nightmarish.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
Pence is nightmarish. But not launch-the-nukes nightmarish.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
I can't breathe.
posted by vibrotronica at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by vibrotronica at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I just looked at the 538 snake and the WI votes. It looks to me like Clinton can *easily* win WI, MI, PA and the election.
She's already lost WI.
posted by dirigibleman at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
She's already lost WI.
posted by dirigibleman at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
So, /when/ Trump is impeached, we get the far more terrifying event; Pence as president.
I understand why people feel this way, but Pence, horrid as he is, is not going to call for a nuclear strike because someone pissed him off on Twitter at 3:00 a.m. Given Trump or Pence, I'd take Pence in a heartbeat.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
I understand why people feel this way, but Pence, horrid as he is, is not going to call for a nuclear strike because someone pissed him off on Twitter at 3:00 a.m. Given Trump or Pence, I'd take Pence in a heartbeat.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
I was holding off on applying to schools to finish this degree until after today. One month to go with this phase. I was getting so excited about the next step, and now... why? What even is the point?
I hope I feel more optimistic in the morning.
posted by palomar at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I hope I feel more optimistic in the morning.
posted by palomar at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
The Republicans are going to dismantle Obamacare and some people are going to lose their insurance.
"Do we have a year to sort this out somehow? Or do we need another option now, no matter how bad it is?"
That's the conversation among high-earning people with chronic illness. Type 1 diabetics, people who've got past cancer in the past. Because if you don't think that the iffy-Trump GOP in Congress are now swearing fealty to a bullshit cause, then you are deluding yourself.
posted by holgate at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
"Do we have a year to sort this out somehow? Or do we need another option now, no matter how bad it is?"
That's the conversation among high-earning people with chronic illness. Type 1 diabetics, people who've got past cancer in the past. Because if you don't think that the iffy-Trump GOP in Congress are now swearing fealty to a bullshit cause, then you are deluding yourself.
posted by holgate at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Why not? or was Trump's speeches just chit chat with friends in the locker room?
Well, actually... yes. While the people Trump wants to put in positions of power are truly vile and would cause us a great deal of damage, he goes back on his statements fairly often. His words convey what he's feeling, not specific plans.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Well, actually... yes. While the people Trump wants to put in positions of power are truly vile and would cause us a great deal of damage, he goes back on his statements fairly often. His words convey what he's feeling, not specific plans.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
FUCK 2016
posted by en forme de poire at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [51 favorites]
posted by en forme de poire at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [51 favorites]
Yeah, my kid was born with a pre-existing condition and couldn't get health insurance until Obamacare. So fuck this glib repeal shit.
posted by vverse23 at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
posted by vverse23 at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
The US government is more than just one person.
Yeah, but there's more than just one person that we have to worry about.
How far down the order of secession do we have to go to get someone not absolutely terrible?
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Yeah, but there's more than just one person that we have to worry about.
How far down the order of secession do we have to go to get someone not absolutely terrible?
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
While we're laughing at America for something like 48% of it voting for Trump, can we save some scorn for the 3% of us who voted for Gary "What is Aleppo" Fucking Johnson?
posted by tonycpsu at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [41 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [41 favorites]
Jesus Christ, how?
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
It's not going to be that bad, it's not going to be good, but it's not going to be the end of everything you hold dear. The US government is more than just one person.
Trump didn't just win, Trump-ism won, resoundingly. They control all 3 branches. For at least 4 years. He can act with absolute impunity.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
Trump didn't just win, Trump-ism won, resoundingly. They control all 3 branches. For at least 4 years. He can act with absolute impunity.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
I know that being white and living in Massachusetts and having a job with health insurance
And even those things won't help you if you become chronically or severely ill and they repeal the Affordable Care Act, and along with it the provisions regarding preexisting conditions. A.k.a. what vverse23 said.
posted by limeonaire at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
And even those things won't help you if you become chronically or severely ill and they repeal the Affordable Care Act, and along with it the provisions regarding preexisting conditions. A.k.a. what vverse23 said.
posted by limeonaire at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I'm going to bed. I'm sorry. I was hoping to be leading rousing victory cheers. Hillary might still win but I am demoralizied, and I hate my country a bit tonight, and I hate that orange asshole, and I just can not imagine this shit right now. I'm sorry. I'll fight but I'll fight tomorrow.
posted by vrakatar at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by vrakatar at 9:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
The US government is more than just one person.
That is true but we have no idea what to expect from Trump. He could change the very structure of the country/world.
I hate when people are fatalistic but things seems pretty fucked at the moment.
posted by saul wright at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
That is true but we have no idea what to expect from Trump. He could change the very structure of the country/world.
I hate when people are fatalistic but things seems pretty fucked at the moment.
posted by saul wright at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
That's the conversation among high-earning people with chronic illness. Type 1 diabetics, people who've got past cancer in the past.
I do wish there had been more campaigning around this, but it's too late for what-ifs like that now.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016
I do wish there had been more campaigning around this, but it's too late for what-ifs like that now.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016
Like enough people just didn't fucking care though. One of my spinning instructors is black and gay, and he was talking about the debates and laughing about the zingers Trump got in on Hillary. He didn't care. People just don't give a shit about politics. I'm considering being like them.
posted by zutalors! at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by zutalors! at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
While we're laughing at America for something like 48% of it voting for Trump, can we save some scorn for the 3% of us who voted for Gary "What is Aleppo" Fucking Johnson?
I'm in Australia. No one is fucking laughing.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [34 favorites]
I'm in Australia. No one is fucking laughing.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [34 favorites]
Jesus fucking hell. I still am rubbing my rabbit's foot and hoping, hoping, hoping something changes.......but. I'm heartbroken how many humans rejected balance and some form of decency for the misogynistic horror that is Trump. It's all so bad that I can't place my emotions and thoughts anywhere but in the deepest pit of sorrow out of which nothing escapes. It's a grotesque show. Where do we go now? I'm out of, well, anything resembling belief in the future. What. What. What.
posted by but no cigar at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by but no cigar at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Well. I'm fucked.
posted by Annika Cicada at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Annika Cicada at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
How were not only the pre-election polls wrong, but also the exit polls? Like, all of them? How is that possible?
"Oh hai stranger I'm a racist misogynist Joker who wants to see the world burn". Admitted very few racist misogynist Jokers to someone's actual face.
posted by srboisvert at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
"Oh hai stranger I'm a racist misogynist Joker who wants to see the world burn". Admitted very few racist misogynist Jokers to someone's actual face.
posted by srboisvert at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
They control all 3 branches. For at least 4 years.
Well 2. Midterms could change things. And we retain the filibuster.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Well 2. Midterms could change things. And we retain the filibuster.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I'm not a praying person. But this calls out for deep meditation.
posted by Rabarberofficer at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Rabarberofficer at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
OK, time to make a plan for tomorrow morning.
Sign up to join and support
ACLU
Planned Parenthood
what else?
posted by Sublimity at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
Sign up to join and support
ACLU
Planned Parenthood
what else?
posted by Sublimity at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
So, that big fracture in the GOP, that's no longer going to be thing now. Great.
posted by klarck at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by klarck at 9:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
While we're laughing at America for something like 48% of it voting for Trump, can we save some scorn for the 3% of us who voted for Gary "What is Aleppo" Fucking Johnson?
Honestly, most of those guys were probably in the Never Trump crowd, so whatever. I've got no beef with them.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Honestly, most of those guys were probably in the Never Trump crowd, so whatever. I've got no beef with them.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Who has called WI for Trump?
Haven't seen it called, but it looks gloomy. Maybe urban counties can still save us?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:14 PM on November 8, 2016
Haven't seen it called, but it looks gloomy. Maybe urban counties can still save us?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:14 PM on November 8, 2016
Sublimity, every large LGBT legal group you can find.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
sooooo how 'bout those faithless electors....
joking. kind of.
posted by acidic at 9:14 PM on November 8, 2016
joking. kind of.
posted by acidic at 9:14 PM on November 8, 2016
Rachel Maddow has had enough of Chris Matthew's shit. She keeps trying to explain what a Trump win really means and keeps being told it won't be that bad.
posted by charred husk at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
posted by charred husk at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
Well 2. Midterms could change things. And we retain the filibuster.
Yes, because the Democrats have famously high turnout during midterms.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Yes, because the Democrats have famously high turnout during midterms.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
And we retain the filibuster.
Right, how long is that going to last?
posted by leotrotsky at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016
Right, how long is that going to last?
posted by leotrotsky at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016
Who has called WI for Trump?
Fox, but only them so far.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016
Fox, but only them so far.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016
Obama's only thought right now needs to be preemptively pardoning Hilary for any imaginary crimes.
Also metaphorically blowing up as much as the security state as possible before he leaves. I don't even want to think about what Trump & co. would do with the massive accretion of executive power that's taken place since 9/11.
posted by indubitable at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Also metaphorically blowing up as much as the security state as possible before he leaves. I don't even want to think about what Trump & co. would do with the massive accretion of executive power that's taken place since 9/11.
posted by indubitable at 9:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
FLOTUS 4 POTUS 2020?
posted by LMGM at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by LMGM at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Trump didn't just win, Trump-ism won, resoundingly. They control all 3 branches. For at least 4 years. He can act with absolute impunity.
They will have to destroy the filibuster for that. I... don't know if they will do it. I would have said no way a week ago, now I'm not sure. But they'd have to get rid of the filibuster to pass anything terrible.
Trump can do all kinds of bad things through non-legislative action though.
posted by Justinian at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016
They will have to destroy the filibuster for that. I... don't know if they will do it. I would have said no way a week ago, now I'm not sure. But they'd have to get rid of the filibuster to pass anything terrible.
Trump can do all kinds of bad things through non-legislative action though.
posted by Justinian at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016
I've never been so terrified.
posted by theredpen at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by theredpen at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
This election was supposed to be a Clinton landslide, and Google now had Pennsylvania pink?
Good night, y'all.
posted by Gelatin at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Good night, y'all.
posted by Gelatin at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Honestly, most of those guys were probably in the Never Trump crowd, so whatever. I've got no beef with them.
Of course you do. If they're "Never Trump" by voting third party they handed him the election.
It's Nader 2.0. Do people never fucking learn? Can people finally understand what bullshit a "protest vote" is?
posted by Sangermaine at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
Of course you do. If they're "Never Trump" by voting third party they handed him the election.
It's Nader 2.0. Do people never fucking learn? Can people finally understand what bullshit a "protest vote" is?
posted by Sangermaine at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
You can't pardon someone for something they haven't been convicted of.
posted by dilaudid at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by dilaudid at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016
Oh, mercy. It's going to suck explaining this (or trying to, in vain) to my daughters in the morning, both of whom are in grade school and were super stoked about not having a racist misogynist as Chief Executive, but, instead, the first female president. How the hell did this happen?
posted by Bob Regular at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Bob Regular at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
can we save some scorn for the 3% of us who voted for Gary "What is Aleppo" Fucking Johnson?
Turns out Aleppo was much bigger and more metaphorical than all us smarty pants thought.
posted by srboisvert at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Turns out Aleppo was much bigger and more metaphorical than all us smarty pants thought.
posted by srboisvert at 9:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm definitively getting a new light saber
posted by clavdivs at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
>>Well 2. Midterms could change things. And we retain the filibuster.
Yes, because the Democrats have famously high turnout during midterms.
That is, as they say, a problem. Maybe two years of Trumpism will convince us.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Yes, because the Democrats have famously high turnout during midterms.
That is, as they say, a problem. Maybe two years of Trumpism will convince us.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Everyone, please, tone down the rhetoric here. We are going to wake up tomorrow and our kids and families will be fine.
Speak for yourself. My shot to finally launch myself out of grinding poverty is heavily dependent right now on accessing medical care via programs which may not exist or go far any more (they're already bare bones, which is why a physical disability has been drawn out so long) imminently. If I can get over that hurdle, then I'll depend on educational access for the very poor, debt relief, and then the job market (for someone who will look "too old" to many employers due to the whole inhumanely protracted "journey" of "seeking medical treatment for a disabling illness while very poor" referenced above--what would have taken 3 weeks at Mayo to resolve has taken years and years just to properly diagnose outside of blue chip health care access). A grim, not-hopeful situation on the best days now looks utterly hopeless.
Pile on the fact that I found out that at least 50% of the nation has utter contempt for me and virtually everyone I care about or come into contact on a daily basis.
This isn't going to be OK for the most vulnerable. (I haven't even touched upon the terrifying possibilities for foreign policy, supreme court, and climate change, which will affect the most privileged as well.)I haven't felt this despondent in a long time, and I can't be alone.
The irony is that many actual Trump voters will find themselves just as devastated by the consequences of their actions, in due time. (What exactly do they think will happen to social security, Medicare, job markets, retirement accounts?) They just won't realize it tomorrow when they're all braying about this "victory."
posted by blue suede stockings at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [121 favorites]
Speak for yourself. My shot to finally launch myself out of grinding poverty is heavily dependent right now on accessing medical care via programs which may not exist or go far any more (they're already bare bones, which is why a physical disability has been drawn out so long) imminently. If I can get over that hurdle, then I'll depend on educational access for the very poor, debt relief, and then the job market (for someone who will look "too old" to many employers due to the whole inhumanely protracted "journey" of "seeking medical treatment for a disabling illness while very poor" referenced above--what would have taken 3 weeks at Mayo to resolve has taken years and years just to properly diagnose outside of blue chip health care access). A grim, not-hopeful situation on the best days now looks utterly hopeless.
Pile on the fact that I found out that at least 50% of the nation has utter contempt for me and virtually everyone I care about or come into contact on a daily basis.
This isn't going to be OK for the most vulnerable. (I haven't even touched upon the terrifying possibilities for foreign policy, supreme court, and climate change, which will affect the most privileged as well.)I haven't felt this despondent in a long time, and I can't be alone.
The irony is that many actual Trump voters will find themselves just as devastated by the consequences of their actions, in due time. (What exactly do they think will happen to social security, Medicare, job markets, retirement accounts?) They just won't realize it tomorrow when they're all braying about this "victory."
posted by blue suede stockings at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [121 favorites]
I'm in Australia. No one is fucking laughing.
Seriously. Everyone is fucking terrified.
posted by Salamander at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [30 favorites]
Seriously. Everyone is fucking terrified.
posted by Salamander at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [30 favorites]
Breathe.posted by mikelieman at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [31 favorites]
1. Assume a comfortable posture lying on your back or sitting. If you are sitting, keep the spine straight, and let your shoulders drop.
2. Close your eyes if it feels comfortable.
3. Bring your attention to your belly, feeling it rise or expand gently on the inbreath and fall or reced on the outbreath.
4. Keep the focus on your breathing, Being with each inbreath for its full duration and with each outbreath for its full duration, as if you were riding the waves of your own breathing
5. Every time you notice that you mind has wandered off the breath, notice what is was that took you away, and then gently bring your attention back to your belly and the feeling of the breath coming in and out.
And we retain the filibuster.
Please stop saying this like it's true. They're going to nuke that shit immediately.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Please stop saying this like it's true. They're going to nuke that shit immediately.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
You can't pardon someone for something they haven't been convicted of.
Sure you can. Ford pardoned Nixon.
posted by waitingtoderail at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Sure you can. Ford pardoned Nixon.
posted by waitingtoderail at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Of course you do. If they're "Never Trump" by voting third party they handed him the election.
It's a fantasy to think any of them were ever going to vote Clinton.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
It's a fantasy to think any of them were ever going to vote Clinton.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
The journalists who utterly failed to do their jobs this election cycle, I wonder if they'll have some degree of self-awareness once they're imprisoned.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
You can't pardon someone for something they haven't been convicted of.
What about Nixon?
posted by thelonius at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016
What about Nixon?
posted by thelonius at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016
I live in Australia with my American wife who has lived here as a permanent resident for 10 years. She just called me and we discussed her getting Australian citizenship, partly as a symbolic act and partly as a hedge against any crazy shit that might happen.
posted by nnethercote at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by nnethercote at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I ... think it's going to be even worse than has been predicted here. Much worse.
I know that makes me sound alarmist.
I'm sorry.
posted by kyrademon at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I know that makes me sound alarmist.
I'm sorry.
posted by kyrademon at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Here we thought Nate Silver was being too pessimistic and it turns out he was too optimistic.
posted by octothorpe at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [37 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [37 favorites]
Which ever way this election goes - it's clear to me the that this site is awesome and we are going to need each other over the coming days. So fuck it - I finally got around to donating to Metafilter a few moments back, and signed on to pony up an Andrew Jackson every month. I'd ask that others who have the financial means to donate do what they can.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
So, is Hillary Clinton going to prison, now?
posted by leotrotsky at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
If Trump really is President and you really didn't vote for Clinton, I am looking forward to you holding him, his administration, the Legislature, and every other trickle-down organization associated with that outcome to the standard you felt Secretary Clinton was incapable of meeting.
posted by batmonkey at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [63 favorites]
posted by batmonkey at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [63 favorites]
Yeah, and the thing is, the Democratic party is going to go to the right now.
posted by zutalors! at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by zutalors! at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Everything is fucking broken now. I can't understand how this is even possible.
posted by saulgoodman at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by saulgoodman at 9:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I'm reminded a bit of the fact that the white supremacist terrorist that hit my midwestern home town came from midwestern suburbia.
While it's very popular among progressive white guys of my race and class to pass the buck for NIMBY racism onto the rural "hicks," the reality is that we created the most segregated cities in America using the "invisible hand" of the market. Our fathers and grandfathers were a class of American who moved over the city line rather than to share a street with people of color. And while the slurs were never spoken in polite company, there was still a wall, with resentments, fears, and oh, the sense of entitlement.
I guess I'm kicking myself in the rear for believing in the possibility of a different outcome. Instead, we (as a class) are knee-jerk reactionaries voting to protect our own, except when that's destroyed by gross mismanagement as happened with Bush II.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
While it's very popular among progressive white guys of my race and class to pass the buck for NIMBY racism onto the rural "hicks," the reality is that we created the most segregated cities in America using the "invisible hand" of the market. Our fathers and grandfathers were a class of American who moved over the city line rather than to share a street with people of color. And while the slurs were never spoken in polite company, there was still a wall, with resentments, fears, and oh, the sense of entitlement.
I guess I'm kicking myself in the rear for believing in the possibility of a different outcome. Instead, we (as a class) are knee-jerk reactionaries voting to protect our own, except when that's destroyed by gross mismanagement as happened with Bush II.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
FLOTUS 4 POTUS 2020?
They wouldn't accept a white woman. What makes you think they would accept a black one?
posted by teirnon at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
They wouldn't accept a white woman. What makes you think they would accept a black one?
posted by teirnon at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
People I love are going to be tortured, robbed, and murdered because of tonight. People you love, too.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
If there's someone out there who feels they cannot go home and feel safe for Thanksgiving or Christmas, you are welcome to come stay with me in Colorado. I have a guest room and a sweet dog. Serious.
posted by mochapickle at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
Trump now leading in PA. It is over.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:19 PM on November 8, 2016
All my nightmares have come true.
I am headed for bed. But my fellow humanists, there are a lot of us and we can fight. Let's remember we reclaimed this country in 2008 and on many other occasions. Hard times require strong people. We can protect our most vulnerable and stand up for what is right.
Change here is inevitable. We just need to wait, to resist,and to make it happen. If not in 2016, in 2018 or 2020 or 2022 or 2024.
posted by bearwife at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I am headed for bed. But my fellow humanists, there are a lot of us and we can fight. Let's remember we reclaimed this country in 2008 and on many other occasions. Hard times require strong people. We can protect our most vulnerable and stand up for what is right.
Change here is inevitable. We just need to wait, to resist,and to make it happen. If not in 2016, in 2018 or 2020 or 2022 or 2024.
posted by bearwife at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
So, is Hillary Clinton going to prison, now?
She should think about leaving the country quickly.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
She should think about leaving the country quickly.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
As someone with a disability who depends on SSI and Medicare, I'm kinda terrified at what a Trump led GOP could do to social services.
But I'd be more terrified if I were a person of color, LGBT, or an immigrant.
posted by bawanaal at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
But I'd be more terrified if I were a person of color, LGBT, or an immigrant.
posted by bawanaal at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
If you're seriously relying on the the filibuster as a bulwark against Trump, you haven't watched a single second of the last year. Waving a piece of paper is not going to stop the freight train. Norms no longer exist. Only power. And they have all of it.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
what else?
Well that depends on your specific values, but: organizations representing racial/religious minority interests—Black Lives Matter will still be a thing but fat chance getting federal interest in systemic racism in Ferguson now. Muslims and Hispanics also have reasons to be nervous.
Also organizations helping anyone who would be protected by a social safety net in a proper first-world country, and only sort of is in the U.S. Their situations are going to be made more precarious most likely and they'll need to rely more heavily on local groups that fill in gaps.
If it were me, something to do with the environment. But probably there also think local and grass-roots. Much less chance of doing something very successful at a national level about global warming treaties or whatever in the next few years.
posted by traveler_ at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Well that depends on your specific values, but: organizations representing racial/religious minority interests—Black Lives Matter will still be a thing but fat chance getting federal interest in systemic racism in Ferguson now. Muslims and Hispanics also have reasons to be nervous.
Also organizations helping anyone who would be protected by a social safety net in a proper first-world country, and only sort of is in the U.S. Their situations are going to be made more precarious most likely and they'll need to rely more heavily on local groups that fill in gaps.
If it were me, something to do with the environment. But probably there also think local and grass-roots. Much less chance of doing something very successful at a national level about global warming treaties or whatever in the next few years.
posted by traveler_ at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I voted for Clinton and I'm sorry.
Sorry that's all I did. Sorry I laughed off Trump as a joke.
posted by blairsyprofane at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [34 favorites]
Sorry that's all I did. Sorry I laughed off Trump as a joke.
posted by blairsyprofane at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [34 favorites]
Also for all the talk about the youth vote, people who are actual children right now are going to be fucking pissed.
posted by zutalors! at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by zutalors! at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I don't get it. What happened to everyone who voted for Obama last time around? Was Hillary unable to maintain that support?
posted by asra at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by asra at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
My UU church planned a post-election healing circle tomorrow where we can hold and offer support to one another in song, meditation, and sacred space. Up until a few hours ago, I thought it was a little overwrought, and a tiny bit ridiculous. Now I will probably go, and I am sharing the opportunity with others.
posted by Fig at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by Fig at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
Yeah, and the thing is, the Democratic party is going to go to the right now.
I'm not sure. Because what Trump won on isn't policy. It's racism and xenophobia. The Democratic party can't buy into that; the base is exactly the people targeted by racism and xenophobia. And I hope and believe that the Ds wouldn't buy into it even if it didn't spell disaster.
I don't know what the response it. Probably nominate a Biden-type figure next time around. I guess that's kind of moving to the right, sorta, on some issues, but it's not a major shift. Certainly I would have voted for Biden pretty happily just as I would have voted for Clinton or Sanders pretty happily.
posted by Justinian at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'm not sure. Because what Trump won on isn't policy. It's racism and xenophobia. The Democratic party can't buy into that; the base is exactly the people targeted by racism and xenophobia. And I hope and believe that the Ds wouldn't buy into it even if it didn't spell disaster.
I don't know what the response it. Probably nominate a Biden-type figure next time around. I guess that's kind of moving to the right, sorta, on some issues, but it's not a major shift. Certainly I would have voted for Biden pretty happily just as I would have voted for Clinton or Sanders pretty happily.
posted by Justinian at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Raise your hand if you were for eliminating the filibuster about two hours ago and are suddenly finding yourself convinced by the arguments in favor of keeping it.
I retain my preference for removing the "I'm gonna filibuster" statement without an actual filibuster. And yes, that means the entire process, not that one bill, comes to a halt for the duration of the speech. That's the point: it's supposed to be used in situations where you say "it is better that nothing at all gets done, than that this thing gets done."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I retain my preference for removing the "I'm gonna filibuster" statement without an actual filibuster. And yes, that means the entire process, not that one bill, comes to a halt for the duration of the speech. That's the point: it's supposed to be used in situations where you say "it is better that nothing at all gets done, than that this thing gets done."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
> literally no matter what the outcome is today, white supremacy is going to be stronger than almost any of us have ever seen within our lifetimes, and this time around they have so many more people to hate, so many more vulnerable people for them to brutally harm 100% free of consequences.
The lead picture for the top NYT Trump story right now nails it, pictures well what I'm so terrified of.
(Link may be off, sorry; photo by Damon Winter, for article by Michael D. Shear: "At Donald J. Trump's election night event at the New York Hilton on Tuesday, supporters watched an announcement that he had won Ohio.")
posted by miles per flower at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
The lead picture for the top NYT Trump story right now nails it, pictures well what I'm so terrified of.
(Link may be off, sorry; photo by Damon Winter, for article by Michael D. Shear: "At Donald J. Trump's election night event at the New York Hilton on Tuesday, supporters watched an announcement that he had won Ohio.")
posted by miles per flower at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I feel bad for late night comedians.
posted by johnpowell at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by johnpowell at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016
My wife is on Social Security disability and Medicaid because of mental health issues. She went to bed terrified. I'm pretty much in a state of sheer terror right now.
posted by marxchivist at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by marxchivist at 9:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I don't get it. What happened to everyone who voted for Obama last time around? Was Hillary unable to maintain that support?
Clinton got record margins in Democratic areas. But Trump ran up the score even more in rural and some suburbs. It was really a political realignment.
posted by Justinian at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
Clinton got record margins in Democratic areas. But Trump ran up the score even more in rural and some suburbs. It was really a political realignment.
posted by Justinian at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
When there's been a tragedy in the past, like a school shooting, my kids' school district would put out a letter instructing parents how to talk to their children about it. I need a letter right now, how to talk to my children about a Trump presidency.
posted by Dragonness at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by Dragonness at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Well we just got Nevada. That's a thing.
posted by octothorpe at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
Mark Burnett really needs to explain himself.
posted by Brainy at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Brainy at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I don't get it. What happened to everyone who voted for Obama last time around? Was Hillary unable to maintain that support?
Racism runs deep in this country but misogyny runs even deeper.
posted by vacapinta at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [40 favorites]
Racism runs deep in this country but misogyny runs even deeper.
posted by vacapinta at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [40 favorites]
Which one of you didn't TTTCS??
posted by numaner at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by numaner at 9:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I don't get it. What happened to everyone who voted for Obama last time around? Was Hillary unable to maintain that support?
From 538:
posted by Sangermaine at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
From 538:
Clinton is winning only 88 percent of the black vote. Exit polls in 2012 had Obama at 93 percent. Clinton is only at 65 percent among Latinos. Obama won 71 percent of them.It seems she did worse among non-whites than Obama, and of course she did terribly with whites.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I am looking to waking up tomorrow and finding out some outlandish thing like we get a do-over because hackers rigged the election, or Trump winning and not accepting the results of the election.
posted by otherchaz at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by otherchaz at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
Well, I guess folks can't poke fun at Italy for electing Berlusconi now.
posted by darkstar at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
So is anyone else wondering about the possibility that electronic voting machines were perverted to favor Trump?
The Michigan result is so surprising, and so many other results seem implausible, given the observations in pre-election polls.
What did Trump actually see in Michigan which led him to go campaign there at the last minute?
posted by Coventry at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
The Michigan result is so surprising, and so many other results seem implausible, given the observations in pre-election polls.
What did Trump actually see in Michigan which led him to go campaign there at the last minute?
posted by Coventry at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
As my +1 just said, "I'm going to go to bed now and wake up tomorrow in 1984."
posted by sciencegeek at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by sciencegeek at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Just a thought - I wonder how corb is doing...
Chugging gin in a pile of sadness. I am so sorry you guys. I am so sorry. I was feeling better about failing to stop him at the convention because I thought America was going to repudiate him anyway and now I just don't know. I am so, so sorry everyone.
posted by corb at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [161 favorites]
Chugging gin in a pile of sadness. I am so sorry you guys. I am so sorry. I was feeling better about failing to stop him at the convention because I thought America was going to repudiate him anyway and now I just don't know. I am so, so sorry everyone.
posted by corb at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [161 favorites]
Last time I checked, I'm forty five years old. I don't have many more elections to lose.
posted by Sphinx at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Sphinx at 9:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
At the risk of sounding fatalistic at this point, I guess there are two major takeaways from this:
1. It pays to remember that Hitler was very popular in the 1930s, not just in Germany but in the US as well.
2. The main reason America as a whole vilifies Hitler is ultimately because he played for the wrong side, apparently.
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
1. It pays to remember that Hitler was very popular in the 1930s, not just in Germany but in the US as well.
2. The main reason America as a whole vilifies Hitler is ultimately because he played for the wrong side, apparently.
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
Mark Burnett really needs to explain himself.
For what?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016
For what?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016
I feel bad for late night comedians.
Why; this will be a golden age for them, and liberal pundits too. Think of how many stars were made in the Bush years.
posted by acidic at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Why; this will be a golden age for them, and liberal pundits too. Think of how many stars were made in the Bush years.
posted by acidic at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
The funding-dependent provisions of the PPACA (Obamacare), such as expanded Medicaid and subsidies, can lapse if Congress and the President don't support it. But the regulatory portions, such as pre-existing conditions and coverage rules, would require 60 votes in the Senate. (Republicans have never shown a serious willingness to abrogate the filibuster.). As drafted you would argue the mandate and employer fines should be protected, but the Supreme Court deemed them to be taxes which arguably can be modified by budget reconciliation, i.e. plurality vote. However, you can't really have a pre-existing condition ban and no mandate at the same time without bankrupting the insurance companies, so the mandate and fines may stay intact.
posted by MattD at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by MattD at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
This is the most profound refutation of the American Dream in a generation. Imagine, a woman who toiled her entire life and did everything right just to approach the capstone of her career only to have it snatched away by a man who had virtually everything handed to him his entire life. Everything. Even the fucking benefit of the doubt he got. Over and over.
They didn't know they'd do so well. They had no idea! It was a fucking fluke!
All by people who felt they weren't getting their fair shake in life.
The author's lost the fucking plot.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [147 favorites]
They didn't know they'd do so well. They had no idea! It was a fucking fluke!
All by people who felt they weren't getting their fair shake in life.
The author's lost the fucking plot.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [147 favorites]
Maybe Hillary claims the election was rigged. If she wins popular vote but loses electorial. Maybe she won't concede if it is called for Trump.
posted by AugustWest at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by AugustWest at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
corb, you did your best. It's everybody else who has shit to answer for.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [27 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [27 favorites]
At times like this I think of my father's wisdom, "Abe, my son, remember that people are no damn good. But don't let the bastards get you down."
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I can't understand how this is even possible.
That's key. Understanding has to come first. I think a lot of people really do not understand why anyone would disagree with them. That understanding is the only way forward.
posted by amtho at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
That's key. Understanding has to come first. I think a lot of people really do not understand why anyone would disagree with them. That understanding is the only way forward.
posted by amtho at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
So is anyone else wondering about the possibility that electronic voting machines were perverted to favor Trump?
Please don't. Talk of rigging was ridiculous when Trump was doing it. Trump won because what he was selling was more appealing to more people than any of us were ready to accept.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
Please don't. Talk of rigging was ridiculous when Trump was doing it. Trump won because what he was selling was more appealing to more people than any of us were ready to accept.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
Has Moscow finally pulled it off?
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
What happened to everyone who voted for Obama last time around? Was Hillary unable to maintain that support?
In a word, yes. The misogyny was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Also, everyone who didn't like Obama's race and believed Hillary would be a continuation of his politics, was also happy to vote for Trump.
And Trump has celebrity status: people who really don't pay attention to politics at all, saw him on TV and thought, hey, I know that guy! And he sounds like he's gonna Get Shit Done!
Reagan, Schwarzenegger, Ventura... don't discount celebrity status.
Maybe we can talk Colbert into running in 2020.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
In a word, yes. The misogyny was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Also, everyone who didn't like Obama's race and believed Hillary would be a continuation of his politics, was also happy to vote for Trump.
And Trump has celebrity status: people who really don't pay attention to politics at all, saw him on TV and thought, hey, I know that guy! And he sounds like he's gonna Get Shit Done!
Reagan, Schwarzenegger, Ventura... don't discount celebrity status.
Maybe we can talk Colbert into running in 2020.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
You can't pardon someone for something they haven't been convicted of.
posted by dilaudid at 12:16 AM on November 9
*cough*
see Ford re: Nixon
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by dilaudid at 12:16 AM on November 9
*cough*
see Ford re: Nixon
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Raise your hand if you were for eliminating the filibuster about two hours ago and are suddenly finding yourself convinced by the arguments in favor of keeping it.
Frankly, I'm still largely convinced by the argument that Presidents should be able to appoint Supreme Court justices to fill any vacancies that come up during their entire term of office. And that those appointments should see an up or down vote within a reasonable amount of time for consideration and debate (the norm of inside 1-3 months seems good).
If we're looking for consistent principles.
I also, however, suspect that the Republican party in its current incarnation is not interested in consistent principles or any kind of past norm. And that they will absolutely end the filibuster if it suits them, and would do so whether or not a Democrat had ever broached the idea.
posted by wildblueyonder at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Frankly, I'm still largely convinced by the argument that Presidents should be able to appoint Supreme Court justices to fill any vacancies that come up during their entire term of office. And that those appointments should see an up or down vote within a reasonable amount of time for consideration and debate (the norm of inside 1-3 months seems good).
If we're looking for consistent principles.
I also, however, suspect that the Republican party in its current incarnation is not interested in consistent principles or any kind of past norm. And that they will absolutely end the filibuster if it suits them, and would do so whether or not a Democrat had ever broached the idea.
posted by wildblueyonder at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Of course you do. If they're "Never Trump" by voting third party they handed him the election.
It's Nader 2.0. Do people never fucking learn? Can people finally understand what bullshit a "protest vote" is?
I honestly don't understand this sort of reasoning. Clearly, no individual's vote sways an election on its own, and it's not as if the people casting their votes belong to some hypothetical bloc that is guaranteed to vote in a single direction, so why shouldn't people vote in accordance with their personal views?
posted by C. Y. Hollander at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
It's Nader 2.0. Do people never fucking learn? Can people finally understand what bullshit a "protest vote" is?
I honestly don't understand this sort of reasoning. Clearly, no individual's vote sways an election on its own, and it's not as if the people casting their votes belong to some hypothetical bloc that is guaranteed to vote in a single direction, so why shouldn't people vote in accordance with their personal views?
posted by C. Y. Hollander at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Don't really have the words to express my sorrow and anger tonight. Before I go to bed and stare up at the ceiling for hours, I do want to say a big Fuck You to everyone who voted for Trump, who didn't vote for either of them, or who voted for a third party candidate (this group of people includes my sister ("she's so corrupt"), my mother and brother ("they're both the same"), and my father ("Democrats are socialists")).
Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck. You.
Thank you to Secretary Clinton and to President Obama and to everyone else so worked so hard to prevent what has happened tonight. I will hold on to the memory of these eight past years and Hillary's campaign like a candle in the darkness.
posted by longdaysjourney at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [68 favorites]
Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck. You.
Thank you to Secretary Clinton and to President Obama and to everyone else so worked so hard to prevent what has happened tonight. I will hold on to the memory of these eight past years and Hillary's campaign like a candle in the darkness.
posted by longdaysjourney at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [68 favorites]
Clinton is winning only 88 percent of the black vote. Exit polls in 2012 had Obama at 93 percent. Clinton is only at 65 percent among Latinos. Obama won 71 percent of them.
This is from exit polls which are often unreliable. And the Latinx vote doesn't include much of California.
posted by chris24 at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
This is from exit polls which are often unreliable. And the Latinx vote doesn't include much of California.
posted by chris24 at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Think of how many stars were made in the Bush years.
think how eager trump's supporters are to physically attack and call for the mob murder of members of the media, now, already.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [30 favorites]
think how eager trump's supporters are to physically attack and call for the mob murder of members of the media, now, already.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [30 favorites]
I am totally confused about how Trump could have improved his standing with Latinos over Romney. I just... how? How can that be?
posted by Justinian at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
It is fascinating how wrong the polls were. I guess there really is something to this "Brexit effect" error. An early sign of Brexit in Britain was seeing regular Labor voters switch sides and it seems something similar has happened in the midwest. Makes me think Bernie might have made a difference.
posted by Golden Eternity at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Golden Eternity at 9:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
OK, time to make a plan for tomorrow morning.
Sign up to join and support
democracy being mostly what we do between elections
let's get f***ing democratic
posted by philip-random at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Sign up to join and support
democracy being mostly what we do between elections
let's get f***ing democratic
posted by philip-random at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Anyone checked on Samantha Bee? I think her next show is just going to be 30 minutes of her head hitting her desk.
posted by Mitheral at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Mitheral at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I'm just paralyzed with some combination of terror and disbelief.
Intellectually, I know there are emails I need to send and other shit I need to do before I go to bed, and I have to go to bed, so that I can be marginally functional at work tomorrow.
But everything in my head right now is just static.
I wasn't optimistic before tonight. I was anxious and scared and all that, but I hoped it was just my overactive anxiety getting the better of me.
But I wasn't scared enough.
It just does not compute. How do we all go on tomorrow?
I'm so sorry, everyone. Words aren't enough. Nothing is enough right now. I don't know what to say. I'm just gutted.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Intellectually, I know there are emails I need to send and other shit I need to do before I go to bed, and I have to go to bed, so that I can be marginally functional at work tomorrow.
But everything in my head right now is just static.
I wasn't optimistic before tonight. I was anxious and scared and all that, but I hoped it was just my overactive anxiety getting the better of me.
But I wasn't scared enough.
It just does not compute. How do we all go on tomorrow?
I'm so sorry, everyone. Words aren't enough. Nothing is enough right now. I don't know what to say. I'm just gutted.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a, it is widely believed that Burnett has video tapes of Trump using racial slurs and other comments about minorities.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
ah, that's true chris24. We'll see what the final results are. Exit polls could be very wonky for demographic breakdowns like the Latino vote.
posted by Justinian at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Justinian at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Corb: you did a hell of a lot more than anyone and you stood by your principles. This isn't on you.
posted by zachlipton at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [60 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [60 favorites]
Well, I guess folks can't poke fun at Italy for electing Berlusconi now.
We can't poke fun at anyone for anything anymore.
posted by saul wright at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
We can't poke fun at anyone for anything anymore.
posted by saul wright at 9:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
it is widely believed that Burnett has video tapes of Trump using racial slurs and other comments about minorities.
christ, if anything that would've earned him even more votes.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
christ, if anything that would've earned him even more votes.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
Hopefully two things come out of this:
1) the abolishment of the electoral college for a majority vote (i write this every 4 years)
2) revocation of the War Powers Act
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
1) the abolishment of the electoral college for a majority vote (i write this every 4 years)
2) revocation of the War Powers Act
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I honestly don't understand this sort of reasoning. Clearly, no individual's vote sways an election on its own, and it's not as if the people casting their votes belong to some hypothetical bloc that is guaranteed to vote in a single direction, so why shouldn't people vote in accordance with their personal views?
Trump.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Trump.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
so why shouldn't people vote in accordance with their personal views?
because sometimes intelligence must trump conscience ...
sorry about using the t word there
posted by philip-random at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
because sometimes intelligence must trump conscience ...
sorry about using the t word there
posted by philip-random at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Good news folks, I think I just figured out how to go to sleep: just get real terrified and turtle. I've decided to do that now.
posted by Nanukthedog at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Nanukthedog at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Clinton ahead in NH by 18 votes.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
it is widely believed that Burnett has video tapes of Trump using racial slurs and other comments about minorities.
Yeah, like that would have changed the outcome.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yeah, like that would have changed the outcome.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Meanwhile, NASDAQ and S&P500 futures trading is halted because they hit the 5% circuit breaker. Dow futures down -760 right now.
posted by zachlipton at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
What in the world does Clinton say tonight if/when Trump wins? How do you word your concession to the most dangerously unqualified and immoral candidate in our history?
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Ashton Kutcher and the ghost of Allen Funt can come out from behind the bushes already.
This isn't a funny prank and I'd very much like it to be over now.
posted by OntologicalPuppy at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
This isn't a funny prank and I'd very much like it to be over now.
posted by OntologicalPuppy at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Why; this will be a golden age for them, and liberal pundits too. Think of how many stars were made in the Bush years.
Bush wasn't openly promising to jail journalists, much less comedians. The model for Trump is not Bush, it's Putin, Edrogan, el-Sisi and Qaddafi.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [39 favorites]
Bush wasn't openly promising to jail journalists, much less comedians. The model for Trump is not Bush, it's Putin, Edrogan, el-Sisi and Qaddafi.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [39 favorites]
What did Trump actually see in Michigan which led him to go campaign there at the last minute?
Maybe happy (for Trump) accident. Go watch Michael Moore's films at the beginning - Blood in the Face (Moore was only on the crew for that one) and Roger and Me. Two extremes - the extremists, and then just people who were left behind. Add those two together and, well, you get tonight.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Maybe happy (for Trump) accident. Go watch Michael Moore's films at the beginning - Blood in the Face (Moore was only on the crew for that one) and Roger and Me. Two extremes - the extremists, and then just people who were left behind. Add those two together and, well, you get tonight.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Talk of rigging was ridiculous when Trump was doing it.Why is it ridiculous? EVMs have always seemed to me like a gift from heaven for cheaters.
posted by Coventry at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Brexit was a referendum though. Hillary has the popular margin, and the US system is by electoral college.
posted by polymodus at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by polymodus at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
1) the abolishment of the electoral college for a majority vote (i write this every 4 years)
2) revocation of the War Powers Act
How? They won everything.
posted by waitingtoderail at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
2) revocation of the War Powers Act
How? They won everything.
posted by waitingtoderail at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
It is fascinating how wrong the polls were.
The national polls are really only off by about 2 points from what we've seen so far. That's not that awful, though its not good. Clinton is almost certainly going to win the popular vote. Which is horrible to contemplate because it means so many people will feel like this is not legitimate. More than 2000 I believe because that was such a close election.
posted by Justinian at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
The national polls are really only off by about 2 points from what we've seen so far. That's not that awful, though its not good. Clinton is almost certainly going to win the popular vote. Which is horrible to contemplate because it means so many people will feel like this is not legitimate. More than 2000 I believe because that was such a close election.
posted by Justinian at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Just a thought - I wonder how corb is doing...
I stopped to buy more gin and now I am drinking it. I am sitting in a pile of sadness and horror and gin. I am so, so sorry you guys. I was sorry when we failed to stop him at convention but I thought at least the American people would repudiate him. I am so sorry now when it looks like he might actually be our president. I can't even believe this is real.
I'm also sorry for the #NeverTrump votes that went Johnson or McMullin, especially in swing states. We thought it would be safe. We were seeing the same polls you all were and we thought Clinton had a serious lead and was getting all the Democrats, and that if we just didn't vote for Trump he had no chance.
I am so sorry you guys. It's not over until it's over, but..I am just so sorry. Everything is terrible.
posted by corb at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [81 favorites]
I stopped to buy more gin and now I am drinking it. I am sitting in a pile of sadness and horror and gin. I am so, so sorry you guys. I was sorry when we failed to stop him at convention but I thought at least the American people would repudiate him. I am so sorry now when it looks like he might actually be our president. I can't even believe this is real.
I'm also sorry for the #NeverTrump votes that went Johnson or McMullin, especially in swing states. We thought it would be safe. We were seeing the same polls you all were and we thought Clinton had a serious lead and was getting all the Democrats, and that if we just didn't vote for Trump he had no chance.
I am so sorry you guys. It's not over until it's over, but..I am just so sorry. Everything is terrible.
posted by corb at 9:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [81 favorites]
This was just an idea I had in the shower, and I considered it a mere fantasy at the time, but I thought that in the event of a Trump win the next Full Frontal show should just be Sam Bee screaming into the camera for a full half hour.
And now...maybe let's do that.
posted by uosuaq at 9:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
And now...maybe let's do that.
posted by uosuaq at 9:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
A Facebook friend in Canada that I've never met in real life just messaged me to let me know my family is welcome at his home if we need to get out. Even I don't think it's that's bad, for me anyway.
posted by COD at 9:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by COD at 9:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Yeah, Trump just broke the economy and he isn't even in fucking office yet.
posted by soundguy99 at 9:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by soundguy99 at 9:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
So, since we've burned through so many cultural norms this year, it's time to burn the one about deference to the President.
No more "salute the rank if not the man."
Open and constant defiance and contempt needs to be the order of the day.
posted by ocschwar at 9:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
No more "salute the rank if not the man."
Open and constant defiance and contempt needs to be the order of the day.
posted by ocschwar at 9:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
People keep saying Clinton is going to win the popular vote, but the numbers I'm seeing on the WaPo site say otherwise.
posted by Superplin at 9:30 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Superplin at 9:30 PM on November 8, 2016
I am so sorry you guys. It's not over until it's over, but..I am just so sorry. Everything is terrible.
You fought harder than any of us.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
You fought harder than any of us.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
Who else is staying up until it's called?? I have to know. There's no way I can sleep if there's even a tiny chance she can do this.
posted by nakedmolerats at 9:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by nakedmolerats at 9:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
I just pointed this out on Facebook. But the markets are crashing and it's mere days from Black Friday. If this has a significant effect on consumer confidence, and there's no reason to think it wouldn't, then we could be heading right off the cliff at this very moment, into another recession.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 9:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Superplin: California will give Clinton 3+ million vote margin. But it takes forever to report. So Clinton should win the popular vote but we won't know by how much for days or weeks. Winning the popular vote gets you a cup of coffee if you also have $5.
posted by Justinian at 9:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
Some inspirational words from a man used to fighting "losing" battles:
Social justice committee meeting at church tomorrow. Gonna take a pill and head to bed tonight. Tomorrow is going to start the process of figuring out where I'm sent.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 9:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [50 favorites]
In the American struggle for justice and freedom, moral dissent has always seemed impractical when it began. Yet people of conviction have responded to the psalmist’s basic question by answering, “Here I am. Send me.” In 1896, when the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of “separate but equal” in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, Justice John Marshall Harlan of Kentucky stood alone to write a dissenting opinion. By any political calculation at that moment, his words were simply a waste of time. But looking back, we can see that every legal challenge to segregation in the twentieth century was based on the careful reasoning of Justice Harlan, whom history would name the Great Dissenter. Without his words, NAACP attorneys could not have successfully argued for the desegregation of public schools nearly six decades later in Brown v. Board of Education. Justice Harlan lost by a landslide in 1896. But he won history.- Dr. Rev. William J. Barber II
Social justice committee meeting at church tomorrow. Gonna take a pill and head to bed tonight. Tomorrow is going to start the process of figuring out where I'm sent.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 9:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [50 favorites]
It'll be days until California's votes are fully tallied. I'm going to guess that will send her over. Not that it matters at this point.
posted by yasaman at 9:31 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by yasaman at 9:31 PM on November 8, 2016
i cant go to sleep yet
posted by bq at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bq at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Is there any hope left? Okay, hope is too strong a word, but is there any path to victory left for Clinton, short of this all being a horrible nightmare that we collectively wake up from tomorrow? I can't bear to do anything but watch this thread and occasionally refresh the percentage on 538.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
We can't poke fun at anyone for anything anymore.
Humor is officially dead.
posted by dis_integration at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Humor is officially dead.
posted by dis_integration at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't know that it will be called tonight. It's possible both MI and PA finish within 0.5% and trigger recounts with Trump ahead. Armageddon.
posted by Justinian at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I can't understand how this is even possible.
This is the culmination of everything the GOP has worked for for forty years, ever since Nixon decided to make Southern whites angry at the Civil Rights Act a major base of the GOP. This isn't an aberration. This is simply what the GOP, deny as it might, has been working longer than many of us have been alive to achieve.
There's a saying: Success requires no explanation, failure permits no alibis. Tomorrow dozens- maybe hundreds?- of #NeverTrump politicians will kiss Donald Trump's ring, or maybe over the next weeks.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [34 favorites]
This is the culmination of everything the GOP has worked for for forty years, ever since Nixon decided to make Southern whites angry at the Civil Rights Act a major base of the GOP. This isn't an aberration. This is simply what the GOP, deny as it might, has been working longer than many of us have been alive to achieve.
There's a saying: Success requires no explanation, failure permits no alibis. Tomorrow dozens- maybe hundreds?- of #NeverTrump politicians will kiss Donald Trump's ring, or maybe over the next weeks.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [34 favorites]
HRC wins Nevada
posted by futz at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by futz at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am so sorry you guys. It's not over until it's over, but..I am just so sorry. Everything is terrible.
Corb,
Echoing everyone who has been saying, "It's not on you!".
And as Yogi said, "It ain't over till it's over."
posted by mikelieman at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Corb,
Echoing everyone who has been saying, "It's not on you!".
And as Yogi said, "It ain't over till it's over."
posted by mikelieman at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm trying to think of what Barack Obama must be doing right now, knowing what's to come financially, and knowing he's got 9 precious weeks in office.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
This wasn't about Clinton failing to hold onto the Obama coalition. This was the white uneducated voter taking their rage out on the rest of the nation. They know Trump is a bully and a liar and that's what they want. They want a bully that will bully minorities and women and they want a liar who will continue to tell them lies like it's someone else's fault.
The simple fact of the matter is that the 50s aren't fucking coming back guys. The postwar boom that enabled so many white Americans to prosper was built around maintaining racist and sexist systems. It was also before the jobs of millions of Americans could be outsourced or automated.
The chucklefucks voting for Trump aren't going to be getting high paying factory jobs back because they simply don't exist anymore they don't exist here and they don't exist overseas. If they could be handled by cheap labor then great but automation does wonders as well.
So instead of walking ahead into the post-industrial future that is the absolute reality for the US we've got a plurality of Americans thinking that they could turn back time and return to a past that never really existed and honestly was pretty shit for a lot of people.
And the fucking accelerationist coming out of the woodwork with their I told you so bullshit is beyond fucking frustrating. America doesn't want the New Deal if that means giving stuff to black people I guess.
posted by vuron at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [141 favorites]
The simple fact of the matter is that the 50s aren't fucking coming back guys. The postwar boom that enabled so many white Americans to prosper was built around maintaining racist and sexist systems. It was also before the jobs of millions of Americans could be outsourced or automated.
The chucklefucks voting for Trump aren't going to be getting high paying factory jobs back because they simply don't exist anymore they don't exist here and they don't exist overseas. If they could be handled by cheap labor then great but automation does wonders as well.
So instead of walking ahead into the post-industrial future that is the absolute reality for the US we've got a plurality of Americans thinking that they could turn back time and return to a past that never really existed and honestly was pretty shit for a lot of people.
And the fucking accelerationist coming out of the woodwork with their I told you so bullshit is beyond fucking frustrating. America doesn't want the New Deal if that means giving stuff to black people I guess.
posted by vuron at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [141 favorites]
I don't get it. What happened to everyone who voted for Obama last time around? Was Hillary unable to maintain that support?
Clinton may ultimately win by the skin of her teeth In Michigan. But there was a ton of pro-Trump sentiment in the vast rural areas of the state, and there a lack of enthusiasm for Clinton in heavily populated SE MI. Clinton lost a good deal of support with minorities and the blue collars that voted overwhelmingly for Obama.
posted by bawanaal at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016
Clinton may ultimately win by the skin of her teeth In Michigan. But there was a ton of pro-Trump sentiment in the vast rural areas of the state, and there a lack of enthusiasm for Clinton in heavily populated SE MI. Clinton lost a good deal of support with minorities and the blue collars that voted overwhelmingly for Obama.
posted by bawanaal at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016
Nate Silver is mumbling about Alaska. Which, ha ha, but hey he's been right about everything else...
posted by acidic at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by acidic at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
litera: Clinton's one path is winning MI and PA while holding NH and MN. I think MN will hold but its very close. I think NH may hold in recount territory. I think Trump will win MI and PA but maybe inside recount territory.
posted by Justinian at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Justinian at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Obama isn't going to pardon Hillary; that would be disastrous for Dem campaigning in 2018/2020.
posted by Mitheral at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Mitheral at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016
I'm watching the CBC live feed, and Peter Mansbridge is gamely trying to find some consolation in how Trump might have to act like an adult now, only to be contradicted by all of his guests. One guy is saying that if Trump becomes president he won't need to tweet abuse at people until maybe the second or third year... then added "if we still use tweets." And that's the sober, low key guest.
posted by Kevin Street at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Kevin Street at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Why is it ridiculous? EVMs have always seemed to me like a gift from heaven for cheaters.
For the same reason it was ridiculous when Trump was saying it. Trump coordinated a massive multi-state conspiracy to rig various different voting machine systems?
Or he just appealed to more people than expected which gave him the edge in races that were tighter than people thought.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
For the same reason it was ridiculous when Trump was saying it. Trump coordinated a massive multi-state conspiracy to rig various different voting machine systems?
Or he just appealed to more people than expected which gave him the edge in races that were tighter than people thought.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Everyone, please, tone down the rhetoric here. We are going to wake up tomorrow and our kids and families will be fine.
Way back in the other fast-moving thread I mentioned my disabled brother and how the less-extreme wing of Republicans failed to stop the more-extreme one from taking away his meds.
Now I'll mention all the disabled veteran students I taught back in grad school who were living the consequences of our country being lied into Iraq. And my Muslim colleagues who were deported because of a paperwork snafu and because they were of skeery terrorist ethnic persuasion. And my uncle who lost his retirement savings because of medical bankruptcy reforms. And my cousin who almost didn't get the late-term abortion she needed to save her life from her already-doomed fetus that she really did want.
The more extreme policies of the Republicans, and sometimes individual politicians of that camp, have threatened my kith and kin in some extraordinarily visceral ways over the years. Let's set aside how much we have to do to reach them and take a stand for how far they'd have to come back from the brink to reach those of us THEY HAVE ALREADY HURT.
This rhetoric doesn't need toning down because it comes from a place of Truth.
posted by traveler_ at 9:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [62 favorites]
Way back in the other fast-moving thread I mentioned my disabled brother and how the less-extreme wing of Republicans failed to stop the more-extreme one from taking away his meds.
Now I'll mention all the disabled veteran students I taught back in grad school who were living the consequences of our country being lied into Iraq. And my Muslim colleagues who were deported because of a paperwork snafu and because they were of skeery terrorist ethnic persuasion. And my uncle who lost his retirement savings because of medical bankruptcy reforms. And my cousin who almost didn't get the late-term abortion she needed to save her life from her already-doomed fetus that she really did want.
The more extreme policies of the Republicans, and sometimes individual politicians of that camp, have threatened my kith and kin in some extraordinarily visceral ways over the years. Let's set aside how much we have to do to reach them and take a stand for how far they'd have to come back from the brink to reach those of us THEY HAVE ALREADY HURT.
This rhetoric doesn't need toning down because it comes from a place of Truth.
posted by traveler_ at 9:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [62 favorites]
I am commenting only to howl into the void. The ache.
posted by amnesia and magnets at 9:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [21 favorites]
posted by amnesia and magnets at 9:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [21 favorites]
On PBS, Romney’s 2012 campaign chief strategist Stuart Stevens is flat-out saying this is racism, pure and simple. He dismisses the economic issues.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [47 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [47 favorites]
You know, Zuma being my president I can understand because despite being a corrupt buffoon he is a long time ANC operative, spent 10 years on Robben Island and was Vice Prez for near on 10 years. He was part of the ANC machinery for years.
Trump was the joke candidate who probably not been running had NBC not fired him from the Apprentice. Anyway who wants my title belt?
posted by PenDevil at 9:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Trump was the joke candidate who probably not been running had NBC not fired him from the Apprentice. Anyway who wants my title belt?
posted by PenDevil at 9:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Holy guacamole. The US is going to be grudge fucked for corporate interests more so than they are right now. And it's going to go on for decades. Hope you're white and straight, otherwise you're boned.
posted by Sphinx at 9:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Sphinx at 9:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
find some consolation in how Trump might have to act like an adult now
Someone roll the dice again, this is definitely the darkest timeline.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Someone roll the dice again, this is definitely the darkest timeline.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
comeback kid? Please? Sniff.
posted by ian1977 at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ian1977 at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Dow futures down -760 right now.
So, good news, big business does not control our democracy.
posted by miyabo at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
So, good news, big business does not control our democracy.
posted by miyabo at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
im white and straight and im pretty sure im boned too
posted by entropicamericana at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
>>so why shouldn't people vote in accordance with their personal views?
____
>Trump.
__
>because sometimes intelligence must trump conscience ...
If it's a legitimate argument that I should vote for, say, Clinton instead of Johnson because if all the other Johnson voters did so, she'd win, what makes it any less legitimate to argue that all the Clinton voters should have voted for Johnson, on just the same grounds? Whether we're talking about 30 or 3 million voters, the principle's the same—and just as impractical in either case.
posted by C. Y. Hollander at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
____
>Trump.
__
>because sometimes intelligence must trump conscience ...
If it's a legitimate argument that I should vote for, say, Clinton instead of Johnson because if all the other Johnson voters did so, she'd win, what makes it any less legitimate to argue that all the Clinton voters should have voted for Johnson, on just the same grounds? Whether we're talking about 30 or 3 million voters, the principle's the same—and just as impractical in either case.
posted by C. Y. Hollander at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Map looks bleak. Is there any chance? What is the road to victory? It has to be a narrow one?
posted by futz at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by futz at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016
What states has Trump won by less than the margin of recount?
posted by corb at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by corb at 9:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
That's key. Understanding has to come first. I think a lot of people really do not understand why anyone would disagree with them. That understanding is the only way forward.
That's some seriously insensitive shit given the very real worries people have about their physical wellbeing. It's not about some high-minded academic disagreement over policy. I'm tired of being told I should think about all the racists and sexists in this country like they're the real victims. Oh boy if only I understood why they think everyone who doesn't look like them can go die in a ditch.
posted by danny the boy at 9:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [45 favorites]
That's some seriously insensitive shit given the very real worries people have about their physical wellbeing. It's not about some high-minded academic disagreement over policy. I'm tired of being told I should think about all the racists and sexists in this country like they're the real victims. Oh boy if only I understood why they think everyone who doesn't look like them can go die in a ditch.
posted by danny the boy at 9:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [45 favorites]
Hope you're white and straight, otherwise you're boned.
Most white and straight will also be boned. Hope you're rich.
posted by Mitrovarr at 9:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
Most white and straight will also be boned. Hope you're rich.
posted by Mitrovarr at 9:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
>I just pointed this out on Facebook. But the markets are crashing and it's mere days from Black Friday. If this has a significant effect on consumer confidence, and there's no reason to think it wouldn't, then we could be heading right off the cliff at this very moment, into another recession.
I for one suddenly have zero desire to do any Christmas shopping this year with so much uncertainty ahead.
posted by Dragonness at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I for one suddenly have zero desire to do any Christmas shopping this year with so much uncertainty ahead.
posted by Dragonness at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
how was every poll wrong?
posted by triggerfinger at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by triggerfinger at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
In despair and anger I post this:
Turning and turning in the widening gyreposted by vac2003 at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
This is not about what Trump himself will do. He will be a merry Zaphod Beeblebrox, distracting from power rather than wielding it.
This is about a Republican Party that has demonstrated madness _and been rewarded for it_ with control of the nation. Sort of like how Dubya pranced for the cameras while the real party drivers did eight years of awful, selfish, evil shit.
It seems appropriate, in a way, that a positive period of goodness resurging gets followed by authoritarians striking back, seizing control and driving everyone not them into hiding and despair. Very Star Wars. It's a lot funnier if you're not going to suffer from climate change, or from health care slashing, or from economic recession, or from police violence, or from discrimination, or from warfare, or from blowback from foreign misadventures, or from those of the Only Our Kind Matters tribe who now feel empowered as fuck.
But you will be.
posted by delfin at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
This is about a Republican Party that has demonstrated madness _and been rewarded for it_ with control of the nation. Sort of like how Dubya pranced for the cameras while the real party drivers did eight years of awful, selfish, evil shit.
It seems appropriate, in a way, that a positive period of goodness resurging gets followed by authoritarians striking back, seizing control and driving everyone not them into hiding and despair. Very Star Wars. It's a lot funnier if you're not going to suffer from climate change, or from health care slashing, or from economic recession, or from police violence, or from discrimination, or from warfare, or from blowback from foreign misadventures, or from those of the Only Our Kind Matters tribe who now feel empowered as fuck.
But you will be.
posted by delfin at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
Even Trump seemed to believe he was losing. The polls, and especially the media, have failed badly.
I know I sound desperate, but between Trump's Mirror/"The election is rigged!" and "something something Putin" is it possible that there's something going on behind these results?
posted by Room 641-A at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
I know I sound desperate, but between Trump's Mirror/"The election is rigged!" and "something something Putin" is it possible that there's something going on behind these results?
posted by Room 641-A at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
So how do we organize for the future?
posted by maurreen at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by maurreen at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
none yet, corb, but it could be possible in PA and MI. But it looks like it will come down above 0.5% but below 1.0% which wouldn't qualify.
posted by Justinian at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
So some of you know I got sick this year due to a genetic illness. I now go to dialysis three times a week and I am on SSDI and soon to be on Medicare because my medical treatments cost upwards of $100K a year.
There are 120 patients at my dialysis center. The overwhelming majority are on disability and Medicare or Medicaid. Care for renal patients takes up a huge chunk of the money from those services. Many people at my center are in wheelchairs. More than I'd like to count come in on gurneys, and are lifted into their chairs for each session using hydraulic lifts because they can't stand up. Some are asleep the whole time. Kidney failure means you survive perhaps as little as 7-10 days if you don't get treatments, maybe a little more.
This awful man wants Americans to negotiate our own health care. I've even worked in healthcare and contracts and it's still way over my head. Most of my fellow patients are too sick to arrange their own transportation, much less advocate for their own care. Back in the '60s, they had death panels for people like us.
I'm so worried for my fellow patients and others who rely on Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, SSDI, and regulations that require insurance companies to work with us. If he saw how expensive it was, he'd slash our budget on Day 1.
posted by mochapickle at 9:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [70 favorites]
There are 120 patients at my dialysis center. The overwhelming majority are on disability and Medicare or Medicaid. Care for renal patients takes up a huge chunk of the money from those services. Many people at my center are in wheelchairs. More than I'd like to count come in on gurneys, and are lifted into their chairs for each session using hydraulic lifts because they can't stand up. Some are asleep the whole time. Kidney failure means you survive perhaps as little as 7-10 days if you don't get treatments, maybe a little more.
This awful man wants Americans to negotiate our own health care. I've even worked in healthcare and contracts and it's still way over my head. Most of my fellow patients are too sick to arrange their own transportation, much less advocate for their own care. Back in the '60s, they had death panels for people like us.
I'm so worried for my fellow patients and others who rely on Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, SSDI, and regulations that require insurance companies to work with us. If he saw how expensive it was, he'd slash our budget on Day 1.
posted by mochapickle at 9:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [70 favorites]
So is anyone else wondering about the possibility that electronic voting machines were perverted to favor Trump?
The Michigan result is so surprising, and so many other results seem implausible, given the observations in pre-election polls.
What did Trump actually see in Michigan which led him to go campaign there at the last minute?
Have you been to Michigan? Trump saw a depressed manufacturing state in the south with a blue collar/farming state in north. He was singing their song. Doesn't surprise me at all.
posted by cecic at 9:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
The Michigan result is so surprising, and so many other results seem implausible, given the observations in pre-election polls.
What did Trump actually see in Michigan which led him to go campaign there at the last minute?
Have you been to Michigan? Trump saw a depressed manufacturing state in the south with a blue collar/farming state in north. He was singing their song. Doesn't surprise me at all.
posted by cecic at 9:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Everyone, please, tone down the rhetoric here. We are going to wake up tomorrow and our kids and families will be fine.
Tell it to the Muslims, the Latinx, our queer friends, the African-Americans, the Natives defending out water at Standing Rock, and basically everybody who doesn't share a religion and skin tone with Archie fucking Bunker.
We need to do whatever we can, in whatever corner we're in, in whatever way we're able, to support the vulnerable. People like me (white, straight, in a very liberal town) don't need to worry about ourselves much, we need to worry about others. This may sound corny and ridiculous, but I really did get this in a fortune cookie the other night: "Action is worry's worst enemy". We do need to worry, so we need to take action. Any action. I'm no superhero or amazing activist, but I'm going to do something to help, I just don't know what it is yet because I don't have much money. When the shock and despair that we're all going through fades a bit, I hope each of us comes up with something to counter the despair and defeatism.This dickbag may've won the presidency but we can't let him win everything.
posted by GospelofWesleyWillis at 9:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Tell it to the Muslims, the Latinx, our queer friends, the African-Americans, the Natives defending out water at Standing Rock, and basically everybody who doesn't share a religion and skin tone with Archie fucking Bunker.
We need to do whatever we can, in whatever corner we're in, in whatever way we're able, to support the vulnerable. People like me (white, straight, in a very liberal town) don't need to worry about ourselves much, we need to worry about others. This may sound corny and ridiculous, but I really did get this in a fortune cookie the other night: "Action is worry's worst enemy". We do need to worry, so we need to take action. Any action. I'm no superhero or amazing activist, but I'm going to do something to help, I just don't know what it is yet because I don't have much money. When the shock and despair that we're all going through fades a bit, I hope each of us comes up with something to counter the despair and defeatism.This dickbag may've won the presidency but we can't let him win everything.
posted by GospelofWesleyWillis at 9:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Thank you to the lighthearted moment on MSNBC where we briefly saw Doris Kearns-Goodwin getting her makeup done.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
They know Trump is a bully and a liar and that's what they want. They want a bully that will bully minorities and women and they want a liar who will continue to tell them lies like it's someone else's fault.
Absolutely. I live in Michigan (sorry it's a horserace here at the moment, everyone; I'm as bummed as you are), and last night I watched that fucking prick stand at a rally in Grand Rapids and promise the audience that he'd bring auto manufacturing back to the state. And they just lapped it right up despite it being outrageous baldfaced lies. Sure, folks, and next week he'll restore the elevator operator career field to its former glory too.
And then I just now watched Pete "Evil Incarnate" Hoekstra on PBS refer to the loss of auto manufacturing jobs, and the anchorguy asks, "But wait, did that happen during the last 8 years?" And Hoekstra just sits there blank-faced and drooling for a few seconds and then admits, "OK, well, it mostly occurred over the course of a couple-few decades." Oh, I see. It's just pathetic.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
Absolutely. I live in Michigan (sorry it's a horserace here at the moment, everyone; I'm as bummed as you are), and last night I watched that fucking prick stand at a rally in Grand Rapids and promise the audience that he'd bring auto manufacturing back to the state. And they just lapped it right up despite it being outrageous baldfaced lies. Sure, folks, and next week he'll restore the elevator operator career field to its former glory too.
And then I just now watched Pete "Evil Incarnate" Hoekstra on PBS refer to the loss of auto manufacturing jobs, and the anchorguy asks, "But wait, did that happen during the last 8 years?" And Hoekstra just sits there blank-faced and drooling for a few seconds and then admits, "OK, well, it mostly occurred over the course of a couple-few decades." Oh, I see. It's just pathetic.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
MSNBC just briefly cut to Doris Kearns Goodwin getting her makeup put on. Everyone's exhausted.
posted by zachlipton at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by zachlipton at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
posted by buzzv at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
posted by buzzv at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Rachael Maddow nearly referred to a Midwest "clusterfuck" before stopping herself.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
how was every poll wrong?
Clearly, the Russians managed to clone every person in the LAT/Dornslife poll thousands of times.
posted by acidic at 9:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Clearly, the Russians managed to clone every person in the LAT/Dornslife poll thousands of times.
posted by acidic at 9:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
For the same reason it was ridiculous when Trump was saying it. Trump coordinated a massive multi-state conspiracy to rig various different voting machine systems?
Well, the conspiracy wouldn't be Trump's conspiracy. I mean, I'm not actually suggesting this happened, but I do think suggesting Russians hacked this election is at least the tiniest bit more plausible than saying that Hillary rigged the election.
Hey, maybe the CIA and NSA and whatever other 3 letter group can frame the Russians and claim they hacked our voting and throw out the whole election and I don't know, give Obama another 4 years?
I'm sorry. I'm desperate. I don't even know what I'm saying right now.
But seriously, the only tiny glimmer of light and warmth in this deep dark abyss is mefi. This is so much worse than 2000 and 2004 in a lot of ways, but at least I don't feel totally alone. That's not a lot of comfort, but it's the only thing I can hold on to right now. I'm so thankful for all of you.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Well, the conspiracy wouldn't be Trump's conspiracy. I mean, I'm not actually suggesting this happened, but I do think suggesting Russians hacked this election is at least the tiniest bit more plausible than saying that Hillary rigged the election.
Hey, maybe the CIA and NSA and whatever other 3 letter group can frame the Russians and claim they hacked our voting and throw out the whole election and I don't know, give Obama another 4 years?
I'm sorry. I'm desperate. I don't even know what I'm saying right now.
But seriously, the only tiny glimmer of light and warmth in this deep dark abyss is mefi. This is so much worse than 2000 and 2004 in a lot of ways, but at least I don't feel totally alone. That's not a lot of comfort, but it's the only thing I can hold on to right now. I'm so thankful for all of you.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
So how do we organize for the future?Stop taking the Democratic Party machine as an authority figure, for starters. Take it over from below, like the Tea Partiers have with the Republican Party.
posted by Coventry at 9:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
Trump will be a merry Zaphod Beeblebrox, distracting from power rather than wielding it.
I don't agree. True, I think he will have very specific targets rather than large-scale aims. But if anyone wounds Trump's ego he will use all his powers to humiliate them and defy anyone to stop him, and the cumulative effect, on journalism, on the judiciary, on hate groups, will be enormous.
posted by argybarg at 9:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
I don't agree. True, I think he will have very specific targets rather than large-scale aims. But if anyone wounds Trump's ego he will use all his powers to humiliate them and defy anyone to stop him, and the cumulative effect, on journalism, on the judiciary, on hate groups, will be enormous.
posted by argybarg at 9:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
NBC finally taking about misogyny. Surprise...?
posted by wenestvedt at 9:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 9:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
It'll come down to 47 hanging chad votes in Michigan...go to the Supreme Court. And it's a tie decision 4-4. Then we wake up and it's January 1st, 2016. Forever.
posted by ian1977 at 9:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by ian1977 at 9:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
This is dumbass white rage, white rage that's susceptible to the big con that's been part of America since the outset.
I do not honestly know how California and Trumplandia co-exist. I think there will be a self-determination movement out of this, and I'm okay with that, because the USA is an arbitrary nation-state based upon an idea of continuity from east coast to west, and that's now fallen apart. Maybe the illusion of Trumplandia collapses quickly, maybe it solidifies into a toxic hallucination, it doesn't matter, America is not a country any more, it is a dysfunctional relationship that has lost the pretence of making do because the kids have now left.
posted by holgate at 9:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
I do not honestly know how California and Trumplandia co-exist. I think there will be a self-determination movement out of this, and I'm okay with that, because the USA is an arbitrary nation-state based upon an idea of continuity from east coast to west, and that's now fallen apart. Maybe the illusion of Trumplandia collapses quickly, maybe it solidifies into a toxic hallucination, it doesn't matter, America is not a country any more, it is a dysfunctional relationship that has lost the pretence of making do because the kids have now left.
posted by holgate at 9:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
Regarding the rigging thing...
Y'know, if Hillary Clinton does turn this around, the Trump Camp can't really complain about it being rigged, can they?
posted by mikelieman at 9:43 PM on November 8, 2016
Y'know, if Hillary Clinton does turn this around, the Trump Camp can't really complain about it being rigged, can they?
posted by mikelieman at 9:43 PM on November 8, 2016
what makes it any less legitimate to argue that all the Clinton voters should have voted for Johnson, on just the same grounds?
You know the answer to this: it's simply false to approach this as if the two have equal chances. It will be one of the two major party candidates with a third party maybe getting a few points.
With this reality, in a close race the few percentage points third parties draw can actually change the outcome. In this race, that was true in several states.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
You know the answer to this: it's simply false to approach this as if the two have equal chances. It will be one of the two major party candidates with a third party maybe getting a few points.
With this reality, in a close race the few percentage points third parties draw can actually change the outcome. In this race, that was true in several states.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I do not honestly know how California and Trumplandia co-exist. I think there will be a self-determination movement out of this, and I'm okay with that
USA OUT OF CALIFORNIA
posted by entropicamericana at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
USA OUT OF CALIFORNIA
posted by entropicamericana at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I cannot bear to watch Hillary's concession speech. I just can't. My heart is broken for her. And for all women who supported her. And for all men who supported her.
posted by ramix at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [51 favorites]
posted by ramix at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [51 favorites]
Maybe happy (for Trump) accident. Go watch Michael Moore's films at the
Trump had one of his first big rallies in Michigan, Birch Run I think, and did well crowd wise. michigan folk were pretty pissed off at Hillarys and Jenny's bullshit in 08' against Obama.
Sorry, she just fucked over to many people. The Republican Party may be dead but the Democratic party is next.
posted by clavdivs at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Trump had one of his first big rallies in Michigan, Birch Run I think, and did well crowd wise. michigan folk were pretty pissed off at Hillarys and Jenny's bullshit in 08' against Obama.
Sorry, she just fucked over to many people. The Republican Party may be dead but the Democratic party is next.
posted by clavdivs at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
We may be living through the most successful Russian intelligence operation since the Rosenbergs stole the A-bomb.--@davidfrum
And what do Trump and the Rosenbergs have in common besides Russia? Roy fucking Cohn
posted by zachlipton at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Pennsylvania looks like it's lost.
posted by octothorpe at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by octothorpe at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016
Trumplandia will never let the rest leave because the blue parts pay for the red parts.
posted by Mitrovarr at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
posted by Mitrovarr at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
All those flowers on Susan B. Anthony's grave.
All those eager centenarians born before the 19th was passed.
All those frightened racial, religious, and sexual minorities wondering if they would still belong.
All those people of conscience who put the welfare of the country over their own ideological interests.
They get to be runner up to a cartoon frog.
Feels bad, man.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [99 favorites]
All those eager centenarians born before the 19th was passed.
All those frightened racial, religious, and sexual minorities wondering if they would still belong.
All those people of conscience who put the welfare of the country over their own ideological interests.
They get to be runner up to a cartoon frog.
Feels bad, man.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [99 favorites]
Russians hacked this election
No, they didn't literally hack into the voting machines. However, it's totally possible that a team of smart motivated Russians armed with a couple hundred million dollars figured out how to manipulate the US election better than anyone else through news releases, propaganda, and email hacking.
posted by miyabo at 9:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
No, they didn't literally hack into the voting machines. However, it's totally possible that a team of smart motivated Russians armed with a couple hundred million dollars figured out how to manipulate the US election better than anyone else through news releases, propaganda, and email hacking.
posted by miyabo at 9:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
I mean, the gazillions of Trump voters have no clue at all that, if elected, he is going to totally bone them along with all the people they hate, do they?
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
I've seriously heard from a half dozen business owners/founders who are all talking about scaling back their plans and conserving cash. The merely rich are freaking out.
I'm not very rich at all but recently I have been looking at replacing my car. Nope. Not taking out any loans now.
posted by azpenguin at 9:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I'm not very rich at all but recently I have been looking at replacing my car. Nope. Not taking out any loans now.
posted by azpenguin at 9:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
i mean really? where on earth is going to be safe? plenty of us right here right now are eligible to make aliyah but what horrors will the future hold for the entire middle east? is it worth the risk? jesus fuck
the cook islands i guess
im fucking allergic to fish
posted by poffin boffin at 9:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
the cook islands i guess
im fucking allergic to fish
posted by poffin boffin at 9:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
It's also really freaking me out that after weeks of getting a gazillion emails from democrats a day, my inbox has been deadly silent for hours. Every democrat's campaign headquarters is as stunned and unprepared to deal with this as we are. They haven't said a word.
posted by the turtle's teeth at 9:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by the turtle's teeth at 9:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
unliteral: "This is going to be bad for tourism.
No way. Cheap holidays on the back of a busted buck, ahead."
Here is something I wrote here seven years ago, a few weeks into the Obama administration. The head of a big American tourism organization told us -- an Canadian audience of professionals in the same business -- how massively travel to the US had tanked during the W years. Let us ponder for a moment how much warmer the welcome for visitors will be under President Trump.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
No way. Cheap holidays on the back of a busted buck, ahead."
Here is something I wrote here seven years ago, a few weeks into the Obama administration. The head of a big American tourism organization told us -- an Canadian audience of professionals in the same business -- how massively travel to the US had tanked during the W years. Let us ponder for a moment how much warmer the welcome for visitors will be under President Trump.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
The light in the room I'm in is on a timer and it just turned off. I'm sitting in the dark.
I'm terrified, betrayed, angry, profoundly sad, and just a howling abyssal fear that nothing matters, that hate and tribalism will always win over love and rationality. I'm not sure how I can raise my son to be a good person in a place like this.
Our economy is toast, our civil society is toast, everything we've worked for for the past 8 years is toast. All because half the country couldn't handle a black man and a woman as presidents and have decided to blow everything up instead. The thought of them all smugly proud of themselves right now makes me physically ill. Congratulations, you wrecked the country. I hope we can survive until 2020 in order to start from scratch all over again and fix what these people have done.
My well of empathy for Trump voters has been dry for a while, but it's a yawning black hole right now. Let someone else do that emotional labor. Let the white men mop some of that shit up for a little while. Women and people of color have been doing it for too long by themselves.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [92 favorites]
I'm terrified, betrayed, angry, profoundly sad, and just a howling abyssal fear that nothing matters, that hate and tribalism will always win over love and rationality. I'm not sure how I can raise my son to be a good person in a place like this.
Our economy is toast, our civil society is toast, everything we've worked for for the past 8 years is toast. All because half the country couldn't handle a black man and a woman as presidents and have decided to blow everything up instead. The thought of them all smugly proud of themselves right now makes me physically ill. Congratulations, you wrecked the country. I hope we can survive until 2020 in order to start from scratch all over again and fix what these people have done.
My well of empathy for Trump voters has been dry for a while, but it's a yawning black hole right now. Let someone else do that emotional labor. Let the white men mop some of that shit up for a little while. Women and people of color have been doing it for too long by themselves.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [92 favorites]
I just posted a version of this observation on Facebook (I'll tell you a detail that I am not able to share over there) -
In the 1990s someone sent me a "joke" email that consisted of a series of pictures of women, with male politicians' faces photoshopped onto their heads: Colin Powell, Strom Thurmond, Trent Lott....and the "punch line" at the end was "and they're all still prettier than Hillary!"
I am ashamed to be an American tonight. Not because of Trump himself - and not even because of all of his supporters. I am ashamed to be an American because we have proven that the majority of us don't give two shits about whether a person is intelligent or savvy or is capable of governing - all we care about and want in our leadership is charisma, flash, and titillation. That email proved it, Trump proves it. I am ashamed to be a citizen of a country that cares more about whether our president has style than whether everyone is fed, clothed, and housed.
My aunt was the person who sent me that email back in the 90s. She is on my Facebook feed, and I didn't mention names. If she comments to ask who sent me that, I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from telling her.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
In the 1990s someone sent me a "joke" email that consisted of a series of pictures of women, with male politicians' faces photoshopped onto their heads: Colin Powell, Strom Thurmond, Trent Lott....and the "punch line" at the end was "and they're all still prettier than Hillary!"
I am ashamed to be an American tonight. Not because of Trump himself - and not even because of all of his supporters. I am ashamed to be an American because we have proven that the majority of us don't give two shits about whether a person is intelligent or savvy or is capable of governing - all we care about and want in our leadership is charisma, flash, and titillation. That email proved it, Trump proves it. I am ashamed to be a citizen of a country that cares more about whether our president has style than whether everyone is fed, clothed, and housed.
My aunt was the person who sent me that email back in the 90s. She is on my Facebook feed, and I didn't mention names. If she comments to ask who sent me that, I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from telling her.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
I'm trying to think of what Barack Obama must be doing right now, knowing what's to come financially, and knowing he's got 9 precious weeks in office.
I imagine a lot of pardoning of federal prisoners. Honestly, that's his last chance to do good before he has to vacate.
If he could intervene in Standing Rock, that'd be nice as well, but I'm not holding my breath.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I imagine a lot of pardoning of federal prisoners. Honestly, that's his last chance to do good before he has to vacate.
If he could intervene in Standing Rock, that'd be nice as well, but I'm not holding my breath.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I would like to say thank you to everyone here who tried to make the world a better place. I hope I wake up tomorrow to a surprise, but if not, God bless you all. It was (and is) a fight worth fighting for.
posted by double bubble at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by double bubble at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
"I think there will be a self-determination movement out of this, and I'm okay with that, because the USA is an arbitrary nation-state based upon an idea of continuity from east coast to west, and that's now fallen apart. Maybe..."
I hear you but most Americans tune out to these things, presumably they relied on thier elected officials for this.
posted by clavdivs at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016
I hear you but most Americans tune out to these things, presumably they relied on thier elected officials for this.
posted by clavdivs at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016
Basically Nate Cohn via Josh Marshall nailed this as (might have been noted in the other thread) whites organizing as a minority identity group. They gave their votes to the guy who let them know they could organize like this with no badfeels.
On the flip, it isn't quite right that Dems took actual minorities for granted. It was that we asked minority women to bail us out time after time with no headway on the angry white block. We hit that credit card hard since 92. It worked so well for Bill that we must have thought that line of electoral credit was limitless. We were not in any way set up for Hillary to cash in. Instead we left her staring at an allballs ATM slip while we slink off.
This hit me hard pouring over turf looking for hail marys with 30 minutes to poll close.
There's no quick fix for this.
posted by drowsy at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
On the flip, it isn't quite right that Dems took actual minorities for granted. It was that we asked minority women to bail us out time after time with no headway on the angry white block. We hit that credit card hard since 92. It worked so well for Bill that we must have thought that line of electoral credit was limitless. We were not in any way set up for Hillary to cash in. Instead we left her staring at an allballs ATM slip while we slink off.
This hit me hard pouring over turf looking for hail marys with 30 minutes to poll close.
There's no quick fix for this.
posted by drowsy at 9:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
I do not honestly know how California and Trumplandia co-exist. I think there will be a self-determination movement out of this, and I'm okay with that
Secession won't happen. But state governments will have to do more of the functions of the federal government now.
Here in MA, we have to plan for the next Sandy. Only without FEMA.
We have to redo Romneycare to prepare for Obamacare going away.
The state DEP has to act like there is no EPA.
Start thinking about these things.
posted by ocschwar at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [31 favorites]
Secession won't happen. But state governments will have to do more of the functions of the federal government now.
Here in MA, we have to plan for the next Sandy. Only without FEMA.
We have to redo Romneycare to prepare for Obamacare going away.
The state DEP has to act like there is no EPA.
Start thinking about these things.
posted by ocschwar at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [31 favorites]
The Trump recession is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen. Stocks are dying, which is a precursor of things to come. This is an Trump recession. Might turn into a depression. He hasn't done anything yet but his ideas are killing the economy. His ideas are killing Wall Street. They need some certainty, and now everybody in the Drive-By, "We don't know who Trump is."
- Rush Limbaugh, tomorrow morning. Not.
posted by bz at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
- Rush Limbaugh, tomorrow morning. Not.
posted by bz at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
They know Trump is a bully and a liar and that's what they want.
Yep. I was in a thrift store over the weekend and there was a Rush Limbaugh book there, and I joked with my dad:
"you can just tell this guy is an asshole from his book cover."
And that's the problem, half the population says "hey, this guy is an asshole and that sucks!"
And there are an awful lot of people that say "hey, this guy is an asshole, and that's awesome!"
There's no confusion about that, everyone agrees this guy is an asshole, but there are a lot of people who want an asshole to rule them.
I don't get that.
But yeah, great, we're going to be governed by the drudge report on a good day.
posted by lkc at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yep. I was in a thrift store over the weekend and there was a Rush Limbaugh book there, and I joked with my dad:
"you can just tell this guy is an asshole from his book cover."
And that's the problem, half the population says "hey, this guy is an asshole and that sucks!"
And there are an awful lot of people that say "hey, this guy is an asshole, and that's awesome!"
There's no confusion about that, everyone agrees this guy is an asshole, but there are a lot of people who want an asshole to rule them.
I don't get that.
But yeah, great, we're going to be governed by the drudge report on a good day.
posted by lkc at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Ironically, most of the white, straight people who voted for Trump are going to be boned the hardest
Yeah, honestly, they're a lot more screwed than I am as an educated (Asian) PoC. I'm not at all happy about that.
posted by zutalors! at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Yeah, honestly, they're a lot more screwed than I am as an educated (Asian) PoC. I'm not at all happy about that.
posted by zutalors! at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
One plus may be that Trump's own nature might limit the damage he'll do. There was a story a few months back that Trump made a VP offer to Kasich that would have put Kasich in charge of all domestic and foreign policy.
I don't think Trump is particularly interested in actually governing. He wants the pomp and ceremony. Pence and others will likely do most of the decision-making.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I don't think Trump is particularly interested in actually governing. He wants the pomp and ceremony. Pence and others will likely do most of the decision-making.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
It looks to me like Trump is going to take both WI and PA, and if so--that's the map.
If that is true, think about this: When Obama swept in to power in 2008, the Republicans sat down and figured out how they were going to stop him.
If they did it, so can we. Obviously, the stakes are even higher now. But it is a time to put our heads down and work--not despair.
posted by flug at 9:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
If that is true, think about this: When Obama swept in to power in 2008, the Republicans sat down and figured out how they were going to stop him.
If they did it, so can we. Obviously, the stakes are even higher now. But it is a time to put our heads down and work--not despair.
posted by flug at 9:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Yeah that's a plus alright.
posted by mynameisluka at 9:49 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by mynameisluka at 9:49 PM on November 8, 2016
As a Dane, all these election threads have been wonderfully insightful and encouraging (if exceedingly long). It has provided me hope and reasons to hope.
Now it turns out that we are living in the /r/The_Donald reality. The future is fraught. I can only guess at the consequences of this election in my part of the world. An emboldened Putin, climate deals shot to hell, etc, etc.
I am sorry for your loss, America, but I think you do not stand alone in having lost.
posted by bouvin at 9:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
Now it turns out that we are living in the /r/The_Donald reality. The future is fraught. I can only guess at the consequences of this election in my part of the world. An emboldened Putin, climate deals shot to hell, etc, etc.
I am sorry for your loss, America, but I think you do not stand alone in having lost.
posted by bouvin at 9:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
I was really looking forward to that taco truck on my corner..
posted by djseafood at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by djseafood at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
" the cook islands i guess"
Sorry to say but at least four years of delay on climate change if not outright reversal means that the Cooks are going to be under water even sooner. Like, this is terrible news for many people inside the US, but the long term consequences for everyone everywhere else are bleaker too.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Sorry to say but at least four years of delay on climate change if not outright reversal means that the Cooks are going to be under water even sooner. Like, this is terrible news for many people inside the US, but the long term consequences for everyone everywhere else are bleaker too.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Well, we can all agree with Trunp on one thing: The media is dishonest.
posted by Gelatin at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
when scotland succeeds with indyref mark 2 can we ask them to take us back as the original 13 colonies again
posted by poffin boffin at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
So is anyone else wondering about the possibility that electronic voting machines were perverted to favor Trump?
What's to wonder? He's been quite open about the election being rigged.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
What's to wonder? He's been quite open about the election being rigged.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh boy if only I understood why they think everyone who doesn't look like them can go die in a ditch.
No one's saying you have to like them or feel sorry for them. But you can't deal with a complex system without trying to understand it.
It's like getting mad at a car for not working right if you've never bothered to learn to drive a stick. It's controlled by a manual transmission. You can't change that. Either learn how to work it or don't go anywhere.
posted by amtho at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
No one's saying you have to like them or feel sorry for them. But you can't deal with a complex system without trying to understand it.
It's like getting mad at a car for not working right if you've never bothered to learn to drive a stick. It's controlled by a manual transmission. You can't change that. Either learn how to work it or don't go anywhere.
posted by amtho at 9:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Mochapickle: my partner is in the same boat. Dialysis at home 4 days a week. And now with a condition which means frequent transfusions. Oddly enough, I think people with end stage renal disease will come out the best in the post-Obamacare chaos, at least at first, because they're able to get on Medicare even when they're below 65. I don't think anyone will target Medicare for a while due to the old white vote. I'm probably wrong but want to hold on to some small bits of optimism.
But this condition probably puts Canada, and most other western nations, out of reach for us. We have a nice stockpile of cash that could buy a house somewhere not in Toronto or Vancouver, but they'd never let us in when she would have to get health services immediately. I probably wouldn't go into exile even if I could, but there's a small part of me that's panicking because it's not an option.
posted by honestcoyote at 9:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
But this condition probably puts Canada, and most other western nations, out of reach for us. We have a nice stockpile of cash that could buy a house somewhere not in Toronto or Vancouver, but they'd never let us in when she would have to get health services immediately. I probably wouldn't go into exile even if I could, but there's a small part of me that's panicking because it's not an option.
posted by honestcoyote at 9:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Someone tell Tehhund to stop while he's ahead.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [75 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [75 favorites]
I don't think Trump is particularly interested in actually governing. He wants the pomp and ceremony. Pence and others will likely do most of the decision-making.
oh good conversion therapy and fetus funerals for everyone
posted by beerperson at 9:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
oh good conversion therapy and fetus funerals for everyone
posted by beerperson at 9:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
I think I understand now. There's a large number of white middle-aged men who saw the debates, saw that Hillary Clinton was vastly more competent than the other guy, and instead of wanting her to lead their country, decided that she needed to be punished.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [112 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [112 favorites]
Im going into the office for 2-3 hours tomorrow because I have a meeting with people above me I can't vent to.
Then I'm leaving early to buy a gun. And seriously consider deactivating all of my already limited public outlets including this Mefi account, sorry everyone. Unfortunately I have to work directly under a Trump administration in a couple months. I feel for the people we serve mostly, but I'm way too low level to really do anything about it. I'm not sure I can continue to comment in a public forum. Every do what you feel you must.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [27 favorites]
Then I'm leaving early to buy a gun. And seriously consider deactivating all of my already limited public outlets including this Mefi account, sorry everyone. Unfortunately I have to work directly under a Trump administration in a couple months. I feel for the people we serve mostly, but I'm way too low level to really do anything about it. I'm not sure I can continue to comment in a public forum. Every do what you feel you must.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [27 favorites]
MSNBC asking is there's even any possibility for Clinton. The answers seems to be no.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by C'est la D.C. at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016
Don't worry about this election being rigged -- worry about the next election being rigged.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
My son was born two weeks after Obama was elected. He voted for Hillary in their election at school. He watched the results come in on PBS with me tonight and cheered every time Hillary was shown ahead.
I'm not looking forward to him asking me who won when he wakes up tomorrow.
posted by DakotaPaul at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm not looking forward to him asking me who won when he wakes up tomorrow.
posted by DakotaPaul at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Thank you guys and gals for fighting the fight.
My wife is Latina and here on a green card and she is scared. My nine year old son asked me this afternoon whether Trump was going to kill him. I told him no.
My wife tells me Trump plans to revoke automatic citizenship for Puerto Riquenos. I hadn't heard that before. Shouldn't start a rumor.
I'm half-Latino and look very Gringo. I'm worried that when I go to work tomorrow people will be looking at me like I'm to blame. (I live in Puerto Rico.)
Good night.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
My wife is Latina and here on a green card and she is scared. My nine year old son asked me this afternoon whether Trump was going to kill him. I told him no.
My wife tells me Trump plans to revoke automatic citizenship for Puerto Riquenos. I hadn't heard that before. Shouldn't start a rumor.
I'm half-Latino and look very Gringo. I'm worried that when I go to work tomorrow people will be looking at me like I'm to blame. (I live in Puerto Rico.)
Good night.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
What is Hillary thinking right now? She is going to have to go out there, smile and admit she lost to Donald Fucking Trump. I cannot imagine having to do that humiliation in such a public way. Much easier to hide under my covers here on my couch.
posted by AugustWest at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by AugustWest at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
I think that the divisive Democratic primary created damage that the Clinton campaign wasn't able to repair. The recent actions of the FBI also probably helped Trump surge. I can't believe the outcome would have been the same if the election was Oct 15.
I watched a 9:15 movie hoping for good news when I turned on my phone
Now I will be getting drunk
Hello darkness...
posted by knoyers at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I watched a 9:15 movie hoping for good news when I turned on my phone
Now I will be getting drunk
Hello darkness...
posted by knoyers at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Pence is shit but at least he's sane. That's sadly the best we can hope for right now.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Sangermaine at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016
But what can you DO when your manual transmission won't shift from first gear unless you scream racial epithets at it? Like that's not an option, here. What can you do about people who are just fucking awful and will choose awful things and only awful things?
posted by Scattercat at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Scattercat at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
All Right.
Independent Republic of Cascadia.
Let's do this my American bretheren.
posted by mannequito at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Independent Republic of Cascadia.
Let's do this my American bretheren.
posted by mannequito at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Calling WI or PA looks premature here.
Trump *needs* WI or PA or MI.
Clinton *needs* WI and PA and MI.
There is no way she has given up and if you have given up you maybe want to think that over?
posted by bukvich at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Trump *needs* WI or PA or MI.
Clinton *needs* WI and PA and MI.
There is no way she has given up and if you have given up you maybe want to think that over?
posted by bukvich at 9:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
As someone who got laid off last week from a job that was also the source of my wife and I's health insurance, I would like to just fucking GUSH good cheer and congratulations at angry downtrodden gun-fondling Strict Constitutionalists like my mother. Or at people who parrot Hillary Is A Communist Gun-Grabber Treasonous Crooked Criminal Who Has Her Enemies Murdered Facebook rants like my father does.
Not being in as much immediate danger as many others for whom this election result directly risks their lives is only minor comfort.
posted by delfin at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Not being in as much immediate danger as many others for whom this election result directly risks their lives is only minor comfort.
posted by delfin at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
If we are to be defeated please let us be kind to each other and even to Hillary. We are the kind people.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [41 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [41 favorites]
If I were Obama I'd be tempted to issue blanket pardons for everyone Trump might target. And I mean blanket pardons. Like, pardon them for every single crime they may or may not have committed in the past.
posted by Justinian at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Secession won't happen. But state governments will have to do more of the functions of the federal government now.
Here in MA, we have to plan for the next Sandy. Only without FEMA.
We have to redo Romneycare to prepare for Obamacare going away.
The state DEP has to act like there is no EPA.
Start thinking about these things.
Yes, I have to concur with all of this. We'll have to lean hard on federalism to protect as many people as we can going forward. It's just really fucking unfortunate that most of the most vulnerable are living in solid-red states.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Here in MA, we have to plan for the next Sandy. Only without FEMA.
We have to redo Romneycare to prepare for Obamacare going away.
The state DEP has to act like there is no EPA.
Start thinking about these things.
Yes, I have to concur with all of this. We'll have to lean hard on federalism to protect as many people as we can going forward. It's just really fucking unfortunate that most of the most vulnerable are living in solid-red states.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Am I okay with a four-year clusterfuck of a Trump presidency, knowing that it will ruin the lives of millions of people, if it turns out that the country eventually rebels against its decision? No, I'm not. I can't handle those four years.
posted by perhapses at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by perhapses at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
I'm vacillating between numb shock, bottomless fear and total denial that somehow the numbers will change, that's there's still time, there's still hope. I've been at work this evening so I couldn't watch blow by blow so I'm still processing this because this is so fucking unreal. Part of me refuses to give into despair no matter how deluded that is. I can't decide if it's escapism or resiliency.
At least you guys are here, thank you for that.
posted by GospelofWesleyWillis at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
At least you guys are here, thank you for that.
posted by GospelofWesleyWillis at 9:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I'm just... there are so many things swirling around in my head right now. My brother starts officer training in January. How will Trump try to use him? I need a right to choose. My crush needs to be treated like a human being as a black Muslim man. How could college educated white women have voted for Trump with a 4% margin? What am I going to do with my life as I try to go into academia in a field funded through the NSF studying evolution? What about USAID programs? What about the UN? What about NATO? What about immigrants? How could there have been Jews who voted for this? What happened to Never Forgetting? I'm just flabbergasted and dumbfounded and disillusioned and embarrassed and angry and so, so sad. What happened to love trumping hate?
posted by ChuraChura at 9:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [21 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 9:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [21 favorites]
My sweet little boy went to the polling place with me today and charmed the ladies handing out the ballots by asking to shake their hands. He told me that a lot of kids in his first grade class said Hillary Clinton is mean, but he doesn't think so.
Historically, elections are hard on my mental health. 2000 was pretty rough, but 2004 left scars and I tuned out after that. As the forecasts turned tonight, I kept an even keel for him. I'll maintain, because he deserves not to be afraid.
posted by pajamazon at 9:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Historically, elections are hard on my mental health. 2000 was pretty rough, but 2004 left scars and I tuned out after that. As the forecasts turned tonight, I kept an even keel for him. I'll maintain, because he deserves not to be afraid.
posted by pajamazon at 9:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
This is really absolutely unthinkable. And the worst part about a Trump Presidency, among the vast multitude of terrible parts, is that we don't know what is the exact point when all hell is going to break lose or what will cause Pandora's Box to come screaming open. The man makes no sense and possesses no consistency or restraint and spews absolute lies all the time. He does not respect the rules of democracy. This is not just another presidency. All that we know has broken underneath our feet. Which of our rights and freedoms will be the first to go? How can Americans stay safe in this new America? And personally, will I ever feel safe again? The fact that finding out about my trans status is as easy as searching my SSN history terrifies me. And so much for the tide turning on the whole stupid bathrooms issue with the Supreme Court pick.
posted by sevenofspades at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
posted by sevenofspades at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
FelliniBlank:
I mean, the gazillions of Trump voters have no clue at all that, if elected, he is going to totally bone them along with all the people they hate, do they?
If there's anything Trump and the GOP spin machine are good at, though, it's convincing those voters that it's [insert enemy] doing the boning.
posted by Rykey at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
I mean, the gazillions of Trump voters have no clue at all that, if elected, he is going to totally bone them along with all the people they hate, do they?
If there's anything Trump and the GOP spin machine are good at, though, it's convincing those voters that it's [insert enemy] doing the boning.
posted by Rykey at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Clinton's probable popular vote margin is actually going up. She could win the popular vote by 2 million. 2 MILLION. And still it means nothing.
This has to change. It must.
posted by Justinian at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
This has to change. It must.
posted by Justinian at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
It may very well be that Trump delegates as much as possible, but there is no real reason to believe that Pence will have a particularly important role in the administration. Constitutionally, VP has close to zero authority, he gets to do exactly as much as POTUS lets him. And based on the numerous reports of antipathy between Trump and Pence, and how Pence was never really his first choice in the first place, I wouldn't be surprised if Pence is left on the sidelines and the power players who emerge are people Trump happens to like. Especially in roles beyond cabinet secretary that have essentially no oversight.
posted by skewed at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by skewed at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
We're currently living in an electronic panopticon that's been largely hands-off for non-lawbreakers or for people breaking merely minor laws. That could change very quickly.
i really hope this is not one of those comments that looks incredibly pessimistic at first and incredibly prescient a few years later like rebecca blood's comment on 9/11
posted by entropicamericana at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
i really hope this is not one of those comments that looks incredibly pessimistic at first and incredibly prescient a few years later like rebecca blood's comment on 9/11
posted by entropicamericana at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Reminder to everyone that now would be a good time to reify your IRL non-electronic social networks, chatting face to face with friends and establishing safe words and signals when discussing potentially-sensitive information.
On that note, any Boston area mefits up for an IRL commiserating meetup? Or just a straight up misery meet up? Maybe we can start making a plan about what we can do in the dark days ahead.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
On that note, any Boston area mefits up for an IRL commiserating meetup? Or just a straight up misery meet up? Maybe we can start making a plan about what we can do in the dark days ahead.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Neil deGrasse Tyson: "This is the end of nothing. This is the beginning of something new and solemn and so important. You must be part of what comes next."
posted by Dragonness at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [43 favorites]
posted by Dragonness at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [43 favorites]
I don't think anyone will target Medicare for a while due to the old white vote. I'm probably wrong but want to hold on to some small bits of optimism.
Me too. I'm 41 and fortunate to be able to use these services due to the exceptions signed into law several decades ago. I just think that if the old white vote sees the Medicare money that goes to renal care, they'll do a hungry hungry hippo and try to take it for themselves in the proud tradition of our new president.
posted by mochapickle at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Me too. I'm 41 and fortunate to be able to use these services due to the exceptions signed into law several decades ago. I just think that if the old white vote sees the Medicare money that goes to renal care, they'll do a hungry hungry hippo and try to take it for themselves in the proud tradition of our new president.
posted by mochapickle at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Clinton's one path is winning MI and PA while holding NH and MN.
That only gets her to 269. Which would throw the election to the House, but that still ends up a Trump win. Fantasies about House Republicans coming to their senses and electing someone other than Trump are just that: fantasies.
(Also, the House can't just choose anyone, they have to choose from among the top three in the EV count, but that's actually the lesser obstacle to this fantasy because it would require only a single faithless elector to offer the House a third option. The greater obstacle, of course, is that House Republicans have no spine.)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
That only gets her to 269. Which would throw the election to the House, but that still ends up a Trump win. Fantasies about House Republicans coming to their senses and electing someone other than Trump are just that: fantasies.
(Also, the House can't just choose anyone, they have to choose from among the top three in the EV count, but that's actually the lesser obstacle to this fantasy because it would require only a single faithless elector to offer the House a third option. The greater obstacle, of course, is that House Republicans have no spine.)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
When Obama swept in to power in 2008, the Republicans sat down and figured out how they were going to stop him.
If they did it, so can we.
By extension, this would suggest the Democrats send an ineffectual technocrat out in 2020 and have the party hijacked by a polarizing TV star in 2024. I am not sure that seems like a good plan.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
If they did it, so can we.
By extension, this would suggest the Democrats send an ineffectual technocrat out in 2020 and have the party hijacked by a polarizing TV star in 2024. I am not sure that seems like a good plan.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Coventry: "Stop taking the Democratic Party machine as an authority figure, for starters. Take it over from below, like the Tea Partiers have with the Republican Party."
I don't see how that can help? What would a grass roots take over accomplish? They can either move the platform more left and lose the middle or move right and still lose to the -ists.
posted by Mitheral at 9:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't see how that can help? What would a grass roots take over accomplish? They can either move the platform more left and lose the middle or move right and still lose to the -ists.
posted by Mitheral at 9:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
So there's about a trillion dollars we don't have anymore. Or, as we now call it, 1,000 1-year Trump losses.
posted by zachlipton at 9:56 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by zachlipton at 9:56 PM on November 8, 2016
Even rich people are potentially in huge trouble under a Trump administration. This is a guy who has no problem screwing borrowers and has already said he'd "renegotiate" the national debt, i.e., sovereign default. What do you think that would do to the debt markets and who do you think holds that debt?
posted by indubitable at 9:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by indubitable at 9:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Welp. Definitely not the kind of news you'd want to wake up to. Time to start exploring my long-term career options because somehow I don't think the Russians will have any use for an English to Estonian translator.
posted by daniel_charms at 9:57 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by daniel_charms at 9:57 PM on November 8, 2016
Historically, elections are hard on my mental health. 2000 was pretty rough, but 2004 left scars and I tuned out after that
Same. It took 10 years for me to recover enough from 2004 to dip my toe back in the water.
But I know that I'm stronger and more stable than I was back then. So that's why I know I have to find a way to hold it together and do whatever I can to help. It feels like anything I could do would be paltry and insignificant, but I feel like I have to try.
But right now, I'm focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, and I'm praying to the god I don't believe in that we have some kind of miracle.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Same. It took 10 years for me to recover enough from 2004 to dip my toe back in the water.
But I know that I'm stronger and more stable than I was back then. So that's why I know I have to find a way to hold it together and do whatever I can to help. It feels like anything I could do would be paltry and insignificant, but I feel like I have to try.
But right now, I'm focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, and I'm praying to the god I don't believe in that we have some kind of miracle.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
My well of empathy for Trump voters has been dry for a while, but it's a yawning black hole right now.If these results are genuine that's likely part of the problem. It would have been harder to activate angry whites if establishment media and politicians hadn't been so openly contemptuous of them. If someone was calling me a deplorable for my political views, I would for sure be going out of my way to vote against them.
posted by Coventry at 9:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Owen Ellickson has retired his Trump Twitter story: tweet I know it's a small thing, but he helped me with his humor and I'll miss it.
Take care of yourselves; we'll be counting on each other for support. We really are a community, widespread as we might be.
posted by Silverstone at 9:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Take care of yourselves; we'll be counting on each other for support. We really are a community, widespread as we might be.
posted by Silverstone at 9:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
i really hope this is not one of those comments that looks incredibly pessimistic at first and incredibly prescient a few years later like rebecca blood's comment on 9/11
Same. And, you know, most people probably don't get to get that paranoid. But the folks who do know who they are.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Same. And, you know, most people probably don't get to get that paranoid. But the folks who do know who they are.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Real question for those of us with Clinton regalia on our cars and in our lawns: do we remove them, or not?
I certainly will not remove anything, but I'm a white male in a liberal area. People should definitely think about their safety, but those who can should continue to show opposition.
posted by thefoxgod at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016
I certainly will not remove anything, but I'm a white male in a liberal area. People should definitely think about their safety, but those who can should continue to show opposition.
posted by thefoxgod at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016
I had to turn off TV. MSNBC was talking to Rudy. And when they were going to visit the Trump ballroom - well I can't even. I think I will have to avoid broadcast media for the rest of my life. I can read about this but I don't think I have the strength to watch it. Plus, I will never ever forgive the broadcast media for their complicity in this.
There are so many things I can't get my mind around. That he is the handpicked favorite of Putin. The people he has surrounded himself with. The racism. The vengeance. The ignorance. First lady Melania. His sons emboldened.
Hillary, how she can bear this. The Obamas. I just can't.
posted by madamjujujive at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [60 favorites]
There are so many things I can't get my mind around. That he is the handpicked favorite of Putin. The people he has surrounded himself with. The racism. The vengeance. The ignorance. First lady Melania. His sons emboldened.
Hillary, how she can bear this. The Obamas. I just can't.
posted by madamjujujive at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [60 favorites]
Oh the media were 100% complicit in Trump winning tonight. They could've put the nail in the Trump coffin over and over again but instead we got endless both sides are equally bad bullshit and endless fucking discussion about emails as if a private email server was anything nearly as bad as Trump's continued malfeasance.
The media wanted a fucking horse race so they gave Trump billions of dollars in free advertising. They 100% share the blame for this bullshit. I hope that every journalist who tries some lame ass pass the buck routine gets ridiculed for being the hacks they are. I hope that they feel their beltway insider status will protect them from the worst of the effects.
But the truth is that the fourth estate utterly failed us and the parallel one that describes everything as being the fault of the Democrats is victorious. Is this how German journalists in the Weimar Republic feel?
posted by vuron at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [95 favorites]
The media wanted a fucking horse race so they gave Trump billions of dollars in free advertising. They 100% share the blame for this bullshit. I hope that every journalist who tries some lame ass pass the buck routine gets ridiculed for being the hacks they are. I hope that they feel their beltway insider status will protect them from the worst of the effects.
But the truth is that the fourth estate utterly failed us and the parallel one that describes everything as being the fault of the Democrats is victorious. Is this how German journalists in the Weimar Republic feel?
posted by vuron at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [95 favorites]
That only gets her to 269.
There's the Omaha congressional district in Nebraska, worth 1. Possibly.
But like I said it doesn't matter, Clinton is going to lose PA by 1% or less.
posted by Justinian at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
There's the Omaha congressional district in Nebraska, worth 1. Possibly.
But like I said it doesn't matter, Clinton is going to lose PA by 1% or less.
posted by Justinian at 9:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
“Take it over from below, like the Tea Partiers have with the Republican Party.”
Seconded. Bernie Sanders was really popular, and among a lot of people you wouldn't expect to support a socialist. The demand is there and the sentiment is there, not so much to reach the angry ones who voted for Trump, but to reach the angry ones who fizzled into this sort of thing. Make the Democratic party realize where its people (and its gettable new people) are.
posted by traveler_ at 9:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Seconded. Bernie Sanders was really popular, and among a lot of people you wouldn't expect to support a socialist. The demand is there and the sentiment is there, not so much to reach the angry ones who voted for Trump, but to reach the angry ones who fizzled into this sort of thing. Make the Democratic party realize where its people (and its gettable new people) are.
posted by traveler_ at 9:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Neil deGrasse Tyson: "This is the end of nothing. This is the beginning of something new and solemn and so important. You must be part of what comes next."
In this dark moment, what do I have left but pointless pedantry? That wasn't tweeted by the actual Neil deGrasse Tyson, (@neiltyson), but by a parody account, @DrNeilTyson.
Still good words, though.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
In this dark moment, what do I have left but pointless pedantry? That wasn't tweeted by the actual Neil deGrasse Tyson, (@neiltyson), but by a parody account, @DrNeilTyson.
Still good words, though.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
By extension, this would suggest the Democrats send an ineffectual technocrat out in 2020 and have the party hijacked by a polarizing TV star in 2024. I am not sure that seems like a good plan.
Not so much this, but I do think we should take a page from the Republicans and focus on the down ballot races. That has to be a big part of the answer to what's next.
Start small, aim big. Try not to let the despair swallow you up completely.
I know it's going to be a tall order.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not so much this, but I do think we should take a page from the Republicans and focus on the down ballot races. That has to be a big part of the answer to what's next.
Start small, aim big. Try not to let the despair swallow you up completely.
I know it's going to be a tall order.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
One of the commentators on PBS said that Trump outperformed Romney among whites by just 1%, but Clinton markedly underperformed compared to Obama among non-whites. I.e. this is partly a reflection on Clinton and not merely on Trump. If we're looking for a Democrat who can appeal to non-whites like Obama could, sounds to me like we're looking at Cory Booker 2020.
posted by crazy with stars at 9:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by crazy with stars at 9:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Independent Republic of Cascadia
I'm ready. I'm beyond ready. This...AMERICA SAY NO TO THIS. Fuck.
posted by corb at 10:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm ready. I'm beyond ready. This...AMERICA SAY NO TO THIS. Fuck.
posted by corb at 10:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
The "fourth estate" has always failed us.
posted by Sphinx at 10:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Sphinx at 10:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
If someone was calling me a deplorable for my political views,
I do no consider white supremacy a political view.
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [67 favorites]
I do no consider white supremacy a political view.
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [67 favorites]
Real question for those of us with Clinton regalia on our cars and in our lawns: do we remove them, or not?
I live in the Boston area, so i'm leaving mine on, but if I didn't live in a liberal blue oasis, I probably wouldn't. I can't blame anyone who decides to lay low.
Stay safe, everyone. That's the top priority.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I live in the Boston area, so i'm leaving mine on, but if I didn't live in a liberal blue oasis, I probably wouldn't. I can't blame anyone who decides to lay low.
Stay safe, everyone. That's the top priority.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
As weed legalization is looking good tonight, it's good to remind ourselves of:
posted by zachlipton at 10:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Half the people are stoned and the other half are waiting for the next election /-- Paul Simon (given as a birthday present to Leonard Bernstein (c. 1971)
Half the people are drowned and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction.
posted by zachlipton at 10:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Clinton's "underperformance" among African Americans has to be taken in perspective. She won 88% of their vote or so, compared to like 93% for Obama. This was not a failure of AA, it was a failure of non-college whites.
posted by Justinian at 10:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [52 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [52 favorites]
It begins dec 9, now that the GOP has nothing to fear and no need to bargain.
posted by ctmf at 10:01 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by ctmf at 10:01 PM on November 8, 2016
I'll be interested to see how the male vs. female lines up for minority voters. Could be misogyny, or could be Clinton derangement syndrome. If it's the latter, it'll be somewhat even; if it's the former, it'll be all male.
posted by Mitrovarr at 10:02 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Mitrovarr at 10:02 PM on November 8, 2016
I'm trying to be positive, but here's the thing: a few months ago, my 7 year-old asked if he would to have to leave the country if Trump got elected, as he's Latino. I assured him that no, of course that wouldn't happen, especially as Trump wasn't going to become president.
Now? I don't THINK that would happen. But the very fact that I'm not 100% sure of it just pisses me off so fucking much.
Fuck you if you voted for Trump. Fuck you for making my child frightened. Fuck you.
posted by nushustu at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [34 favorites]
Now? I don't THINK that would happen. But the very fact that I'm not 100% sure of it just pisses me off so fucking much.
Fuck you if you voted for Trump. Fuck you for making my child frightened. Fuck you.
posted by nushustu at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [34 favorites]
I do no consider white supremacy a political view.
Another way to look at it is try to understand what roll this racism and nationalism is filling. Why are these people turning to this? Is there something the Democrats can do or offer that would provide an enticing alternative?
posted by Sangermaine at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Another way to look at it is try to understand what roll this racism and nationalism is filling. Why are these people turning to this? Is there something the Democrats can do or offer that would provide an enticing alternative?
posted by Sangermaine at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
not over the phone; same room. Your number one plan right now should be how you and your friends will facilitate information exchange with
And turn on the radio, spot for hard writing surfaces.
Also, "If a case officer or his agent is to stay a long time in the hotel so that his bill will be large, it is imperative that he establish a good credit impression at the outset. (This may be a particular problem when an agent's hotel bill is to be paid not by him but by mail."
-'The Hotel In Operations'
posted by clavdivs at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
And turn on the radio, spot for hard writing surfaces.
Also, "If a case officer or his agent is to stay a long time in the hotel so that his bill will be large, it is imperative that he establish a good credit impression at the outset. (This may be a particular problem when an agent's hotel bill is to be paid not by him but by mail."
-'The Hotel In Operations'
posted by clavdivs at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
On that note, any Boston area mefits up for an IRL commiserating meetup?
We won't be able to organize it in here, but I would. You should make a post on IRL!
posted by danb at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016
We won't be able to organize it in here, but I would. You should make a post on IRL!
posted by danb at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016
This whole thread, but this in particular.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by tobascodagama at 10:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
If someone was calling me a deplorable for my political views,
The crazy thing about that is that Clinton was very clear that she wasn't referring to all Trump voters, only the one motivated by racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and then people raised their hands to say "yep, that's me!"
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [53 favorites]
The crazy thing about that is that Clinton was very clear that she wasn't referring to all Trump voters, only the one motivated by racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and then people raised their hands to say "yep, that's me!"
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [53 favorites]
Handily, the Australian Immigration Department released the revised skills list today for those wishing to emigrate.
posted by wilful at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by wilful at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Is there something the Democrats can do or offer that would provide an enticing alternative?
The Democrats are offering actual goddamned solutions to their problems, and that's apparently not enticing enough.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [50 favorites]
The Democrats are offering actual goddamned solutions to their problems, and that's apparently not enticing enough.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [50 favorites]
The governments funding via continuing resolution ends December 9. We may be hosed.
posted by datawrangler at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by datawrangler at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016
Clinton's "underperformance" among African Americans has to be taken in perspective. She won 88% of their vote or so, compared to like 93% for Obama. This was not a failure of AA, it was a failure of non-college whites.
It's about turnout though, not the percentage. And people are going to have to crunch the numbers in the next few days as to whether NC's voter suppression efforts, which were specifically targeted to make it harder for black voters to vote, made the difference in that state.
posted by zachlipton at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
It's about turnout though, not the percentage. And people are going to have to crunch the numbers in the next few days as to whether NC's voter suppression efforts, which were specifically targeted to make it harder for black voters to vote, made the difference in that state.
posted by zachlipton at 10:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
By extension, this would suggest the Democrats send an ineffectual technocrat out in 2020 and have the party hijacked by a polarizing TV star in 2024. I am not sure that seems like a good plan.
I think Kanye has already made his interest known...
posted by cecic at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think Kanye has already made his interest known...
posted by cecic at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
my kids were eating dinner with the news on in the background and I was, well clearly worried, and so I tried to simplify it for their 2 and 3 year old selves. "We're choosing a president tonight and mommys worried, because one of the people is mean. But hopefully we'all get the good president. Hopefully the president will be a girl." And my two year old daughter says "a girl! like me!!"
Fuck.
posted by pennypiper at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Fuck.
posted by pennypiper at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
My heart goes out to Hillary. What must she be thinking?
I hope Obama pardons me before he leaves office. And Bill. Chelsea, Marc, baby Charlotte and baby Aidan too. Just in case.
posted by space_cookie at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I hope Obama pardons me before he leaves office. And Bill. Chelsea, Marc, baby Charlotte and baby Aidan too. Just in case.
posted by space_cookie at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
The deplorables were the ones wearing "reporter tree rope" t-shirts. The rest ought to be wondering who they're lying down with and why they have all those fleas. Votes that can be swung by blowing smoke are not reliable, leave them to the last-minute canvassers. For the next election two years from now, darn right I'm going to challenge people who claim "I'm not one of those deplorables" to prove it.
posted by traveler_ at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by traveler_ at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh the media were 100% complicit in Trump winning tonight. They could've put the nail in the Trump coffin over and over again but instead we got endless both sides are equally bad bullshit and [...] The media wanted a fucking horse race so they gave Trump billions of dollars in free advertising. They 100% share the blame for this bullshit.
I'm inclined to lean this way. Specifically, I think that there was a certain cynicism at work in BIG media wherein they didn't want Trump to win, they believed him to be a no-hoper, but that was bad for biz, so they kept giving him enough rope ...
posted by philip-random at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
I'm inclined to lean this way. Specifically, I think that there was a certain cynicism at work in BIG media wherein they didn't want Trump to win, they believed him to be a no-hoper, but that was bad for biz, so they kept giving him enough rope ...
posted by philip-random at 10:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Jesus - it just occurred to me that Kasich, as awful as he is, might actually try like hell to keep Ohio actually functioning out of sheer orneriness. Like, I might have to vote for the guy in '18 just out of self-preservation.
posted by soundguy99 at 10:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by soundguy99 at 10:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I do no consider white supremacy a political view.I've been saying, there is a lot more to Trump's appeal than racism and misogyny. He is tapping in to a sense that a large group of people are being left behind and ignored by the country's elite. Clinton was the wrong candidate for that kind of politics.
posted by Coventry at 10:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
It's about turnout though, not the percentage.
True, but note that Nate Silver says that we should not take those demographic exit polls as worth much at all; the results we are seeing in terms of the vote count does not match what you would get if those exit polls were correct. IE, Trump is probably doing better with non-college whites than in the exit polls and worse with AA and Latino voters than in the exit polls.
I think when all is said and done Clinton will have done very, very well with both AA and Latino voters but Trump just brought out massive numbers of non-college whites in the upper Midwest.
posted by Justinian at 10:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
True, but note that Nate Silver says that we should not take those demographic exit polls as worth much at all; the results we are seeing in terms of the vote count does not match what you would get if those exit polls were correct. IE, Trump is probably doing better with non-college whites than in the exit polls and worse with AA and Latino voters than in the exit polls.
I think when all is said and done Clinton will have done very, very well with both AA and Latino voters but Trump just brought out massive numbers of non-college whites in the upper Midwest.
posted by Justinian at 10:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Mod note: A few comments deleted; again please don't poke at obvious sore points, this is not the time.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Democrats are offering actual goddamned solutions to their problems, and that's apparently not enticing enough.
Right, it's not. If we want to win in the future then we need to figure out what is. Maybe different goddamned solutions. But whatever is on the table now clearly isn't enough.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Right, it's not. If we want to win in the future then we need to figure out what is. Maybe different goddamned solutions. But whatever is on the table now clearly isn't enough.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
We won't be able to organize it in here, but I would. You should make a post on IRL!
Yeah, I don't want to derail this thread, but when the dust settles a bit, or maybe once I get a few hours of sleep, I'll throw something together and post it over on IRL. I feel like we're all going to need all the support we can get.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:07 PM on November 8, 2016
Yeah, I don't want to derail this thread, but when the dust settles a bit, or maybe once I get a few hours of sleep, I'll throw something together and post it over on IRL. I feel like we're all going to need all the support we can get.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:07 PM on November 8, 2016
I just keep thinking about the "sorry, everybody" meme from 2004 and how I wept over it... I think it'll be starting up again before morning.
In fact: Sorry, everybody. Those of us who oppose hatred tried.
posted by TwoStride at 10:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
In fact: Sorry, everybody. Those of us who oppose hatred tried.
posted by TwoStride at 10:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Well, he's not going to bring back steel mills, coal mines, or manufacturing. So the next Dem candidate can run on the phrase: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
And to my Trump-voting brother, your stocks just tanked. How secure do you feel now?
ETA: Trump-loving. I'm not sure he actually voted.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
And to my Trump-voting brother, your stocks just tanked. How secure do you feel now?
ETA: Trump-loving. I'm not sure he actually voted.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
The Clinton campaign must have thousands of lawyers and others trying to intervene in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, etc right? I mean, they must have had an army ready, right?
I mean, the way results numbers seem to have slowed way down looks like something is happening, anyway.
posted by rokusan at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I mean, the way results numbers seem to have slowed way down looks like something is happening, anyway.
posted by rokusan at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I've been saying, there is a lot more to Trump's appeal than racism and misogyny. He is tapping in to a sense that a large group of people are being left behind and ignored by the country's elite. Clinton was the wrong candidate for that kind of politics.
And I keep saying you're wrong.
posted by bongo_x at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
And I keep saying you're wrong.
posted by bongo_x at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
But the sense that people are being left behind and ignored is STUPID AND BULLSHIT. They are not being hit ANY HARDER than anyone else, and the things that help the "others" also help them. The answer to their concerns is "No, you're mistaken."
HOW THE FUCK DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT IF THEY REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT?
posted by Scattercat at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [62 favorites]
HOW THE FUCK DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT IF THEY REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT?
posted by Scattercat at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [62 favorites]
Bit of a story here, but I'll tie it into this election — bear with me a second.
So, I own a small business and we're in the midst of seemingly never-ending renovations. We've got a contractor who I strongly suspect screwed us on a flooring job and used outdoor-only sealant on part of the space (we're doing one half at a time). The fumes have taken a week to subside; it was only when we rented (at our own expense) a super-serious, heavy-duty ventilation system and ran it all weekend that they finally died down enough that our employees said they could bear to work in the other side of the space and NOT have to wear gas masks to work.
We're in a retail space with apartments above and behind, and our landlord has had to pay for hotel rooms for some of the tenants, chemical testing, and a variety of other things, and has told me he intends to bill us for it. Shit just keeps rolling downhill, and I don't have the money to pay for this crap.
I'm talking with our attorney and insurance company to see what our options are — long story short, it looks like we'll be going after this dishonest contractor and/or his insurance company for damages. Whatever he and/or his insurance company (assuming he has one) can't cover, our insurance should be able to. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this, because the guy seems kind of like a dumbass and overall kind of nice, and he subbed out the flooring job, and I suspect he honestly didn't know what happened.
But I'm also about 90% sure he's a Trump voter. I can just tell.
After tonight . . . fuck it, I'm going after him, guns blazing. Fuck this guy.
Oh, and while I may be a business owner and in the top 4%, income-wise, I'm also a person of color who's heard my own customers say stupid shit about my own ethnic group on My. Own. Fucking. Sales. Floor. (My skin tone is kind of ambiguous; people don't necessarily know my ethnic background by looking at me.) And one of my stores — my flagship store, and the one currently under renovation and the one that just got fucked over by said contractor — happens to be in the capital of the old confederacy. So I suspect this guy's a good ol' boy.
Well, fuck this guy. You get the next four years. In the meantime, I get your house.
(Yeah, we're supposed to be better than this, and eventually I will be. But I also have a 21-month-old girl who was born during Obama and who I wanted to see grow up during Hillary's administration, even if I was initially a "BernieBro." Now I won't see that happen. I need somewhere to put this anger. Eventually, I'll channel it somewhere more productive. Right now, at 1:08 AM on election night, it's going toward this contractor who could potentially kill my business.)
posted by CommonSense at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [36 favorites]
So, I own a small business and we're in the midst of seemingly never-ending renovations. We've got a contractor who I strongly suspect screwed us on a flooring job and used outdoor-only sealant on part of the space (we're doing one half at a time). The fumes have taken a week to subside; it was only when we rented (at our own expense) a super-serious, heavy-duty ventilation system and ran it all weekend that they finally died down enough that our employees said they could bear to work in the other side of the space and NOT have to wear gas masks to work.
We're in a retail space with apartments above and behind, and our landlord has had to pay for hotel rooms for some of the tenants, chemical testing, and a variety of other things, and has told me he intends to bill us for it. Shit just keeps rolling downhill, and I don't have the money to pay for this crap.
I'm talking with our attorney and insurance company to see what our options are — long story short, it looks like we'll be going after this dishonest contractor and/or his insurance company for damages. Whatever he and/or his insurance company (assuming he has one) can't cover, our insurance should be able to. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this, because the guy seems kind of like a dumbass and overall kind of nice, and he subbed out the flooring job, and I suspect he honestly didn't know what happened.
But I'm also about 90% sure he's a Trump voter. I can just tell.
After tonight . . . fuck it, I'm going after him, guns blazing. Fuck this guy.
Oh, and while I may be a business owner and in the top 4%, income-wise, I'm also a person of color who's heard my own customers say stupid shit about my own ethnic group on My. Own. Fucking. Sales. Floor. (My skin tone is kind of ambiguous; people don't necessarily know my ethnic background by looking at me.) And one of my stores — my flagship store, and the one currently under renovation and the one that just got fucked over by said contractor — happens to be in the capital of the old confederacy. So I suspect this guy's a good ol' boy.
Well, fuck this guy. You get the next four years. In the meantime, I get your house.
(Yeah, we're supposed to be better than this, and eventually I will be. But I also have a 21-month-old girl who was born during Obama and who I wanted to see grow up during Hillary's administration, even if I was initially a "BernieBro." Now I won't see that happen. I need somewhere to put this anger. Eventually, I'll channel it somewhere more productive. Right now, at 1:08 AM on election night, it's going toward this contractor who could potentially kill my business.)
posted by CommonSense at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [36 favorites]
Handily, the Australian Immigration Department released the revised skills list today for those wishing to emigrate.
Ooh, agricultural scientist! I wonder if a master's degree is enough?
posted by Mitrovarr at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Ooh, agricultural scientist! I wonder if a master's degree is enough?
posted by Mitrovarr at 10:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I believe it was Bob Dylan, (the Nobel Laureate,) who said, "Can't hate nothin' at all, but hatred."
posted by Oyéah at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Pence is shit but at least he's sane.
As a former Indiana resident, take my word on this - HE IS NOT SANE.
posted by reedbird_hill at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [44 favorites]
As a former Indiana resident, take my word on this - HE IS NOT SANE.
posted by reedbird_hill at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [44 favorites]
The rage I have for Republican politicians who ever pretended to be serious people and then didn't stop this is boundless. I hope all of those fucking cowards are panicking behind their rictus grins right now. You people did this. I refuse to participate in a left circular firing squad. REFUSE. There are far, far more people who are way way guiltier. I hope they all get their just desserts.
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
I feel utterly lost and powerless. I'll probably be able to weather the coming storm, but I know so many others will have it so much worse, and I don't know what I can do for them. I don't know what I can offer them.
posted by Dalby at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Dalby at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
The worst part of this is that even if it does wind up that Clinton squeaks by with a win when all of the votes are counted, we've still found ourselves in a situation where we asked five friends what to do for lunch and three said "pizza" and two said "kill you and make a soup from your bones." Like, even if we do get pizza in the end, that line's already been pretty well crossed.
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [82 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [82 favorites]
Jesus, Trump in the White House. Fuck. I'm going to bed.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
good god. grabbed 4 hours sleep. i'm so sorry for you guys. what a world we are going to live in.
looks like nate silver was pretty smart. heh. and that la times poll...
oh boy. what a mess.
posted by andrewcooke at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
looks like nate silver was pretty smart. heh. and that la times poll...
oh boy. what a mess.
posted by andrewcooke at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm still catching up, but I wanted to say that after lurking for years, the last few election threads finally nudged me into creating an account. I'd like to thank all of you for informing and calming me, and for this bastion of community and sanity.
posted by Fish, fish, are you doing your duty? at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by Fish, fish, are you doing your duty? at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
Man, Nate Silver is getting *reamed* on twitter. Talk about killing the messenger. He did not go to Pennsylvania and cast 100,000 votes for Donald Trump. I think people just need to express their anger somehow and he is, unfortunately, an easy target.
posted by Justinian at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I am starting to think that the Democrats cannot run as moderate centrists anymore--the only thing that can challenge authoritarian populism is a very robust leftist populism. Medicare for all. Free public colleges. Universal basic income. Offer a bold vision. I think the Trump phenomenon is mainly a racist, xenophobic, sexist backlash, but there might be enough genuine economic anxiety to put together a winning platform if the Dems can convince people that they have their backs in the struggle against insane corporate greed and power.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [98 favorites]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [98 favorites]
Sorry but if your world view is white males > everyone else then I have nothing but contempt for you. I'll try to coexist and if my job requires it work with you but nah my tolerance of intolerance is pretty much at it's end.
I really don't see how coexistence is possible if a sizable percentage of Americans feel like it's okay to discriminate against people for their sexual or gender orientation or the color of your skin. There are 100% people who believe that African Americans are less civilized.
The truth of the matter is that even if there are good Republicans out there they've said that maintaining their privilege or their wealth is more important than the wellbeing of their fellow citizens. The election of Trump is 100% a vote for "Fuck you I've got mine" and what's said is that a huge percentage of rural America that is dealing with large scale unemployment and drug abuse just decided to make shit worse because medicaid expansion just went bye-bye.
It'll be interesting to see how much of the safety net Republicans manage to dismantle this time just because White people don't like sharing with brown people.
posted by vuron at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
I really don't see how coexistence is possible if a sizable percentage of Americans feel like it's okay to discriminate against people for their sexual or gender orientation or the color of your skin. There are 100% people who believe that African Americans are less civilized.
The truth of the matter is that even if there are good Republicans out there they've said that maintaining their privilege or their wealth is more important than the wellbeing of their fellow citizens. The election of Trump is 100% a vote for "Fuck you I've got mine" and what's said is that a huge percentage of rural America that is dealing with large scale unemployment and drug abuse just decided to make shit worse because medicaid expansion just went bye-bye.
It'll be interesting to see how much of the safety net Republicans manage to dismantle this time just because White people don't like sharing with brown people.
posted by vuron at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
With all the recounts and legal challenges that both campaigns must right now be typing out, there's no real way this can be settled tonight, is there.
posted by rokusan at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by rokusan at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
y. He is tapping in to a sense that a large group of people are being left behind and ignored by the country's elite.
they felt "left behind and ignored" because a black man was uppity in the white house
posted by poffin boffin at 10:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [57 favorites]
they felt "left behind and ignored" because a black man was uppity in the white house
posted by poffin boffin at 10:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [57 favorites]
I don't know how as a female POC I am supposed to connect to people who hate me. Just seems like people think they are shouting into the white echo chamber.
posted by zutalors! at 10:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [31 favorites]
posted by zutalors! at 10:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [31 favorites]
Nate Silver, to everyone's disdain, turns out to be the most correct. Again.
(He pisses off both sides equally, as it turns out.)
posted by rokusan at 10:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
(He pisses off both sides equally, as it turns out.)
posted by rokusan at 10:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Nebraska voted to reinstate the death penalty. Jesus wept.
posted by triggerfinger at 10:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by triggerfinger at 10:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Man, Nate Silver is getting *reamed* on twitter.
Crazy. He's vindicated, compared to everyone else I saw making predications. Nate always had lower odds for Clinton than the others.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Crazy. He's vindicated, compared to everyone else I saw making predications. Nate always had lower odds for Clinton than the others.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
I canvassed for the last time today. I cried coming back to the office, because while action is an antidote to worry, this whole election has been so awful and I was afraid that even all of the beautiful actions by so many volunteers and staff all over the US wasn't going to be enough. And then I tried to convince myself to quit being maudlin and set my damn shoulders and get on with it. I'm awfully fucking sad right now. Perhaps there are miracles and surprises in store in the morning and perhaps he has won and that will be worse than we can or have imagined. I don't know. I'm going to bed and perhaps I will dream of an explanation for my children. Many people are good, lots of people are awful, shit's complicated, my loves, and I love you and I'm so sorry and we must carry on. We can cry first, and rage, and hold each other, and then we get to work. I don't mean to be glib in the face of real fears and so much uncertainty, but I find a small sliver of comfort in the prospect of action on the side of love.
posted by danielleh at 10:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by danielleh at 10:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
So over the last hour or so, Clinton went from 14% to 21% on 538. Does that mean anything? I'm grasping at straws right now.
I can't fucking believe this.
I mean, I know even if by some absolute miracle Clinton pulls this off, that doesn't mean we're out of the woods, but even that dim future seems like such a panacea compared to the far, far more likely scenario that is facing us.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:12 PM on November 8, 2016
I can't fucking believe this.
I mean, I know even if by some absolute miracle Clinton pulls this off, that doesn't mean we're out of the woods, but even that dim future seems like such a panacea compared to the far, far more likely scenario that is facing us.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:12 PM on November 8, 2016
.
posted by astapasta24 at 10:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by astapasta24 at 10:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
Am I the only person who just feels a sort of numb fatalism, like anything could happen at this point and it wouldn't be a surprise? Military/CIA coup because the Russia story is true? Wouldn't surprise me. Sniper taking potshots? Sounds about right. Events are in that surreal state where anything seems possible, even a Clinton win and a future where I can laugh this comment.
posted by feloniousmonk at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [36 favorites]
posted by feloniousmonk at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [36 favorites]
In Utah, according to the NYT the votes aren't in at all in Salt Lake County, and several others. It is all zeros, in huge tracts of Utah. I am not in denial here, but I am in Utah.
posted by Oyéah at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
With all the recounts and legal challenges that both campaigns must right now be typing out, there's no real way this can be settled tonight, is there.
It's just not quite close enough in PA and MI to make a recount something that would feasibly change the result in the absence of some sort of indication of widespread voter fraud.
And remember we're the ones who have made the point repeatedly that widespread voted fraud is not a thing.
Now, widespread voter suppression may well have given this to Trump. How many people didn't wait in line to vote when they saw the lines were 3 hours long? And those lines were only in the Democratic areas.
posted by Justinian at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
It's just not quite close enough in PA and MI to make a recount something that would feasibly change the result in the absence of some sort of indication of widespread voter fraud.
And remember we're the ones who have made the point repeatedly that widespread voted fraud is not a thing.
Now, widespread voter suppression may well have given this to Trump. How many people didn't wait in line to vote when they saw the lines were 3 hours long? And those lines were only in the Democratic areas.
posted by Justinian at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I mean, what happens now? I don't think they can call it for certain tonight. Hillary's people can't sit in Javits forever.
posted by mochapickle at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mochapickle at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I live in rural Michigan amongst a literal sea of trump voters. In a few hours I have to get up and tell my kids that Clinton lost and that it's probably best that they keep any political opinions our household holds under wraps for a while, if not permanently. I literally feel ill right now thinking about it.
posted by Chrischris at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Chrischris at 10:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I don't see how that can help? What would a grass roots take over accomplish?I think I persuaded about twenty people to the polls today. At least four, because they were walking to the polling station when I left their house. I picked the poorest, least Anglo neighborhood in Manchester, NH. In seven hours of walking around there, I saw one other person with a clipboard. Local establishment Dems are neglecting neighborhoods like that, because the people there aren't useful to them. No one I talked to said "you guys again?" like there'd been any Dem outreach to them. But you can be damn sure, if Bernie had won, there would have been.
Those are the kind of people the Dem party needs to reach out to, but the party needs a shift in character before it can do that.
posted by Coventry at 10:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
He is tapping in to a sense that a large group of people are being left behind and ignored by the country's elite.
And those people are racists and misogynists, and the way you can tell that is that they look at Trump and they think he's okay. People who are not misogynists do not think that a serial sexual abuser is an appropriate candidate for president. Period. People who are not racists do not think that a man who talks about minorities the way that Trump does is an appropriate candidate for president. Period.
You only forgive people for those things if you think they're only minor errors, not grievous faults of character. I could believe that it was a thing about culture or economics in any other fashion if it was just someone who'd made vague comments, if it was just someone who generally seemed to treat women and minorities respectfully but had incompatible political ideas, that would be one thing. But this isn't that. This isn't "you say you're pro life but why aren't you funding services for children"--this is "you say you respect women but you seriously just admitted to sexual assault and this is backed up by tons of women who've actually had to deal with you". The two just... aren't even comparable.
I'm not a big fan of conservatives generally, but this is a whole different thing. My housemates voted for Trump. They are not young women who just feel economically left-behind. Believe me, I've heard them talk about minorities, especially when they're drunk. What this election is is a count of the people who didn't make racist comments in front of you before but are really basically okay with the people who did.
posted by Sequence at 10:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [119 favorites]
And those people are racists and misogynists, and the way you can tell that is that they look at Trump and they think he's okay. People who are not misogynists do not think that a serial sexual abuser is an appropriate candidate for president. Period. People who are not racists do not think that a man who talks about minorities the way that Trump does is an appropriate candidate for president. Period.
You only forgive people for those things if you think they're only minor errors, not grievous faults of character. I could believe that it was a thing about culture or economics in any other fashion if it was just someone who'd made vague comments, if it was just someone who generally seemed to treat women and minorities respectfully but had incompatible political ideas, that would be one thing. But this isn't that. This isn't "you say you're pro life but why aren't you funding services for children"--this is "you say you respect women but you seriously just admitted to sexual assault and this is backed up by tons of women who've actually had to deal with you". The two just... aren't even comparable.
I'm not a big fan of conservatives generally, but this is a whole different thing. My housemates voted for Trump. They are not young women who just feel economically left-behind. Believe me, I've heard them talk about minorities, especially when they're drunk. What this election is is a count of the people who didn't make racist comments in front of you before but are really basically okay with the people who did.
posted by Sequence at 10:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [119 favorites]
Oh, I've never believed in widespread voter fraud, and still don't. Election fraud, sure, but voter fraud is a red herring.
No, this is something else.
posted by rokusan at 10:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
No, this is something else.
posted by rokusan at 10:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
zutalors! we get to spend the next 4 years being told that this was our fault, if only we had listened to white people more instead of being all mean and smug and rude and irrational and playing victim and uppity and
hold on i need to pour another drink
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 10:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
hold on i need to pour another drink
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 10:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
The Huffington Post ending editor's note that called Donald Trump 'racist'
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't think that Hillary's ideas lost. This election was hardly about ideas; Trump does not offer any. So I don't think that she was too centrist. And I think now that Sanders also would have likely lost to Trump, maybe even more so, for different reasons. Sanders and Trump together were able to successfully paint Hillary with an exaggerated negativity (that had a grain of truth) and she didn't have the charisma that Trump apparently has, although I don't really see it
posted by knoyers at 10:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by knoyers at 10:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
>Nebraska voted to reinstate the death penalty. Jesus wept.
Though unfortunately not surprising considering that both major candidates and their parties are pro-death penalty.
posted by beau jackson at 10:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Though unfortunately not surprising considering that both major candidates and their parties are pro-death penalty.
posted by beau jackson at 10:15 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
> Democrats send an ineffectual technocrat out in 2020 and have the party hijacked by a polarizing TV star in 2024
Heh. We don't have to go that far.
My point is, they didn't give up. They made a plan, they followed it, and they ended up winning elections down the line.
We can do the same.
How about taking back the House in 2018? It's always hard for the part in power to retain control of the House at midterm and it's going to be very easy to campaign against the shitstorm that a Trump presidency is certain to bring in its wake.
posted by flug at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Heh. We don't have to go that far.
My point is, they didn't give up. They made a plan, they followed it, and they ended up winning elections down the line.
We can do the same.
How about taking back the House in 2018? It's always hard for the part in power to retain control of the House at midterm and it's going to be very easy to campaign against the shitstorm that a Trump presidency is certain to bring in its wake.
posted by flug at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
And I keep saying you're wrong.
they felt "left behind and ignored" because a black man was uppity in the white house
People are rightly very emotional and angry right now, but this is clearly wrong. On MetaFilter itself there is a constant refrain that the current system isn't working. The rich get richer and everyone else gets ground down more and more.
The reaction for some people experiencing this is to look for easy explanations, explanations like racism and misogyny and jingoism that can be exploited. Of course this is not acceptable. But dismissing this group as irrational bigoted monsters precludes any chance of finding alternatives to the problems these people perceive that could sway them.
As a practical matter, what choice do we have? This is obviously a powerful voting bloc that needs to be dealt with or we'll keep losing.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [32 favorites]
they felt "left behind and ignored" because a black man was uppity in the white house
People are rightly very emotional and angry right now, but this is clearly wrong. On MetaFilter itself there is a constant refrain that the current system isn't working. The rich get richer and everyone else gets ground down more and more.
The reaction for some people experiencing this is to look for easy explanations, explanations like racism and misogyny and jingoism that can be exploited. Of course this is not acceptable. But dismissing this group as irrational bigoted monsters precludes any chance of finding alternatives to the problems these people perceive that could sway them.
As a practical matter, what choice do we have? This is obviously a powerful voting bloc that needs to be dealt with or we'll keep losing.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [32 favorites]
With all the recounts and legal challenges that both campaigns must right now be typing out, there's no real way this can be settled tonight, is there.
That's what I'm starting to realize. I really was planning on staying up until this thing was called, but with the current outlook so grim, and the likelihood that we won't know for sure until much later, I may have to call it a night soon because somehow I have to find the strength to get up and go to work tomorrow and be engaged and teach a class even though it feels like nothing in the world matters any more, and I'll need a few hours of sleep to do it.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
That's what I'm starting to realize. I really was planning on staying up until this thing was called, but with the current outlook so grim, and the likelihood that we won't know for sure until much later, I may have to call it a night soon because somehow I have to find the strength to get up and go to work tomorrow and be engaged and teach a class even though it feels like nothing in the world matters any more, and I'll need a few hours of sleep to do it.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Right, lets not leave out the racism. It is absolutely true that Trump tapped in to a large group of non-college white voters who believe they are being ignored by the elite. And the way in which they believe they are being ignored is that they think they are being shafted in favor of minorities and (some) women.
Ignoring the second part is like talking about States Rights and the Civil War. You kind of have to mention that the State Right in question was slavery.
posted by Justinian at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
Ignoring the second part is like talking about States Rights and the Civil War. You kind of have to mention that the State Right in question was slavery.
posted by Justinian at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
And those people are racists and misogynists, and the way you can tell that is that they look at Trump and they think he's okay.
So, ok, sure, this is 100% true. But if they're a dominant fraction of the electorate... what do we do about it?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
So, ok, sure, this is 100% true. But if they're a dominant fraction of the electorate... what do we do about it?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
How many people left lines because they couldn't wait three hours, and figured what does a Vote matter, Hillary already aced this anyway.
How many people voted Johnson or Stein last minute because of how excited they were about the early voting news?
posted by mrzarquon at 10:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
How many people voted Johnson or Stein last minute because of how excited they were about the early voting news?
posted by mrzarquon at 10:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
But the sense that people are being left behind and ignored is STUPID AND BULLSHIT. They are not being hit ANY HARDER than anyone else,
They're being hit harder than they're used to. I - I can't tonight, but tomorrow maybe I'll try to figure out a way to get them to not feel so much hate but tonight I just don't have the words in my mouth. There's still hope but I'm just heartbroken right now.
posted by corb at 10:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
They're being hit harder than they're used to. I - I can't tonight, but tomorrow maybe I'll try to figure out a way to get them to not feel so much hate but tonight I just don't have the words in my mouth. There's still hope but I'm just heartbroken right now.
posted by corb at 10:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
I'm heartsick. I'm going to bed, to toss and turn for the next five hours until I have to get up and somehow face this reality again.
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Jon Ralston: Now that it's legal in NV, I think I may try pot. Seems like the right night to do it.
You and me both, Jon.
posted by Justinian at 10:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
You and me both, Jon.
posted by Justinian at 10:18 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
How about taking back the House in 2018? It's always hard for the part in power to retain control of the House at midterm and it's going to be very easy to campaign against the shitstorm that a Trump presidency is certain to bring in its wake.
Democrats won 2012 popular vote in the house by a point and Republicans got six points over on seats. The house is a god damned lost cause. It's not coming back this generation, perhaps ever.
posted by Talez at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Democrats won 2012 popular vote in the house by a point and Republicans got six points over on seats. The house is a god damned lost cause. It's not coming back this generation, perhaps ever.
posted by Talez at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm still in shock. All morning students have wanted to discuss the selection and I've had to tell them I just can't do that right now. There's a knot in my throat when I try to articulate my thoughts and feelings on the subject.
posted by bardophile at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by bardophile at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
But what can you DO when your manual transmission won't shift from first gear unless you scream racial epithets at it? Like that's not an option, here. What can you do about people who are just fucking awful and will choose awful things and only awful things?
You stop. You think. You start planning how to handle this problem.
You've identified one thing that works: scream racial epithets. Obviously a solution that involves you screaming racial epithets every time you want to change gears isn't workable, but, in taking the time to understand the problem this much, you can start analyzing further:
- Is it the epithet, or the screaming, that's the key?
- How frequently must this be done?
- Are particular phrases more effective? Do they have a greater or longer lasting effect?
Then you can start thinking about how to make the thing actually go when you want.
Maybe you can make a machine that handles the yelling automatically. Maybe you can figure out a way to fine-tune or muffle the whole apparatus so that you aren't distracted by the noise.
Or, maybe you learn from the analysis something that points to the root of the problem; maybe the car is doing this because it needs a different kind of fuel, or a new fuse, or maybe if you just take out the radio it will work fine.
Eventually, you could wind up with a great running car that gets you places like your job or a doctor's office.
But none of this would be possible if you hadn't stopped and analyzed the problem.
posted by amtho at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
You stop. You think. You start planning how to handle this problem.
You've identified one thing that works: scream racial epithets. Obviously a solution that involves you screaming racial epithets every time you want to change gears isn't workable, but, in taking the time to understand the problem this much, you can start analyzing further:
- Is it the epithet, or the screaming, that's the key?
- How frequently must this be done?
- Are particular phrases more effective? Do they have a greater or longer lasting effect?
Then you can start thinking about how to make the thing actually go when you want.
Maybe you can make a machine that handles the yelling automatically. Maybe you can figure out a way to fine-tune or muffle the whole apparatus so that you aren't distracted by the noise.
Or, maybe you learn from the analysis something that points to the root of the problem; maybe the car is doing this because it needs a different kind of fuel, or a new fuse, or maybe if you just take out the radio it will work fine.
Eventually, you could wind up with a great running car that gets you places like your job or a doctor's office.
But none of this would be possible if you hadn't stopped and analyzed the problem.
posted by amtho at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
If you've never lost someone you love, if you've never faced serious illness, or even been fired, if you don't remember past political shockers, that surreal feeling you have is is grief, shock, numbness, fight or flight and depression all combined.
Buoys and gulls, my immediate concern is what do I -many years working but for not a great income and with no bennies -do for healthcare when my ACA plan goes away. Seriously asking. MeMail me.
Of course, theoretically I'm several years away from Medicare and Soc. Sec. Hahahaha...
[What were those, Old One?
Well, Young Ones, for some time before the Great Conflagration brought upon us by our own arrogance and the demon god Donald, the world was good, and people took care of each other...]
posted by NorthernLite at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Buoys and gulls, my immediate concern is what do I -many years working but for not a great income and with no bennies -do for healthcare when my ACA plan goes away. Seriously asking. MeMail me.
Of course, theoretically I'm several years away from Medicare and Soc. Sec. Hahahaha...
[What were those, Old One?
Well, Young Ones, for some time before the Great Conflagration brought upon us by our own arrogance and the demon god Donald, the world was good, and people took care of each other...]
posted by NorthernLite at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Maybe this country is just too big.
posted by Golem XIV at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by Golem XIV at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
I hope he and his followers are not expecting to hear her concede, especially given that he wasn't willing to say he'd accept the election results.
posted by datawrangler at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by datawrangler at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2016
current google searches:
- quinoa farming for dummies
- emotional support alpacas
- panama real estate
- fake own death? how
- vanguardism in 12 easy steps
posted by poffin boffin at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [33 favorites]
- quinoa farming for dummies
- emotional support alpacas
- panama real estate
- fake own death? how
- vanguardism in 12 easy steps
posted by poffin boffin at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [33 favorites]
I think we really need to focus on circling the wagons and limiting the damage over the next four years, but also have to seriously focus on how to win back Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, that means reaching out to older white people.
I think there is really something to this:
Frumm comes off as a really horrible person to me in this podcast, but I think it is worth listening to as he does have some interesting observations about politics.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I think there is really something to this:
@Chris_arnade: They got turned racist over last few years because they didn't read Vox articles explaining how great shit was?Chris Arnade added,They are perhaps not voting that rationally or in their best interests, but it is probably also true that these states (many of which used to be solidly Democratic) are not doing all that well, and are very concerned about their future. I do think Bernie was able to appeal to them more than Hillary, even though I may actually agree with Hillary on some of their core issues. A big part of the problem may be the success of FOX News and conservative media (also with Brexit I perhaps?). I don't think MSNBC, PBS, and CNN are reaching these communities as well as FOX.@AlecMacGillis: Please, tell me more about how Clinton losing northern white working-class people who voted twice for Barack Obama is all about race.
Frumm comes off as a really horrible person to me in this podcast, but I think it is worth listening to as he does have some interesting observations about politics.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
This is bad. I knew the storm would come in my lifetime, but I didn't think it would be this soon. I thought there would be more time.
posted by eagles123 at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by eagles123 at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
They are not being hit ANY HARDER than anyone else,
They're being hit harder than they're used to.
It doesn't matter that your sister's been in and out of the hospital and just got out of surgery. She got ice cream and you didn't get any and ITS NOT FAAAAIR.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
They're being hit harder than they're used to.
It doesn't matter that your sister's been in and out of the hospital and just got out of surgery. She got ice cream and you didn't get any and ITS NOT FAAAAIR.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
And the way in which they believe they are being ignored is that they think they are being shafted in favor of minorities and (some) women.
So how can you change that? Why isn't the message reaching them? How can we better connect with them?
What's the alternative to doing this? Scream at these voters that they're disgusting racists and misogynists? That's not going to change minds and more importantly it won't change votes.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
So how can you change that? Why isn't the message reaching them? How can we better connect with them?
What's the alternative to doing this? Scream at these voters that they're disgusting racists and misogynists? That's not going to change minds and more importantly it won't change votes.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
They feel left behind and ignored because they literally have no shoes. The democratic party abandoned the lot of them.
posted by pan at 10:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by pan at 10:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Maybe this country is just too big.
nah, the world needs fewer borders
posted by philip-random at 10:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
nah, the world needs fewer borders
posted by philip-random at 10:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
It doesn't matter that your sister's been in and out of the hospital and just got out of surgery. She got ice cream and you didn't get any until dinner and ITS NOT FAAAAIR.
Again, it's not that this characterization is incorrect, but when 50.001% of the electorate feels that way.. what do we do?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Again, it's not that this characterization is incorrect, but when 50.001% of the electorate feels that way.. what do we do?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
But if they're a dominant fraction of the electorate... what do we do about it?
They're not! Clinton is going to win the popular vote by something like 1.5 or 2million! (Hard to say exactly because of California). The problem is that the electoral college couldn't cater to those people any harder if it were designed that way. In a sense it WAS designed that way, though the founders couldn't necessarily have forseen the shifts of the last 200 years.
The electoral college is basically a giant gerrymandering on a national scale. Actually that's exactly what it is, no "basically" about it. Just as gerrymandering lets Republicans hold the House of Representatives despite more people voting for Democrats, Trump has given the Republicans a roadmap for how the electoral college gerrymander can let the Republicans hold the Presidency despite more people voting for Democrats there as well.
Not forever. But maybe long enough for them to do irreparable damage.
Really, they will now control all three branches of government because of what amounts to gerrymandering. I... guess Trump was right about the system being rigged.
posted by Justinian at 10:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
They're not! Clinton is going to win the popular vote by something like 1.5 or 2million! (Hard to say exactly because of California). The problem is that the electoral college couldn't cater to those people any harder if it were designed that way. In a sense it WAS designed that way, though the founders couldn't necessarily have forseen the shifts of the last 200 years.
The electoral college is basically a giant gerrymandering on a national scale. Actually that's exactly what it is, no "basically" about it. Just as gerrymandering lets Republicans hold the House of Representatives despite more people voting for Democrats, Trump has given the Republicans a roadmap for how the electoral college gerrymander can let the Republicans hold the Presidency despite more people voting for Democrats there as well.
Not forever. But maybe long enough for them to do irreparable damage.
Really, they will now control all three branches of government because of what amounts to gerrymandering. I... guess Trump was right about the system being rigged.
posted by Justinian at 10:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
“They're being hit harder than they're used to.”
What's maddening is I had relatives who I knew had been personally helped by Obamacare passing around articles on social media about other people whose insurance rates were going up, and commenting about how Obamacare hadn't done any good and they didn't need it and oh how stupid and corrupt the Democrat politicians are.
I just don't even know what to do. A four-hour lecture with charts and numbers? Bullying "nu-uh"s like the guy who just won?
posted by traveler_ at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
What's maddening is I had relatives who I knew had been personally helped by Obamacare passing around articles on social media about other people whose insurance rates were going up, and commenting about how Obamacare hadn't done any good and they didn't need it and oh how stupid and corrupt the Democrat politicians are.
I just don't even know what to do. A four-hour lecture with charts and numbers? Bullying "nu-uh"s like the guy who just won?
posted by traveler_ at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I think the Trump phenomenon is mainly a racist, xenophobic, sexist backlash, but there might be enough genuine economic anxiety to put together a winning platform if the Dems can convince people that they have their backs in the struggle against insane corporate greed and power.
I think the lesson here is that an egalitarian answer to fascism has to combine economic justice and social justice. Racism, hatred, bigotry and misogyny are potent wedges.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I think the lesson here is that an egalitarian answer to fascism has to combine economic justice and social justice. Racism, hatred, bigotry and misogyny are potent wedges.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
When we got Obama elected I figured there'd be a terrible price. Giant white-hot ball of rage and all that. I guess it's finally time to pay the piper.
posted by mmoncur at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by mmoncur at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
We've known what to do about racism and misogyny for a very long time - take people seriously. Listen to their concerns. Defend them when you see them being denigrated, attacked. Look, even here on MeFi it's a constant refrain of "does that really happen?" in response to things that, yes, have really happened.
Anyway I saw so much courage and support. So very much. People got out and talked to others. This is heartbreaking.
posted by fraula at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Anyway I saw so much courage and support. So very much. People got out and talked to others. This is heartbreaking.
posted by fraula at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
They'll continue to be left behind, no idea how that's going to go. From the example of the UK it doesn't seem to make anyone any more sensible.
posted by Artw at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm out. Oddly fitting outro video from the trenches here in the United States of Trump. Sorry but it's true.
I'm just glad my two girls are young enough that I spend most of my time talking about the importance of going poo in the potty instead of geopolitical instability. I'm sad that they get to spend part of their growing years on a planet that obviously doesn't deserve them.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016
I'm just glad my two girls are young enough that I spend most of my time talking about the importance of going poo in the potty instead of geopolitical instability. I'm sad that they get to spend part of their growing years on a planet that obviously doesn't deserve them.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016
@AP_Politics: BREAKING: Republicans retain control of the Senate with victory in Pennsylvania.
posted by bryon at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bryon at 10:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Let me clarify that the idea of screaming racial epithets at the gearbox is meant to be a metaphor for invoking and strengthening racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, religious discrimination, and basically every other horrifying genocide-causing emotion in human history and giving it actual power of law. Since that is not a goddamned motherfucking option, what do we do about the portion of the electorate that apparently does not care about anything other than "fuck the n*****s, fuck the q****s, fuck the k***s, fuck the... ad nauseam"?
I will not support becoming racist or apparently racist in order to win them over to voting in their own fucking shitty asshole SELF-god-damned-INTEREST.
posted by Scattercat at 10:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I will not support becoming racist or apparently racist in order to win them over to voting in their own fucking shitty asshole SELF-god-damned-INTEREST.
posted by Scattercat at 10:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
So. Inauguration Day 2017. Million ass salute to our new President, or million fiddle players to serenade in the flames?
posted by inflatablekiwi at 10:24 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by inflatablekiwi at 10:24 PM on November 8, 2016
My Bestie just sent me the following text, and these are her exact words:
"WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF FUCKING MCFUCKITY FUCKING FUCKING FUCK GOD DAMNIT FUCKING FUCK"
That....kind of says it all, really.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
"WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF FUCKING MCFUCKITY FUCKING FUCKING FUCK GOD DAMNIT FUCKING FUCK"
That....kind of says it all, really.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
However this shakes out I'm glad to have been with y'all as I did my part in Wisconsin and cast my first vote for a Democratic presidential candidate.
You must be part of what comes next.
Parody or not, I believe this.
Hope and change, friends. Hope and change.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
You must be part of what comes next.
Parody or not, I believe this.
Hope and change, friends. Hope and change.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I mean, what happens now? I don't think they can call it for certain tonight. Hillary's people can't sit in Javits forever.
Correspondent from Javits on the PBS stream was noting the venue's booked for a broadcasting convention at 8 a.m. and in theory have a drop-dead time of 2 a.m. for the Clinton event. Though you have to wonder if the booking on that was done by someone familiar with US presidential elections.
posted by cortex at 10:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Correspondent from Javits on the PBS stream was noting the venue's booked for a broadcasting convention at 8 a.m. and in theory have a drop-dead time of 2 a.m. for the Clinton event. Though you have to wonder if the booking on that was done by someone familiar with US presidential elections.
posted by cortex at 10:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
The electoral college is basically a giant gerrymandering on a national scale. Actually that's exactly what it is, no "basically" about it.
It's also the rules of the game, and it's not going away any time soon. We can bitch about it all we want, but if we want to win then we need to change strategies to win in the system we have.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
It's also the rules of the game, and it's not going away any time soon. We can bitch about it all we want, but if we want to win then we need to change strategies to win in the system we have.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
So how can you change that? Why isn't the message reaching them? How can we better connect with them?
It does seem that Bernie was able to appeal to them better than Hillary. I'm guessing part of this may be his protectionism and anti trade-agreement stance. But as Frumm points out in the podcast I linked to above, a big part of politics is making people believe you are really there for them and on their side. Conservative media succeeded in convincing them Hillary was not. Even if this is all bullshit, and it probably mostly is, it is unfortunately what matters in politics. Obama was able to do it.
But on the other hand, it does seem like a part of their culture is turning in a more racist, more bigoted direction, and if that's true, I'm not sure what can be done about it. Obviously, there is an example from early last century of this sort of culture only getting worse.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
It does seem that Bernie was able to appeal to them better than Hillary. I'm guessing part of this may be his protectionism and anti trade-agreement stance. But as Frumm points out in the podcast I linked to above, a big part of politics is making people believe you are really there for them and on their side. Conservative media succeeded in convincing them Hillary was not. Even if this is all bullshit, and it probably mostly is, it is unfortunately what matters in politics. Obama was able to do it.
But on the other hand, it does seem like a part of their culture is turning in a more racist, more bigoted direction, and if that's true, I'm not sure what can be done about it. Obviously, there is an example from early last century of this sort of culture only getting worse.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
And he's gonna say "I told you so." He'll say that.
posted by Golem XIV at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Golem XIV at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016
This isn't on minority voters. This is 100% on white people. Yes it would've been great if Latinx and AAs and other parts of the rainbow coalition could've saved us from ourselves but the reality is that OH, MI and WI don't have enough minority voters to make a massive difference and Democrats needed those states.
Florida was so close but the rural areas where the old south remains supreme came out in fucking force and swallowed up the Latinx and AA vote.
Apparently the bailout of GM wasn't good enough for Midwestern voters. Apparently trying to keep the US from going under from the last Republican's mismanagement wasn't good enough.
The reality is that these guys just voted for the end of their way of life within the next couple of generations. Global warming will turn large parts of the Midwest into deserts and eat up huge areas of the Florida coast but I guess Trump and company will continue to tell them it's a liberal plot.
And I know that while I can shield me and mine from most of this mess for the next 4 years I am deeply saddened to know that there are millions of people out there that don't have the resources to absorb 4 years of Trump bullshit in the White House.
posted by vuron at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [46 favorites]
Florida was so close but the rural areas where the old south remains supreme came out in fucking force and swallowed up the Latinx and AA vote.
Apparently the bailout of GM wasn't good enough for Midwestern voters. Apparently trying to keep the US from going under from the last Republican's mismanagement wasn't good enough.
The reality is that these guys just voted for the end of their way of life within the next couple of generations. Global warming will turn large parts of the Midwest into deserts and eat up huge areas of the Florida coast but I guess Trump and company will continue to tell them it's a liberal plot.
And I know that while I can shield me and mine from most of this mess for the next 4 years I am deeply saddened to know that there are millions of people out there that don't have the resources to absorb 4 years of Trump bullshit in the White House.
posted by vuron at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [46 favorites]
So, how long until the Regrexit polls?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
When we got Obama elected I figured there'd be a terrible price. Giant white-hot ball of rage and all that.
yeah, the whole 8 years i've been low level poised for extreme horrors but it's always been a constant fear of violence against him and his beautiful perfect family. it didn't really register with me that these people would sit on that hatred and actually CHANNEL it into doing something over the long term. idk why, considering how long i personally am capable of holding a grudge.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
yeah, the whole 8 years i've been low level poised for extreme horrors but it's always been a constant fear of violence against him and his beautiful perfect family. it didn't really register with me that these people would sit on that hatred and actually CHANNEL it into doing something over the long term. idk why, considering how long i personally am capable of holding a grudge.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
current google searches:
- quinoa farming for dummies
- emotional support alpacas
- panama real estate
- fake own death? how
- vanguardism in 12 easy steps
Are you spying on me?
posted by bongo_x at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
- quinoa farming for dummies
- emotional support alpacas
- panama real estate
- fake own death? how
- vanguardism in 12 easy steps
Are you spying on me?
posted by bongo_x at 10:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Sangermaine:How can we better connect with them?
Maybe my last comment was unfair, but how exactly do we (wherever the boundaries are being drawn this week) connect with them, when they outnumber us and apparently have more power than us? You might get some nastiness for this comment, but I'd like you to consider that I don't see myself or "us" in a superior position to the white majority of the western world.
How can we be expected to fix them, when we're just fighting for space and recognition....and losing?
Apologies if incoherent. am drunk.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 10:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
Maybe my last comment was unfair, but how exactly do we (wherever the boundaries are being drawn this week) connect with them, when they outnumber us and apparently have more power than us? You might get some nastiness for this comment, but I'd like you to consider that I don't see myself or "us" in a superior position to the white majority of the western world.
How can we be expected to fix them, when we're just fighting for space and recognition....and losing?
Apologies if incoherent. am drunk.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 10:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
Why isn't the message reaching them?
Often, it's because they get all their "news" from Fox and Rush Limbaugh. Maybe Drudge and a bubble of Facebook conservatives if they're Internet-savvy.
I seriously have no fucking idea how to reach them, because they literally live in a different reality than I do.
posted by soundguy99 at 10:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
Often, it's because they get all their "news" from Fox and Rush Limbaugh. Maybe Drudge and a bubble of Facebook conservatives if they're Internet-savvy.
I seriously have no fucking idea how to reach them, because they literally live in a different reality than I do.
posted by soundguy99 at 10:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
So should the upset in MI during the primary have been a warning sign that polling was super off in Rust Belt-y states? Or is that over-interpreting? (Note: this is a question about polls and not about the relative merits of the primary candidates)
posted by en forme de poire at 10:28 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by en forme de poire at 10:28 PM on November 8, 2016
In my six decades of life, this is the first US Presidential election night that I've been reduced to uncontrollable crying. Dog help the USA and the rest of the world.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 10:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [32 favorites]
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 10:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [32 favorites]
Welcome to the darkest timeline. No, not a Trump presidency, but six more weeks of election coverage followed by... a decision. Either we get a SCOTUS decision or we get an Electoral College decision. Wonderful. Neither verdict will satisfy the public and will lead to civil unrest. I'm not saying all out civil war or even rioting. What we are looking at is a divided country, were one side has a metric fuckton of guns and crazy. What happens then is up to the media, not even the mainstream media, but the alt media. The internet. How we react as a culture will decide our future.
All in all, I'm not feeling optimistic.
posted by gideonswann at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
All in all, I'm not feeling optimistic.
posted by gideonswann at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
So democrats have now won the popular vote 4 out of the last 5 elections? Weird how are country works.
posted by skewed at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by skewed at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
>When we got Obama elected I figured there'd be a terrible price. Giant white-hot ball of rage and all that. I guess it's finally time to pay the piper.
Obama won twice. Perhaps a similar candidate could have won again.
That is not to say that racism isn't a real factor in this election. But looking past the flaws of Clinton as a candidate won't help us do better in the future.
posted by beau jackson at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Obama won twice. Perhaps a similar candidate could have won again.
That is not to say that racism isn't a real factor in this election. But looking past the flaws of Clinton as a candidate won't help us do better in the future.
posted by beau jackson at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Well, though not quite likely yet, the down the line chances for the first military coup in American history has entered the realm of the possible.
posted by y2karl at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
"Them" is the majority. At least the majority of the land area, which is what matters under our system. This is not the country we thought it was, it's their's, it's Trump's.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
The House Republican majority isn't really due to gerrymandering in the traditional sense, its because of population clustering and the Voting Rights Act.
Democratic-majority neighborhoods, towns and counties tend to be more heavily Democrat than Republican-majority neighborhoods, towns and counties are. This means that if you draw NON-gerrymandered districts, i.e. ones that are compact and respect existing community boundaries to the extent possible, you will elect a somewhat smaller number of Democrats by landslides and somewhat larger number of Republicans by narrower margins.
The Voting Rights Act usually seeks to create supermajority African American or Latino districts, while leaving white voters (of whatever political persuasion) outside the boundaries. Result, once again, Democrats elected by landslides (often actually or effectively unopposed) and white Republicans elected in adjacent districts by often large, but not AS large, margins.
posted by MattD at 10:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Democratic-majority neighborhoods, towns and counties tend to be more heavily Democrat than Republican-majority neighborhoods, towns and counties are. This means that if you draw NON-gerrymandered districts, i.e. ones that are compact and respect existing community boundaries to the extent possible, you will elect a somewhat smaller number of Democrats by landslides and somewhat larger number of Republicans by narrower margins.
The Voting Rights Act usually seeks to create supermajority African American or Latino districts, while leaving white voters (of whatever political persuasion) outside the boundaries. Result, once again, Democrats elected by landslides (often actually or effectively unopposed) and white Republicans elected in adjacent districts by often large, but not AS large, margins.
posted by MattD at 10:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
It turns out you can replace a GOTV operation, millions in ad spending, a digital operation, and all the other hallmarks of a remotely competent campaign with lots of racism and sexism and that's enough.
posted by zachlipton at 10:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [58 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 10:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [58 favorites]
HI AMERICANS (and all mefites!)
It's 4:45 pm on Wednesday here in Sydney, Australia as I type this comment and the world is still standing. I had the appointment with my therapist that I mentioned in the previous thread and he gave me some great advice, not about your election in particular (although we did discuss it briefly), but about managing worry and anxiety broadly. I don't know how useful you will find it, it might have been stuff you've heard before, but I liked it a lot and I am shelling out AU$200 a session for it so I figure why not spread the word? Even if most of you are probably asleep. So, briefly:
1. OPERATIONALISE YOUR DEFINITIONS
It is no use telling yourself or anyone else 'don't panic', 'don't worry', 'stop freaking out', 'calm down'. What even is 'panic' or 'worry' or 'calm' or 'freaking out'? As instructions these are about as effectual as squirting a spray bottle into Niagara Falls. They are not concrete. They are the opposite of concrete. Instead, think about things that you can do that normally make you more happy or calm. Have a bath or shower! Play with your pet! Play with your partner! Have something to drink, sure, why not. I don't know what it will be for you specifically but give yourself a little plan of calmness to follow and then bloody well follow it. This plan cannot involve having 538 or the NYT (you masochist) or even MetaFilter open. Sorry.
2. TRY BEING MINDFUL
It's not woo, I promise. Mindfulness is, essentially, focusing on the sensory data you are receiving right now and simply being aware of what it is instead of processing it within the wider context of your life. You must consider the sensory data as positively as you can. For example, pick up an apple. Don't just think 'oh, this is an apple.' Think: what a nice shade of green. It's interesting how it has that distinctive shape. There's that lovely zingy smell that foretells a delicious, sweet-sour tang when you bite into its white flesh. That texture when you're chewing—firm but not brittle—and those juices that flood your mouth. Walk into the shower. Don't just think 'oh, this is a shower.' Think: oh, the water hasn't heated up yet but that little shock of coolness is nice. I love the feeling of a stream of droplets beating against my skin. And the roar of the water as it pushes up through the pipes, is forced out the shower head and hits the floor. I'm looking out the window now on the 9th floor of my university library. I love how the clouds sit thickly in the sky like this when it's going to rain. They're so dark; we haven't had a proper thunderstorm in a while. Look at all those trees, popping up between rows of buildings. It's perfectly air-conditioned in here. Okay? Put down the laptop or smartphone, focus on something else and evaluate only its positive characteristics.
3. SHUT DOWN THE MONKEY BRAIN
Even after you do the other things I posted above, you might still be confronted by irritating negative thoughts bubbling up into your consciousness, like 'Wisconsin and Michigan', 'evil orange fascist', 'nuclear armageddon', 'third-party voters' etc. This is your monkey brain running in the background, still trying to get you to focus on all your dangers and problems. How to switch it off? Play little games with yourself. I like listening to music that has a shit ton of percussion in it and trying to jiggle my leg or tap my thigh or move my head or use a pen like a drumstick against the desk, trying to lose myself in all the different rhythms. I also like playing a podcast episode that I've heard a gazillion times before and focusing on only what the words that are being said, and not evaluating them within the overall narrative arc of the podcast, kinda like I'm trying to transcribe it in my head. Play a game of 2048 as quickly as you possibly can. (Play a game of 2048, timing your inputs to the beat of a song?) My therapist used the example of picking four different numbers between 1 and 10, and just keep adding 1 to each of them in turn. 2 3 5 9, 3 4 6 10, 4 5 7 11... you'll find it hard to focus on anything other than the game. All other thoughts will just be pushed out. Find a high-focus game that works for you and play it.
ok i hope that helped
YOU ARE ALL LOVELY, INTELLIGENT, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. It's pretty bad, yes, but there is zero point in focusing in on the badness right now. You will get through this; you will regroup; you will come out the other end fighting. Thank you for all the fascinating posts and hilarious comments you have posted on this site. Take care of yourselves!! <3 <3 <3
posted by Panthalassa at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [120 favorites]
It's 4:45 pm on Wednesday here in Sydney, Australia as I type this comment and the world is still standing. I had the appointment with my therapist that I mentioned in the previous thread and he gave me some great advice, not about your election in particular (although we did discuss it briefly), but about managing worry and anxiety broadly. I don't know how useful you will find it, it might have been stuff you've heard before, but I liked it a lot and I am shelling out AU$200 a session for it so I figure why not spread the word? Even if most of you are probably asleep. So, briefly:
1. OPERATIONALISE YOUR DEFINITIONS
It is no use telling yourself or anyone else 'don't panic', 'don't worry', 'stop freaking out', 'calm down'. What even is 'panic' or 'worry' or 'calm' or 'freaking out'? As instructions these are about as effectual as squirting a spray bottle into Niagara Falls. They are not concrete. They are the opposite of concrete. Instead, think about things that you can do that normally make you more happy or calm. Have a bath or shower! Play with your pet! Play with your partner! Have something to drink, sure, why not. I don't know what it will be for you specifically but give yourself a little plan of calmness to follow and then bloody well follow it. This plan cannot involve having 538 or the NYT (you masochist) or even MetaFilter open. Sorry.
2. TRY BEING MINDFUL
It's not woo, I promise. Mindfulness is, essentially, focusing on the sensory data you are receiving right now and simply being aware of what it is instead of processing it within the wider context of your life. You must consider the sensory data as positively as you can. For example, pick up an apple. Don't just think 'oh, this is an apple.' Think: what a nice shade of green. It's interesting how it has that distinctive shape. There's that lovely zingy smell that foretells a delicious, sweet-sour tang when you bite into its white flesh. That texture when you're chewing—firm but not brittle—and those juices that flood your mouth. Walk into the shower. Don't just think 'oh, this is a shower.' Think: oh, the water hasn't heated up yet but that little shock of coolness is nice. I love the feeling of a stream of droplets beating against my skin. And the roar of the water as it pushes up through the pipes, is forced out the shower head and hits the floor. I'm looking out the window now on the 9th floor of my university library. I love how the clouds sit thickly in the sky like this when it's going to rain. They're so dark; we haven't had a proper thunderstorm in a while. Look at all those trees, popping up between rows of buildings. It's perfectly air-conditioned in here. Okay? Put down the laptop or smartphone, focus on something else and evaluate only its positive characteristics.
3. SHUT DOWN THE MONKEY BRAIN
Even after you do the other things I posted above, you might still be confronted by irritating negative thoughts bubbling up into your consciousness, like 'Wisconsin and Michigan', 'evil orange fascist', 'nuclear armageddon', 'third-party voters' etc. This is your monkey brain running in the background, still trying to get you to focus on all your dangers and problems. How to switch it off? Play little games with yourself. I like listening to music that has a shit ton of percussion in it and trying to jiggle my leg or tap my thigh or move my head or use a pen like a drumstick against the desk, trying to lose myself in all the different rhythms. I also like playing a podcast episode that I've heard a gazillion times before and focusing on only what the words that are being said, and not evaluating them within the overall narrative arc of the podcast, kinda like I'm trying to transcribe it in my head. Play a game of 2048 as quickly as you possibly can. (Play a game of 2048, timing your inputs to the beat of a song?) My therapist used the example of picking four different numbers between 1 and 10, and just keep adding 1 to each of them in turn. 2 3 5 9, 3 4 6 10, 4 5 7 11... you'll find it hard to focus on anything other than the game. All other thoughts will just be pushed out. Find a high-focus game that works for you and play it.
ok i hope that helped
YOU ARE ALL LOVELY, INTELLIGENT, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. It's pretty bad, yes, but there is zero point in focusing in on the badness right now. You will get through this; you will regroup; you will come out the other end fighting. Thank you for all the fascinating posts and hilarious comments you have posted on this site. Take care of yourselves!! <3 <3 <3
posted by Panthalassa at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [120 favorites]
I remember when Reagan won. I remember when Bush won. So disappointed in America. Where to now? What country? FUCK?
posted by Windopaene at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Windopaene at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016
I think the oft quoted lesson is that since the 80's and the proliferation of around-the-clock media, the more charismatic candidate always ends up winning. Fewer people care about actual issues and fewer still remember them. More people like a "winning smile" and projected confidence.
The Dems merely needed to put someone in the race who had better stage presence than Trump. They didn't. Obama could have run as a communist and would have wiped the floor with Trump. The Democrats repeatedly underestimate the tendency of most people to make major decisions based on their gut instincts.
A lesson for the future.
posted by neeta at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
The Dems merely needed to put someone in the race who had better stage presence than Trump. They didn't. Obama could have run as a communist and would have wiped the floor with Trump. The Democrats repeatedly underestimate the tendency of most people to make major decisions based on their gut instincts.
A lesson for the future.
posted by neeta at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I seriously have no fucking idea how to reach them, because they literally live in a different reality than I do.
We have to stop living in different realities. We have to talk to each other. Someday.
posted by corb at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
We have to stop living in different realities. We have to talk to each other. Someday.
posted by corb at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
This feels like a bad dream. I'm going to try to sleep this off and wish for a miracle.
These election threads have been my constant companion for months now and I have learned so much from all of you. I'm grateful to everyone who canvassed and phonebanked. I love you all.
posted by mochapickle at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
These election threads have been my constant companion for months now and I have learned so much from all of you. I'm grateful to everyone who canvassed and phonebanked. I love you all.
posted by mochapickle at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
So democrats have now won the popular vote 4 out of the last 5 elections? Weird how are country works.
If there were enough Republican voters to win a fair election, Republicans wouldn't have to resort to gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement, and other forms of election fraud. They know the numbers, and they know they couldn't win a real election.
posted by IAmUnaware at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
If there were enough Republican voters to win a fair election, Republicans wouldn't have to resort to gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement, and other forms of election fraud. They know the numbers, and they know they couldn't win a real election.
posted by IAmUnaware at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
is it clear democrats have the popular vote? republicans ahead, no?
posted by andrewcooke at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by andrewcooke at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I suspect that a lot of the Trump voters are unconcerned about the dollar and the stock market crashing, some because they were left behind/out of the economic benefits, and others, the True Deplorables, who thought it was all the People Not Like Us (yeah, definitely the Jews) who have all the money, even while they watch their own 401Ks evaporate.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Tomorrow at work I just know there will be people saying everything will be all right. But that's out of habit, not clairvoyance. They don't know and none of us do. Proceed with caution but do proceed.
posted by datawrangler at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by datawrangler at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
it does seem like a part of their culture is turning in a more racist, more bigoted direction
Trump must have been pretty spot-on with his rhetoric and advertising, so let's look at the sort of things a plurality of American voters believe:
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [46 favorites]
Trump must have been pretty spot-on with his rhetoric and advertising, so let's look at the sort of things a plurality of American voters believe:
Mexicans are rapists and thieves, who steal American jobs.This is downright terrifying.
Muslims are terrorists.
Refugees are very possibly terrorists, whether they're Muslim or not.
African-Americans are uneducated people who live in bad areas that are filled with crime.
There is an global banking conspiracy aimed at keeping Americans poor, and it is headed by Jews.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [46 favorites]
I know that it's absurd thinking, but for some reason, I keep blaming that moving odometer thingie on the NYTimes page.
posted by roll truck roll at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by roll truck roll at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I don't know what to do :( I was hoping Clinton would win easy and I could get back to focusing on my school work, etc. I've been an anxious wreck the past week and I was hoping that would end but it's only going to get worse.
posted by Gymnopedist at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by Gymnopedist at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
I haven't been able to focus my eyes well for most of the last hour and I've got jimmy legs--both signs that it's far past my bedtime and I'm stressed out. I need need need to hear Hillary talk tonight, but I don't have it in me to stay up and wait for whenever that might come. People who can stay up and weather this storm: I wish you luck.
posted by phunniemee at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by phunniemee at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Sangermaine: "It's Nader 2.0. Do people never fucking learn?"
Apparently not, since Ralph Nader absolutely, historically did not lose the election for Al Gore. Seriously, not that many people voted for Nader, and there were a LOT of other factors in that election. Let go of the stupid lie that Nader voters were voting for Bush.
And let go of the illusion that ANYBODY but white people - particularly white males - gave this election to Trump. White men are scum. And I can say that because I am one.
posted by koeselitz at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
Apparently not, since Ralph Nader absolutely, historically did not lose the election for Al Gore. Seriously, not that many people voted for Nader, and there were a LOT of other factors in that election. Let go of the stupid lie that Nader voters were voting for Bush.
And let go of the illusion that ANYBODY but white people - particularly white males - gave this election to Trump. White men are scum. And I can say that because I am one.
posted by koeselitz at 10:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
Is anything else going to happen tonight?
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:33 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:33 PM on November 8, 2016
My coworker told me that he thought that people weren't admitting to pollsters that they supported trump. I told him bullshit
posted by knoyers at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by knoyers at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
is it clear democrats have the popular vote? republicans ahead, no?
Yeah, Trump is ahead in the popular vote by about a million.
posted by corb at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yeah, Trump is ahead in the popular vote by about a million.
posted by corb at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
The House Republican majority isn't really due to gerrymandering in the traditional sense, its because of population clustering
Population clustering is exactly what makes gerrymandering most effective. You can't separate the two things.
Sangermaine: I agree, simply throwing up our hands about the elector college is not a viable strategy. But its important to come to grips with what exactly the problem is, and a big part of the problem is the electoral college is an anti-democratic anachronism. One we have to deal with but stilll.
posted by Justinian at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Population clustering is exactly what makes gerrymandering most effective. You can't separate the two things.
Sangermaine: I agree, simply throwing up our hands about the elector college is not a viable strategy. But its important to come to grips with what exactly the problem is, and a big part of the problem is the electoral college is an anti-democratic anachronism. One we have to deal with but stilll.
posted by Justinian at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
@AP_Politics has reworked its previous tweet: "BREAKING: Republicans will retain control of Senate after win in Pennsylvania if they hold Louisiana, Alaska as expected."
posted by bryon at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by bryon at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016
Guys, Trump is ahead in the popular vote because California takes forever to count. It is always thus.
posted by Justinian at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
pbs: the only segment trump won was married men. bigly.
posted by andrewcooke at 10:35 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by andrewcooke at 10:35 PM on November 8, 2016
If Team Clinton has even a fraction of the nasty dirty political trick machinery that they've been alleged to possess, now might be a good time to deploy it.
Please?
posted by rokusan at 10:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Please?
posted by rokusan at 10:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Dear friends employed in any job positioned to help those likely to suffer in the foreseeable future,
Tomorrow is the best day to act.
Example: as an admissions guy at a small-beer community college, my first act tomorrow will be to filter applicant and prospect lists to prioritize anew anyone from underrepresented demographic categories likely to be adversely affected by election results, and to contact them immediately to offer help. And then I'll contact everyone else, too, since their lives will be affected, whether they see it yet or not.
If you are a pro in something, work that acre. You can do good work.
posted by Caxton1476 at 10:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
Tomorrow is the best day to act.
Example: as an admissions guy at a small-beer community college, my first act tomorrow will be to filter applicant and prospect lists to prioritize anew anyone from underrepresented demographic categories likely to be adversely affected by election results, and to contact them immediately to offer help. And then I'll contact everyone else, too, since their lives will be affected, whether they see it yet or not.
If you are a pro in something, work that acre. You can do good work.
posted by Caxton1476 at 10:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
Y'all, I work for an organization that resettles refugees in the United States....and gets a sizeable chunk of its funding from the state department.
I'm getting scared.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
I'm getting scared.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
Don't just think 'oh, this is an apple.' Think: what a nice shade of green.
But this apple is red. oh god im already doing it wrong
posted by Sangermaine at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
But this apple is red. oh god im already doing it wrong
posted by Sangermaine at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
A PSA reminding you that it is illegal to say "I want to kill the President of the United States."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I remember when Reagan won. I remember when Bush won. So disappointed in America. Where to now? What country? FUCK?
Spider Jerusalem gets a new column.
posted by mikelieman at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
Spider Jerusalem gets a new column.
posted by mikelieman at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
He is tapping in to a sense that a large group of people are being left behind and ignored by the country's elite.
they felt "left behind and ignored" because a black man was uppity in the white house
This is exactly it; Trump's average supporter made 70k a year. They weren't left behind by shit. 8 years of a black president just brought out the asshole brigades in droves. It began with teapartiers and now this. The thought of a black man, then a woman? Too much for the reactionaries to take.
posted by GospelofWesleyWillis at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [32 favorites]
they felt "left behind and ignored" because a black man was uppity in the white house
This is exactly it; Trump's average supporter made 70k a year. They weren't left behind by shit. 8 years of a black president just brought out the asshole brigades in droves. It began with teapartiers and now this. The thought of a black man, then a woman? Too much for the reactionaries to take.
posted by GospelofWesleyWillis at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [32 favorites]
I'm so fucking sorry, you guys. I kept thinking I should do more, talk to more people, donate more, but I just couldn't believe Trump could ever even be a real threat. Fuck.
posted by KGMoney at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by KGMoney at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Just putting this out there: Transgender people are an easy fucking target for the next political cycle. We've got the ugly, uncomfortable kind of visibility (with NC HB-2 and the lawsuit from Obama's DOJ) without any legal protection, without enough support from the electorate, with enough actual hate in the electorate to make discriminatory laws a popular selling point. Kind of like all the anti-gay-marriage ballot measures a few years ago.
The Obama administration wrote a lot of policies aimed at making life easier for transgender people. Those are gonna evaporate, if Pence or his ilk have any say in policy at all.
I don't think they can interfere with Medicaid, but the state insurance commissioners can. The Obama administration would probably sue the state, just like they're suing NC. Trump's will not.
It's possible that none of this will happen!!! Sure!! But it will be super super easy to score some political points targeting trans people.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
The Obama administration wrote a lot of policies aimed at making life easier for transgender people. Those are gonna evaporate, if Pence or his ilk have any say in policy at all.
I don't think they can interfere with Medicaid, but the state insurance commissioners can. The Obama administration would probably sue the state, just like they're suing NC. Trump's will not.
It's possible that none of this will happen!!! Sure!! But it will be super super easy to score some political points targeting trans people.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 10:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
I suspect that a lot of the Trump voters are unconcerned about the dollar and the stock market crashing
Tonight, I saw someone post a screenshot of the stock market, all green, to show that the everyone is lying about the markets. I thought they actually worked in fiance, but they still don't know the difference between the price at market close and futures. #YOLO
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Tonight, I saw someone post a screenshot of the stock market, all green, to show that the everyone is lying about the markets. I thought they actually worked in fiance, but they still don't know the difference between the price at market close and futures. #YOLO
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
It's totally fixed, just not in the way I originally guessed! Interesting!
I guess it's safe to say now that Trump is the candidate of global organized crime interests that opposed the interests of that other globalized power elite - and they convinced folks who were smart enough to know something was wrong with our system that THIS was an antidote.
The only bright spot is we're not going to war against Russia (or China) now.
The bad news is that this will be like that story arc in the Sopranos where Tony's crew decimates Robert Patrick and his sports store, stripping it of all worth.
Then we have civil unrest to look forward to. Wow. Still, the other power elite are a bunch of criminals too, and they invested in this result. No one thinks airplanes make building disintegrate in their footprint or that the largest seaport in the US was accidentally completely flooded. I made a joke in LA 2 weeks ago that," at least there won't be any terrorist attacks between now and the election" to someone and they laughed and agreed.
The bill came due. When you lie long enough, no one believes you anymore. Throw in some crazypants and prolonged economic hardship while 1% or fewer are enjoying unprecedented financial gains... and this is the result.
What annoys me most as a pacifist-love-everybody type person was that it was the crazypants mean-spirited misogynist racists who heard the message and then misconstrued the cause.
Fuck.
posted by jbenben at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I guess it's safe to say now that Trump is the candidate of global organized crime interests that opposed the interests of that other globalized power elite - and they convinced folks who were smart enough to know something was wrong with our system that THIS was an antidote.
The only bright spot is we're not going to war against Russia (or China) now.
The bad news is that this will be like that story arc in the Sopranos where Tony's crew decimates Robert Patrick and his sports store, stripping it of all worth.
Then we have civil unrest to look forward to. Wow. Still, the other power elite are a bunch of criminals too, and they invested in this result. No one thinks airplanes make building disintegrate in their footprint or that the largest seaport in the US was accidentally completely flooded. I made a joke in LA 2 weeks ago that," at least there won't be any terrorist attacks between now and the election" to someone and they laughed and agreed.
The bill came due. When you lie long enough, no one believes you anymore. Throw in some crazypants and prolonged economic hardship while 1% or fewer are enjoying unprecedented financial gains... and this is the result.
What annoys me most as a pacifist-love-everybody type person was that it was the crazypants mean-spirited misogynist racists who heard the message and then misconstrued the cause.
Fuck.
posted by jbenben at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
HEY GUYS I'M VIBRATING WITH RAGE
posted by palindromic at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
posted by palindromic at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
I think we're going to hear a lot of overanalysis of the disaffected Heartland, and the blue-color rage. This was suburban also, remember.
We're going to hear about Trumpism. I don't think this was about Trumpism, it was about Trump.
Trump is a bizarre, weirdly charismatic person. Completely un-selfconscious, completely confident to a terrifying degree. Really nasty and shameless and entertaining. An anti-hero — we're in the age of that (e.g, Walter White, a character that never would have found a home in American culture in any other era). He's a sociopath, a bully. People like that demand attention and get it — they hold sway over other people.
There is no candidate who would have beaten him this year.
posted by argybarg at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
We're going to hear about Trumpism. I don't think this was about Trumpism, it was about Trump.
Trump is a bizarre, weirdly charismatic person. Completely un-selfconscious, completely confident to a terrifying degree. Really nasty and shameless and entertaining. An anti-hero — we're in the age of that (e.g, Walter White, a character that never would have found a home in American culture in any other era). He's a sociopath, a bully. People like that demand attention and get it — they hold sway over other people.
There is no candidate who would have beaten him this year.
posted by argybarg at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
is it clear democrats have the popular vote? republicans ahead, no?
Yeah, Trump is ahead in the popular vote by about a million.
He's ahead now but there's a ton of California votes to be counted still. The NYT speedometer estimates Clinton will win the popular vote by 1.2%. Assuming a 140 million electorate, that's a 1,680,000 lead.
posted by chris24 at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016
Yeah, Trump is ahead in the popular vote by about a million.
He's ahead now but there's a ton of California votes to be counted still. The NYT speedometer estimates Clinton will win the popular vote by 1.2%. Assuming a 140 million electorate, that's a 1,680,000 lead.
posted by chris24 at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016
I think the media's big mistake was in thinking this election was somehow exceptional because Clinton is a woman or because Trump is so awful. Democrats almost never retain control after a 2 term incumbency, even when people lurve that president. Indeed, it's quite rare for a party to stay in power more than 8 years. I think we all (especially "elites") couldn't believe Trump was possible but people vote for change. It's just an American thing, a historical truth that should have been more strongly represented in our prediction models.
Most of the people I know who voted for Trump saw it as either an anti-Hillary vote or a generic vote for change. Revving up white pride got them to the polls but once there, this outcome always had a really good shot. Any generic Republican would have been the favorite this year.
I wish I hadn't allowed myself so much hope. I thought women would carry this. So many things happened today that will take us decades to understand.
posted by annekate at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
Most of the people I know who voted for Trump saw it as either an anti-Hillary vote or a generic vote for change. Revving up white pride got them to the polls but once there, this outcome always had a really good shot. Any generic Republican would have been the favorite this year.
I wish I hadn't allowed myself so much hope. I thought women would carry this. So many things happened today that will take us decades to understand.
posted by annekate at 10:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
so I figure why not spread the word? Even if most of you are probably asleep.I always come back to this:
Well-being Despite It All.
Also, since we were so badly wrong about our predictions:
The Path of Mistakes. (Audio.)
posted by Coventry at 10:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
and gets a sizeable chunk of its funding from the state department.
There's always the filibuster. I don't think the Democrats will let him cut that.
posted by corb at 10:38 PM on November 8, 2016
There's always the filibuster. I don't think the Democrats will let him cut that.
posted by corb at 10:38 PM on November 8, 2016
It turns out you can replace a GOTV operation, millions in ad spending, a digital operation, and all the other hallmarks of a remotely competent campaign with lots of racism and sexism and that's enough.
Abetted by voter suppression, russian hacking, and gutless horserace-loving editors. Also the FBI. But it needed the racism and sexism to work.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [30 favorites]
Abetted by voter suppression, russian hacking, and gutless horserace-loving editors. Also the FBI. But it needed the racism and sexism to work.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [30 favorites]
And let go of the illusion that ANYBODY but white people - particularly white males - gave this election to Trump. White men are scum.
Sure, but that scum votes. And wins election. This election. If you don't want to lose more elections, figure out how to get some of that scum to vote for people you support.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Sure, but that scum votes. And wins election. This election. If you don't want to lose more elections, figure out how to get some of that scum to vote for people you support.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I honestly don't know how the US holds as a nation-state after this. You can be a nation-state on ten million or twenty million or thirty-odd million.
It creates so many blue oases in a sea of dumfuck bought-the-snake-oil red, but the jokes about self-determination after Bush in 2004? Dear god, there are realtors who are going to make a pretty penny out of this shit as people abandon states like NC that had promise, represented what America was becoming, and now think let's get the fuck out of here fast.
And now every interaction I have is going to be a fraught one.
posted by holgate at 10:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
It creates so many blue oases in a sea of dumfuck bought-the-snake-oil red, but the jokes about self-determination after Bush in 2004? Dear god, there are realtors who are going to make a pretty penny out of this shit as people abandon states like NC that had promise, represented what America was becoming, and now think let's get the fuck out of here fast.
And now every interaction I have is going to be a fraught one.
posted by holgate at 10:38 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
My dumb thoughts on this From Twitter:
America is a weird country. I feel less like I fit in here than ever. Still, my kids are American, I'm in it for the long run.
I don't have any anger or blame left in me right now, though still a lot of fear, and if I think about some things it's terrifying, I just have to help everyone with fights ahead of them, same as it was before. And be kind to those in need.
(Blame and anger are fine, BTW. Just don't have energy to go that way anymore. It's been burnt out of me.)
Sorry. Disappearing up my own ass in the wake of this.
Everyone in the UK has been through a couple of elections and a referendum like this of course, the referendum being the worst. I felt cast adrift by that, now maybe everyone is, everywhere.
There may now be a period of free fall where people don't quite know what the fuck they've gotten themselves into.
Fingers crossed for the world really, given how this is how we are before climate change has fully begun to bite.
posted by Artw at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
America is a weird country. I feel less like I fit in here than ever. Still, my kids are American, I'm in it for the long run.
I don't have any anger or blame left in me right now, though still a lot of fear, and if I think about some things it's terrifying, I just have to help everyone with fights ahead of them, same as it was before. And be kind to those in need.
(Blame and anger are fine, BTW. Just don't have energy to go that way anymore. It's been burnt out of me.)
Sorry. Disappearing up my own ass in the wake of this.
Everyone in the UK has been through a couple of elections and a referendum like this of course, the referendum being the worst. I felt cast adrift by that, now maybe everyone is, everywhere.
There may now be a period of free fall where people don't quite know what the fuck they've gotten themselves into.
Fingers crossed for the world really, given how this is how we are before climate change has fully begun to bite.
posted by Artw at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Trump got PA. It's over.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
And to think I thought GWB's election was embarrassing.
posted by bongo_x at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by bongo_x at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
It would be a little better if we had a Democratic Senate. But now everything is gone.
posted by zutalors! at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by zutalors! at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
This is downright terrifying.
oh let's not forget that muslims should have to wear some kind of badge or armband in public at all times and also register their muslim status with the government
and that only the volksgemeinschaft should be allowed to vote
posted by poffin boffin at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
oh let's not forget that muslims should have to wear some kind of badge or armband in public at all times and also register their muslim status with the government
and that only the volksgemeinschaft should be allowed to vote
posted by poffin boffin at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Is anything else going to happen tonight?
the rapture would be fucking ideal
posted by poffin boffin at 10:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [58 favorites]
the rapture would be fucking ideal
posted by poffin boffin at 10:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [58 favorites]
We elected an actor once. We can elect a REALITY TV STAR. Fuck.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
It turns out you can replace a GOTV operation.
I'm not sure anyone needs to, really. I was mulling this over as I made one after another completely pointless GOTV call today and compared it with 2008. What is the fucking point when everyone screens and has caller ID and changes phone numbers every six months or something, as they apparently do? And the few people you do reach who are even voting for your candidate mostly just feel harassed and assailed by unsolicited political calls.
I actually backed out of doing the online phonebanking when I got a load of the ridiculous byzantine interminable scripts they expected one to slog through and expected some poor slob to sit still for while their dinner gets cold or whatever. Seriously, I'm going to ask a grown adult to tell me what time of day they're going to vote and whether they're going to walk or drive and that's not patronizing as all fuck? If they need that much help and reminding, maybe we should just forcibly tattoo "Remember to go vote for Sammy Jankis" on their forearms.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'm not sure anyone needs to, really. I was mulling this over as I made one after another completely pointless GOTV call today and compared it with 2008. What is the fucking point when everyone screens and has caller ID and changes phone numbers every six months or something, as they apparently do? And the few people you do reach who are even voting for your candidate mostly just feel harassed and assailed by unsolicited political calls.
I actually backed out of doing the online phonebanking when I got a load of the ridiculous byzantine interminable scripts they expected one to slog through and expected some poor slob to sit still for while their dinner gets cold or whatever. Seriously, I'm going to ask a grown adult to tell me what time of day they're going to vote and whether they're going to walk or drive and that's not patronizing as all fuck? If they need that much help and reminding, maybe we should just forcibly tattoo "Remember to go vote for Sammy Jankis" on their forearms.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
One of the many, many emotions I am feeling right now is a determination that my own country, New Zealand, does not go down the path of Trumpism. We have our own racist and nativist politicians here who are only too willing to exploit the rage of the dying of the white, "the fucking morons of BumbleFuck county", in Senor Cardgage's immortal and much favorited phrase. Those politicians inhabit both the left and right part of the political spectrum here in Aotearoa.
I am an ageing baby-boomer, cis white male, the archetypical white privilege person who has nothing personally to lose by the rise of Trumpism. Yet I utterly reject the fascism of Trump and while I can do little about the US, I am goddamned determined not let that disease spread here.
Today the governing conservative National Party and the Māori Party, reached an agreement on an important piece of legislation concerning the management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. Partnership over bigotry. It can happen. It must continue to happen.
I truly feel sorry for what has happened today in America. But not here, not ever.
posted by vac2003 at 10:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
I am an ageing baby-boomer, cis white male, the archetypical white privilege person who has nothing personally to lose by the rise of Trumpism. Yet I utterly reject the fascism of Trump and while I can do little about the US, I am goddamned determined not let that disease spread here.
Today the governing conservative National Party and the Māori Party, reached an agreement on an important piece of legislation concerning the management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. Partnership over bigotry. It can happen. It must continue to happen.
I truly feel sorry for what has happened today in America. But not here, not ever.
posted by vac2003 at 10:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
NBC Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel on NBC News just said something to the effect that generals are reading the constitution to see what their options are when ordered to lock people up or other things. Buckle up.
posted by feloniousmonk at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
posted by feloniousmonk at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
Winter is here.
posted by adept256 at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
posted by adept256 at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
I wonder if Muslims in the USA might have a case for refugee claim in Canada going forward.
posted by beau jackson at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by beau jackson at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Also as I was saying to someone, I think something in the world broke a while back, maybe in 2008, maybe earlier than that. Broke everywhere. And this is part of that, not some seperare thing or something out of the blue. What we do with that I don't know... feels like this particular itteration is tiem being lost we don't have though.
posted by Artw at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Artw at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
This is the worst election night of my life, and I hope to God that record is never broken.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [36 favorites]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [36 favorites]
The reality is that while there will be some attempts to meet these white disaffected voters where they are in the end chasing after white voters is a losing strategy.
Trump went with a strategy of polarizing the entire electorate around white people vs everyone else and in the end it was successful in getting him the Presidency.
However keep in mind he's lost the popular vote and furthermore white voters make up roughly 2% less of the electorate per year. Also keep in mind that he simply can't deliver on any of his promises. Also keep in mind that he's not going to be running against Clinton and 8 years of Obama he will be running on his own record and it's 100% apparent that the House can't even govern itself.
This is a phyrric victory for Republicans. They might've won a battle but this is one war they are definitely losing in the long run because holy fuck if people hate Trump now they are going to loathe him in 4 years.
So fuck chasing white voters that live in a bubble of Dittohead bullshit. They decided to roll the dice with Trump and they need to live with the consequences of that shit.
posted by vuron at 10:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
Trump went with a strategy of polarizing the entire electorate around white people vs everyone else and in the end it was successful in getting him the Presidency.
However keep in mind he's lost the popular vote and furthermore white voters make up roughly 2% less of the electorate per year. Also keep in mind that he simply can't deliver on any of his promises. Also keep in mind that he's not going to be running against Clinton and 8 years of Obama he will be running on his own record and it's 100% apparent that the House can't even govern itself.
This is a phyrric victory for Republicans. They might've won a battle but this is one war they are definitely losing in the long run because holy fuck if people hate Trump now they are going to loathe him in 4 years.
So fuck chasing white voters that live in a bubble of Dittohead bullshit. They decided to roll the dice with Trump and they need to live with the consequences of that shit.
posted by vuron at 10:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
figure out how to get some of that scum to vote for people you support.
there are at least two angles open to democrats. (1) outsider candidates. one reason for hilary's unpopularity is that she was an insider. (2) economic inequality. a lot of trump's supporters are better-off whites, but if you could attract the poorer whites that might be enough... (so: not chasing whites, but more emphasis on the poor in general).
posted by andrewcooke at 10:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
there are at least two angles open to democrats. (1) outsider candidates. one reason for hilary's unpopularity is that she was an insider. (2) economic inequality. a lot of trump's supporters are better-off whites, but if you could attract the poorer whites that might be enough... (so: not chasing whites, but more emphasis on the poor in general).
posted by andrewcooke at 10:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm in shock, I can only imagine how Americans must be. I wanted to feel like today wasn't all loss and there was something positive to be taken out of it, so I went and donated to my favourite charity. I know it's not much and it doesn't change anything, but it might make a difference for some stray dogs/Syrians/cancer patients/whateveryourcauseof choiceis. Give it a try. If enough of us kick some coins in, who knows, some good can come out of this.
posted by Jubey at 10:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Jubey at 10:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
You guys, I stopped drinking a few years back, except for special occasions; weddings, funerals, elections. I bought champagne this afternoon when I got all the taco fixings. Everyone else wandered away by 9, and I've just been watching results and reading metafilter and drinking champagne, like a character from Boccaccio's Decameron, as I watch everything I've ever believed in and worked for, ground under the heels of racist, misogynist, hypocritical authoritarian celebrity worshipers.
I've finished the champagne, and moved on to the armegnac. I have to get up in 5 hours, and do those thing we all do every morning, make breakfasts and lunches and make sure homework is in backpacks and computers made it to the car. Somehow, we have to get up tomorrow, and go through the day like the world hasn't ended, and...y'all, I'm just moving on autopilot at this point.
I have always believed in the inherent goodness of humanity. I really, really believed that underneath the tribalism, humans were thinking, ethical beings capable of evaluating their own agency and the repercussions of actions.
And maybe it's just the grapes mixing with previously undiscovered depths of fatalism, but I cannot ever remember being this sad and disappointed in my fellow Americans. People will die because of this. Every single one of us with with a "preexisting condition" will lose our ability to access medical care. Racists will feel emboldened to attack people of color. Men will feel empowered to assault women without repercussion. Hate crimes will rise, gun sales will rise, violence will rise, and we get closer and closer to the extinction event.
Jesus y'all, how did this fucking happen? I've never worked so hard, or donated so much to a campaign in my life, and I've been politically active since Vietnam was a thing. I felt so empowered, surrounded by strong women, doing things to change the world, reading PN stories and weeping about how much ground we had gained, inch by inch, reading mefi threads of all of our stories, and I had so much hope. So much. I really thought we were breaking through.
This reminds me of Romney's people, when Obama crushed him, and they just couldn't believe it, because it just didn't make sense to them that it could be true, and I am having such a massive cognitive dissonance event, that I just don't even know how to cope. How do I tell kids about this? How do I make the latinx kids in my neighborhood feel safe? Or their parents? I'm running through my head the number of people in this town who know I'm middle eastern, or a democrat.
I'm probably being irrational. Like I said, I don't really drink any more, and I've probably had more tonight than in the last 3 years, and yet, it just isn't making the pain and sad and disgust any more bearable.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
I've finished the champagne, and moved on to the armegnac. I have to get up in 5 hours, and do those thing we all do every morning, make breakfasts and lunches and make sure homework is in backpacks and computers made it to the car. Somehow, we have to get up tomorrow, and go through the day like the world hasn't ended, and...y'all, I'm just moving on autopilot at this point.
I have always believed in the inherent goodness of humanity. I really, really believed that underneath the tribalism, humans were thinking, ethical beings capable of evaluating their own agency and the repercussions of actions.
And maybe it's just the grapes mixing with previously undiscovered depths of fatalism, but I cannot ever remember being this sad and disappointed in my fellow Americans. People will die because of this. Every single one of us with with a "preexisting condition" will lose our ability to access medical care. Racists will feel emboldened to attack people of color. Men will feel empowered to assault women without repercussion. Hate crimes will rise, gun sales will rise, violence will rise, and we get closer and closer to the extinction event.
Jesus y'all, how did this fucking happen? I've never worked so hard, or donated so much to a campaign in my life, and I've been politically active since Vietnam was a thing. I felt so empowered, surrounded by strong women, doing things to change the world, reading PN stories and weeping about how much ground we had gained, inch by inch, reading mefi threads of all of our stories, and I had so much hope. So much. I really thought we were breaking through.
This reminds me of Romney's people, when Obama crushed him, and they just couldn't believe it, because it just didn't make sense to them that it could be true, and I am having such a massive cognitive dissonance event, that I just don't even know how to cope. How do I tell kids about this? How do I make the latinx kids in my neighborhood feel safe? Or their parents? I'm running through my head the number of people in this town who know I'm middle eastern, or a democrat.
I'm probably being irrational. Like I said, I don't really drink any more, and I've probably had more tonight than in the last 3 years, and yet, it just isn't making the pain and sad and disgust any more bearable.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
How The Electoral College Favors White Voters: Non-white voters are more likely to live in “safe” states, sapping their electoral power.
posted by chris24 at 10:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 10:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
Oh god. This is worse than 2000. This is theReagan Revolution all over again. This is 12 or more years of rabid conservatives in power, Think of the AIDs crisus, only in a hundred different areas. Think of a generation lost, think of Gamergate and Stormfront in charge in the real world. All this nasty fucks we thought we were winnjng against, won. The progressive society we thought we were making? All over.
I cannot comprehend how bad it's going to be. I survived Regan, but this. How the fuck could this nightmare happen.
Tomorrow I'll start thinking of how to set up safe online spaces. But for now, I'm just crying.
posted by happyroach at 10:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
I cannot comprehend how bad it's going to be. I survived Regan, but this. How the fuck could this nightmare happen.
Tomorrow I'll start thinking of how to set up safe online spaces. But for now, I'm just crying.
posted by happyroach at 10:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
America is a weird country. I feel less like I fit in here than ever. Still, my kids are American, I'm in it for the long run.
Oh yeah, maybe I should read that NY Times article now.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:43 PM on November 8, 2016
Oh yeah, maybe I should read that NY Times article now.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:43 PM on November 8, 2016
I am in utter and complete shock, like I'm sure everyone else here is.
I know the threats of "if so-and-so wins I'm moving to XYZ" always seem unfounded, but damn if it hasn't crossed my mind in a serious way tonight. I am a female scientist that works in the energy/oil & gas industry. My options for a viable career outside of this country are either a) Canada or b) the middle east. Either of those is currently looking better than spending the next 4 years in what is looking more and more to be a complete U.S. shitshow. And I'm white, straight, and cis. I can't imagine what others are feeling.
I'm trying to think of a reason to not start panicking, but I'm coming up short.
posted by tryniti at 10:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I know the threats of "if so-and-so wins I'm moving to XYZ" always seem unfounded, but damn if it hasn't crossed my mind in a serious way tonight. I am a female scientist that works in the energy/oil & gas industry. My options for a viable career outside of this country are either a) Canada or b) the middle east. Either of those is currently looking better than spending the next 4 years in what is looking more and more to be a complete U.S. shitshow. And I'm white, straight, and cis. I can't imagine what others are feeling.
I'm trying to think of a reason to not start panicking, but I'm coming up short.
posted by tryniti at 10:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
.
posted by rmannion at 10:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by rmannion at 10:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
BBC says it's done.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:45 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:45 PM on November 8, 2016
The Turkeys have voted for Thanksgiving. OMG.
posted by Rumple at 10:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by Rumple at 10:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
I don't know that I can bring children into this world now.
posted by biogeo at 10:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 10:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Okay everyone, don't panic. This just means that like Futurama predicted, nuclear winter will cancel out global warming. We're all saved, except those of us who live in or near cities.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 10:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by [expletive deleted] at 10:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I know the threats of "if so-and-so wins I'm moving to XYZ" always seem unfounded, but damn if it hasn't crossed my mind in a serious way tonight.
Won't help. If he pulls out of NATO or tries to "renegotiate" US debt, the effects will happen everywhere.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Won't help. If he pulls out of NATO or tries to "renegotiate" US debt, the effects will happen everywhere.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Maybe best to treat this like the loss of a loved one.
Traumatic -- not fatal.
Grief feels natural and appropriate. But I have faith in our hardiness.
There's life after January.
posted by seinwave at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Traumatic -- not fatal.
Grief feels natural and appropriate. But I have faith in our hardiness.
There's life after January.
posted by seinwave at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
In case this isn't all cheerful enough. Let's not forget Scalia's replacement. The obstructionism has paid off.
posted by markr at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by markr at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
This election is strange because even Republicans aren't really happy with Trump. I don't know the exact numbers but only a plurality actually wanted him. He's not like Reagan whose base genuinely and overwhelmingly supported him. Trump's actual supporters were bolstered by Republicans holding their noses and voting Not Democrat.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Sangermaine at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Josh Rogin
Evan McMullin: Conservatives must now abandon the Republican Party:
posted by zachlipton at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [39 favorites]
Evan McMullin: Conservatives must now abandon the Republican Party:
But McMullin’s core campaign message, that the Republican party had forsaken its principles and allowed itself to be hijacked by a parasite named Trump, was validated by the incoming results, he told the crowd of supporters here in Utah. As of late Tuesday night, Trump led McMullin by at least a 2 to 1 margin in his home state.Egg's building a movement.
“The Republican Party can no longer be considered the home for conservatives,” McMullin said. “Conservatism is about protecting the fundamental rights: That we are all equal, regardless of the color of our skin, the faith that we practice or our gender. But tonight there are millions of Americans, I’m sad to say, who are now in fear that perhaps their liberties will be challenged and threatened under a Trump administration that has made a campaign of targeting people based on their race, religion and gender.”
McMullin’s campaign, which had long promised to build a new conservative movement, will now transition to a more permanent structure entitled, “The New Conservative Movement.” There will be a formal launch Wednesday. But Tuesday night, he focused his speech on calling for conservatives to leave the GOP and find another way to advocate for conservative principles.
posted by zachlipton at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [39 favorites]
Metafilter, I need to go to sleep, because tomorrow the kids at my kid's school who are Muslim, immigrants, poor, homeless, LGBTQ, and disabled are going to be scared and sad and stressed out. I hate that I have to be one of the grownups who has to tell scared kids that it's going to be all right when I have no idea if that's true or not.
Love yourself, love each other, and get ready for some bad craziness.
posted by RakDaddy at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
Love yourself, love each other, and get ready for some bad craziness.
posted by RakDaddy at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
Outside of trump tower...there's dump trucks full of sand all around the block...it's ominous. I'm moving to France or Italy asap.
posted by sexyrobot at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sexyrobot at 10:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
One thing the Democrats can do is learn from 2004 and put Sanders in charge of the DNC with a mandate to clean house. I wasn't happy with a lot of things about his primary campaign (failing to engage with non-blue states, mostly), but at the same time it's clear that the Democratic party needs a fresh start.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
This is fascism in America. There is no other way to put this. I just have no words for what I feel.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [30 favorites]
posted by [expletive deleted] at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [30 favorites]
I've spent the last seven years helping my mom fight cancer, and the last two months dragging her back from the brink after a very bad summer.
I thought electing the first woman president would be a positive thing we could build on... but this, Trump is going to kill my mother. We're beyond broke at this point and if Obamacare is repealed I don't know what we'll do.
So damn tired.
posted by Tenuki at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
I thought electing the first woman president would be a positive thing we could build on... but this, Trump is going to kill my mother. We're beyond broke at this point and if Obamacare is repealed I don't know what we'll do.
So damn tired.
posted by Tenuki at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
Corb:There's always the filibuster. I don't think the Democrats will let him cut that.
Republicans will eliminate the filibuster on the first day of the new session. This is a bloodless coup, which started with voter suppression and the Supreme Court blockade.
posted by msalt at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Republicans will eliminate the filibuster on the first day of the new session. This is a bloodless coup, which started with voter suppression and the Supreme Court blockade.
posted by msalt at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I don't agree with McMullin (no more Egg from me) on much policy wise but I absolutely think he is a man of principle and I hope we can work with people like him to preserve the country.
posted by Justinian at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
Wow. Pooler @danmericaCNN reports that Clinton campaign chair John Podesta just left HRC hotel to come to Javits solo. She is not coming.--@albamonica
This could get interesting depending on when the networks call a few remaining states. Presumably, Trump goes with a Fox News call.
posted by zachlipton at 10:49 PM on November 8, 2016
You know what was terrifying? I was watching election results and an ad came on for The Man In The High Castle, and it was literally the scariest combination.
posted by corb at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
posted by corb at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
Trump gets to replace Scalia. He gets to appoint dozens of other judges. He gets to sign an ACA-repeal into law. These are the worst things on the horizon as a result of this election.
I don't even want to think about his willingness to bomb Iran, or turn a blind eye to Russia's action in Syria or the Ukraine, etc.
What happens to those young undocumented immigrants who Obama deferred acting on? Does Trump now kick them out of the country (and now that they've let themselves be put on official registers, they can't hide from it, either).
posted by darkstar at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I don't even want to think about his willingness to bomb Iran, or turn a blind eye to Russia's action in Syria or the Ukraine, etc.
What happens to those young undocumented immigrants who Obama deferred acting on? Does Trump now kick them out of the country (and now that they've let themselves be put on official registers, they can't hide from it, either).
posted by darkstar at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
So, ok, sure, this is 100% true. But if they're a dominant fraction of the electorate... what do we do about it?
I don't know. I am starting to feel like the answer is "have more children, engage in as much activism as possible, and wait for people to die". I don't think that's entirely coming from a rational place, but that's what I keep thinking. I don't think people like my mother can be fixed. Unless she restores my faith at some point tomorrow, I think that at this point these attitudes are so ingrained that, yes, parents will in fact even choose them over their own children.
I can't keep going through my life assuming that most people I meet are fundamentally decent people. They aren't. I can't assume that all these things I grew up with thinking were solved problems are actually solved. Racism is real. Misogyny is real. Antisemitism is real. It's like I woke up this morning in 2016 and I'm going to bed in 1956. But--I woke up thinking that 2016 was a better place than it really was, and now we know we have to start treating it like we're trying to create change for 20 years from now, not for today.
posted by Sequence at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
I don't know. I am starting to feel like the answer is "have more children, engage in as much activism as possible, and wait for people to die". I don't think that's entirely coming from a rational place, but that's what I keep thinking. I don't think people like my mother can be fixed. Unless she restores my faith at some point tomorrow, I think that at this point these attitudes are so ingrained that, yes, parents will in fact even choose them over their own children.
I can't keep going through my life assuming that most people I meet are fundamentally decent people. They aren't. I can't assume that all these things I grew up with thinking were solved problems are actually solved. Racism is real. Misogyny is real. Antisemitism is real. It's like I woke up this morning in 2016 and I'm going to bed in 1956. But--I woke up thinking that 2016 was a better place than it really was, and now we know we have to start treating it like we're trying to create change for 20 years from now, not for today.
posted by Sequence at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
I was hoping that after today we could retire Trump's Razor and Trump's Mirror permanently. But right now (checks PA, doesn't look good) it's looking like they are going to be getting some long term use.
In honor of this moment, I suggest we add a new item to Trump's dressing kit: Trump's Pants.
They spontaneously burst into flames whenever Trump starts talking.
We're going to need some humor to get through this, too. And I'm sadly afraid that we're going to get a lot of mileage out of Trump's pants . . .
posted by flug at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
In honor of this moment, I suggest we add a new item to Trump's dressing kit: Trump's Pants.
They spontaneously burst into flames whenever Trump starts talking.
We're going to need some humor to get through this, too. And I'm sadly afraid that we're going to get a lot of mileage out of Trump's pants . . .
posted by flug at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Bare trees filling sky
The coldest winter looming
Bundle up with hope
posted by numaner at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
The coldest winter looming
Bundle up with hope
posted by numaner at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
So, I guess it's rolling coal, toxic masculinity, racism, bigotry and misogyny for us. Yay.
I don't speak for all men, and I don't speak for all whites, but jesus butt-fucking christ is my demographic one full of drooling morons. I'm sorry. I'd be happy to enter the wicker man, if that is the price of every fellow white male joining me. At some point, even if you're a decent version of this demo, you have to own up that nuking us from space is the only way forward, since we're a cancer on the body politic.
posted by maxwelton at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
I don't speak for all men, and I don't speak for all whites, but jesus butt-fucking christ is my demographic one full of drooling morons. I'm sorry. I'd be happy to enter the wicker man, if that is the price of every fellow white male joining me. At some point, even if you're a decent version of this demo, you have to own up that nuking us from space is the only way forward, since we're a cancer on the body politic.
posted by maxwelton at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
We have our work cut out for us. The Clinton political machine needs to be redirected to state and local races, to build from the ground up—the same strategy that got the Republicans to this point. Roll up your sleeves.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
A PSA reminding you that it is illegal to say "I want to kill the President of the United States."Wow, it's roughly true:
18 U.S. Code § 875 - Interstate communicationsposted by Coventry at 10:51 PM on November 8, 2016
(c) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
There's always the filibuster. I don't think the Democrats will let him cut that.
How, when the GOP has also taken the fucking Congress?
And a filibuster isn't a panacea. It's not like garlic to a vampire or anything.
Meanwhile, we are now up to four governors of four states who have pulled out of the national resettlement program already.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
.
I am so sorry US metafites.
posted by daybeforetheday at 10:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
I am so sorry US metafites.
posted by daybeforetheday at 10:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
Al-Jazeera commentators are saying such as I are feeling disenfranchised. Oh, my, no. I lived through Reagan. I'm energized.
posted by goofyfoot at 10:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by goofyfoot at 10:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Lenny Bruce may not be afraid but I'm scared shitless.
posted by Talez at 10:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Talez at 10:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Egg's building a movement.
Frankly, at this point, I'm in, if it means repudiating what happened today. Will see how I feel tomorrow, I guess.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Frankly, at this point, I'm in, if it means repudiating what happened today. Will see how I feel tomorrow, I guess.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
All due caveats about exit polls, but this is not looking like a revolt of the jobless. It's about identity: race, nationality, gender
posted by tobascodagama at 10:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 10:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
There's always the filibuster. I don't think the Democrats will let him cut that.
The filibuster is gone. All it takes is a majority vote when the Senate is officially establishing its rules at the beginning of a term. With 50+ GOP Senators, the Dems cannot stop the filibuster from ending.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
The filibuster is gone. All it takes is a majority vote when the Senate is officially establishing its rules at the beginning of a term. With 50+ GOP Senators, the Dems cannot stop the filibuster from ending.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Unless the Democrats filibuster the Scalia replacement, I don't see the Republicans eliminating the filibuster, and even then, only for that specific case -- after all, they lived with it in analogous circumstances (Republican President and Senate majority) from 2002 to 2006. Senators are always and everywhere for the power of individual Senators, which the filibuster (and many other rules) supports. And of the 51 or 52 Republican Senators on January 20, how many campaigned for Donald Trump -- maybe 30? I don't see a lot of Republican Senators in a rush to take an ax to their own power for a man they don't especially like.
posted by MattD at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by MattD at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Sorry, world.
Did voter suppression definitely deliver places like NC for Trump, or was it really the "surge" of angry whites?
posted by TwoStride at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Did voter suppression definitely deliver places like NC for Trump, or was it really the "surge" of angry whites?
posted by TwoStride at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
33% of hispanic men for trump. bad hombres.
posted by andrewcooke at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by andrewcooke at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
The earth can't wait 4 more years.
Cascadia now!
posted by Joe Chip at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Cascadia now!
posted by Joe Chip at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
People are saying that Clinton lost voters that Obama won, but is that really true?
They're making that claim on the basis of sketchy demographic exit polling of black and latino voters. It won't be clear any time soon.
538 says that the maps we are saying isn't very consistent with the idea that Clinton underperformed with those groups though so I am skeptical.
posted by Justinian at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016
They're making that claim on the basis of sketchy demographic exit polling of black and latino voters. It won't be clear any time soon.
538 says that the maps we are saying isn't very consistent with the idea that Clinton underperformed with those groups though so I am skeptical.
posted by Justinian at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016
People are saying that Clinton lost voters that Obama won, but is that really true? Looking at raw #s, Tump brought out rural white people who didn't vote in 2008 and 2012. Trump incited white hate and this is the result.
Well, it's almost impossible to know this for sure. But I do think your conclusion has merit.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016
Well, it's almost impossible to know this for sure. But I do think your conclusion has merit.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:54 PM on November 8, 2016
My boyfriend has been encouraging me to mentally prepare for a Trump Presidency just in case and now I'm kind of glad he did that.
posted by zutalors! at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by zutalors! at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
This could get interesting depending on when the networks call a few remaining states. Presumably, Trump goes with a Fox News call.
After Gore, the last thing anyone is going to do is concede until there's a clear winner.
posted by mikelieman at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
After Gore, the last thing anyone is going to do is concede until there's a clear winner.
posted by mikelieman at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
What cabinet post does the KKK guy get to fill?
posted by From Bklyn at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by From Bklyn at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
In case, you know, something might happen...
posted by mikelieman at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by mikelieman at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016
Did voter suppression definitely deliver places like NC for Trump, or was it really the "surge" of angry whites?
Voter suppression + Comey's letter may absolutely have been enough to flip MI, PA, and NC. Don't know about Florida because I don't know a lot about voter suppression there.
posted by Justinian at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016
Voter suppression + Comey's letter may absolutely have been enough to flip MI, PA, and NC. Don't know about Florida because I don't know a lot about voter suppression there.
posted by Justinian at 10:55 PM on November 8, 2016
there's still 14% left of this fucking year
why can't 2016 just be over already
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
why can't 2016 just be over already
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Hahahaha thinking Sanders can somehow deliver elections in 2020 is beyond delusional.
Keep this in mind, the working class voter in 2016-2020 is a female PoC. These people already vote for Democrats in large numbers.
The average Trump voter is voting to keep these people down. Witness the average income for a Trump voter.
Instead of chasing vindictive white voters how about getting candidates that will drive Latinx and AA turnout. White liberals need to realize that our day as leaders is over and that if we want a more inclusive future we have to be working harder than ever to support the minority voters and candidates that make up the bulk of our reliable voting block.
posted by vuron at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [31 favorites]
Keep this in mind, the working class voter in 2016-2020 is a female PoC. These people already vote for Democrats in large numbers.
The average Trump voter is voting to keep these people down. Witness the average income for a Trump voter.
Instead of chasing vindictive white voters how about getting candidates that will drive Latinx and AA turnout. White liberals need to realize that our day as leaders is over and that if we want a more inclusive future we have to be working harder than ever to support the minority voters and candidates that make up the bulk of our reliable voting block.
posted by vuron at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [31 favorites]
What cabinet post does the KKK guy get to fill?
Housing and Urban Development, of course.
posted by mikelieman at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Housing and Urban Development, of course.
posted by mikelieman at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm trying not to dwell on it overly much, because I'm the one who has to keep us going from here, but we have just about 70 days until, if the worst comes to pass tonight, we have a president who doesn't care about any of the things we've done to build a life for ourselves, or how we're both truly hard workers who have made the most of bad circumstances in our lives to get to a point where we have a house, and has pledged to make one of his first acts something that could plunge my family and many others like us into deep debt within a short period of time. The Affordable Care Act is totally flawed, but that provision prohibiting denial of coverage for those with preexisting conditions is lifesaving. It's hard enough having a chronic illness or being the spouse of someone with a chronic illness—every other month, or sometimes every month if it's bad enough, you feel like the floor has dropped out from under you again when things flare up and you have to head into the hospital—but this casts all of our plans into doubt yet again. My significant other got out of the hospital again less than a week ago. How is America going to be made great for us, exactly? When do we catch our break?
Ah, but we're Jewish—tricksy people who clearly don't deserve to live healthy, pain-free lives. Never mind that my ancestors on the other side were on the Mayflower. We are flawed from birth, and it is our lot to suffer and bring about end times, I think is the twisted logic of the fascist right in this country. I haven't even looked at Facebook yet to see how my friends who are also Jewish, Muslims, people of color, LGBT, etc. are doing, because I don't want to see the smugness there from those people I know who voted against all of our best interests. You'll recall I grew up down the road from Ferguson, in a land of radioactive contamination. All of us are facing some terrible realities if this comes to pass. The vague sense of unreality I've had lately is moving toward something else entirely. I'm young, but I'm at a point in my life where I'm beginning to doubt whether the things we've hoped and planned for will be realized. None of this is going to help.
I don't know what else to say. I already feel like I've said too much. I'm afraid of the consequences of revealing these things about myself, though I know I already have here bit by bit, and I'm afraid of what might occur if we don't talk about it. Even, at best, those of you out there who thought this was about people coming to take away your guns or the myth of a return to the days of great American manufacturing or your petty dislike of whatever will have done us a great disservice. I feel like I did during those terrible months of waiting for a decision in Ferguson—I deeply wanted to stand with my friends of color, and I did so in whatever ways I could as a journalist at the time, and the things I said and wrote and stood for, even as I walked the line and tried to stick to simply correcting the record, were held against me in a professional context, jeopardizing my significant other's health and health coverage in the process. They have played us all against each other, again and again and again, and with 50,000 journalism jobs lost in the past decade, those covering the news are as terrified as anyone. And they can't talk about it, at least not while they hold the jobs they have.
I was recently having this what-if make-believe discussion with a friend about what our ideal island would be like. I guess I'm a killjoy, because I kept thinking of problematic scenarios, like, you know, people needing life-saving medication that isn't made on the island. I'm sorry, I'm a terrible, nasty woman. But fuck it, when is it our turn; when do the sick and broken get to say that their country is truly looking out for them, and not just paying lip service and saying "there, there, I'm so sorry" while actively erecting fiery hurdles to leap through? When do I get to relax with a drink without the fear that I might have to be a nurse or ambulance driver for a chronically ill person that night, or go deeply into debt if we make the wrong choices? I say this as someone who's in a better place financially than I've ever been, knock on wood: I still stare into the abyss with this.
I just, yeah.
posted by limeonaire at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
Ah, but we're Jewish—tricksy people who clearly don't deserve to live healthy, pain-free lives. Never mind that my ancestors on the other side were on the Mayflower. We are flawed from birth, and it is our lot to suffer and bring about end times, I think is the twisted logic of the fascist right in this country. I haven't even looked at Facebook yet to see how my friends who are also Jewish, Muslims, people of color, LGBT, etc. are doing, because I don't want to see the smugness there from those people I know who voted against all of our best interests. You'll recall I grew up down the road from Ferguson, in a land of radioactive contamination. All of us are facing some terrible realities if this comes to pass. The vague sense of unreality I've had lately is moving toward something else entirely. I'm young, but I'm at a point in my life where I'm beginning to doubt whether the things we've hoped and planned for will be realized. None of this is going to help.
I don't know what else to say. I already feel like I've said too much. I'm afraid of the consequences of revealing these things about myself, though I know I already have here bit by bit, and I'm afraid of what might occur if we don't talk about it. Even, at best, those of you out there who thought this was about people coming to take away your guns or the myth of a return to the days of great American manufacturing or your petty dislike of whatever will have done us a great disservice. I feel like I did during those terrible months of waiting for a decision in Ferguson—I deeply wanted to stand with my friends of color, and I did so in whatever ways I could as a journalist at the time, and the things I said and wrote and stood for, even as I walked the line and tried to stick to simply correcting the record, were held against me in a professional context, jeopardizing my significant other's health and health coverage in the process. They have played us all against each other, again and again and again, and with 50,000 journalism jobs lost in the past decade, those covering the news are as terrified as anyone. And they can't talk about it, at least not while they hold the jobs they have.
I was recently having this what-if make-believe discussion with a friend about what our ideal island would be like. I guess I'm a killjoy, because I kept thinking of problematic scenarios, like, you know, people needing life-saving medication that isn't made on the island. I'm sorry, I'm a terrible, nasty woman. But fuck it, when is it our turn; when do the sick and broken get to say that their country is truly looking out for them, and not just paying lip service and saying "there, there, I'm so sorry" while actively erecting fiery hurdles to leap through? When do I get to relax with a drink without the fear that I might have to be a nurse or ambulance driver for a chronically ill person that night, or go deeply into debt if we make the wrong choices? I say this as someone who's in a better place financially than I've ever been, knock on wood: I still stare into the abyss with this.
I just, yeah.
posted by limeonaire at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [35 favorites]
Honestly my biggest hope and concern right now is that election fraud may have happened at a national scale. It seems bizarre and unusual for the polls to heavily lean Clinton by several percentage points across the board and swing so consistently against Clinton after votes are cast. If a small percent of ballots were altered in each county, that alone would explain the night's results relative to the polls.
What would happen if that were the case?
posted by LSK at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
What would happen if that were the case?
posted by LSK at 10:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
People are saying that Clinton lost voters that Obama won, but is that really true? Looking at raw #s, Tump brought out rural white people who didn't vote in 2008 and 2012. Trump incited white hate and this is the result.
Someone on NPR was saying that the white vote was actually down overall a bit from Romney, but those who did vote, voted for Romney in a higher percentage - particularly non-college educated people. But the thing is some of these states were very blue states before. That needs to be understood. Perhaps we are seeing something of what Thomas Frank wrote about in "What's the Matter with Kansas spread to other states?
I wonder if unions being perhaps less powerful and/or actually voting for Trump may be part of the problem.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Someone on NPR was saying that the white vote was actually down overall a bit from Romney, but those who did vote, voted for Romney in a higher percentage - particularly non-college educated people. But the thing is some of these states were very blue states before. That needs to be understood. Perhaps we are seeing something of what Thomas Frank wrote about in "What's the Matter with Kansas spread to other states?
I wonder if unions being perhaps less powerful and/or actually voting for Trump may be part of the problem.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't see a lot of Republican Senators in a rush to take an ax to their own power for a man they don't especially like.
It wouldn't be for the man, it would be for their party. Ultimate power for their party. Look how the evangelical voters marched in force in support of Trump, a man almost designed as the polar opposite of everything they stand for. They weren't doing it for Trump, they were doing it for a Republican win.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
It wouldn't be for the man, it would be for their party. Ultimate power for their party. Look how the evangelical voters marched in force in support of Trump, a man almost designed as the polar opposite of everything they stand for. They weren't doing it for Trump, they were doing it for a Republican win.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:57 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Trump reportedly en route to the Hilton.
posted by zachlipton at 10:57 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by zachlipton at 10:57 PM on November 8, 2016
I watched every moment of every debate. I watched a ton of Trump's speeches. I don't think I can watch his victory speech. Sorry guys.
posted by Justinian at 10:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
I got home from working the polls today at 10pm PT and had my first access to the internet since my lunch at 2pm. I can't stop crying.
posted by samthemander at 10:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by samthemander at 10:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
given the small venue, hopefully there won't be "lock her up" chants.
posted by andrewcooke at 10:58 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by andrewcooke at 10:58 PM on November 8, 2016
I am so shocked and heartbroken. Like I just met my country tonight, and it is not what I thought it was.
My apartment building is usually kind of noisy -- people in and out at all hours, chatting in the halls -- but it has fallen suddenly and ominously silent. I never thought I'd miss the noise.
posted by Fish, fish, are you doing your duty? at 10:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [21 favorites]
My apartment building is usually kind of noisy -- people in and out at all hours, chatting in the halls -- but it has fallen suddenly and ominously silent. I never thought I'd miss the noise.
posted by Fish, fish, are you doing your duty? at 10:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [21 favorites]
What would happen if that were the case?
Unless there was a good evidence, little could be done, but I doubt this is the case. Someone here was saying that people high up in the Michigan Democratic party were saying very early on that things looked very bad.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:59 PM on November 8, 2016
Unless there was a good evidence, little could be done, but I doubt this is the case. Someone here was saying that people high up in the Michigan Democratic party were saying very early on that things looked very bad.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:59 PM on November 8, 2016
Okay. I've won my bet, and I'm thousands up on that, but I'm tens of thousands down on my stock investments so THANKS FOR THAT, AMERICA.
Everybody who complacently failed to get out and vote today on the grounds that this was nothing at all like Brexit and Hillary obviously had this: you're a bad person and you should feel bad.
posted by flabdablet at 10:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Everybody who complacently failed to get out and vote today on the grounds that this was nothing at all like Brexit and Hillary obviously had this: you're a bad person and you should feel bad.
posted by flabdablet at 10:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
The emails and leaks and all the fucking noise around them seem to have disappeared from all the post election analysis.
posted by Artw at 10:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by Artw at 10:59 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
It was close. There was overconfidence. There's been a huge culture shift and the people who felt the shifting of their secure primacy pushed back...very hard. We can push back harder, or we can fall over. Pushing back might not win anything, but falling over certainly won't.
I'm full of shit. I'm tired and having a hard time breathing and want to crawl under a rock. My husband has been telling me over and over again that it isn't the end of the world. Tonight, it is the end of the world. Tomorrow, we get back to work.
posted by pearshaped at 11:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
I'm full of shit. I'm tired and having a hard time breathing and want to crawl under a rock. My husband has been telling me over and over again that it isn't the end of the world. Tonight, it is the end of the world. Tomorrow, we get back to work.
posted by pearshaped at 11:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
Yeah, I won't be watching Trump's victory lap. I'm not exactly sure what to do now except keep digging out a gigantic slime farm in my Minecraft world.
posted by xyzzy at 11:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by xyzzy at 11:00 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Frankly, I think every voter who had to wait more than 15 minutes has experienced a distributed denial of service attack.
posted by mikelieman at 11:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 11:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
About the whole "emigrate to XYZ" thing -- if it turns out that you personally need to do or consider that to be safe yourself or to keep someone you love cared for, safe travels. If you are a vulnerable person in one way or another, then of course you need to do whatever it takes to protect yourself.
But I think people like me who are in, comparatively, more secure or less "othered" positions should, even if we have the wherewithal to relocate, contemplate our responsibility to stay put and stand with fellow citizens who are more vulnerable or unsafe than we are and who may need support and shielding.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
But I think people like me who are in, comparatively, more secure or less "othered" positions should, even if we have the wherewithal to relocate, contemplate our responsibility to stay put and stand with fellow citizens who are more vulnerable or unsafe than we are and who may need support and shielding.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:01 PM on November 8, 2016 [26 favorites]
I went totally into non-stock stuff a few months ago. I just couldnt bear the risk. So many people didn't have that option, though, and frankly I'm afraid Trump could tank bonds and income funds too. I have no idea what's safe now. Maybe I should have been cash.
posted by Justinian at 11:01 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Justinian at 11:01 PM on November 8, 2016
MSNBC projecting 3 Maine EVs for Clinton, 1 for Trump.
posted by XMLicious at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by XMLicious at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016
It's nearly 6pm here in Sydney, Australia. It was dry all day, but just as my tears started, the rain came too. There is thunder rumbling now. A storm is coming.
We're sad and disappointed and angry and scared too. So upset.
posted by stellathon at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
We're sad and disappointed and angry and scared too. So upset.
posted by stellathon at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Podesta speaking live now.
posted by zachlipton at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by zachlipton at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016
Who would have thought it was Hillary who would be the one not to concede.
posted by AugustWest at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by AugustWest at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Everybody who complacently failed to get out and vote today on the grounds that this was nothing at all like Brexit and Hillary obviously had this: you're a bad person and you should feel bad.
Sorry the stock market tanked but this isn't helpful.
posted by futz at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016
Sorry the stock market tanked but this isn't helpful.
posted by futz at 11:02 PM on November 8, 2016
There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.
Periodicity at work.
posted by delfin at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.
Periodicity at work.
posted by delfin at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
I wonder if unions being perhaps less powerful and/or actually voting for Trump may be part of the problem.
In large swaths of the Midwest, "union" = "white, male, non-college, $ 50-90K per year", so, yeah, that's kinda the Trump base right there.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
In large swaths of the Midwest, "union" = "white, male, non-college, $ 50-90K per year", so, yeah, that's kinda the Trump base right there.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
It's over. Trump has 270. I'm going upstairs to cry myself to sleep.
Don't cry for me though. I'll be fine. I weep for the millions who will see SNAP evaporate, the ACA dismantled, and minimum wage sent back to the states, the immigrants rounded up and forcibly deported, the families that will be torn apart, the hate crimes that will come soon like they did post-Brexit.
I weep knowing that 2018 won't get much better, that 2020 will be a battle that nobody will even know how to fight, and that liberalism is politically dead in this country again.
Our new motto might as well be "Fuck You I've Got Mine" because it sure as fuck ain't "E Pluribus Unum"anymore.
posted by Talez at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [27 favorites]
Don't cry for me though. I'll be fine. I weep for the millions who will see SNAP evaporate, the ACA dismantled, and minimum wage sent back to the states, the immigrants rounded up and forcibly deported, the families that will be torn apart, the hate crimes that will come soon like they did post-Brexit.
I weep knowing that 2018 won't get much better, that 2020 will be a battle that nobody will even know how to fight, and that liberalism is politically dead in this country again.
Our new motto might as well be "Fuck You I've Got Mine" because it sure as fuck ain't "E Pluribus Unum"anymore.
posted by Talez at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [27 favorites]
The emails and leaks and all the fucking noise around them seem to have disappeared from all the post election analysis.
That would require introspection, which is the one thing the media is not capable of.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
That would require introspection, which is the one thing the media is not capable of.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I don't understand this - didn't Trump say, repeatedly, to watch out, this one is gonna be rigged.
Sigh
My utterly fabricated and groundless hope is that Trump does, in fact crater the institutions that have calcified around the process of nominating a candidate and ...
But Jesus, Trump has to go out to the rest of the world as a representative of... what?
I can take chaos and mayhem, but Pence and the religious fanatics grabbing power in the aftermath - that's what makes my bowels feel loose.
posted by From Bklyn at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Sigh
My utterly fabricated and groundless hope is that Trump does, in fact crater the institutions that have calcified around the process of nominating a candidate and ...
But Jesus, Trump has to go out to the rest of the world as a representative of... what?
I can take chaos and mayhem, but Pence and the religious fanatics grabbing power in the aftermath - that's what makes my bowels feel loose.
posted by From Bklyn at 11:03 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
All due caveats about exit polls, but this is not looking like a revolt of the jobless. It's about identity: race, nationality, gender.
No.
Shit.
Sherlock.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
No.
Shit.
Sherlock.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
podesta: wait a little longer.
looks like no concession speech tonight.
posted by andrewcooke at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
looks like no concession speech tonight.
posted by andrewcooke at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Who is the guy on the BBC: American accent, white, older gent, balding gray hair, black glasses? He seems to be thoughtful and he's made some good points when my mind stops ping-ponging around and I can focus on what he's saying.
Podesta: "go home, get some sleep, she's not done yet"
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Podesta: "go home, get some sleep, she's not done yet"
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Podesta saying it's too close to call, every vote counts and they're still counting them, so go home and get some sleep and we'll get back to it tomorrow.
posted by cortex at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by cortex at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Podesta: "We can wait a little longer, can't we? They're still counting votes and every vote should count. Several states are too close to call, so we're not going to have anything else to say tonight." Everybody go home and sleep, "we'll have more to say tomorrow. I want every person in this hall and every person across the country who supported Hillary to know that your voices and your enthusiasm mean so much to her and to Tim and to all of us. We are so proud of you. And we are so proud of her. She's done an amazing job and she is not done yet, so thank you for being with her. She has always been with you. I have to say this tonight, good night, we will be back, we will have more to say, let's get these votes counted, let's bring this home....You are in all our hearts."
posted by zachlipton at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 11:04 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I guess on the bright side, I'm paid in not-USD so I'll at least be able to take advantage of the plummeting dollar
honestly, at this point it's gone beyond "looking for a silver lining" to "hunting for salvageable-looking kernels of corn in the toilet bowl"
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
honestly, at this point it's gone beyond "looking for a silver lining" to "hunting for salvageable-looking kernels of corn in the toilet bowl"
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I have no idea what's safe now. Maybe I should have been cash.
Not even sure hard currency will be safe. Not hard to imagine the dollar losing a lot of value in the aftermath.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:05 PM on November 8, 2016
Not even sure hard currency will be safe. Not hard to imagine the dollar losing a lot of value in the aftermath.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:05 PM on November 8, 2016
If Podesta is saying come back tomorrow, then his campaign must still think there's a chance to win.
posted by Kevin Street at 11:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Kevin Street at 11:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I can't even. I didn't think we were genuinely this awful. Maybe this country deserves trump nuking us all. Maybe it's time to just secede already because when the winning side would be happy to see us all dead, what else is there?
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:05 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
i am (paid in usd). and i forgot to convert this month's paycheck to clp. :(
posted by andrewcooke at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by andrewcooke at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016
Honestly my biggest hope and concern right now is that election fraud may have happened at a national scale.
Election fraud did occur on a national scale. Voters were disenfranchised and intimidated, districts were gerrymandered so that the electoral count wouldn't represent the people's will. Nobody will do anything about it because it was all legal.
Is there any legal recourse regarding the fact that the election may well have turned on the closing of hundreds and hundreds of polling places in states like Georgia, which was only able to happen due to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act? Can some sort of lawsuit be pressed? Is there anything at all we can do within the legal system?
posted by IAmUnaware at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
Election fraud did occur on a national scale. Voters were disenfranchised and intimidated, districts were gerrymandered so that the electoral count wouldn't represent the people's will. Nobody will do anything about it because it was all legal.
Is there any legal recourse regarding the fact that the election may well have turned on the closing of hundreds and hundreds of polling places in states like Georgia, which was only able to happen due to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act? Can some sort of lawsuit be pressed? Is there anything at all we can do within the legal system?
posted by IAmUnaware at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
I hope she doesn't concede until every last vote has been counted. FIGHT.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I think Podesta did the right thing. It's nearly certainly over, but the speech can wait until the morning. No need to make the call right now.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016
Oh, GREAT, now I'm getting zero sleep tonight.
posted by mikelieman at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mikelieman at 11:06 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
More cynically I think the Clinton camp needs to write a concession speech.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 11:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Elementary Penguin at 11:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
I just got back from sixteen hours of working the polls here in San Francisco (we had to wait for sheriffs to come and get the ballots, etc.). We were all trying really hard not to look at results from about 6 p.m. onward, but I started getting freakout texts from my friends and the panic set in.
All this while we were giving stickers to cute little Latinx kids who were running around joyously while their parents voted.
My neighbors down the street are having a party and told me to come along no matter what the time. I walked by their house on the way back from the polls and the lights were on but the house was silent. Then I came indoors, put on MSNBC, fired up Metafilter, and now I want to puke. I feel really lousy and alone, but I can't face going back out..
At least this means I can cancel the NYT, give up cable news and HBO, and just hunker down with books and my cats and my friends. I don't know how I'm going to sleep, but I just cannot watch this. My heart breaks for all of us.
posted by vickyverky at 11:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
All this while we were giving stickers to cute little Latinx kids who were running around joyously while their parents voted.
My neighbors down the street are having a party and told me to come along no matter what the time. I walked by their house on the way back from the polls and the lights were on but the house was silent. Then I came indoors, put on MSNBC, fired up Metafilter, and now I want to puke. I feel really lousy and alone, but I can't face going back out..
At least this means I can cancel the NYT, give up cable news and HBO, and just hunker down with books and my cats and my friends. I don't know how I'm going to sleep, but I just cannot watch this. My heart breaks for all of us.
posted by vickyverky at 11:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
A little bit of good news.
posted by zachlipton at 11:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Criminal justice reformers ousted incumbent DAs in Tampa & Houston; follows set of primary wins in Chicago, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Orlando--@Taniel
posted by zachlipton at 11:07 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Podesta did basically what Kerry's campaign also did, except in that case they had Jon Bon Jovi break the news to the crowd.
posted by feloniousmonk at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by feloniousmonk at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
So it's like Raiders? "Come back tomorrow." "Why?" "Because I SAID so, that's why."
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016
@deray
I'm tired of people saying that Trump had no ground game. His ground game was white supremacy. He had a ground game & it made an impact.
posted by chris24 at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
I'm tired of people saying that Trump had no ground game. His ground game was white supremacy. He had a ground game & it made an impact.
posted by chris24 at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [17 favorites]
LSK: "Honestly my biggest hope and concern right now is that election fraud may have happened at a national scale."
"I wrote this morning about this election’s status as the first since a Supreme Court decision struck down portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, prompting states to close hundreds of polling places. Among the states affected were three crucial states won by Trump: Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina."posted by Rhaomi at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
Is there any legal recourse regarding the fact that the election may well have turned on the closing of hundreds and hundreds of polling places in states like Georgia, which was only able to happen due to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act?
I don't think so, no. If there's any chance to flip one of those states, I assume it'll lie in provisional ballots that aren't being counted tonight?
posted by tobascodagama at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016
I don't think so, no. If there's any chance to flip one of those states, I assume it'll lie in provisional ballots that aren't being counted tonight?
posted by tobascodagama at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016
Podesta has just given a not-yet-conceding-nothing-more-until-tomorrow announcement.
Good call.
The only thing to find out tonight is will Trump claim victory?
Because PA & WI & MI are very very close.
posted by bukvich at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016
Good call.
The only thing to find out tonight is will Trump claim victory?
Because PA & WI & MI are very very close.
posted by bukvich at 11:08 PM on November 8, 2016
I'm so sorry, America. Welcome to Amerikkka.
posted by MetalFingerz at 11:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by MetalFingerz at 11:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I don't understand this - didn't Trump say, repeatedly, to watch out, this one is gonna be rigged.
Yes, and everyone should take him at his word and investigate the shit out of it.
(I'm serious.)
posted by Sys Rq at 11:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
Yes, and everyone should take him at his word and investigate the shit out of it.
(I'm serious.)
posted by Sys Rq at 11:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [18 favorites]
NBC saying PA may have 3% of ballots cast provisionally. It's going to be goddamn chads again.
posted by zachlipton at 11:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 11:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
I am a brown mixed man with a mixed wife and beautiful three and one year old sons. This outcome is scary. But I want you white people, all people here, not to despair. Reach out to your neighbors who may be in danger soon, or may face trouble from those who hate. We must still stand together, even if our leaders and fellow citizens would tear us apart.
I ask this selfishly because I want my kids to prosper.
Eventually we must reach out, somehow, to those that are angry and decided that Trump was the answer. Not today. Maybe when we can accept thIs reality in a day or week or month. But soon, since our nation won't be truly united until we can figure that out.
MeFi, I want so badly for us all to have a big hug. Take care of yourselves.
posted by Mister Cheese at 11:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [37 favorites]
I ask this selfishly because I want my kids to prosper.
Eventually we must reach out, somehow, to those that are angry and decided that Trump was the answer. Not today. Maybe when we can accept thIs reality in a day or week or month. But soon, since our nation won't be truly united until we can figure that out.
MeFi, I want so badly for us all to have a big hug. Take care of yourselves.
posted by Mister Cheese at 11:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [37 favorites]
What's interesting is that the US and the rest of the world can still bankrupt Trump. Continue to boycott his properties and he'll continue to lose his wealth. Make him suffer for his false promises.
And that's ignoring the ability of the Chinese and the Saudis and the international banks to call him to heel at a moment. Attempt to much saber-rattling and those billions of assets that are parked in the US will flood out in a devastating manner.
His base might not feel the pinch but the Republican elite definitely will and they will make their pleasure known even if it means supporting Democrats in 2018 and 2020.
Because the reality was that virtually ever member of the 1% and the .1% were actually hoping for a Clinton win because Clinton meant predictability and predictability is good for the market and things good for the market means the elite continue to get richer.
The second Trump threatens that a whole host of shit that is still hidden from view will crash down on him.
posted by vuron at 11:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
And that's ignoring the ability of the Chinese and the Saudis and the international banks to call him to heel at a moment. Attempt to much saber-rattling and those billions of assets that are parked in the US will flood out in a devastating manner.
His base might not feel the pinch but the Republican elite definitely will and they will make their pleasure known even if it means supporting Democrats in 2018 and 2020.
Because the reality was that virtually ever member of the 1% and the .1% were actually hoping for a Clinton win because Clinton meant predictability and predictability is good for the market and things good for the market means the elite continue to get richer.
The second Trump threatens that a whole host of shit that is still hidden from view will crash down on him.
posted by vuron at 11:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Les All'mands étaient chez moi
On m'a dit: "Résigne-toi",
Mais je n'ai pas pu.
Et j'ai repris mon arme.
Personne ne m'a demandé
D'ou je viens et où je vais
Vous qui le savez,
Effacez mon passage.
J'ai changé cent fois de nom
J'ai perdu femme et enfant
Mais j'ai tant d'amis
Et j'ai la France entière.
Un vieil homme dans un grenier
Pour la nuit nous a cachés
Les All'mands l'ont pris
Il est mort sans surprise
Hier encore nous étions trois
Il ne reste plus que moi
Et je tourne en rond
Dans la prison des frontières
Le vent passe sur les tombes
Et la liberté reviendra
On nous oubliera!
Nous rentrerons dans l'ombre.
posted by moonlight on vermont at 11:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
On m'a dit: "Résigne-toi",
Mais je n'ai pas pu.
Et j'ai repris mon arme.
Personne ne m'a demandé
D'ou je viens et où je vais
Vous qui le savez,
Effacez mon passage.
J'ai changé cent fois de nom
J'ai perdu femme et enfant
Mais j'ai tant d'amis
Et j'ai la France entière.
Un vieil homme dans un grenier
Pour la nuit nous a cachés
Les All'mands l'ont pris
Il est mort sans surprise
Hier encore nous étions trois
Il ne reste plus que moi
Et je tourne en rond
Dans la prison des frontières
Le vent passe sur les tombes
Et la liberté reviendra
On nous oubliera!
Nous rentrerons dans l'ombre.
posted by moonlight on vermont at 11:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Well, at least Question 4 passed in MA, cause we're gonna fuckin' need it.
posted by not_on_display at 11:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 11:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I think people like me who are in, comparatively, more secure or less "othered" positions should, even if we have the wherewithal to relocate, contemplate our responsibility to stay put and stand with fellow citizens who are more vulnerable or unsafe than we are and who may need support and shielding.
This is absolutely correct. The way to push back against "Fuck you I got mine" is "How can I help?"
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
This is absolutely correct. The way to push back against "Fuck you I got mine" is "How can I help?"
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:10 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
From a moms' group on Facebook on what to tell the children:
Some developmentally-sensitive scripts:
0-5 years old: "Grown ups are so silly! Can you believe that a lot of grown-ups voted for a meanie? I know, those grown-ups are so silly! We'll vote for someone better next time. Now let's play outside..."
6-10 years old: "I am so sad and disappointed. I really wanted this to be different. We have a LOT of work to do now! There are lots of ways that our family, community, and our friends are going to protect each other and work together to make sure that we have a kind and fair leader of our country in the future. Let me tell you about some of the things we can do...."
11-13years old: "This is not the first horrible thing that has happened in the United States (refer to the history) and it won't be the last, but for every horrible thing that has happened, there has also been a group of people committed to fighting against it. Have you heard the word "revolution"? That's when people know that so many things are wrong and that the only way to fix them is to change them completely. Let's think about some of the things we could do to make a revolution happen in the United States...."
14+: "Let's look at the exit poll statistics closely so we can see which groups of people voted for Trump". Review BLM platform and demands. Review INCITE! vision statement. Make a family vision statement that includes social justice commitments. Mark organizing dates on family calendar."
posted by Dragonness at 11:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [87 favorites]
Some developmentally-sensitive scripts:
0-5 years old: "Grown ups are so silly! Can you believe that a lot of grown-ups voted for a meanie? I know, those grown-ups are so silly! We'll vote for someone better next time. Now let's play outside..."
6-10 years old: "I am so sad and disappointed. I really wanted this to be different. We have a LOT of work to do now! There are lots of ways that our family, community, and our friends are going to protect each other and work together to make sure that we have a kind and fair leader of our country in the future. Let me tell you about some of the things we can do...."
11-13years old: "This is not the first horrible thing that has happened in the United States (refer to the history) and it won't be the last, but for every horrible thing that has happened, there has also been a group of people committed to fighting against it. Have you heard the word "revolution"? That's when people know that so many things are wrong and that the only way to fix them is to change them completely. Let's think about some of the things we could do to make a revolution happen in the United States...."
14+: "Let's look at the exit poll statistics closely so we can see which groups of people voted for Trump". Review BLM platform and demands. Review INCITE! vision statement. Make a family vision statement that includes social justice commitments. Mark organizing dates on family calendar."
posted by Dragonness at 11:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [87 favorites]
After brexit we had people telling us to shut up and accept it. That we'd lost (which was true) and that we should stop being vocal. Don't let anyone try to do the same to you after today.
Obligatory Hislop
posted by edd at 11:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Obligatory Hislop
posted by edd at 11:11 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
What cabinet post does the KKK guy get to fill?
ministry of racial purity
posted by poffin boffin at 11:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
ministry of racial purity
posted by poffin boffin at 11:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
If someone was calling me a deplorable for my political views,
For a whole year, Donald Trump has called China, the country of my grandparent's homeland, a place that has only succeeded because it's cheated and lied. Not because it suffered it's own century of defeat and shame at the hands of imperialism and managed through hard work to pull itself into some form of stability and success.
For a whole year, Donald Trump has put people like me, an immigrant, front and center on why America is in decline. How there are "good" immigrants and "bad" immigrants and only good white Americans can decide.
I think that is much worse than being called deplorable and yet, I still feel it's important to understand the Trump voter's perspective and try to help them. But all of a sudden, it's because Clinton has lost because she for one moment decided to do what Trump does, and "tell it like it is".
posted by FJT at 11:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
For a whole year, Donald Trump has called China, the country of my grandparent's homeland, a place that has only succeeded because it's cheated and lied. Not because it suffered it's own century of defeat and shame at the hands of imperialism and managed through hard work to pull itself into some form of stability and success.
For a whole year, Donald Trump has put people like me, an immigrant, front and center on why America is in decline. How there are "good" immigrants and "bad" immigrants and only good white Americans can decide.
I think that is much worse than being called deplorable and yet, I still feel it's important to understand the Trump voter's perspective and try to help them. But all of a sudden, it's because Clinton has lost because she for one moment decided to do what Trump does, and "tell it like it is".
posted by FJT at 11:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
Well, now the Republicans get to show the nation they can solve this country's problems. Or are the cause of them.
posted by Gelatin at 11:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 11:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
NBC saying PA may have 3% of ballots cast provisionally. It's going to be goddamn chads again.
Which is why Clinton sure as hell isn't going to give anyone the optics of a concession speech and subsequent retraction.
posted by mikelieman at 11:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Which is why Clinton sure as hell isn't going to give anyone the optics of a concession speech and subsequent retraction.
posted by mikelieman at 11:12 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
I wonder how much of the Trump vote was a protest vote; they didn't really think he'd win and Clinton had it in the bag. I wonder how many people are going to be regretful in the next few days.
posted by bongo_x at 11:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by bongo_x at 11:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
oh ffs. BBC interviewing a guy from Muslim-Americans for Trump and he says Trump didn't mean it when he said he'd shut down immigration from Muslim countries, he'd just ban the terrorists. BBC interviewer is not having it.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:13 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
This is not the time to admit defeat. This is the time to retreat to the next defensive line, the next set of barricades, and sharpen the blade for the next battle. Are secret police literally knocking down your door? Are the new nativist laws passed and in action. No. Not yet. Vent, rest, and recover. But there's still far, far more to do until the true time for despair. Because the easiest way to let evil succeed is to invite it to win.
posted by Apocryphon at 11:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
posted by Apocryphon at 11:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [22 favorites]
The first thing I plan to do is stop by Planned Parenthood and apply to become a volunteer escort. I've been wanting to do this for a while. Also try to arrange interfaith outreach between my Zen sangha and local mosques. Seems like now is the time, regardless of the election. It feels necessary to act.
Beyond that... Maybe J-school? I've thought about that too. Not sure.
My instincts are screaming at me to run away and hide, but I can't live like that. I refuse to give away my power anymore, especially not to these people. Too many lives hang in the balance, not to mention my sanity.
posted by krinklyfig at 11:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Beyond that... Maybe J-school? I've thought about that too. Not sure.
My instincts are screaming at me to run away and hide, but I can't live like that. I refuse to give away my power anymore, especially not to these people. Too many lives hang in the balance, not to mention my sanity.
posted by krinklyfig at 11:14 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Kevin Street: "If Podesta is saying come back tomorrow, then his campaign must still think there's a chance to win."
Nah, I think they are just dicking with the Trump campaign. There be less energy in the acceptance speech tomorrow.
posted by Mitheral at 11:14 PM on November 8, 2016
Nah, I think they are just dicking with the Trump campaign. There be less energy in the acceptance speech tomorrow.
posted by Mitheral at 11:14 PM on November 8, 2016
Apocryphon, thank you.
posted by samthemander at 11:15 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by samthemander at 11:15 PM on November 8, 2016
I love you all. Please take care of yourselves. We are all going to need each other.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
After brexit we had people telling us to shut up and accept it. That we'd lost (which was true) and that we should stop being vocal. Don't let anyone try to do the same to you after today.
Yes; but the Brexit referendum is different to an election between two candidates, one of which will have won.
If Hillary Clinton or many of her supporters 'refuse to accept' the results, that's calling the government itself illegitimate. I'm... Honestly, I'm not going to make a moral judgement on whether that should be done, at this point. But it is a serious challenge to the structure of government in a way that opposition to Brexit is not.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes; but the Brexit referendum is different to an election between two candidates, one of which will have won.
If Hillary Clinton or many of her supporters 'refuse to accept' the results, that's calling the government itself illegitimate. I'm... Honestly, I'm not going to make a moral judgement on whether that should be done, at this point. But it is a serious challenge to the structure of government in a way that opposition to Brexit is not.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I... forgot about provisional ballots. This could take forever.
posted by Justinian at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Yeah I think the most likely scenario is the same thing that happened in 2004, when Kerry waited until the next morning. But it gives them time to look at the provisional ballots and uncounted mail-in ballots before doing anything.
Not to mention the fact that forcing Trump to speak after the stock market opens is straight up good political theater, and they know what they're doing there.
posted by zachlipton at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Not to mention the fact that forcing Trump to speak after the stock market opens is straight up good political theater, and they know what they're doing there.
posted by zachlipton at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
And that's ignoring the ability of the Chinese and the Saudis and the international banks to call him to heel at a moment. Attempt to much saber-rattling and those billions of assets that are parked in the US will flood out in a devastating manner.
It doesn't really work like that, either in terms of being able to pull out in that way or being able to do so without massive harm to those pulling out. Hence the old chestnut of dubious origin “if you owe a bank thousands, you have a problem; owe a bank millions, the bank has a problem”.
posted by Sangermaine at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
It doesn't really work like that, either in terms of being able to pull out in that way or being able to do so without massive harm to those pulling out. Hence the old chestnut of dubious origin “if you owe a bank thousands, you have a problem; owe a bank millions, the bank has a problem”.
posted by Sangermaine at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Beyond that... Maybe J-school? I've thought about that too. Not sure.
In case I wasn't clear above: If you want to actually be able to stand for and speak out about the things you believe in beyond a narrow definition of First Amendment rights and "balance" and whatever else, save your money and look elsewhere.
posted by limeonaire at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016
In case I wasn't clear above: If you want to actually be able to stand for and speak out about the things you believe in beyond a narrow definition of First Amendment rights and "balance" and whatever else, save your money and look elsewhere.
posted by limeonaire at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016
I don't know, it's still really close in important states. It might be better to come back tomorrow after a lot of counting has been done.
posted by Kevin Street at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Kevin Street at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm kind of glad Podesta said that, actually. I was this close to writing a Facebook post coming out as transgender to talk about how I'll be more vulnerable under a Donald Trump presidency, and it's probably better that I wait it out and come out on my own terms.
I'm worried about what this will do to my depression; I don't have time for the five stages of grief right now. :(
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
I'm worried about what this will do to my depression; I don't have time for the five stages of grief right now. :(
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [20 favorites]
In times like these we must reaffirm the values we cherish and have fought for: equality, justice, the care of our planet. We must stand up defiantly to any dark or divisive acts, and look out for the most vulnerable among us. It is more important than ever.
I've managed to hold off actually crying until now, but it looks like it was Takei that put me over the edge.
And, surprisingly, I feel the tiniest spark of...not really hope, but determination. Not that the results will miraculously change, but that maybe I can do more on a personal level to connect with people around me. Because something is really rotten in our society, and I don't have any clue how to fix it except to do better in my own life to reach out to people. I can do more and I should do more, and I should have been doing more before now.
So I'm going to keep the Clinton/Kaine bumper sticker on my car proudly, because I'm going to wear it as a reminder of the best parts of this country that we saw during the Democratic convention, as well as a personal challenge to do better to live up to those ideals.
I may have to take a personal day tomorrow and find a way to decompress, but then I need to find a place where I can make a difference for the people who will be hurting the most from this mess. Otherwise I'm worried that the numbness and hopelessness I'm feeling tonight will turn into cynicism.
posted by Salieri at 11:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I've managed to hold off actually crying until now, but it looks like it was Takei that put me over the edge.
And, surprisingly, I feel the tiniest spark of...not really hope, but determination. Not that the results will miraculously change, but that maybe I can do more on a personal level to connect with people around me. Because something is really rotten in our society, and I don't have any clue how to fix it except to do better in my own life to reach out to people. I can do more and I should do more, and I should have been doing more before now.
So I'm going to keep the Clinton/Kaine bumper sticker on my car proudly, because I'm going to wear it as a reminder of the best parts of this country that we saw during the Democratic convention, as well as a personal challenge to do better to live up to those ideals.
I may have to take a personal day tomorrow and find a way to decompress, but then I need to find a place where I can make a difference for the people who will be hurting the most from this mess. Otherwise I'm worried that the numbness and hopelessness I'm feeling tonight will turn into cynicism.
posted by Salieri at 11:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I would just caution people that Kerry waited to see provisional stuff too, and we know how that turned out. And this is two states, not one.
posted by Justinian at 11:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I am literally trying to remember everything that happened in 2000 so I can anticipate the next few days.
posted by corb at 11:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by corb at 11:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Nah, I think they are just dicking with the Trump campaign. There be less energy in the acceptance speech tomorrow.
Maybe, but if so it'd be a pointless feint. Any assumption that Trump will refrain from giving an acceptance speech tonight because it would be gauche or shameful to do so in the face of the Clinton camp not yet conceding fails to account for Trump's litany of shameless guacheries over the last 18 months and the decades preceding.
Trump's imperviousness to niceties and norms is as big a part of his candidacy as anything. It's who he is.
I'm inclined to think the Clinton camp is actively gaming out the situation, even if they don't particularly like their chances. Holding the concession speech feels to me more like not being done yet than just political juking.
posted by cortex at 11:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Maybe, but if so it'd be a pointless feint. Any assumption that Trump will refrain from giving an acceptance speech tonight because it would be gauche or shameful to do so in the face of the Clinton camp not yet conceding fails to account for Trump's litany of shameless guacheries over the last 18 months and the decades preceding.
Trump's imperviousness to niceties and norms is as big a part of his candidacy as anything. It's who he is.
I'm inclined to think the Clinton camp is actively gaming out the situation, even if they don't particularly like their chances. Holding the concession speech feels to me more like not being done yet than just political juking.
posted by cortex at 11:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Peter Thiel won again, folks.
posted by lkc at 11:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by lkc at 11:20 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
What's with this bullshit twist ending 2016? Who's writing this shit? Fucking M. Night Shyamalan?!?
posted by kirkaracha at 11:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 11:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
Remember the Brooks Brothers Riot? 2016's version of that sure will be fun. (Note: EXTREMELY HEAVY SARCASM.)
posted by tobascodagama at 11:21 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by tobascodagama at 11:21 PM on November 8, 2016
I voted. So did my husband and one of my daughters. And even though Oklahoma went red, it was the right thing to do.
Tomorrow the sun will rise, we will all come together and get through the next four years with as much grace as we can muster.
That such a group of strong individuals can come together for a common purpose, and hold each other up, is a testament to our shared sense of right. We believe, and will continue to believe, that this country is a good place. It can be better.
We aren't going away. And there will be more elections in two years.
This was not a landslide.
posted by TrishaU at 11:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Tomorrow the sun will rise, we will all come together and get through the next four years with as much grace as we can muster.
That such a group of strong individuals can come together for a common purpose, and hold each other up, is a testament to our shared sense of right. We believe, and will continue to believe, that this country is a good place. It can be better.
We aren't going away. And there will be more elections in two years.
This was not a landslide.
posted by TrishaU at 11:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Hello new thread just finished the old thread.
Thoughts: no Trump TV?
WTAF. Just when I thought it was safe to be unabashedly myself. I quit my job in a pique of disgust for working with Trumpers and figured I'd make my own way. Entreprenueting! Nope. Time to dye my hair and try to find a safe corporate job (never mind that I've been interviewing steadily for three years).
I am guttered here in Florida, worse than 2000 and 2004.
posted by tilde at 11:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Thoughts: no Trump TV?
WTAF. Just when I thought it was safe to be unabashedly myself. I quit my job in a pique of disgust for working with Trumpers and figured I'd make my own way. Entreprenueting! Nope. Time to dye my hair and try to find a safe corporate job (never mind that I've been interviewing steadily for three years).
I am guttered here in Florida, worse than 2000 and 2004.
posted by tilde at 11:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
MeFi, I want so badly for us all to have a big hug. Take care of yourselves.
I've never been to an IRL, but now might be a good time. Maybe I should start one for SE Michiganians. (Heck, I'd travel overnight/out of state for something.)
posted by NorthernLite at 11:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I've never been to an IRL, but now might be a good time. Maybe I should start one for SE Michiganians. (Heck, I'd travel overnight/out of state for something.)
posted by NorthernLite at 11:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
For self-care / perspective I'm watching C-SPAN Washington Journal videos from December 2000.
posted by mikelieman at 11:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mikelieman at 11:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am desperately hoping holding the concession is a sign of feist and fight.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:22 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Who's writing this shit? Fucking M. Night Shyamalan?!?
If he had, I wouldve guessed the ending 10 minutes in.
posted by NorthernLite at 11:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
If he had, I wouldve guessed the ending 10 minutes in.
posted by NorthernLite at 11:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
And imagine how pleased with himself Scott Adams must be. That's not the worst part of this, not at all, it's just annoying that it appears he was right about Trump winning. He called it ages ago.
posted by Bella Donna at 11:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 11:23 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Actually... I'm not sure what the provisionals can gain the Clinton camp. Even if they flip PA and MI they've lost Wisconsin. It could make this election razor thin electorally and with a 1.5+million vote popular vote lead for Clinton, but does that accomplish anything except tell us how badly we got rogered by the system?
posted by Justinian at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Justinian at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I love you guys and am so grateful to have been with you all Through this. Starting tomorrow I'll start working on how I can help protect and support the people who are going to be hurt for the next bunch of supreme court terms. Right now, I'm in shock. All I have to offer you guys is love.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Trump is reportedly headed to the Hilton, and nobody knows what he's going to say.
posted by zachlipton at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by zachlipton at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016
Thank god Jimmy Fallon will be on soon. /s
posted by gideonswann at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by gideonswann at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016
People are talking about "Time to hunker down and get determined" and I really want to know what I can do in New Jersey and New York. I think the best path for me is developing media skills, actually, to support political campaigns in that respect. Our individual votes - my own, and the people around me I can talk to - don't seem to mean a whole lot.
The NJ-7 campaign that I've been pulling for lost, by the way.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
The NJ-7 campaign that I've been pulling for lost, by the way.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm dreading the Trump speech. But I can't not watch it.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:25 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:25 PM on November 8, 2016
Thoughts: no Trump TV?
There will still be Trump TV. It'll probably be taxpayer funded, now.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
There will still be Trump TV. It'll probably be taxpayer funded, now.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:25 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Thank god Jimmy Fallon will be on soon. /s
If he had any shame, he'd spend his next show just apologising until the feed gets cut.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
If he had any shame, he'd spend his next show just apologising until the feed gets cut.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
I got through 2000-2008 by just watching The West Wing and not consuming actual news.
Please post coping strategies.
posted by 0xFCAF at 11:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Please post coping strategies.
posted by 0xFCAF at 11:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
First priority is to think of some way to block every single one of Donald's Supreme Court nominees. IF the Republicans could do it to Obama for 8 months, we can try for 4 years. If the court shrinks down to 6 justices, then so be it.
posted by FJT at 11:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by FJT at 11:26 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Watch The West Wing and don't consume actual news.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 11:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
deplorable
Lumpenproletariat - Wikipedia
"Lumpenproletariat is a term that was originally coined by Karl Marx to describe the layer of the working class that is unlikely ever to achieve class consciousness and is therefore lost to socially useful production, of no use to the revolutionary struggle, and perhaps even an impediment to the realization of a ..."
posted by polymodus at 11:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
Lumpenproletariat - Wikipedia
"Lumpenproletariat is a term that was originally coined by Karl Marx to describe the layer of the working class that is unlikely ever to achieve class consciousness and is therefore lost to socially useful production, of no use to the revolutionary struggle, and perhaps even an impediment to the realization of a ..."
posted by polymodus at 11:27 PM on November 8, 2016 [16 favorites]
I was going to chirp that Frankie Boyle's doing a postmortum on this election, but some poking around suggests that was in the UK some months ago. (I don't think I'd have had the energy to watch it.)
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:27 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:27 PM on November 8, 2016
God, the front page of the NYT is surreal. It's like the first five minutes of, well, an alternate history movie.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I got through 2000-2008 by just watching The West Wing and not consuming actual news.
Please post coping strategies.
Watching it again.
posted by ymgve at 11:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Please post coping strategies.
Watching it again.
posted by ymgve at 11:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Please post coping strategies.
Well, I blocked my parents and in-laws and posted some video clips from Easy Rider.
But maybe we'll share some recipes tomorrow. My peppers haven't bloomed!
(nite nite)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Well, I blocked my parents and in-laws and posted some video clips from Easy Rider.
But maybe we'll share some recipes tomorrow. My peppers haven't bloomed!
(nite nite)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I've thought a lot about what to say to my young kids when they come back from their mom's this Friday. They think Trump is an idiot, and they are right. He's the butt of playground jokes. Should I teach them to respect the president no matter what? I don't think I can. The stuff they teach kids in elementary school about kindness, respect, and sharing (you know, "hippie shit") is the correct way to live. If the person in charge is antithetical to those ideals, he must be resisted at all costs. I don't teach them to respect authority, I teach them to respect those who earn it.
posted by freecellwizard at 11:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by freecellwizard at 11:28 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
We were so close. We had marriage equality and we were working on getting the voting rights act restored. Black lives mattered and planned Parenthood was going to be refunded. We were going to pass the DREAM act. Women were being listened to and we're about to break the last glass ceiling. We were getting so close to a livable minimum wage and we were about to get universal healthcare.
That's how much they hate us.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [129 favorites]
That's how much they hate us.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [129 favorites]
Well that was a nice democracy you had there, States of America. Shame it was left in the hands of a nation of the spineless, stupid, and indolent. You may take heart in the fact that my country of Australia is also packed to the gills with the spineless, stupid and indolent - it's just that we have the advantage of being utterly unimportant.
posted by turbid dahlia at 11:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 11:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
.
Trump has a date in court on November 28, doesn't he?
posted by Mister Bijou at 11:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Trump has a date in court on November 28, doesn't he?
posted by Mister Bijou at 11:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I agree to a point Sangermaine but Trump is a threat to the entire system of international agreements which keep the world's primary powers from fighting directly with each other. The EU will look at the elections in the UK and the US as a sign that we are no longer an effective partner and that NATO cannot be trusted and they will move to replace us as the leash on Russia.
The other partners in the spheres of international trade will also make explicit their concerns if we so much as attempt to back out of trade deals. Those ties that bind the neo-liberal economic system together will not tolerate a bunch of angry white people in the midwest threatening decades of order and stability.
Trump will prance and preen but he is owned perhaps to an even greater degree than we suspect by those faceless technocrats that we like to rail against. And in the end that plus the various systems of checks and balances will prevent him from doing too much harm.
Granted his buddies will undo the last 8 years of progress and people will suffer but there is absolutely zero chance that Trump will somehow undo the US in the space of the next 4 years.
posted by vuron at 11:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
The other partners in the spheres of international trade will also make explicit their concerns if we so much as attempt to back out of trade deals. Those ties that bind the neo-liberal economic system together will not tolerate a bunch of angry white people in the midwest threatening decades of order and stability.
Trump will prance and preen but he is owned perhaps to an even greater degree than we suspect by those faceless technocrats that we like to rail against. And in the end that plus the various systems of checks and balances will prevent him from doing too much harm.
Granted his buddies will undo the last 8 years of progress and people will suffer but there is absolutely zero chance that Trump will somehow undo the US in the space of the next 4 years.
posted by vuron at 11:29 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Jesus, I see it guys. If they flip PA and MI with provisions its a 269-269 tie with Trump winning the maine CD and Clinton winning the Omaha CD.
posted by Justinian at 11:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I've been amazed at how many people say their spouse was voting for Trump and I honestly don't understand how that works. But that was when it seemed like he was going to lose. How does that work now? What's the divorce rate going to be like in the near future?
posted by bongo_x at 11:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by bongo_x at 11:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
It is not just the potential repercussions of of a Trump presidency that worry me, it's the thought of spending the next 4 years surrounding by a country of people that I know voted for a racist, misogynist, xenophobic dictator that really, really makes me ill.
My only solace is that I live in a deep blue parish of a dark red state. At least my social circle is as horrified by this turn of events as I am.
posted by tryniti at 11:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
My only solace is that I live in a deep blue parish of a dark red state. At least my social circle is as horrified by this turn of events as I am.
posted by tryniti at 11:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
Well, at least Arpaio is out. No telling what kind of evil fuckery he would have participated in with a Trump administration.
Thing is, he's now available for appointment to a top position. If Guiliani gets a Supreme Court position, he could get Attorney General over Christie.
posted by msalt at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Thing is, he's now available for appointment to a top position. If Guiliani gets a Supreme Court position, he could get Attorney General over Christie.
posted by msalt at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Fidelity: We're entering a world of 'unprecedented' political risk
Dominic Rossi, Global CIO Equities at Fidelity International, has given a very sobering assessment of the situation:
“We are heading into a world of unprecedented political risk which calls into question the pillars of the post WWII settlement. It’s unsurprising investors are heading for cover.
.......
posted by Rumple at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Dominic Rossi, Global CIO Equities at Fidelity International, has given a very sobering assessment of the situation:
“We are heading into a world of unprecedented political risk which calls into question the pillars of the post WWII settlement. It’s unsurprising investors are heading for cover.
.......
posted by Rumple at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Trump has a date in court on November 28, doesn't he?
I think it's a civil action, and won't meet the "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" standard.
posted by mikelieman at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think it's a civil action, and won't meet the "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" standard.
posted by mikelieman at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I never thought I'd say this but -- Justinian, you're being too optimistic. Crank up your panic level.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
It's a tie that goes to a GOP house so it doesn't matter anyway.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Elementary Penguin at 11:31 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
There's life after January.
I mean. If ACA gets repealed, I'm going to lose my health insurance and probably become uninsurable to boot, and then I might die from one of my two chronic illnesses, which, what do I care, I'll be dead, but it would ruin my parents' lives, so. There's that.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 11:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [29 favorites]
I mean. If ACA gets repealed, I'm going to lose my health insurance and probably become uninsurable to boot, and then I might die from one of my two chronic illnesses, which, what do I care, I'll be dead, but it would ruin my parents' lives, so. There's that.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 11:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [29 favorites]
I think this is a lot simpler than 2000, more a matter of counting every vote before having an actual decision. In 2000 the whole thing got weird over how to count possibly-improperly-punched ballots ("hanging chads") and the oddly printed ballots in some southern Florida counties that led to, like, an implausible number of retired New Yorkers/New Englanders voting for Pat Buchanan.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by soundguy99 at 11:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
MARINE LE PEN: CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW PRESIDENT TRUMP
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:32 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh, its not going to happen, tivalasvegas, I'm just trying to figure what contesting PA and MI with provisionals gains. The best case scenario I can find for the Clinton camp is pushing for a 269-269 tie. I can't see any way they win with those provisionals, that's all.
It could pad Clinton's popular margin as well. Which... yeah.
posted by Justinian at 11:33 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
It could pad Clinton's popular margin as well. Which... yeah.
posted by Justinian at 11:33 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Welp, he's got the French neo-Nazi vote, so...
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right Front National party, has congratulated Donald Trump on his likely election victory.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right Front National party, has congratulated Donald Trump on his likely election victory.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have no idea how to tell this news to my daughter in the morning. She wore white today. She accompanied me in the voting booth.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
AP calls it for Trump.
posted by AugustWest at 11:34 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by AugustWest at 11:34 PM on November 8, 2016
OK, I went on Facebook, and I'm glad I did. There's a lot of love being shared among the people I know who didn't want us to be in this position now. For once I'm glad for whatever filters are showing me the side of people I want to see right now.
posted by limeonaire at 11:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by limeonaire at 11:34 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't think I've ever hoped for a CIA/NSA coup before.
posted by localhuman at 11:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by localhuman at 11:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Let's don't worry about ACA repeal yet. I still have problems seeing how insurance companies and medical providers don't get that shut down in committee.
More worrisome is whether we'll have a continuing resolution, as early as this fucking year of 2016.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
More worrisome is whether we'll have a continuing resolution, as early as this fucking year of 2016.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:35 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have no countries left to be proud of.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 11:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 11:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm sorry, I know that was morbid. I'm just scared. Thank you all for being here.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 11:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by Snarl Furillo at 11:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Fox news has not called it and the PBS guy is freaked about it.
posted by bongo_x at 11:36 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by bongo_x at 11:36 PM on November 8, 2016
If nothing else, can we please all commit to being sincerely dedicated to being prejudiced against Trump voters? It should be easy with upcoming financial collapse, but still... don't hire, don't promote, don't in any way give any more privilege to anyone you know who supports Trump. Act locally to punish this bullshit. If someone admits to you that they support Trump, please just immediately respond with "Okay, I can't morally interact with you".
posted by team lowkey at 11:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by team lowkey at 11:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Drunk post, but fine.
Fine.
I left at Bush2. Yeah, took the passport plunge. Went the expat way. I was good liberal in my time, I voted in every election that would have me.
For years, I've explained America as a country seized by an insane contingent of racists in 2000 and 2004, but that we got our sanity back and we were ok, the bad people were by and large gone now, and my people would continue their steady but stumbling march toward our developed-country destiny as a Scandianavian-ish liberal democracy where by god things get done according to some crazy rules but they're crazy because in the end they work it's because America respects local autonomy or something good about our idiosyncrasies.
Now? I mean...I was thinking about coming home. I was thinking about leaving the diaspora. I was this close to a revolution in the making that would make my people finally stand up and lead the world again. We were this close.
Now...I don't know. My industry depends on the US economy doing well, and that assumes I stay in place. If Trump pooches it between the US and China, my only option will be to come home. To Trump country. A place where this August a retirement-age saleswoman at the local grocery store was happy to see "one of the right kind of people" back in town. If you catch my white drift. I live in Asia already. That is not home.
You'll never get it, will you, America? I have to explain this. I just ate dinner with an Italian and a Chinese person, roommates in fact, and I had to say, "Don't ask me about it, don't even bring it up." What do I say to them?
Seriously, what do I say?
I say that I was right to leave.
posted by saysthis at 11:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
Fine.
I left at Bush2. Yeah, took the passport plunge. Went the expat way. I was good liberal in my time, I voted in every election that would have me.
For years, I've explained America as a country seized by an insane contingent of racists in 2000 and 2004, but that we got our sanity back and we were ok, the bad people were by and large gone now, and my people would continue their steady but stumbling march toward our developed-country destiny as a Scandianavian-ish liberal democracy where by god things get done according to some crazy rules but they're crazy because in the end they work it's because America respects local autonomy or something good about our idiosyncrasies.
Now? I mean...I was thinking about coming home. I was thinking about leaving the diaspora. I was this close to a revolution in the making that would make my people finally stand up and lead the world again. We were this close.
Now...I don't know. My industry depends on the US economy doing well, and that assumes I stay in place. If Trump pooches it between the US and China, my only option will be to come home. To Trump country. A place where this August a retirement-age saleswoman at the local grocery store was happy to see "one of the right kind of people" back in town. If you catch my white drift. I live in Asia already. That is not home.
You'll never get it, will you, America? I have to explain this. I just ate dinner with an Italian and a Chinese person, roommates in fact, and I had to say, "Don't ask me about it, don't even bring it up." What do I say to them?
Seriously, what do I say?
I say that I was right to leave.
posted by saysthis at 11:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
Can't wait for Press Secretary Milo Yianiawhatsit.
posted by PenDevil at 11:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 11:37 PM on November 8, 2016 [12 favorites]
PBS also just called it for Trump.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:38 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:38 PM on November 8, 2016
Well, I tried to sleep. That didn't work. I just kept playing various nightmare ways in my head of the global disasters of the next four years. What now?
posted by dannyboybell at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by dannyboybell at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I want to reiterate to people that more Americans voted for Clinton than for Trump. Probably by almost 2 million. This is not supposed to make you feel better... how could it? But it does mean that most Americans are not with this bullshit. Far too many are. But it's still not most.
posted by Justinian at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [28 favorites]
So what do we do now?
I don't have kids to reassure and teach to do better next time. I can't take solace in my family, who will be celebrating. I want to do something in the coming days, weeks, and years, but I just don't know what.
posted by tryniti at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I don't have kids to reassure and teach to do better next time. I can't take solace in my family, who will be celebrating. I want to do something in the coming days, weeks, and years, but I just don't know what.
posted by tryniti at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
In light of this victory what does this say about the Obama presidency? Did he win off a population tenatively reaching out for liberal values or one just fatigued with Iraq/Afghanistan and the associated GWB presidency?
posted by PenDevil at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Let's remember part of Lincoln's First Inaugural speech: "I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
My country, why are you such a slow learner?
posted by TwoStride at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
My country, why are you such a slow learner?
posted by TwoStride at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Clinton has called Trump to concede per BBC via Kelly O'Donnell.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016
I think it's a civil action, and won't meet the "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" standard.
My understanding is that "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" is undefined, so it's basically whatever the House says it is. The question is if Republicans will be williing to bring him up on charges. My guess is no, particularly as it would have a nonzero chance of causing an actual insurrection, unless the deplorables have turned on Trump for some reason.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
My understanding is that "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" is undefined, so it's basically whatever the House says it is. The question is if Republicans will be williing to bring him up on charges. My guess is no, particularly as it would have a nonzero chance of causing an actual insurrection, unless the deplorables have turned on Trump for some reason.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also over here the date is 9/11 so at least that makes it easy for me to remember.
posted by turbid dahlia at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 11:39 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Commiserations and a heartfelt good luck from another Australian. Thunder and lightning in Sydney right now, very appropriate. I'm getting drunk in solidarity.
Me and my housemate have discussed offering our futon to American friends - I said there would be American refugees interned on Nauru as illegal immigrants soon enough, and I was barely joking.
posted by other barry at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Me and my housemate have discussed offering our futon to American friends - I said there would be American refugees interned on Nauru as illegal immigrants soon enough, and I was barely joking.
posted by other barry at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
BBC states Clinton conceded to Trump via phone.
posted by longbaugh at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by longbaugh at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I want to reiterate to people that more Americans voted for Clinton than for Trump. Probably by almost 2 million
Where are you seeing this? The popular vote totals I'm seeing still have Trump up 1.5 million.
posted by corb at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016
Where are you seeing this? The popular vote totals I'm seeing still have Trump up 1.5 million.
posted by corb at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016
And PBS reports that Hillary called Trump to concede.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016
Fox just called it too fwiw
posted by AugustWest at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by AugustWest at 11:40 PM on November 8, 2016
The popular vote from California--mostly going to Clinton--isn't in yet.
posted by TwoStride at 11:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TwoStride at 11:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not that this helps or anything, but here's a French headline:
«Fuck, fuck, fuck» : à Miami, nuit de cauchemar pour les démocrates
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
«Fuck, fuck, fuck» : à Miami, nuit de cauchemar pour les démocrates
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:41 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
corb: I keep saying (err, that sounds salty, I don't mean it to be, it's just a fast thread) the same thing. California counts slowly and is going Clinton HARD. It is going to deliver Clinton a huge margin.
posted by Justinian at 11:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Clinton, why? Why would you concede with provisional ballots to be counted? Why?
posted by corb at 11:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by corb at 11:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
What have we done.
posted by SansPoint at 11:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 11:42 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Charles Pierce: This Is the Worst Election Night of My Life:
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA—Let me take this opportunity to tell you about the three worst election nights of my life.posted by palindromic at 11:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
.
posted by AugustWest at 11:43 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by AugustWest at 11:43 PM on November 8, 2016
I can't say exactly but my best guess is that Clinton is going to win the popular vote by between 1.,5 and 2 million. This is more than triple Gore's margin, and I consider it basically a worst case scenario for the country. 2 million people more will have voted for the "loser".
posted by Justinian at 11:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:43 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
This is not happening...
This is not happening....
*weepingwailing*
this is america. this can't be happening.
posted by blessedlyndie at 11:43 PM on November 8, 2016
This is not happening....
*weepingwailing*
this is america. this can't be happening.
posted by blessedlyndie at 11:43 PM on November 8, 2016
.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by tobascodagama at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016
could use a quick bingo card for trump's speech...
posted by andrewcooke at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by andrewcooke at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016
The review you had on this election, which was merely a two word review, just said "Shit Sandwich."
posted by kirkaracha at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
It's a tie that goes to a GOP house so it doesn't matter anyway.
Can someone better versed in edge cases tell me if this scenario is possible?
1) One or more faithless electors casts an electoral vote for Paul Ryan (or McMuffin or Cruz) who then is in the top 3 candidates by EVs
2) EV ties as a result, or Trump's total is below 270.
3) vote goes to House of Representatives
4) after some number of votes, a majority of states vote for the third candidate to prevent Trump from winning, perhaps with the Dems throwing all of their states to #3.
posted by msalt at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can someone better versed in edge cases tell me if this scenario is possible?
1) One or more faithless electors casts an electoral vote for Paul Ryan (or McMuffin or Cruz) who then is in the top 3 candidates by EVs
2) EV ties as a result, or Trump's total is below 270.
3) vote goes to House of Representatives
4) after some number of votes, a majority of states vote for the third candidate to prevent Trump from winning, perhaps with the Dems throwing all of their states to #3.
posted by msalt at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
From one of the finest Canadian politicians of my lifetime, "Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear." --Jack Layton.
Strength in the days ahead, America.
posted by peppermind at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Strength in the days ahead, America.
posted by peppermind at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Clinton, why? Why would you concede with provisional ballots to be counted? Why?
Because she's smart enough to do the math, and good enough to do what she believes is the right thing for American democracy.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
Because she's smart enough to do the math, and good enough to do what she believes is the right thing for American democracy.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:44 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
oh god, they're coming on stage.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
can we for the love of god at least start a campaign for a constitutional amendment abolishing the electoral college? The loser of the popular vote taking the white house twice in 16 years is just fucking ridiculous.
posted by skewed at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
posted by skewed at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
1) A faithless elector casts an electoral vote for Paul Ryan (or McMuffin or Cruz) who then is in the top 3 candidates by EVs
I don't think any faithless elector situation is plausible. Even if it were, the House will absolutely not overturn the electoral vote. It would be political suicide, if not literal suicide.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I don't think any faithless elector situation is plausible. Even if it were, the House will absolutely not overturn the electoral vote. It would be political suicide, if not literal suicide.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is worse than 9/11.
It sounds hyperbolic, but more people will die as a result of tonight. And it can't be blamed on just 19 people.
posted by Rhaomi at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
It sounds hyperbolic, but more people will die as a result of tonight. And it can't be blamed on just 19 people.
posted by Rhaomi at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
headline: Japan finance officials in emergency talks after U.S. election shock.
It's starting.
posted by Justinian at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
It's starting.
posted by Justinian at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
.
posted by stolyarova at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by stolyarova at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Clinton, why? Why would you concede with provisional ballots to be counted? Why?
Presumably she and her people have done the math and determined that the provisional ballots can't change the outcome. They probably have very detailed information.
posted by IAmUnaware at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Presumably she and her people have done the math and determined that the provisional ballots can't change the outcome. They probably have very detailed information.
posted by IAmUnaware at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Holy cow. I'm exhausted, and stressed out, but too shocked and distressed to sleep. And too numb to feel anything but stomach pain and misgivings. Probably the uncontrollable crying jags will arrive right when I have to go out into the world tomorrow and try somehow to look normal and professional rather than devastated and profoundly disturbed. "Oh, we'll all feel so much better when this nightmare of an election is finally over." Ha. Ha. Ha.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Pence takes the stage. "This is a historic night. The American people have spoken and the American people have elected their new champion. America has elected a new President and it's almost hard for me to express the honor that I and my family feel that I will have the honor to serve as your Vice President of the United States of America [USA chants]. I come to this moment deeply humbled, grateful to God for his amazing grace. Grateful to my family. [lists off family] I'm deeply grateful to the American people..And I'm mostly grateful to our Presdent-elect whose leadership and vision will Make America Great Again."
posted by zachlipton at 11:47 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by zachlipton at 11:47 PM on November 8, 2016
.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 11:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by cyrusdogstar at 11:47 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
So, anyway... When's that Trump University fraud trial, and can we expect the full wall-to-wall O.J. treatment?
posted by Sys Rq at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Sys Rq at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
God, Trump is walking out now to the Air Force One theme. I cannot even.
posted by corb at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by corb at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
How other countries would vote in the American election.
It would seem that Hillary was right in stating that while she loves us, the USA is not Denmark.
posted by bouvin at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
It would seem that Hillary was right in stating that while she loves us, the USA is not Denmark.
posted by bouvin at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Fuck I can't sleep and this feels like the worst thing ever.
Stolen from Facebook:
The winner of tonight's election is the Voyager space probe, launched in 1977, which is currently traveling at 62,137 km per hour away from the Earth into interstellar space...
Sense of humor: we're gonna need it
posted by angrybear at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [66 favorites]
Stolen from Facebook:
The winner of tonight's election is the Voyager space probe, launched in 1977, which is currently traveling at 62,137 km per hour away from the Earth into interstellar space...
Sense of humor: we're gonna need it
posted by angrybear at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [66 favorites]
OK we are going to get a victory speech at 2:45 in the morning in New York.
This ain't any mandate for what that is worth. Maybe the press will be watching him 24/7?
(That is the hope part for the new hope & change crew.)
posted by bukvich at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016
This ain't any mandate for what that is worth. Maybe the press will be watching him 24/7?
(That is the hope part for the new hope & change crew.)
posted by bukvich at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016
I am so ashamed of my country.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
This is worse than 9/11.
It sounds hyperbolic, but more people will die as a result of tonight. And it can't be blamed on just 19 people.
I especially feel bad for the people in Syria and other countries that Russia threatens. Trump doesn't have the spine to stand up to Putin.
posted by IAmUnaware at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
It sounds hyperbolic, but more people will die as a result of tonight. And it can't be blamed on just 19 people.
I especially feel bad for the people in Syria and other countries that Russia threatens. Trump doesn't have the spine to stand up to Putin.
posted by IAmUnaware at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
So this is actually funny. HFA in NJ and PA kept poaching canvassers from my congressional race, NJ-7, and our field director kept bitching about it. Pennsylvania's a lock, he said. It's a waste of time, he said.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
It truly is one of those nights.
Only thing that makes sense is a death
metal cover of Losing My Religion.
posted by philip-random at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Only thing that makes sense is a death
metal cover of Losing My Religion.
posted by philip-random at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Well yes in the long term I guess we can probably be smug in the fact that the Midwest will lose a decent number of Congressional seats and Electoral College votes in 2020 as the Great Northern migration continues to reverse.
Between reverse migration and the realization that a sizable number of white "Reagan Democrats" are a bunch of racist and misogynist dickbags I think the reality is less and less attention will be focused on the problems of the Rust Belt. People like Scott Walker have already shown that the midwest salt of the earth types are perfectly willing to vote for useless Republicans who promise to punish the undeserving.
Help those remaining there who want better to get the fuck out of there and leave the carcass to the deplorables. Let them see just how capable the Republicans are at fixing their problems but don't be shocked if things like Flint become the norm.
posted by vuron at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Between reverse migration and the realization that a sizable number of white "Reagan Democrats" are a bunch of racist and misogynist dickbags I think the reality is less and less attention will be focused on the problems of the Rust Belt. People like Scott Walker have already shown that the midwest salt of the earth types are perfectly willing to vote for useless Republicans who promise to punish the undeserving.
Help those remaining there who want better to get the fuck out of there and leave the carcass to the deplorables. Let them see just how capable the Republicans are at fixing their problems but don't be shocked if things like Flint become the norm.
posted by vuron at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh god President Trump on stage with Death Star music playing
posted by davemee at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by davemee at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I feel like I'm in a Philip K. Dick novel.
posted by Mrs. Buck Turgidson at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by Mrs. Buck Turgidson at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
Will they chant "LOCK HER UP"? Will he promise again that he will, triggering a constitutional crisis at the very beginning of his term?
posted by koeselitz at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by koeselitz at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016
David Corn: Hate Trumps History: A Reality TV Star Wins the White House in a Broken America. There's no telling what comes next.
posted by homunculus at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by homunculus at 11:49 PM on November 8, 2016
What do we do? Legitimate question. What possible way forward is there?
posted by mynameisluka at 11:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by mynameisluka at 11:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Naomi Klein @NaomiAKlein 3h3 hours ago
Whatever happens, it's time to bury neoliberalism. We need genuine wealth + power redistribution. Only a real left can fight fascism.
posted by Trochanter at 11:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [33 favorites]
Whatever happens, it's time to bury neoliberalism. We need genuine wealth + power redistribution. Only a real left can fight fascism.
posted by Trochanter at 11:50 PM on November 8, 2016 [33 favorites]
I am Australian, a defence force member's partner. He's already done tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. I am very scared of what our lives may be like from here. Time for valium and wine, else fearful crying. I'm so sorry for those of you in the US, who are closer to imminent harm than we are, sharing this fear. I wish I could hug you.
posted by pseudonymph at 11:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by pseudonymph at 11:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
May in the UK, Trump in the U.S. - it's like the '80s all over again. Authoritarians and demagogues in many nations great and small besides. Is it a new era- neo-neoliberalism? Retro-regressivism?
posted by Apocryphon at 11:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Apocryphon at 11:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh god President Trump on stage with Death Star music playing
O.k. America. This is so fucking weird.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
O.k. America. This is so fucking weird.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:51 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
When they go low, we go high.
Even when my father, in a rage about an election neither of us can even vote in, threw a lump of sod in my face and grabbed me by the neck and accused me of being controlled by my girlfriend, who he called kike and a cunt, I kept calm and didn't lose my temper, but fuck, maybe I should have. I'm not sure I would even visit him on his deathbed now, and it took tonight to bring me to this point.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 11:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
Even when my father, in a rage about an election neither of us can even vote in, threw a lump of sod in my face and grabbed me by the neck and accused me of being controlled by my girlfriend, who he called kike and a cunt, I kept calm and didn't lose my temper, but fuck, maybe I should have. I'm not sure I would even visit him on his deathbed now, and it took tonight to bring me to this point.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 11:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [19 favorites]
can we for the love of god at least start a campaign for a constitutional amendment abolishing the electoral college?
Support the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
posted by pmdboi at 11:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Support the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
posted by pmdboi at 11:52 PM on November 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
I feel like I'm in a Philip K. Dick novel.
nope. margaret atwood. sorry.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [56 favorites]
nope. margaret atwood. sorry.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [56 favorites]
Trump: "Thank you. Thank you very much everybody. Sorry to keep you waiting, complicated business, complicated. Thank you very much. [much shouting] I've just received a call from Secretary Clinton. She congratulated us, it's about us, on our victory, and I congratulated her and her family on a very very hard fought campaign, I mean she fought very hard. Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country. I mean that very sincerely. Now it's time for American to bind the wounds of division, have to get together, to all Republicans, Independents, and Democrats across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. It's time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be President for all Americans, and this is so important to me. For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, and there are a few people, I'm reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so we can work together and unify our great country. As I've said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign but rather an incredible and great movement."
posted by zachlipton at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I didn't vote for Clinton because I wanted Trump voters to suffer or learn a lesson. I voted for Clinton because I wanted better things for me, my family, my friends, and also for everyone who voted Trump. Our country has so many problems, and I thought that Clinton stood the best chance of making progress on them. I realize that makes me a know-it-all elitist, but it's the truth. I can only hope that Trump won't be as disastrous as all my fears.
posted by foxfirefey at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
posted by foxfirefey at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
I'm sorry, perhaps I will soon look back on what I have to say now as somewhat less than perspicacious, but I'm really tired, and here is what I'm thinking, reading Twitter: This isn't real, right? This is just a really bad dream I'm having. I mean, I had a bad dream earlier this week that I was late for a meeting and then I woke up and everything was fine. This is probably like that, right?
posted by limeonaire at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by limeonaire at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Maybe the press will be watching him 24/7?
Funniest joke I've seen tonight. Thanks for that, I needed the laugh.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Funniest joke I've seen tonight. Thanks for that, I needed the laugh.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
It's painful how presidential he is trying to be with this speech.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
in a perfect world they'd all be swept off the stage by an eldritch icy gust and then the ghost of ralph stanley would sing o death as those creepy grabby demon hands from ghost dragged them all to their just rewards
posted by poffin boffin at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 11:53 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Very very sad and shocked, sending love and solidarity from Germany. I have so much admiration and respect for all the courage, hope, decency and humanity I saw in these threads. Cashiers in Berlin supermarkets and Iranian refugees in Berlin shelters are dismayed along with you.
posted by runincircles at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by runincircles at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
This is just terrible. It will be terrible for my family because we will once again have to find money for medical care for my family member who is on the medicaid expansion, it will be....oh, god, it will be terrible for everyone worldwide.
All over the world evil people are celebrating. I feel physically sick and afraid.
posted by Frowner at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
All over the world evil people are celebrating. I feel physically sick and afraid.
posted by Frowner at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
Honestly, I'm relieved that Trump is doing the standard "let's all come together" speech, and not "She'll be in jail before I finish saying 'So help me God.'" At least this isn't "I have won; fear me, fools."
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [24 favorites]
You guys, I'm sitting in my living room alone, wife long ago in bed, with an elementary school parent teacher conference in a few hours. When I heard HRC conceded I just started crying uncontrollably. I'm a pretty stoic dude, but I surprised myself.
posted by freecellwizard at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
posted by freecellwizard at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [38 favorites]
His poor son... Hope he gets to bed soon.
posted by Coventry at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Coventry at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
This Trump strategist on NPR just said some interesting things about Trump's "ground game."
1) They had 100k volunteers in California calling into Wisconsin and other swing states a large percentage of whom had never voted before.
2) Trump didn't need a great ground game in swing states like Wisconsin because the GOP already had a great ground there (Wisconsin had Walker, Priebus, and Ryan).
3) Many Trump supporters hadn't voted much before but were highly motivated to vote for him. His rallies etc spoke directly to them. They are incredibly difficult to poll.
The GOP has had lots of success at the local level in many of these states, so Trump may have been able to piggy-backing on the GOP ground game that gave them control of the House.
posted by Golden Eternity at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
1) They had 100k volunteers in California calling into Wisconsin and other swing states a large percentage of whom had never voted before.
2) Trump didn't need a great ground game in swing states like Wisconsin because the GOP already had a great ground there (Wisconsin had Walker, Priebus, and Ryan).
3) Many Trump supporters hadn't voted much before but were highly motivated to vote for him. His rallies etc spoke directly to them. They are incredibly difficult to poll.
The GOP has had lots of success at the local level in many of these states, so Trump may have been able to piggy-backing on the GOP ground game that gave them control of the House.
posted by Golden Eternity at 11:54 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
I'm not even a very political person, but I can't see this as anything more than the downfall of America. I'll be fine, but that our electorate could support this awful person... it's unbelievable. And as the economy fails, are these voters going to be able to connect the dots that this election was the cause? It's baffling.
posted by team lowkey at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by team lowkey at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Why does he keep repeating himself?
posted by Kevin Street at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Kevin Street at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Jesus. His speech started okay with the unity part and thanking Hillary, but now he just went full fascist.
posted by Golden Eternity at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Golden Eternity at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Because he's a fucking idiot.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Elementary Penguin at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I don't even have a frame of reference for this.
I remember Bush winning in 2000 and 2004 (the latter being the first Presidential election I could vote in.) I was sad, and angry that Bush won, but not afraid. Not like this. How does one even begin to process? Help me understand, so that I can figure out what to do next.
posted by SansPoint at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
I remember Bush winning in 2000 and 2004 (the latter being the first Presidential election I could vote in.) I was sad, and angry that Bush won, but not afraid. Not like this. How does one even begin to process? Help me understand, so that I can figure out what to do next.
posted by SansPoint at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
... and then this f***ing thing comes on.
if you can't hold on ...
posted by philip-random at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016
if you can't hold on ...
posted by philip-random at 11:56 PM on November 8, 2016
I can't fucking do this. I tried to play Overwatch to get zen and the goddamn pepe brigade is crowing in match chat about Trump winning and being "the good guy."
posted by Scattercat at 11:57 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Scattercat at 11:57 PM on November 8, 2016
His poor son... Hope he gets to bed soon.
That is not a kid who is reluctantly there. Something is very, very wrong.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:58 PM on November 8, 2016
That is not a kid who is reluctantly there. Something is very, very wrong.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:58 PM on November 8, 2016
I'm so, so sorry for you all. Sincerely.
I really don't know what to do to support you, at this point. All of you, my American friends, I love you, come visit, I'll buy you a drink.
But I'm pretty sure I won't be spending any money in your country anymore.
Because what in the actual fuck.
posted by chococat at 11:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
I really don't know what to do to support you, at this point. All of you, my American friends, I love you, come visit, I'll buy you a drink.
But I'm pretty sure I won't be spending any money in your country anymore.
Because what in the actual fuck.
posted by chococat at 11:58 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Is that Chris Christie on the stage?
posted by crazy with stars at 11:58 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by crazy with stars at 11:58 PM on November 8, 2016
Wonder what B Obama is thinking now?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:59 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:59 PM on November 8, 2016
What do we do?
Wallow in despair for quite a while.
But seriously I highly recommended turning off the tv and unplugging for a while. I know I can't stand it.
posted by angrybear at 11:59 PM on November 8, 2016
Wallow in despair for quite a while.
But seriously I highly recommended turning off the tv and unplugging for a while. I know I can't stand it.
posted by angrybear at 11:59 PM on November 8, 2016
Is that Chris Christie on the stage?
Yes.
And Rudy.
America, this shit is gonna be fuckin' harsh.
And I'm so, so, sorry this is happening to you.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes.
And Rudy.
America, this shit is gonna be fuckin' harsh.
And I'm so, so, sorry this is happening to you.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Wonder what B Obama is thinking now?
As a former smoker, I'm guessing, "Fuck I need a Marlboro."
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [27 favorites]
As a former smoker, I'm guessing, "Fuck I need a Marlboro."
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [27 favorites]
This is so weird, shouting out specific surrogates like Rudy and Christie and Sessions and Carson. Are we completely off the teleprompter now?
posted by zachlipton at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by zachlipton at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2016
Did y'all hear someone yell "Kill Obama" during Trump's speech? I really think I heard that.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Fuck you, you fucking fuck, fuck you and all those who voted for you, because you have fucked over my life, thelife of those I love the most, the lives of those I am far from knowing but I know in the echoes I hear, fuck you because I just deleted a hundred posts because who fucking knows what you'd do with them, fuck you because I have to fucking judge every fucking social interaction for the next four years based upon whether the person fucking voted for you.
posted by holgate at 12:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [55 favorites]
posted by holgate at 12:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [55 favorites]
.
posted by fritillary at 12:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by fritillary at 12:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Evil will always triumph because good is dumb.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
Did y'all hear someone yell "Kill Obama" during Trump's speech? I really think I heard that.
I heard "Jail Obama!" if that makes it any better.
posted by peeedro at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I heard "Jail Obama!" if that makes it any better.
posted by peeedro at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Humanity I Love You
e.e. cummings
Humanity i love you
because you would rather black the boots of
success than enquire whose soul dangles from his
watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both
parties and because you
unflinchingly applaud all
songs containing the words country home and
mother when sung at the old howard
Humanity i love you because
when you’re hard up you pawn your
intelligence to buy a drink and when
you’re flush pride keeps
you from the pawn shop and
because you are continually committing
nuisances but more
especially in your own house
Humanity i love you because you
are perpetually putting the secret of
life in your pants and forgetting
it’s there and sitting down
on it
and because you are
forever making poems in the lap
of death Humanity
i hate you
posted by but no cigar at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [55 favorites]
e.e. cummings
Humanity i love you
because you would rather black the boots of
success than enquire whose soul dangles from his
watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both
parties and because you
unflinchingly applaud all
songs containing the words country home and
mother when sung at the old howard
Humanity i love you because
when you’re hard up you pawn your
intelligence to buy a drink and when
you’re flush pride keeps
you from the pawn shop and
because you are continually committing
nuisances but more
especially in your own house
Humanity i love you because you
are perpetually putting the secret of
life in your pants and forgetting
it’s there and sitting down
on it
and because you are
forever making poems in the lap
of death Humanity
i hate you
posted by but no cigar at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [55 favorites]
Secretariat and the big bronze bust?
Omg
What have we done.
posted by clavdivs at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Omg
What have we done.
posted by clavdivs at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Priebus seems like a guy from one of the loser fraternities.
posted by Golden Eternity at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Golden Eternity at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
God damn Lord, Trump was just introducing his murderer's row of evil - Guliani, Carson and their ilk. Jebus.
posted by bawanaal at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by bawanaal at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016
Did y'all hear someone yell "Kill Obama" during Trump's speech? I really think I heard that.
I heard something, but it might have been about Obamacare. You are not the only one to ask this, and there is ongoing discussion in that thread.
posted by zachlipton at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016
I heard something, but it might have been about Obamacare. You are not the only one to ask this, and there is ongoing discussion in that thread.
posted by zachlipton at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2016
"our partnership with the RNC was so important"
So we're rewriting history now.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
So we're rewriting history now.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Oh dear god what is that speech what is reince doing what is happening i can't even
posted by mazola at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by mazola at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016
Went outside to walk the dog. Oakland is silent.
What we can do now:
1) Strengthen the abortion underground railroad - find women in restrictive states and get them the health care they need. Rides or plane trips, a couch to crash on, and money for the services they need. Fortunately, this is not remotely illegal, and an org-minded person or group could set up a nonprofit with a national social media network... and if it's started soon, it can be in place before states area allowed to make individual laws banning it.
2) The Lysistrata strategy. Relevant posts: Stop Fucking Him; ILU 486.
3) Work locally - get involved in your city council meetings. Show up. Take notes. Record, if that's allowed. Talk about the results on your social media sites of choice. Become "that nut who cares whether the 5th street stoplights are working" so that when they start discussing which weapons the local cops need more of, you are a known and respected voice.
4) Smile and nod. When you are facing an overwhelming hostile force, active resistance gets people killed... and often, those people are not the able-bodied white middle-class-or-above male angry protesters. Set aside all the glorious freewheeling data and emotion exchange we've become accustomed to, and start using actual *secret* email lists, code phrases, and in-person meetings to disagree with the powers who want to oppress and torment us.
5) Hail Eris; this too will pass. Hold to what's dear to you, and remember that our government is built for maximum fragmented gridlock.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [54 favorites]
What we can do now:
1) Strengthen the abortion underground railroad - find women in restrictive states and get them the health care they need. Rides or plane trips, a couch to crash on, and money for the services they need. Fortunately, this is not remotely illegal, and an org-minded person or group could set up a nonprofit with a national social media network... and if it's started soon, it can be in place before states area allowed to make individual laws banning it.
2) The Lysistrata strategy. Relevant posts: Stop Fucking Him; ILU 486.
3) Work locally - get involved in your city council meetings. Show up. Take notes. Record, if that's allowed. Talk about the results on your social media sites of choice. Become "that nut who cares whether the 5th street stoplights are working" so that when they start discussing which weapons the local cops need more of, you are a known and respected voice.
4) Smile and nod. When you are facing an overwhelming hostile force, active resistance gets people killed... and often, those people are not the able-bodied white middle-class-or-above male angry protesters. Set aside all the glorious freewheeling data and emotion exchange we've become accustomed to, and start using actual *secret* email lists, code phrases, and in-person meetings to disagree with the powers who want to oppress and torment us.
5) Hail Eris; this too will pass. Hold to what's dear to you, and remember that our government is built for maximum fragmented gridlock.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [54 favorites]
The reality is that Wisconsin has been increasingly sketchy territory for Democrats for a while now.
There just aren't enough people in places like Madison to negate the rest of the state. Michigan Democrats have typically depended on places like Detroit and Ann Arbor to negate other areas. Ohio Democrats have relied on Cincinnati and Cleveland and Columbus. The problem is that these population centers just don't have the same number of voters that they used to and furthermore they can't negate a massive groundswell of support for a nativist candidate.
I was hoping that Florida and NC would deliver but I guess the weakening of the VRA under the Roberts court might've prevented that.
Anyway I'm going to go to bed and try to figure out how to tell my daughter that the candidate she was supporting lost.
posted by vuron at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
There just aren't enough people in places like Madison to negate the rest of the state. Michigan Democrats have typically depended on places like Detroit and Ann Arbor to negate other areas. Ohio Democrats have relied on Cincinnati and Cleveland and Columbus. The problem is that these population centers just don't have the same number of voters that they used to and furthermore they can't negate a massive groundswell of support for a nativist candidate.
I was hoping that Florida and NC would deliver but I guess the weakening of the VRA under the Roberts court might've prevented that.
Anyway I'm going to go to bed and try to figure out how to tell my daughter that the candidate she was supporting lost.
posted by vuron at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Wonder what B Obama is thinking now?
His heart is breaking. As is mine--for him, for Michelle, and for HC.
And for my ten-year-old daughter, who filled out the bubble for HC at the polling place this afternoon, while I told her she was helping to elect the first woman president.
I have to wake her up in the morning and tell her Trump is going to be president. I want to throw up.
posted by torticat at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [35 favorites]
His heart is breaking. As is mine--for him, for Michelle, and for HC.
And for my ten-year-old daughter, who filled out the bubble for HC at the polling place this afternoon, while I told her she was helping to elect the first woman president.
I have to wake her up in the morning and tell her Trump is going to be president. I want to throw up.
posted by torticat at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [35 favorites]
I heard "Jail Obama!" if that makes it any better.
It actually does.
Dear God.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
It actually does.
Dear God.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Secretariat and the big bronze bust?
Omg
What have we done.
We elected Caligula is what we done.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
Omg
What have we done.
We elected Caligula is what we done.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
I really really needed to not have to listen to Trump anymore. I've had a year of increasing anxiety and depression as the election has ground on and gotten worse. Now his fucking stupid face is going to be on television constantly.
why
why
whyhwywhwywhwh
fuc it
i'm going to try to sleep
posted by Scattercat at 12:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
why
why
whyhwywhwywhwh
fuc it
i'm going to try to sleep
posted by Scattercat at 12:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 12:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by The Hamms Bear at 12:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
lol with the extra "thank you to Mike Pence [because I basically forgot about him]" at the end.
posted by zachlipton at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Most qualified woman in the world loses to the least qualified man in the world. In case If you were confused about what misogyny looks like.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [110 favorites]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [110 favorites]
Two or three years?
posted by Golden Eternity at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Golden Eternity at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
And it's "You Can't Always Get What You Want" at the end. That's it. That's the last even. I was saving one. But nope. Evenless.
posted by zachlipton at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [19 favorites]
You can't always get what you want plays.
SERIOUSLY???
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
SERIOUSLY???
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
Is it logistically possible for Obama to decommission our entire nuclear arsenal in 9 weeks?
posted by anastasiav at 12:06 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
posted by anastasiav at 12:06 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
OMG Omerosa.
posted by Golden Eternity at 12:06 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by Golden Eternity at 12:06 AM on November 9, 2016
This is honestly the best speech Trump has ever given, by a ridiculous degree, which just on its own is pretty weird.
posted by Blasdelb at 12:06 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by Blasdelb at 12:06 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Is it logistically possible for Obama to decommission our entire nuclear arsenal in 9 week?
I seriously hope they try.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:07 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
I seriously hope they try.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:07 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
God damn Lord, Trump was just introducing his murderer's row of evil - Guliani, Carson and their ilk. Jebus
Maybe that David Icke was right after all... there really are shapeshifting reptilain humanoids... I swear I got a glimpse of some of them standing on that stage close to Trump.
posted by Mister Bijou at 12:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Maybe that David Icke was right after all... there really are shapeshifting reptilain humanoids... I swear I got a glimpse of some of them standing on that stage close to Trump.
posted by Mister Bijou at 12:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
He never acknowledged Pence until the very end as an afterthought.
posted by peeedro at 12:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by peeedro at 12:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
aw hell, I'd forgotten the Supreme Court for a few minutes.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Van Jones, Near Tears on CNN: This Is a ‘Deeply Painful Moment’ in America
People have talked about a miracle. I'm hearing about a nightmare. It's hard to be a parent tonight for a lot of us. You tell your kids, don't be a bully. You tell your kids, don't be a bigot. You tell your kids, do your homework and be prepared. And then you have this outcome and you have people putting children to bed tonight. And they're afraid of breakfast. They're afraid of, "how do I explain this to my children?"posted by kirkaracha at 12:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [43 favorites]
I have Muslim friends, who are texting me tonight, saying, "Should I leave the country?" I have families of immigrants that are terrified tonight. This was many things. This was a rebellion against the elites, true. It was a complete reinvention of politics and polls, it's true. But it was also something else.
We've talked about race--I mean, we've talked about everything but race tonight. We've talked about income, we've talked about class, we've talked about region. We haven't talked about race. This was a whitelash. This was a whitelash against a changing country. It was a whitelash against a black president, in part, and that's the part where the pain comes. And Donald Trump has a responsibility tonight to come out and reassure people that he is going to be the president of all the people who he insulted and offended and brushed aside.
Yeah, when you say you want to take your country back, you've got a lot of people who feel that we're not represented well either. But we don't want to feel that someone has been elected by throwing away some of us to appeal more deeply than others. So this is a deeply painful moment tonight. I know it's not just about race. There's more going on than that, but race is here too and we gotta talk about it.
It's more feasible for Obama to institute what amounts to Nuclear Veto Power by requiring first strikes to be approved by someone else in the chain of command.
posted by SansPoint at 12:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 12:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
Maybe that David Icke was right after all... there really are shapeshifting reptilain humanoids... I swear I got a glimpse of some of them standing on that stage close to Trump.
Those are just his oldest sons. They're human, unfortunately.
posted by SansPoint at 12:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Those are just his oldest sons. They're human, unfortunately.
posted by SansPoint at 12:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I should have known things were so much worse than we hoped. Having to rely on courts for LGBT rights, the governorships, social media movements like Gamergate and the Rabid Puppies. I just wanted to believe that overall things were getting better.
But this is our reality for the next 12-16 years; social progress is a myth, the haters won. I just don't have any hope right now.
posted by happyroach at 12:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
But this is our reality for the next 12-16 years; social progress is a myth, the haters won. I just don't have any hope right now.
posted by happyroach at 12:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
.
posted by thinman at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by thinman at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
There are fucker among us. Look around ye.
posted by holgate at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by holgate at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
An American Tragedy (David Remnick, New Yorker)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
“The Republican Party can no longer be considered the home for conservatives,” McMullin said. “Conservatism is about protecting the fundamental rights
A handful of Senators going Independent in affiliation and caucusing with the opposition would speak a lot louder than the voice of one third party candidate crying in the wilderness.
And if sympathetic Senators, perhaps from McMullin's religious/cultural cohort, might think that the horse Evan rode into the limelight was a white one rather than a dark one, now would be a good time to convince them.
My breath, it is not held.
posted by weston at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
A handful of Senators going Independent in affiliation and caucusing with the opposition would speak a lot louder than the voice of one third party candidate crying in the wilderness.
And if sympathetic Senators, perhaps from McMullin's religious/cultural cohort, might think that the horse Evan rode into the limelight was a white one rather than a dark one, now would be a good time to convince them.
My breath, it is not held.
posted by weston at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Liberals put him there. couldn't agree more.
posted by deadwax at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by deadwax at 12:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
It's more feasible for Obama to institute what amounts to Nuclear Veto Power by requiring first strikes to be approved by someone else in the chain of command.
Ooh, can he do that? In a way that Trump can't revoke by executive order?
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Ooh, can he do that? In a way that Trump can't revoke by executive order?
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
What was that battle in the middle ages where a tiny force outflanked a much larger force spread out in a line, and routed them? Then the losing general, who was the Queen's brother, said "I can't believe it!" I feel like that guy.
posted by Coventry at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by Coventry at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016
It's more feasible for Obama to institute what amounts to Nuclear Veto Power by requiring first strikes to be approved by someone else in the chain of command.
Anything Obama can order, Trump can un-order.
The only way to ensure that Donald Trump does not gain access to weapons that can destroy the world is to physically decommission the nuclear arsenal.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016
Anything Obama can order, Trump can un-order.
The only way to ensure that Donald Trump does not gain access to weapons that can destroy the world is to physically decommission the nuclear arsenal.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016
@srosenholtz
Most qualified woman in the world loses to the least qualified man in the world. In case If you were confused about what misogyny looks like
posted by chris24 at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
Most qualified woman in the world loses to the least qualified man in the world. In case If you were confused about what misogyny looks like
posted by chris24 at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
Is it logistically possible for Obama to decommission our entire nuclear arsenal in 9 weeks?
posted by anastasiav at 12:06 AM on November 9 [+] [!]
I don't want to think that it's something he must try.
Can you imagine every single CIA/NSA Spook who is going to have to interact with Trump for the next four years? (Many of these people are 'smart'.) How are they going to deal with...
There are things that need to get done, the President can't do it all (obviously) so his cabinet becomes ... and we're looking at Giuliani and Christie? Does Howard (Stern) get a post too?
This is so ... making the rounds here (Germany) people are tweeting/facebooking
"11/9"
posted by From Bklyn at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by anastasiav at 12:06 AM on November 9 [+] [!]
I don't want to think that it's something he must try.
Can you imagine every single CIA/NSA Spook who is going to have to interact with Trump for the next four years? (Many of these people are 'smart'.) How are they going to deal with...
There are things that need to get done, the President can't do it all (obviously) so his cabinet becomes ... and we're looking at Giuliani and Christie? Does Howard (Stern) get a post too?
This is so ... making the rounds here (Germany) people are tweeting/facebooking
"11/9"
posted by From Bklyn at 12:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
I can't believe we're seriously having this conversation. Fucking surreal.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:12 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:12 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yeah so. I bought some American beer to drink tonight and when things started going bad and I felt sick with dread I stopped. Then I said screw it and started again. And no offense but this is the last American beer I can drink for a while. It was supposed to be in honor of a celebration and well..Bud is forever going to be connected with tonight. I'm gonna finish this last one and hopefully it will be enough for me to just conk out. I can't sleep.
I also know I need to cry, like really cry and I can't cry. I'm not angry either and I should be. I'm just numb. Just emotionally numb. I've already called my sisters just to say I love you. And a bunch of other people I've haven't talked to in years have reached out through social media and we're all feeling the same thing.
My only other solace is that I have here because frankly besides my own family and friends this is the only place, and especially an online place that feels remotely safe right now.
I feel like I've stepped through a portal into another world where I don't know the rules anymore. There are no rules. Just gone. I dunno. This is just right fucked up.
posted by Jalliah at 12:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
Most qualified woman in the world loses to the least qualified man in the world. In case If you were confused about what misogyny looks like
I know, I've been alternating between tears and rage.
posted by torticat at 12:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
I know, I've been alternating between tears and rage.
posted by torticat at 12:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
I feel like I've stepped through a portal into another world where I don't know the rules anymore.
Seen on FB: We're living in the "Upside Down" (from Stranger Things) now...
posted by TwoStride at 12:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Seen on FB: We're living in the "Upside Down" (from Stranger Things) now...
posted by TwoStride at 12:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
71 days to OD on coke.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 12:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by The Hamms Bear at 12:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
Why did he say two years? He looked like a person surprised their plan worked and they already want out of it. What a joke.
posted by systematize at 12:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by systematize at 12:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I need to either 1) wait for my feelings to cycle around, or 2) go to sleep immediately after posting something optimistic, because I've worked myself all the way around to a despairing numbness again and I don't know what to do.
I don't know how to talk to anyone about this.
posted by Salieri at 12:16 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I don't know how to talk to anyone about this.
posted by Salieri at 12:16 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Welcome to the America your grandparents talked about
Quick note from Balkan: ugly things happen in other places, to other people, until they're suddenly happening to you. Take this seriously. (via dingsbums)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [24 favorites]
Quick note from Balkan: ugly things happen in other places, to other people, until they're suddenly happening to you. Take this seriously. (via dingsbums)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [24 favorites]
Talking about people who "just didn't like Hillary"
it's like saying "I don't like my care, so I won't get the brakes fixed." And then continuing to drive.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:18 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
it's like saying "I don't like my care, so I won't get the brakes fixed." And then continuing to drive.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:18 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
I'm sitting here turning the phrase "President Trump" over and over in my mind. It's got the mindfeel of whacking a puppy with a meat tenderizer. It's just so, so damn wrong on so many levels. I thought we had hit bottom with Dubya. Tonight I learned there is no bottom. There's just down, down, farther down.
posted by bryon at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by bryon at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
Also what a FUCKING LYING BAG OF SHIT. That speech he just gave was so 100% different from how he ever campaigned. "People of all colors," "his or her potential," bring all Americans together, my fucking ass. Oh and "WE did this, not I. WE." Thanks DT for finally admitting it's not all you; and to all the WE he was addressing, fuck you too.
Etch-a-sketch indeed.
posted by torticat at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
Etch-a-sketch indeed.
posted by torticat at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
I haven't watched any television broadcasts of the end of this process, because I don't want to see a confirmation of the fact that this result is something that an actual real country in the world I live in would vote for and actually want to happen. So I will take your anecdotes and assertions that this is a thing that is actually happening to be factual descriptions.
posted by chococat at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by chococat at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
We gotta get our THACO up.
posted by clavdivs at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
I've never been out of favorites before.
I can't sleep. I keep almost dozing, only to wake up again when I realize this is real.
I'm terrified. This is so incredibly worse than anyone could imagine.
posted by steady-state strawberry at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
I can't sleep. I keep almost dozing, only to wake up again when I realize this is real.
I'm terrified. This is so incredibly worse than anyone could imagine.
posted by steady-state strawberry at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
The long eighteenth century, 1688–2016, is finally over. Everywhere. Historians will debate only whether it ended on 23 June or 8 November. James II is back on the throne.
posted by Sonny Jim at 12:20 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by Sonny Jim at 12:20 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
Liberals put him there. couldn't agree more.
Really, are we already are starting the blame game? Dude, seriously. It's gonna be a long 4 years. Let's keep our shit together, cause we are gonna have be in a total Testudo formation in order to fend off every fucking thing the Republicans are going to try on federal, state, local, social, mental, and personal levels. I've already heard fireworks being released in my neighborhood. Stop with the FUCKING infighting and start thinking of ways to oppose this.
posted by FJT at 12:20 AM on November 9, 2016 [44 favorites]
Really, are we already are starting the blame game? Dude, seriously. It's gonna be a long 4 years. Let's keep our shit together, cause we are gonna have be in a total Testudo formation in order to fend off every fucking thing the Republicans are going to try on federal, state, local, social, mental, and personal levels. I've already heard fireworks being released in my neighborhood. Stop with the FUCKING infighting and start thinking of ways to oppose this.
posted by FJT at 12:20 AM on November 9, 2016 [44 favorites]
Fuck. Where are the mods when everyone needs [more than] a hug!?
posted by Namlit at 12:20 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Namlit at 12:20 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm in the Midtown Hilton on the penthouse floor in my room by myself. I can't tell but something seems to be going on outside. I can hear screaming and sirens.
posted by Alison at 12:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Alison at 12:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
So what happens now for Paddy Power, the Irish bookmaker that payed out early for Clinton bets?
posted by MrFTBN at 12:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by MrFTBN at 12:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
What a time to be alive.
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
How many Supreme court picks does he realistically have? Scalia's seat is open and how long can RBG hold out?
posted by PenDevil at 12:22 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by PenDevil at 12:22 AM on November 9, 2016
Oh, god. What's he going to do to the Oval Office?
it's like saying "I don't like my care, so I won't get the brakes fixed." And then continuing to drive.
To continue the analogy: When I hear "We need someone who's not a politician," I think "I've been screwed over by mechanics before, so I'm only having dentists work on my car from now on."
posted by dirigibleman at 12:22 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
it's like saying "I don't like my care, so I won't get the brakes fixed." And then continuing to drive.
To continue the analogy: When I hear "We need someone who's not a politician," I think "I've been screwed over by mechanics before, so I'm only having dentists work on my car from now on."
posted by dirigibleman at 12:22 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
Going to bed before I go into a full-on rage tirade. I didn't follow these threads along with all of you, but condolences for enduring a devastating evening. Especially to those of you who may have had a specific, personal, fear-inducing stake in this election. :) :) Please keep your heads up.
posted by torticat at 12:23 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by torticat at 12:23 AM on November 9, 2016
Paddy Power pays out the Trump bets, too. IIRC their Presidential election handle is a fraction of their handle on a very ho-hum premiership match, so not a big issue for them.
posted by MattD at 12:23 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by MattD at 12:23 AM on November 9, 2016
America survived Reagan, who not only was far more popular, senile, and had perhaps ideologically crazier advisors, but was in office when we were in a nuclear rivalry with Russia. At least the last might be mitigated somewhat. The U.S. has been through crazy shit again. Take the lessons from the last time and use it to survive.
posted by Apocryphon at 12:23 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by Apocryphon at 12:23 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.
Assata taught me this.
posted by koeselitz at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.
Assata taught me this.
posted by koeselitz at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Scalia's seat is open and how long can RBG hold out?
honestly if i have to sacrifice 1 million innocents to satan himself i will ensure that rbg lives forever
there's prolly a million third party voters in the tri state area right
posted by poffin boffin at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
honestly if i have to sacrifice 1 million innocents to satan himself i will ensure that rbg lives forever
there's prolly a million third party voters in the tri state area right
posted by poffin boffin at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
ooh staten island
posted by poffin boffin at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
Ronnie didn't have the itchy fingers that Donnie does, though.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Here's some scary for you... First Lady Ivanka Trump. She's like the anti-Jackie Kennedy.
posted by gideonswann at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by gideonswann at 12:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
From way up thread: In light of this victory what does this say about the Obama presidency? Did he win off a population tenatively reaching out for liberal values or one just fatigued with Iraq/Afghanistan and the associated GWB presidency?
What it says to me is that Shrub was an amiable dog-whistler, but when he didn't get around to actually outlawing abortion and Teh Ghey and making all schoolkids read the Ten Commandments every morning and learn about how Jesus rode dinosaurs and making it a federal crime for a black man to look at a white woman and shutting down welfare so "those people" had to "actually work for once in their lives" and the Iraq thing wasn't a 90-day videogame wonder like the first Gulf War, a whole bunch of white people lost interest in politics. Maybe a few voted for Obama hoping he would magically restore their coal or steel or whatever jobs, and when he didn't they got mad.
Then Trump shows up saying in public everything they'd said in private for years, and those motherfuckers crawled out from under their rocks.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
What it says to me is that Shrub was an amiable dog-whistler, but when he didn't get around to actually outlawing abortion and Teh Ghey and making all schoolkids read the Ten Commandments every morning and learn about how Jesus rode dinosaurs and making it a federal crime for a black man to look at a white woman and shutting down welfare so "those people" had to "actually work for once in their lives" and the Iraq thing wasn't a 90-day videogame wonder like the first Gulf War, a whole bunch of white people lost interest in politics. Maybe a few voted for Obama hoping he would magically restore their coal or steel or whatever jobs, and when he didn't they got mad.
Then Trump shows up saying in public everything they'd said in private for years, and those motherfuckers crawled out from under their rocks.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
Funnily enough the idea of trump being president and Clinton NOT being president hit me in two emotionally separate gut punches.
I hear there's a reset button on the bottom of the washington monument, and if you hold it down with a paperclip for ten seconds America resets to the beginning, it's worth a shot
posted by Rinku at 12:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [33 favorites]
I hear there's a reset button on the bottom of the washington monument, and if you hold it down with a paperclip for ten seconds America resets to the beginning, it's worth a shot
posted by Rinku at 12:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [33 favorites]
I have to wonder what's going to happen to media now, once the corporations see which way the wind is blowing. Is Steven Universe going to be canceled? Will Kamela Khan disappear? Will all the LGBT artists and writers I follow find it too dangerous to show their work? This may sound trivial, but think of this as the canary in the voal mine.
The internet was already an unsafe place for anyone who wasn't a straight white male. Now with a racist misogynist in power, there may be no more safe spaces.
posted by happyroach at 12:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
The internet was already an unsafe place for anyone who wasn't a straight white male. Now with a racist misogynist in power, there may be no more safe spaces.
posted by happyroach at 12:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
Here's some scary for you... First Lady Ivanka Trump.
Step 1: Pardon her for visa violations and green-card fraud.
posted by mikelieman at 12:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Step 1: Pardon her for visa violations and green-card fraud.
posted by mikelieman at 12:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
i know it's easy to confuse it, since he behaves very creepily around her, but ivanka is his daughter. melania is his wife and therefore the first lady.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
Trump's popular vote lead is down to 750k from 1.0m and California still has another million five or two million to deliver to Clinton. It's possible the final result will be less than 1.5m+ for Clinton nationally but also possible it will still be closer to 2. We won't know for quite a long time though Clinton should pass him fairly soon.
posted by Justinian at 12:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Justinian at 12:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Why? The other major nuclear power is Russia and we are I presume fast friends now.
Oh, I get it now. We're living in some weird Watchmen echo universe.
posted by Apocryphon at 12:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Oh, I get it now. We're living in some weird Watchmen echo universe.
posted by Apocryphon at 12:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
America survived Reagan, who not only was far more popular, senile, and had perhaps ideologically crazier advisors, but was in office when we were in a nuclear rivalry with Russia. At least the last might be mitigated somewhat. The U.S. has been through crazy shit again. Take the lessons from the last time and use it to survive
A resurgence of really excellent music 4 to 10 years from now is cold comfort.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
A resurgence of really excellent music 4 to 10 years from now is cold comfort.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
i know it's easy to confuse it, since he behaves very creepily around her, but ivanka is his daughter. melania is his wife and therefore the first lady.
I got burned by it too, apparently.
posted by mikelieman at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I got burned by it too, apparently.
posted by mikelieman at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
The long eighteenth century, 1688–2016, is finally over. Everywhere. Historians will debate only whether it ended on 23 June or 8 November. James II is back on the throne.
Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking - that we had...well, I was thinking of it as the long 19th century, but we might as well say the long 18th. And now it's done. We had a sort of historical period where democratic expansion had the most traction, even though it was always a fight. And that's been in decay since 1989, and now it's finally exhausted.
I just genuinely don't know what's going to happen. The left is going to fragment over this, too, such as we are, because we'll be busy blaming each other. Blaming women, for one thing. It's not that there's no point in trying to understand what went wrong, it's that this process will fragment us because of the stakes.
posted by Frowner at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking - that we had...well, I was thinking of it as the long 19th century, but we might as well say the long 18th. And now it's done. We had a sort of historical period where democratic expansion had the most traction, even though it was always a fight. And that's been in decay since 1989, and now it's finally exhausted.
I just genuinely don't know what's going to happen. The left is going to fragment over this, too, such as we are, because we'll be busy blaming each other. Blaming women, for one thing. It's not that there's no point in trying to understand what went wrong, it's that this process will fragment us because of the stakes.
posted by Frowner at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
poffin boffin, get out of here you kidder
posted by gideonswann at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by gideonswann at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016
And not all Americans survived Reagan.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [25 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [25 favorites]
I am having actual serious difficulty believing this is real.
posted by corb at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [43 favorites]
posted by corb at 12:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [43 favorites]
Oh, I get it now. We're living in some weird Watchmen echo universe.
Next four years is going to be a grand time to be a dystopian writer.
posted by mikelieman at 12:29 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Next four years is going to be a grand time to be a dystopian writer.
posted by mikelieman at 12:29 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Mod note: Just as a quick note to remind folks that for brief existential screams of anguish mefi chat is open, so we are deleting a lot of stuff that's just like "Fuck!" etc., not because we disagree, but just to keep this somewhat readable. Hugs to everyone, and please let's delay blame game stuff and similar until later. We'll have plenty of time to dissect it all when nerves are a bit steadier; for now, please be kind to each other and yourselves. We'll get through it all together.
posted by taz (staff) at 12:29 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 12:29 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
Yes; but the Brexit referendum is different to an election between two candidates, one of which will have won.
In some important ways yes, in other equally important ways no. Brexit was a vote for isolationism, for fear of the other, for denying the role immigration has on building a nation, for denying the culpability and responsibility an imperialist nation has on accepting refugees, for fuck-you-I've-got-mine, and for fuck-you-I-no-longer-have-mine-and-it's-your fault. Trump said "they'll call me Mr Brexit" for more reasons than I think he was aware.
I'm so sorry for you guys, and as someone who watched in horror on Jun 23, and woke up on Jun 24th feeling like I was finally, definitively, no longer a part of the country I grew up in, and is going through a horribly similar echo of those feelings right now, I get it.
But I still believe you'll get through this.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:29 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
In some important ways yes, in other equally important ways no. Brexit was a vote for isolationism, for fear of the other, for denying the role immigration has on building a nation, for denying the culpability and responsibility an imperialist nation has on accepting refugees, for fuck-you-I've-got-mine, and for fuck-you-I-no-longer-have-mine-and-it's-your fault. Trump said "they'll call me Mr Brexit" for more reasons than I think he was aware.
I'm so sorry for you guys, and as someone who watched in horror on Jun 23, and woke up on Jun 24th feeling like I was finally, definitively, no longer a part of the country I grew up in, and is going through a horribly similar echo of those feelings right now, I get it.
But I still believe you'll get through this.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:29 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
And not all Americans survived Reagan.
and vice versa
posted by Namlit at 12:30 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
and vice versa
posted by Namlit at 12:30 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I can't wait for him to start walking back building the wall (he will because it's literally fucking impossible), cause when he does, that's going to play real great with all the Trumpatchniks around here.
posted by Chrischris at 12:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Chrischris at 12:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
None of the liberal justices will retire under Trump. Ginsburg is 83 and Breyer is 78 ... so at least some chance of either's passing during Trump's term.
It gets more interesting with Kennedy and Thomas. Kennedy is 81 -- but probably thinks that Trump's Justice wish list is too right-wing to be happy to retire. Would need to be some kind of handshake on a more moderate replacement. Thomas is 68, and doesn't seem to enjoy being on the Court much -- maybe he'd like to retire when still young enough to enjoy retirement. He presumably loves Trump's list.
posted by MattD at 12:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
It gets more interesting with Kennedy and Thomas. Kennedy is 81 -- but probably thinks that Trump's Justice wish list is too right-wing to be happy to retire. Would need to be some kind of handshake on a more moderate replacement. Thomas is 68, and doesn't seem to enjoy being on the Court much -- maybe he'd like to retire when still young enough to enjoy retirement. He presumably loves Trump's list.
posted by MattD at 12:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm just so worried - is this going to be like Brexit where we have a surge of racist violence? I live in mostly non-white, substantially Muslim part of town; I feel so worried about my neighbors, who don't exactly have it easy at the best of times. I always thought London, for example, was pretty cosmopolitan, and then everyone on here was telling all these stories about white Londoners hassling any Londoners of color or even just dark-haired people. And Minneapolis isn't London.
posted by Frowner at 12:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 12:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
I'm wondering how much Team Racism-Misogyny can gut Obamacare without getting pushback from the electorate?
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I can't wait for him to start walking back building the wall (he will because it's literally fucking impossible), cause when he does, that's going to play real great with all the Trumpatchniks around here.
You'll never hear about it again, since he never said that.
posted by mikelieman at 12:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
You'll never hear about it again, since he never said that.
posted by mikelieman at 12:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
I realize that I would be scared and worried but I wouldn't be terrified to the level of my inner being if you all didn't have frikken nukes. Not to be a downer or anything. I'm just not sure how in the hell I'm going to deal with that fear and act like life is the same and go on with normal plans for the future blah blah.
I'll be honest. I hope that Donald fucks up so royally some how and goes away. I know how horrible Pence is but I don't feel like he's going to get mad and nuke someone.
posted by Jalliah at 12:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
I get that, and Reagan-Thatcher-Chicago Boys-the '80s brought us neoliberalism and basically led to the economic world order we see today. Which includes Trump. But the point is, Reagan as president was also a surreal and insane and criminal and surreally criminally insane time, but the United States didn't fall apart. So I mean, yes brace yourselves but this isn't the end yet.
posted by Apocryphon at 12:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Apocryphon at 12:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
I can't wait for him to start walking back building the wall (he will because it's literally fucking impossible)With drone automation it's totally feasible to make the border much harder to sneak across. Probably even fairly cheap.
posted by Coventry at 12:34 AM on November 9, 2016
Yes, ideologically Brexit and Trumpism share many commonalities; but specifically regarding what it looks like to oppose Brexit post-referendum vs. opposing the results of the election of (my god, I can't believe it still) Trump as President is a different level of worm-can opening.
The UK parliament is supreme and can still legally not go through with Brexit. Whereas Trump (again, my God!) appears to have been legally elected and to cast doubt on that would cause, at the very least, a constitutional crisis and quite possibly armed conflict.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
The UK parliament is supreme and can still legally not go through with Brexit. Whereas Trump (again, my God!) appears to have been legally elected and to cast doubt on that would cause, at the very least, a constitutional crisis and quite possibly armed conflict.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
That shining city on a hill... look closer, it's surrounded with razor wire.
posted by 2N2222 at 12:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by 2N2222 at 12:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
America survived Reagan, who not only was far more popular, senile, and had perhaps ideologically crazier advisors, but was in office when we were in a nuclear rivalry with Russia. At least the last might be mitigated somewhat. The U.S. has been through crazy shit again. Take the lessons from the last time and use it to survive
I think you're trying to be comforting, but Reagan's time in office did horrible damage to the fabric of our country in ways that we have not yet even begun to recover from, including but not limited to the complete shutdown of our government's mental health apparatus (which is having all kinds of echoes, probably including at least some of the horrific shootings that seem to occur every couple of weeks) and of course the further entrenchment and expansion of wealth inequality. Your post reads a bit like "I know you still haven't healed from that gunshot wound, but you haven't died yet, so you'll probably survive this one too."
posted by IAmUnaware at 12:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [53 favorites]
I think you're trying to be comforting, but Reagan's time in office did horrible damage to the fabric of our country in ways that we have not yet even begun to recover from, including but not limited to the complete shutdown of our government's mental health apparatus (which is having all kinds of echoes, probably including at least some of the horrific shootings that seem to occur every couple of weeks) and of course the further entrenchment and expansion of wealth inequality. Your post reads a bit like "I know you still haven't healed from that gunshot wound, but you haven't died yet, so you'll probably survive this one too."
posted by IAmUnaware at 12:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [53 favorites]
Reagan as president was also a surreal and insane and criminal and surreally criminally insane time, but the United States didn't fall apart. So I mean, yes brace yourselves but this isn't the end yet.
Perspective:
Perspective:
Wavy Gravyposted by mikelieman at 12:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
I have survived a Nixon, a ray gun and assorted
Bushes and I say unto you that this too shall pass, Some fine day we will dump the gobbledygook that is the electoral
College and go with popular vote,
Until then stay in the light and keep on keepin on,
Wavy g,
This is much worse than Reagan or Bush Jr.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
Eight years ago I sent warm congratulations to my American friends and delighted in the exuberance of post-election Metafilter. This year I send my heartfelt wishes for the well being of each and every one of you.
posted by Thella at 12:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Thella at 12:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
I will love it if Trump was President and the Wall of Mexico turned out to be his "read my lips: no new taxes."
posted by rhizome at 12:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 12:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
And not all Americans survived Reagan.
And the ones who died of AIDS did so largely out-of-sight and unmourned by much of the country, and it was many years before their deaths were rightfully laid at his feet. That's how we'll die in President Trump's America. In hate crimes he's encouraged. Of slow poisoning, like the children in Flint. Of hunger and untreated illnesses. In workplace accidents without justice. Shot by an emboldened and untouchable police force. Alone and unmourned.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [79 favorites]
And the ones who died of AIDS did so largely out-of-sight and unmourned by much of the country, and it was many years before their deaths were rightfully laid at his feet. That's how we'll die in President Trump's America. In hate crimes he's encouraged. Of slow poisoning, like the children in Flint. Of hunger and untreated illnesses. In workplace accidents without justice. Shot by an emboldened and untouchable police force. Alone and unmourned.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [79 favorites]
Reagan ignored the AIDS crisis for years so yes, people did die.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
We survived Reagan.
Not yet. When he killed the alternative energy industry and pumped up the fossil fuel business, he essentially started us on the Climate Change path we are only starting to really feel the effects of now, and which the best efforts of a President who is NOT Trump may be unable to save us from. All Trump can do is accelerate the timetable to disaster, but it was back then that I made the personal decision not to bring any children into this world, a decision that is looking increasingly wiser.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [38 favorites]
Not yet. When he killed the alternative energy industry and pumped up the fossil fuel business, he essentially started us on the Climate Change path we are only starting to really feel the effects of now, and which the best efforts of a President who is NOT Trump may be unable to save us from. All Trump can do is accelerate the timetable to disaster, but it was back then that I made the personal decision not to bring any children into this world, a decision that is looking increasingly wiser.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [38 favorites]
The wall is ridiculous and impossible, but "ridiculous plan for stopping illegal immigration" isn't even in the top 10 list of problems with a Trump victory. Maybe not top 50. It's symbolic though.
posted by Justinian at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
And I mean that's before the inevitable nuclear winter!
posted by Snarl Furillo at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by Snarl Furillo at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2016
WORST ELECTION EVER
posted by philip-random at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2016 [23 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2016 [23 favorites]
The Wall of Mexico was a metaphor for xenophobia. There will still be plenty of undocumented people around. They'll just be persecuted more.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I avoided news and the horse race all day until 9pm when I was driving out to my Mom's, where the news would no doubt be cranked up to 11, and on the radio I flipped past a Mexican station who, between songs, threw out the EV count around 244/204. I was like "well there just has to be a bunch more states to count." I still can't believe this is happening, and it will be a while for me to accept "President Trump" if in fact it comes to pass.
posted by rhizome at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by rhizome at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2016
I am legit shaking from fear and anger here. Wow. I thought the country was better than this.
This Buzzfeed article on scientists freaking out pretty much describes everyone I know, and there are a lot of people looking into extending foreign grad student or postdoc stints, or starting foreign job searches. We are terrified.
posted by ubersturm at 12:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
This Buzzfeed article on scientists freaking out pretty much describes everyone I know, and there are a lot of people looking into extending foreign grad student or postdoc stints, or starting foreign job searches. We are terrified.
posted by ubersturm at 12:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
All I have to say tonight is that I am fucking angry.
And I am not going to let this racist, misogynist bullshit tsunami that's coming crush me. I am not going to let it bury my loved ones. And I sure as hell am not going to let decades of sacrifice for basic freedoms and dignity go under. I will not stand for it.
I'm gay and Latina and every damn day is enough of a struggle as it is. So you better believe this means I'm going to be the loudest hell-raising bulldyke this miserable world has ever seen.
posted by otenba at 12:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [59 favorites]
And I am not going to let this racist, misogynist bullshit tsunami that's coming crush me. I am not going to let it bury my loved ones. And I sure as hell am not going to let decades of sacrifice for basic freedoms and dignity go under. I will not stand for it.
I'm gay and Latina and every damn day is enough of a struggle as it is. So you better believe this means I'm going to be the loudest hell-raising bulldyke this miserable world has ever seen.
posted by otenba at 12:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [59 favorites]
I'm just so worried - is this going to be like Brexit where we have a surge of racist violence?
I would be honestly surprised if there isn't. We saw how his racist supporters were emboldened at his rallies; Trump's victory won't have made them more peaceful. Law enforcement in the USA is executed by a million separate jurisdictions and it's a fair bet that some of them will be inclined to turn (another) blind eye.
The question is whether the racist violence is ultimately put down, and whether it gets blamed on the perpetrators or the victims. If the latter, then things may get very bad indeed.
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I would be honestly surprised if there isn't. We saw how his racist supporters were emboldened at his rallies; Trump's victory won't have made them more peaceful. Law enforcement in the USA is executed by a million separate jurisdictions and it's a fair bet that some of them will be inclined to turn (another) blind eye.
The question is whether the racist violence is ultimately put down, and whether it gets blamed on the perpetrators or the victims. If the latter, then things may get very bad indeed.
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
If this was some Watchmen alternative universe, I'd be getting laid. This one is just cold, dark and lonely.
posted by Sphinx at 12:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Sphinx at 12:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
More as a note to myself, but I ran out of favorites about 1230, but so many of you are saying things that I appreciate and would favorite if I could. I'm so glad we're all here together.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 12:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 12:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
We survived Reagan.
The uncritical veneration of the super-rich that Reagan ushered in is how Trump became famous in the first place.
posted by dirigibleman at 12:42 AM on November 9, 2016 [30 favorites]
The uncritical veneration of the super-rich that Reagan ushered in is how Trump became famous in the first place.
posted by dirigibleman at 12:42 AM on November 9, 2016 [30 favorites]
Charlie Hebdo: Obama redevient un citoyen comme les autres. Superbe une de Charlie Hebdo par Juin.
posted by Golden Eternity at 12:42 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Golden Eternity at 12:42 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I too can't sleep, and my stomach is roiling, and I have to get on a plane at dark o'clock and go see my dying Wellesley College-centric mother who will be devastated. So I reached out my hand towards mr. carmicha, who saw Trump's victory coming and so lay sleeping, acclimated already, and touched our sweet cat instead. He murped at me and rolled onto his back so I could rub his belly, and he was so trusting and innocent that it broke my heart and I thought I was about to get the good cry I desperately need. But no. I can't comprehend it yet, but fur and a friendly kitty helps.
posted by carmicha at 12:42 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 12:42 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
Markets are already tanking. Trump scares the shit out of everyone, everywhere.
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 12:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 12:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Best-case scenario before I crash (after ten hours of canvassing in vain in fucking Florida):
Trump looks at Obama's high approval rating and realizes his win was a rebuke of Clinton rather than an endorsement of Trumpism. To broaden his appeal, he sheds the overt bigotry and goes full populist, openly feuding with the perennially unpopular congress to fight for sorely-needed reform. Corporate America and the GOP are outraged, but they're steamrolled by a Trump/Sanders movement that actually succeeds in draining the swamp without too much collateral damage. National healthcare, public works, and basic income for all.
posted by Rhaomi at 12:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
Trump looks at Obama's high approval rating and realizes his win was a rebuke of Clinton rather than an endorsement of Trumpism. To broaden his appeal, he sheds the overt bigotry and goes full populist, openly feuding with the perennially unpopular congress to fight for sorely-needed reform. Corporate America and the GOP are outraged, but they're steamrolled by a Trump/Sanders movement that actually succeeds in draining the swamp without too much collateral damage. National healthcare, public works, and basic income for all.
posted by Rhaomi at 12:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
The real thing is, "How do Trump appointees do with the Career Civil Service folk that do all the acutl government"?
Could be, not a heck of a lot gets done in the next couple of years.
posted by mikelieman at 12:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Could be, not a heck of a lot gets done in the next couple of years.
posted by mikelieman at 12:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can I say, "we have survived worse?" No. But I can say, we have never been more ready to face a fascist in office. And I can say, there are plenty of people who have survived worse, and we can learn from them.
Find your communities, your allies, and find ways to connect with them that aren't dependent on gov't approval. Probably we won't be seeing anything worse than the continued erosion of Roe v Wade, more poverty for the people who aren't already wealthy, and a reduction in health care, education, and general quality-of-life, with a side order of violent bigotry for everyone who's not in the privileged group. But there's a substantially non-zero chance that those won't be the limit, in which case...
Study the history of the civil rights movement: what worked, what didn't? What worked with a high cost in lives? Look at the 60's anti-war movement and the recent Occupy movement: a lot was pointless fluff, but some progress was made. (In the case of Occupy, "income disparity" wasn't even a point of discussion before 2011; it was an odd bit of economic statistics.) Study Europe, 1930-1945. (We're post-Godwin, right?) Figure out how he won, despite polls and debates and every tracker we had saying he was losing, because we can't take back our country if we don't know how we lost it.
Be thankful that we know damn well Trump doesn't do research and resists all efforts of other people to teach him; his first 100 days are less likely to be "I'm gonna do THIS and THIS and THIS" and more "I'm gonna... wait, whaddaya mean I can't use my phone?" and "I'm gonna... wtf is this camera thing doing? Doesn't that shut off?" and "I'm gonna... WHERE ARE YOU GOING I'M NOT DONE YET come back here I'm the President!"
Hold out tiny shreds of hope for faithless electors, but do not expect them to exist. Hold out more hope that the 2 lawsuits that kick off in Nov and Dec scramble things badly for him. Pence will happily drive the country back to the 1950s but he won't be driving it off a cliff.
Research all that astounding pre-WWW hacker methodology, which now can be done with astounding off-the-shelf tech. Make a pirate box for your friends, for fun. Build the Illuminati in your basement; unleash it on the world in 2018.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [43 favorites]
Find your communities, your allies, and find ways to connect with them that aren't dependent on gov't approval. Probably we won't be seeing anything worse than the continued erosion of Roe v Wade, more poverty for the people who aren't already wealthy, and a reduction in health care, education, and general quality-of-life, with a side order of violent bigotry for everyone who's not in the privileged group. But there's a substantially non-zero chance that those won't be the limit, in which case...
Study the history of the civil rights movement: what worked, what didn't? What worked with a high cost in lives? Look at the 60's anti-war movement and the recent Occupy movement: a lot was pointless fluff, but some progress was made. (In the case of Occupy, "income disparity" wasn't even a point of discussion before 2011; it was an odd bit of economic statistics.) Study Europe, 1930-1945. (We're post-Godwin, right?) Figure out how he won, despite polls and debates and every tracker we had saying he was losing, because we can't take back our country if we don't know how we lost it.
Be thankful that we know damn well Trump doesn't do research and resists all efforts of other people to teach him; his first 100 days are less likely to be "I'm gonna do THIS and THIS and THIS" and more "I'm gonna... wait, whaddaya mean I can't use my phone?" and "I'm gonna... wtf is this camera thing doing? Doesn't that shut off?" and "I'm gonna... WHERE ARE YOU GOING I'M NOT DONE YET come back here I'm the President!"
Hold out tiny shreds of hope for faithless electors, but do not expect them to exist. Hold out more hope that the 2 lawsuits that kick off in Nov and Dec scramble things badly for him. Pence will happily drive the country back to the 1950s but he won't be driving it off a cliff.
Research all that astounding pre-WWW hacker methodology, which now can be done with astounding off-the-shelf tech. Make a pirate box for your friends, for fun. Build the Illuminati in your basement; unleash it on the world in 2018.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [43 favorites]
Please MeMail me if you find any credible writing about how Trump's campaign was thinking about this election from a strategic and organizational perspective. Really, really curious. I thought he had nothing.
posted by Coventry at 12:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Coventry at 12:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Gold up; investors pulling out of the dollar and into the yen; Asian markets down but FTSE down but cautiously optimistic something something Trump promises to stimulate business (BBC)
What are the stages of grief?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:45 AM on November 9, 2016
What are the stages of grief?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:45 AM on November 9, 2016
Who even knows if there's going to be a federal budget, even the endless stream of CRs we've had under Obama?
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:45 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:45 AM on November 9, 2016
Nah, you guys don't understand; they expect a literal wall. They will demand a literal wall. We need to keep reminding them about that wall. Day 105 of trumps presidency: where is the wall? Day 210: wall not even started. Day 355: no wall. Remember the wall? I saw 2 undocumented folks today. Where is the wall?
posted by Chrischris at 12:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [24 favorites]
posted by Chrischris at 12:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [24 favorites]
If nothing else this proves that the 2nd amendment worshippers arent interested in defending us against tyranny, just tyranny they don't inflict.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 12:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by Senor Cardgage at 12:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
I can't wait for him to start walking back building the wall (he will because it's literally fucking impossible)
When I first heard him propose his Great Wall of Trump, he as specifically talking about himself having the ability to build it, which clearly sounded to me like it was a construction job that would be handled by contractors he has a personal interest in. Cha-ching!! Even if he doesn't get more than a few miles of wall built, I'm sure he expects a profit from it in the Billions. The mass deportations he can't make money off, so that's where his enthusiasm will more likely trail off.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
When I first heard him propose his Great Wall of Trump, he as specifically talking about himself having the ability to build it, which clearly sounded to me like it was a construction job that would be handled by contractors he has a personal interest in. Cha-ching!! Even if he doesn't get more than a few miles of wall built, I'm sure he expects a profit from it in the Billions. The mass deportations he can't make money off, so that's where his enthusiasm will more likely trail off.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Please MeMail me if you find any credible writing about how Trump's campaign was thinking about this election from a strategic and organizational perspective. Really, really curious. I thought he had nothing.
He did have nothing. He fell right into a rich vein of white supremacy, and mined that shit all the way to the White House.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [26 favorites]
He did have nothing. He fell right into a rich vein of white supremacy, and mined that shit all the way to the White House.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [26 favorites]
Nah, you guys don't understand; they expect a literal wall. They will demand a literal wall. We need to keep reminding them about that wall. Day 105 of trumps presidency: where is the wall? Day 210: wall not even started. Day 355: no wall. Remember the wall? I saw 2 undocumented folks today. Where is the wall?
And we demanded the closure of Gitmo.
posted by Apocryphon at 12:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
And we demanded the closure of Gitmo.
posted by Apocryphon at 12:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
Who even knows if there's going to be a federal budget, even the endless stream of CRs we've had under Obama?
Oh I assume there will be, but it will be a nightmare beyond certain specific areas (read: defense). The budget shutdown at least had the theoretical possibility of a positive resolution.
posted by ubersturm at 12:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh I assume there will be, but it will be a nightmare beyond certain specific areas (read: defense). The budget shutdown at least had the theoretical possibility of a positive resolution.
posted by ubersturm at 12:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
He did have nothing. He fell right into a rich vein of white supremacy, and mined that shit all the way to the White House.
That's true, but the RNC did have a strong operation in exactly the area Trump won the electoral college; the rust belt. Which they deployed with full force for their downballot races. This had the effect of bringing Trump voters to the polls.
posted by Justinian at 12:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
That's true, but the RNC did have a strong operation in exactly the area Trump won the electoral college; the rust belt. Which they deployed with full force for their downballot races. This had the effect of bringing Trump voters to the polls.
posted by Justinian at 12:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Nah, you guys don't understand; they expect a literal wall. They will demand a literal wall.
And he'll tell them he built one and made Mexico pay for it, and they'll believe it because they believe every outlandish fucking thing he says with no evidence whatsoever.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
And he'll tell them he built one and made Mexico pay for it, and they'll believe it because they believe every outlandish fucking thing he says with no evidence whatsoever.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
Anyway, this is all to weird and I feel like an alternate reality got flipped over by mistake. Hope everyone breathes easy soon.
And my brain is so numb and trying to find some sort of comfort that I'm having weird thoughts like 'oh hey, yeah multiple realities, this is the 'alternate' one, and right now there's another one where this didn't happen and there is another me so at least that version is having a good time'. (yes I know the beer isn't helping).
Which is really not good because I know damn well that I'm not the only one feeling disoriented in ways that they just not used to dealing with. People are going to need lots of coping help in the coming days and I'm not sure I'm up for it. I'm usually the coper helper type and I don't know if I can summon the emotional labor to do it anymore.
posted by Jalliah at 12:49 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
And my brain is so numb and trying to find some sort of comfort that I'm having weird thoughts like 'oh hey, yeah multiple realities, this is the 'alternate' one, and right now there's another one where this didn't happen and there is another me so at least that version is having a good time'. (yes I know the beer isn't helping).
Which is really not good because I know damn well that I'm not the only one feeling disoriented in ways that they just not used to dealing with. People are going to need lots of coping help in the coming days and I'm not sure I'm up for it. I'm usually the coper helper type and I don't know if I can summon the emotional labor to do it anymore.
posted by Jalliah at 12:49 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Longtime lurker here who has read every comment in every election thread and finally signed up. I've been so moved by so many comments and it is devastating that this is how it ends. I wish I had something useful to say.
Perhaps it might be a good time for Podesta to leak government documents pertaining to the existence of aliens\ufos as he's wanted to do. Perhaps that could distract the Republicans from ruining the nation...see, nothing useful.
posted by Mayra in L.A. at 12:49 AM on November 9, 2016 [33 favorites]
Perhaps it might be a good time for Podesta to leak government documents pertaining to the existence of aliens\ufos as he's wanted to do. Perhaps that could distract the Republicans from ruining the nation...see, nothing useful.
posted by Mayra in L.A. at 12:49 AM on November 9, 2016 [33 favorites]
Putin has sent congratulations to his puppet.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:50 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:50 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Somebody in all this was wondering if this news is what a terminal diagnosis feels like.
A doctor once told me I was probably terminal, and I can say that this does feel remarkably close. There's that crushing horror, that feeling that this simply can't be true, that it's too awful and strange to be real. Reality doesn't work like this. Things like this don't happen. And yet here we are. We actually elected that swollen sack of evil and put an absurd, orange Mussolini on the throne. There will be a Republican Congress and Senate, a Republican Supreme Court, Obamacare's gone, the right to choose is gone, there will be many more Katrinas. Rome is gonna burn, while Nero is busy having 3 AM Twitter wars.
Maybe we'll muddle through the next four years. But I think we may have doomed ourselves tonight. We may have doomed the whole fucking planet.
Maybe we all just got a terminal diagnosis.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 12:51 AM on November 9, 2016 [85 favorites]
A doctor once told me I was probably terminal, and I can say that this does feel remarkably close. There's that crushing horror, that feeling that this simply can't be true, that it's too awful and strange to be real. Reality doesn't work like this. Things like this don't happen. And yet here we are. We actually elected that swollen sack of evil and put an absurd, orange Mussolini on the throne. There will be a Republican Congress and Senate, a Republican Supreme Court, Obamacare's gone, the right to choose is gone, there will be many more Katrinas. Rome is gonna burn, while Nero is busy having 3 AM Twitter wars.
Maybe we'll muddle through the next four years. But I think we may have doomed ourselves tonight. We may have doomed the whole fucking planet.
Maybe we all just got a terminal diagnosis.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 12:51 AM on November 9, 2016 [85 favorites]
this just popped up in my Facebook [warning: mention Bernie ... but in a fresh way]
Dear USA friends: Cheer up! I would like to suggest to you that Trump and Hillary have already both lost. Berni was right, his campaign was not about him. It's about you. You have a lot of work ahead of you. It follows that it's not about the losers that represent the two major parties, that the majority of you don't like, either. Don't get distracted by their bullshit. Be strategic. Don't let them manipulate your emotions. You are all actually doing a great job at seeing through the lies of the wealthy elite that corrupt your government. The war mongers are using your government to wage continual war on the whole world, including the part you stand on. The train wreck of this last election is evidence to the whole world, that the structure of your administration is breaking down and can not be re-built into anything that resembles what it was. You have actually made amazing progress if you take a long view. Voting is important but it is not what is changing your country. You can do that any time of year. You can do that all year long.
I support you in peace and the betterment of your selves and the world.
posted by philip-random at 12:53 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
Dear USA friends: Cheer up! I would like to suggest to you that Trump and Hillary have already both lost. Berni was right, his campaign was not about him. It's about you. You have a lot of work ahead of you. It follows that it's not about the losers that represent the two major parties, that the majority of you don't like, either. Don't get distracted by their bullshit. Be strategic. Don't let them manipulate your emotions. You are all actually doing a great job at seeing through the lies of the wealthy elite that corrupt your government. The war mongers are using your government to wage continual war on the whole world, including the part you stand on. The train wreck of this last election is evidence to the whole world, that the structure of your administration is breaking down and can not be re-built into anything that resembles what it was. You have actually made amazing progress if you take a long view. Voting is important but it is not what is changing your country. You can do that any time of year. You can do that all year long.
I support you in peace and the betterment of your selves and the world.
posted by philip-random at 12:53 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
Racism, mysogyny, and fascism. As American as Mom and apple pie.
Stubbornly ineducable, proud of their ignorance. At this late date in the American democratic experiment these traits remain the hallmarks of half its people.
Three or five delighted leaps backward for every tenuous step forward. Our neighbors do not believe in the biblical nor constitutional tenets they proclaim. They reek of death and destruction as they opine about life.
How many times more must we rage in the ape cage before giving ourselves permission to embrace love and let go fear? When will the entire 99.99% of us abandon pretension of fitting into that .01% and just evolve past these selfish power games of death?
What in actual fuck happened at the end of 2012 when the Mayan calendar ended and we passed through the center of the galaxy???
posted by riverlife at 12:53 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
Stubbornly ineducable, proud of their ignorance. At this late date in the American democratic experiment these traits remain the hallmarks of half its people.
Three or five delighted leaps backward for every tenuous step forward. Our neighbors do not believe in the biblical nor constitutional tenets they proclaim. They reek of death and destruction as they opine about life.
How many times more must we rage in the ape cage before giving ourselves permission to embrace love and let go fear? When will the entire 99.99% of us abandon pretension of fitting into that .01% and just evolve past these selfish power games of death?
What in actual fuck happened at the end of 2012 when the Mayan calendar ended and we passed through the center of the galaxy???
posted by riverlife at 12:53 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
Welcome, Mayra in L.A.
For my part, I am just flat-out drinking in numb despair. I had thought to jump on Overwatch to mindlessly shoot things (Reapers! And Mei. My great nemeses.) but someone above mentioned people cheering about Trump on there and suddenly that's palled. Any ideas for 'I need to think about something else, something light and not liable to make me think 'Oh god, my dude is going to be sent to war/death by this maniac'?
posted by pseudonymph at 12:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
For my part, I am just flat-out drinking in numb despair. I had thought to jump on Overwatch to mindlessly shoot things (Reapers! And Mei. My great nemeses.) but someone above mentioned people cheering about Trump on there and suddenly that's palled. Any ideas for 'I need to think about something else, something light and not liable to make me think 'Oh god, my dude is going to be sent to war/death by this maniac'?
posted by pseudonymph at 12:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
The most promising aspect of Trump's success is that in ALL his previous endeavors, he let down and screwed over some if not all of the people he was depending on. So there's a solid likelihood that he'll abandon his racist followers as so much human baggage, and the unusually (for him) conciliatory tone of much of his victory speech tonight may be the first sign of that happening.
Well, as long as we're trying to be hopeful...
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
Well, as long as we're trying to be hopeful...
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
It may turn out to be bad, but I just can't get with the blood in the streets rhetoric yet. That's what they responded to.
posted by rhizome at 12:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 12:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Liberals put him there. couldn't agree more.
Look, I voted for Sanders in the primary too, partly on some of the same logic. But here's how you can tell his article is at least partly bullshit:
"The even larger problem is that there is a kind of chronic complacency that has been rotting American liberalism for years, a hubris that tells Democrats they need do nothing different, they need deliver nothing really to anyone."
Like. Hell.
Charges of overinvestment in the neoliberal consensus can be made to stick pretty easily, given that the whole damn country is at least a little invested in it (and anyone with more than modest success is more likely to push a camel through the eye of a needle than abandon it) and no matter who takes office they are going to face powerful calls to answer to that portion of their constituency.
But it is not hard to find substantial discussion of things Clinton (let alone all Democrats) want to deliver in terms of safety net, labor protection, education, health care, whatever. If that's what you want to talk about, instead of vague aspersions about emails and donations to a charitable foundation.
Could the Democrats have run a different candidate? Yeah. Maybe we should have. Clearly I thought so when I cast my ballot for Sanders in the primary. But it would have been one where a lot of the daylight between them was symbolic, and not likely one more talented or caring in either coming up with policy and doing what it took to deliver.
And maybe that wouldn't have made a difference. Or maybe Sander's albatross would have been endless handwringing over his age, his Jewishness, his moonbat socialism instead of vague shade about emails and donations to a charitable foundation, and the election was always going to be about identity politics and racism rather than class once Trump made it on day one about race.
posted by wildblueyonder at 12:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [28 favorites]
Look, I voted for Sanders in the primary too, partly on some of the same logic. But here's how you can tell his article is at least partly bullshit:
"The even larger problem is that there is a kind of chronic complacency that has been rotting American liberalism for years, a hubris that tells Democrats they need do nothing different, they need deliver nothing really to anyone."
Like. Hell.
Charges of overinvestment in the neoliberal consensus can be made to stick pretty easily, given that the whole damn country is at least a little invested in it (and anyone with more than modest success is more likely to push a camel through the eye of a needle than abandon it) and no matter who takes office they are going to face powerful calls to answer to that portion of their constituency.
But it is not hard to find substantial discussion of things Clinton (let alone all Democrats) want to deliver in terms of safety net, labor protection, education, health care, whatever. If that's what you want to talk about, instead of vague aspersions about emails and donations to a charitable foundation.
Could the Democrats have run a different candidate? Yeah. Maybe we should have. Clearly I thought so when I cast my ballot for Sanders in the primary. But it would have been one where a lot of the daylight between them was symbolic, and not likely one more talented or caring in either coming up with policy and doing what it took to deliver.
And maybe that wouldn't have made a difference. Or maybe Sander's albatross would have been endless handwringing over his age, his Jewishness, his moonbat socialism instead of vague shade about emails and donations to a charitable foundation, and the election was always going to be about identity politics and racism rather than class once Trump made it on day one about race.
posted by wildblueyonder at 12:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [28 favorites]
Running out the clock on the SCOTUS nom now looks like a brilliant move. We don't move forward as a nation after tonight, not in my lifetime. The end of the American Century.
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
Oh, I am here and I can definitely tell you that shit is going horribly wrong.
posted by gingerbeer at 12:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by gingerbeer at 12:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Could the Democrats have run a different candidate? Yeah. Maybe we should have. Clearly I thought so when I cast my ballot for Sanders in the primary. But it would have been one where a lot of the daylight between them was symbolic
Precisely! Biden may well have won this election (we'll never know for certain obviously) but he's actually less liberal than Clinton.
This election was not won or lost on policy. It was won on nativism and xenophobia.
posted by Justinian at 12:58 AM on November 9, 2016 [46 favorites]
Precisely! Biden may well have won this election (we'll never know for certain obviously) but he's actually less liberal than Clinton.
This election was not won or lost on policy. It was won on nativism and xenophobia.
posted by Justinian at 12:58 AM on November 9, 2016 [46 favorites]
Full steam backwards.
All these frightened, angry white people are going to have a rude awakening when the twin realisations that things are never going back to the way they were and that AI automation is bound to decimate what's left of their niche. Donald can do nothing for them except placate them with the blood of Other people's misfortune.
posted by flippant at 12:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
All these frightened, angry white people are going to have a rude awakening when the twin realisations that things are never going back to the way they were and that AI automation is bound to decimate what's left of their niche. Donald can do nothing for them except placate them with the blood of Other people's misfortune.
posted by flippant at 12:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
2016 continues on with it's low, murderous slog. Annus horribilis indeed. This particular Canadian has watched in horror as an out and out racist has become president. My sympathies for all of you, I am really still in a state of shock and I can't quite seem to find the words here.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 1:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 1:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Yeah the markets aren't some crazy nonsense, it's literally a matter of can my parents afford to retire or will I ever own an apartment or how will I take care of my family if I can't work for a lot of people. I know that simply having savings puts someone in a privileged position in this country, and concerns about money utterly pale in comparison to the very real fears people have for their safety right now, but yeah, it's reasonable to be concerned about people's retirement accounts and college funds, whatever their size.
posted by zachlipton at 1:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 1:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
Trump had no plan - as the Archdruid Report pointed out (and has been pointing out for months, and I really, REALLY wanted him to be wrong), he tapped into a well of rage and despair that affluent liberals don't understand, and by "affluent," I'm including minimum-wage workers in the SF Bay Area, who have access to a surfeit of cultural and social wealth even when they're couch-surfing or living in cardboard boxes.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
Even among Trump’s most diehard supporters, it’s common to find people who cheerfully admit that Trump might not change things enough to matter; it’s just that when times are desperate enough—and out here in the flyover states, they are—a leap in the dark is preferable to the guaranteed continuation of the unendurable.We knew this - we'd heard it from many directions, many sources - and ignored it, either because we didn't want to believe they were *really* that desperate, or because we didn't believe enough of them were. Or maybe we did, and didn't have any answers, any serious hope to offer them that things would get better... Hillary made a lot of promises in that direction, but none that could reach past decades of being lied to and watching their lives get worse.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
About the markets, New York bourgeoisie, etc:
The thing about the markets tanking is that the complex of financial stuff that produces a market collapse has a bad effect on jobs in all kinds of ways. It's not "the markets have collapsed, my million dollar stock portfolio lost value". Also, there's a lot of people whose retirement - such as it is - is in the markets. Everyone's 401K, pension funds, etc - that's all the markets. Such working class people as have union or state pension funds - that's all markets. I have a union gig (and expect a wave of deunionization after the Supreme Court hears the big fair-share case next year, too) and in 2008 our pension fund took a huge hit.
With a right wing president, we can presumably write off Social Security as an entitlement, too, so that's always something. I mean, on one hand it's spoiled to think "oh, instead of maybe being able to squeak out a retirement on social security and my pension, now I will work until I die, if I'm lucky", but I'm thinking that and it isn't making me any happier.
posted by Frowner at 1:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
The thing about the markets tanking is that the complex of financial stuff that produces a market collapse has a bad effect on jobs in all kinds of ways. It's not "the markets have collapsed, my million dollar stock portfolio lost value". Also, there's a lot of people whose retirement - such as it is - is in the markets. Everyone's 401K, pension funds, etc - that's all the markets. Such working class people as have union or state pension funds - that's all markets. I have a union gig (and expect a wave of deunionization after the Supreme Court hears the big fair-share case next year, too) and in 2008 our pension fund took a huge hit.
With a right wing president, we can presumably write off Social Security as an entitlement, too, so that's always something. I mean, on one hand it's spoiled to think "oh, instead of maybe being able to squeak out a retirement on social security and my pension, now I will work until I die, if I'm lucky", but I'm thinking that and it isn't making me any happier.
posted by Frowner at 1:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
It's like America held a bedshitting contest and then everyone was shocked when America shit the bed?
Half of the U.S. voted against the Donald, and the other half voted against the Hillary. How could this possibly have a good ending?
posted by BYiro at 1:01 AM on November 9, 2016
Half of the U.S. voted against the Donald, and the other half voted against the Hillary. How could this possibly have a good ending?
posted by BYiro at 1:01 AM on November 9, 2016
Ha ha: On electoral-vote.com:
Are you unhappy with the election results?posted by Coventry at 1:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
If you are thinking of leaving the country and happen to be a college senior majoring in computer science who is interested in doing an English-language masters at one of the top universities in Europe (in beautiful and exciting Amsterdam), then click here.
Mod note: Sorry for any confusion, but a few deleted. Concern about the markets is definitely connected to the welfare of regular people. Please don't start fights about "the bourgeoisie."
posted by taz (staff) at 1:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 1:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
With a right wing president, we can presumably write off Social Security as an entitlement, too
This would require nuking the filibuster. Call me naive but I am still, even now, not sure the Republicans will cross that Rubicon.
posted by Justinian at 1:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
This would require nuking the filibuster. Call me naive but I am still, even now, not sure the Republicans will cross that Rubicon.
posted by Justinian at 1:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
So there's a solid likelihood that he'll abandon his racist followers as so much human baggage
And why not? It's what Democrats do to the further-left, I can see it being a perfect Achilles Heel for Republicans. The US Right has not had a version of hippie-punching to my knowledge, and the Republican Party would probably have no defense for that strategy, and it would certainly fit with Trump's apparent, "no strategy" strategy. I mean, why have one if all you have to do is stoke fires. It was the "blah blah GINGER" of campaigns. The party apparatus essentially left him alone to do whatever, which made things easier for him to take it over.
posted by rhizome at 1:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
And why not? It's what Democrats do to the further-left, I can see it being a perfect Achilles Heel for Republicans. The US Right has not had a version of hippie-punching to my knowledge, and the Republican Party would probably have no defense for that strategy, and it would certainly fit with Trump's apparent, "no strategy" strategy. I mean, why have one if all you have to do is stoke fires. It was the "blah blah GINGER" of campaigns. The party apparatus essentially left him alone to do whatever, which made things easier for him to take it over.
posted by rhizome at 1:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm not trying to minimize Trump, partly because I have no bloody idea of what he actually wants. The man has always been masks and masks. He was for UHC and immigration reform once. He says all types of shit. But I think on the issue of WWIII- well, yes, his ego and temper are considerable. But who would he even start a war with? If he really is crypto-KGB, then why would he attack his Russian benefactors? Why would he attack their Iranian allies? So- China? With whom he has all sorts of business ties to? Maybe in some sort of dickwaving over the South China Sea (Duterte vs. Trump?)? I mean, yes, it's risky that such an unknown, temperamental person is in the Oval Office. But, what's the scenario here even.
posted by Apocryphon at 1:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Apocryphon at 1:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Trump will probably be most interested in being a ceremonial president. My real fear is that a Republican Congress will be running the country.
posted by fuzz at 1:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by fuzz at 1:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [19 favorites]
This is a nice thought, and i'm going to think about it a whole lot tonight, in a deliberate attempt to just shut out the horror until tomorrow, when I can summon some strength and 'aight, let's get back to it':
WeRateDogs™ @dog_rates 6h
PSA: DOGS WILL STILL EXIST IN THE MORNING
posted by pseudonymph at 1:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
WeRateDogs™ @dog_rates 6h
PSA: DOGS WILL STILL EXIST IN THE MORNING
posted by pseudonymph at 1:04 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
Call me naive but I am still, even now, not sure the Republicans will cross that Rubicon.
You are naive.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
You are naive.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'm not trying to minimize Trump, partly because I have no bloody idea of what he actually wants.
I dunno either, but based on my observations of his words and actions, he seems to want a) self-aggrandizement at all costs and b) vengeance against anyone who doesn't cooperate with his acquisition of a).
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:06 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
I dunno either, but based on my observations of his words and actions, he seems to want a) self-aggrandizement at all costs and b) vengeance against anyone who doesn't cooperate with his acquisition of a).
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:06 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
I just realized... Reid is out. Who is going to be Senate Minority Leader. They may well be the only person standing between us and ruin. I'm not sure there has ever been a more important minority party election for leadership.
Schumer maybe? I like him but I don't know... god I wish Reid were staying. The man is a rock whether you liked his actions during the Obamacare negotiations or not.
posted by Justinian at 1:06 AM on November 9, 2016
Schumer maybe? I like him but I don't know... god I wish Reid were staying. The man is a rock whether you liked his actions during the Obamacare negotiations or not.
posted by Justinian at 1:06 AM on November 9, 2016
The only microscopic upside of Trump's vengefulness is that Paul Ryan may be in for some good, funny times, and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Literally my only consolation right now is that I'm not sure the GOP even has an agenda and I feel it's somewhat likely they will be happy just de-regulating things and cutting taxes on the wealthy.
Compared to nuclear war, internment camps, civil war, holocaust 2.0 etc, I would be shockingly happy with that outcome.
posted by annekate at 1:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Compared to nuclear war, internment camps, civil war, holocaust 2.0 etc, I would be shockingly happy with that outcome.
posted by annekate at 1:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
The truly depressing thing to me is that I don't think Trump has to do much to make the far right happy. They're delirious now and they will stay delirious with joy as long as he emboldens them to strut around triumphing over all whom they see as lesser. And they've already got far more freedom than they ever imagined to do that.
Trump can screw them over five ways to hell and they will still revere him.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 1:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Trump can screw them over five ways to hell and they will still revere him.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 1:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I feel it's somewhat likely they will be happy just de-regulating things and cutting taxes on the wealthy.
I don't think anyone has an actual plan at this point; Trump's too erratic for anything beyond their baseline. How many times did he change campaign managers?
How many Secretaries of State are we expecting in the next few years?
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:12 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't think anyone has an actual plan at this point; Trump's too erratic for anything beyond their baseline. How many times did he change campaign managers?
How many Secretaries of State are we expecting in the next few years?
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:12 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
One of Trump's main points in his acceptance speech was his plan for a lot of public works. I could easily see that passing Congress since Dems will support it.
posted by ropeladder at 1:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by ropeladder at 1:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Friend said he would quit his job and dedicate his time to the California secession movement if Trump won. Got his BCC'ed resignation letter an hour ago and I still can't comprehend this is actually happening.
posted by idealist at 1:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [35 favorites]
posted by idealist at 1:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [35 favorites]
The analysis on Electoral Vote is excellent.
posted by Coventry at 1:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Coventry at 1:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
One of Trump's main points in his acceptance speech was his plan for a lot of public works. I could easily see that passing Congress since Dems will support it.
Possibly, I'm not convinced they wouldn't tie it to tax cuts and such for the wealthy. Would Democrats swallow that pill?
posted by Justinian at 1:15 AM on November 9, 2016
Possibly, I'm not convinced they wouldn't tie it to tax cuts and such for the wealthy. Would Democrats swallow that pill?
posted by Justinian at 1:15 AM on November 9, 2016
I said it earlier before the results were in, but: Godspeed to our country, our fellow countrypeople, and the world at large.
posted by gucci mane at 1:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by gucci mane at 1:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Still trying to grasp this.
(From Electoral Vote linked above)
(From Electoral Vote linked above)
everything we thought we knew about campaigning was apparently in error. Conventions? Don't matter. Debates? Don't matter. Endorsements? Don't matter. High-profile defections? Don't matter. Missteps? Don't matter? Commercials? Don't matter. Ground game? Doesn't matter. An All-Star team of campaign surrogates, including one former president, one sitting president, and a wildly popular first lady? Doesn't matter. The "blue wall"? Not a thing. [...]posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
What will Trump's relationship with the GOP be like? Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) held him at arm's length, he clashed with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) was nothing but disdainful, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) slammed Trump at his own convention. Meanwhile, there are going to be plenty of new officeholders who owe their jobs to Trump's coattails.
Jesus Christ, I'm now officially sincerely nostalgic for the good ol' days of Nixon.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Reminder to everyone that now would be a good time to reify your IRL non-electronic social networks, chatting face to face with friends and establishing safe words and signals when discussing potentially-sensitive information.
On that note, any Boston area mefits up for an IRL commiserating meetup?
I've been making friends on FB from PN and I would welcome any Texas Mefites as FB friends as well. I'm disabled and don't leave the house all that often, but I do own land and if the apocalypse happens I will let you come camp on it.
posted by threeturtles at 1:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
While we're laughing at America for something like 48% of it voting for Trump, can we save some scorn for the 3% of us who voted for Gary "What is Aleppo" Fucking Johnson?
Gary Johnson gave (some) anti-Trump Republicans a way to cast a vote for president that would let them sleep soundly at night — a vote for two former Republican governors who want to cut taxes and spending, without Trump's liabilities. (Of course, that doesn't apply to all anti-Trump Republicans, e.g. those who can't accept his views on marijuana.)
The third-party candidate who more clearly takes away from Hillary Clinton is Jill Stein. She's very liberal all around, whereas Johnson is conservative on many issues and liberal on many others.
Now, if you want to keep mocking Johnson for his Aleppo gaffe, go ahead. I don't know why you find it worthwhile to dwell on a third-party candidate's gaffe after the election is over, but that's fine. But don't assume he helped Trump win. If not for Gary Johnson, Clinton might have had an even worse loss.
posted by John Cohen at 1:23 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Gary Johnson gave (some) anti-Trump Republicans a way to cast a vote for president that would let them sleep soundly at night — a vote for two former Republican governors who want to cut taxes and spending, without Trump's liabilities. (Of course, that doesn't apply to all anti-Trump Republicans, e.g. those who can't accept his views on marijuana.)
The third-party candidate who more clearly takes away from Hillary Clinton is Jill Stein. She's very liberal all around, whereas Johnson is conservative on many issues and liberal on many others.
Now, if you want to keep mocking Johnson for his Aleppo gaffe, go ahead. I don't know why you find it worthwhile to dwell on a third-party candidate's gaffe after the election is over, but that's fine. But don't assume he helped Trump win. If not for Gary Johnson, Clinton might have had an even worse loss.
posted by John Cohen at 1:23 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Oh God, Ted Cruz. He must be curled up in a ball right now.
posted by rhizome at 1:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 1:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
So I would say that Nov 28 should be interesting but at this rate we should probably expect Judge Curiel to just, like, hand Trump a billions dollars or something
posted by beerperson at 1:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by beerperson at 1:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
The electoral vote thing is indeed interesting. He makes the very real and very true point that those blue collar white voters who want their jobs back? They will never get their jobs back even if Trump goes full protectionist and slaps a 100% tariff on steel and such. All the factories will be automated with some white collar engineers and only a skeleton crew of blue collar people.
What happens when Trump can't bring them their jobs? Do they realize they've been sold a bill of goods or do they revert even further into xenophobia?
posted by Justinian at 1:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
What happens when Trump can't bring them their jobs? Do they realize they've been sold a bill of goods or do they revert even further into xenophobia?
posted by Justinian at 1:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
As others have pointed out, 35 years ago a lot of us had to start saying "President Ronald Reagan" with a straight face.
The world didn't end then, it won't end now.
I didn't say it was good
posted by sidereal at 1:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
The world didn't end then, it won't end now.
I didn't say it was good
posted by sidereal at 1:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
It was bad enough to have to watch this clusterfuck happen over the last several hours. I'm not sure I can bear having to see all of slumbering MetaFilter (and the rest of the US) awaken to the dystopian fucking nightmare we now apparently live in.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
When President Nixon finally resigned all my hate drained away, replaced by joyless relief. A few hours later, President Ford echoed the sentiment of many: "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over... Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule." This morning I felt no joy at Trump's victory, just short lived relief that our long national nightmare was over. That was soon followed by the grim realization of how difficult it will be to repair the damage of the last 8 years.
posted by Homer42 at 1:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Homer42 at 1:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I live in CA and am surrounded by dems so I didn't request one before as I felt I didn't need it... (Maybe that was the wrong choice, sigh.) Is it too late for someone to send me a Pantsuit Nation invite?
posted by samthemander at 1:27 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by samthemander at 1:27 AM on November 9, 2016
Video of an interesting "please explain" session with Washington Post's polling director Scott Clement.
posted by Coventry at 1:27 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by Coventry at 1:27 AM on November 9, 2016
I'm going to tune in to some American Journalism right now to find out what happened, they'll explain it
o wait
posted by sidereal at 1:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
o wait
posted by sidereal at 1:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I live in the Middle East so I'm particularly unenthusiastic about about a Trump victory. A young Indian man did some work in my home today and saw I was watching election news. We talked a bit and I just said, "It's just very sad."
He replied, "The whole world is sad today."
posted by PHINC at 1:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
He replied, "The whole world is sad today."
posted by PHINC at 1:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
I would love to be more positive, and probably should be since I'm a white guy all-but-married to a Dominican lady who could easily pass as white with a simple name change, but since I'm a realist at heart, I'm going to lay out the consequences that are going to be hitting all of us, even those who aren't the direct target of the racist and misogynist fucks who form the core of Trump's support. (But do keep in mind that Trump won't have half of the votes, much less the support of half our compatriots)
First, the financial market carnage that is previewed by the futures markets will continue for a bit. They'll probably only take a dramatic plunge for a few days. By next week things will likely stabilize and maybe even inch upwards. How long that holds will probably depend on how holiday spending looks and how much of a rebound we end up having. The dollar will probably lose some value, but probably not as much as the pound has since Brexit. In a lot of ways, Brexit will be a decent guide to the short term financial effects.
We'll probably be OKish financially through the new year if Trump keeps quiet about his plans.
After that, there are two ways this could go. If he does fulfill his promises to spend on infrastructure and can get Congress to go along, things won't be too bad in the sense that the bottom won't fall out. That will hold true even if he passes his moronic tax plan. I suspect we'll see something akin to the 2002-2007 Bush economy with tepid growth, further increases in debt, and maybe a couple of stumbles along the way, but nothing too major, assuming he doesn't get us into any wars, threaten to repudiate the debt, track seriously towards protectionism, or any other shit like that. Economically, it won't be a whole lot worse than what we've had recently, but things won't be getting better if you aren't a top 5-10%er. The Fed can keep things from going truly to shit in this scenario.
The alternative, which I think is more likely, is that he basically cedes control to the Republicans in Congress, which gets us real austerity, along with his bigly tax cuts. That will lead to an economic slowdown here in the US that will reverberate across the world, dramatically amplifying the effects of Europe's continued refusal to do anything about their stagnation. That will, in turn, shoot back across the pond and throw us into a severe recession starting in at most 24 months. Even in this scenario, the Fed has some tools to soften the blow and keep us out of a true deflationary spiral, but it'll be pretty bad. Not 2008 bad, but pretty bad.
If he goes farther than that and makes noises about not paying our creditors (which, by the way, is still mostly us; that's how enormous our economy is) and throwing up serious impediments to trade. Not the "roll back the IP and WTO tribunal" kind, but honest-to-god tariffs high enough to force manufacturing back to the US kind, it will make 2008 look like goddamned child's play. The rest of the world will evacuate the dollar, giving it up as a reserve currency. That will devastate banks all around the world even worse than 2008 because there will be no safe haven assets like there were then, aside perhaps from gold and other precious metals. The worst part is that the Fed won't be able to stop it this time. If he even believably hints at forcing bondholders to take a haircut, you can stick a fork in it.
Right now, we can do basically whatever we want economically because we are the global reserve currency. Our money is the world's store of value. There aren't enough precious metals to do the job. Our government is seen as very stable and willing to make good on its debts in the short term and an economy that can feasibly out-earn the growth in said debt. It is seen as essentially zero risk on any time scale that investors consider and businesses need. Some worry that it might be a bit of a risk 30 years from now, but nobody worries we won't redeem their bonds or drastically inflate our currency a month from now, a year from now, or even ten years from now.
If Trump says and does things to make people stop believing in that stability (note that this is orthogonal to his persecution of certain classes of people and all the other social baggage), we are all well and truly fucked. It won't matter who you are. The republic will not survive that in a recognizable form. It will be like someone pre-WWI seeing the country today. It is still going under the same name and the same notional system of government, but it has changed so drastically as to appear completely foreign to them. I don't think it is particularly likely he'll do anything quite that stupid. He has, after all, long had a penchant for saying whatever he has to to close the deal and then done almost the opposite.
Problem is, the mere risk of him following through will cause short term pain as the market prices in that uncertainty. It won't unravel anything between now and inauguration day, but people will be on edge so volatility will be high.
Overall, I'm thinking we'll probably see scenario 2, and if we're really lucky something closer to number 1. The man isn't stupid, he just lacks the wisdom to listen to advice and the self-restraint to keep from saying stupid shit. But if the results hold, we are a hell of a lot closer to the next global financial crisis than we were yesterday, and if that hits, I think that will pave the way for our worst fears in terms of possible fascism and bloodshed in the streets. If Trump does grenade the economy that badly, his supporters will very likely lash out and blame everyone else for sabatoging the country, and we are all quite keenly aware of where that usually goes.
posted by wierdo at 1:30 AM on November 9, 2016 [53 favorites]
First, the financial market carnage that is previewed by the futures markets will continue for a bit. They'll probably only take a dramatic plunge for a few days. By next week things will likely stabilize and maybe even inch upwards. How long that holds will probably depend on how holiday spending looks and how much of a rebound we end up having. The dollar will probably lose some value, but probably not as much as the pound has since Brexit. In a lot of ways, Brexit will be a decent guide to the short term financial effects.
We'll probably be OKish financially through the new year if Trump keeps quiet about his plans.
After that, there are two ways this could go. If he does fulfill his promises to spend on infrastructure and can get Congress to go along, things won't be too bad in the sense that the bottom won't fall out. That will hold true even if he passes his moronic tax plan. I suspect we'll see something akin to the 2002-2007 Bush economy with tepid growth, further increases in debt, and maybe a couple of stumbles along the way, but nothing too major, assuming he doesn't get us into any wars, threaten to repudiate the debt, track seriously towards protectionism, or any other shit like that. Economically, it won't be a whole lot worse than what we've had recently, but things won't be getting better if you aren't a top 5-10%er. The Fed can keep things from going truly to shit in this scenario.
The alternative, which I think is more likely, is that he basically cedes control to the Republicans in Congress, which gets us real austerity, along with his bigly tax cuts. That will lead to an economic slowdown here in the US that will reverberate across the world, dramatically amplifying the effects of Europe's continued refusal to do anything about their stagnation. That will, in turn, shoot back across the pond and throw us into a severe recession starting in at most 24 months. Even in this scenario, the Fed has some tools to soften the blow and keep us out of a true deflationary spiral, but it'll be pretty bad. Not 2008 bad, but pretty bad.
If he goes farther than that and makes noises about not paying our creditors (which, by the way, is still mostly us; that's how enormous our economy is) and throwing up serious impediments to trade. Not the "roll back the IP and WTO tribunal" kind, but honest-to-god tariffs high enough to force manufacturing back to the US kind, it will make 2008 look like goddamned child's play. The rest of the world will evacuate the dollar, giving it up as a reserve currency. That will devastate banks all around the world even worse than 2008 because there will be no safe haven assets like there were then, aside perhaps from gold and other precious metals. The worst part is that the Fed won't be able to stop it this time. If he even believably hints at forcing bondholders to take a haircut, you can stick a fork in it.
Right now, we can do basically whatever we want economically because we are the global reserve currency. Our money is the world's store of value. There aren't enough precious metals to do the job. Our government is seen as very stable and willing to make good on its debts in the short term and an economy that can feasibly out-earn the growth in said debt. It is seen as essentially zero risk on any time scale that investors consider and businesses need. Some worry that it might be a bit of a risk 30 years from now, but nobody worries we won't redeem their bonds or drastically inflate our currency a month from now, a year from now, or even ten years from now.
If Trump says and does things to make people stop believing in that stability (note that this is orthogonal to his persecution of certain classes of people and all the other social baggage), we are all well and truly fucked. It won't matter who you are. The republic will not survive that in a recognizable form. It will be like someone pre-WWI seeing the country today. It is still going under the same name and the same notional system of government, but it has changed so drastically as to appear completely foreign to them. I don't think it is particularly likely he'll do anything quite that stupid. He has, after all, long had a penchant for saying whatever he has to to close the deal and then done almost the opposite.
Problem is, the mere risk of him following through will cause short term pain as the market prices in that uncertainty. It won't unravel anything between now and inauguration day, but people will be on edge so volatility will be high.
Overall, I'm thinking we'll probably see scenario 2, and if we're really lucky something closer to number 1. The man isn't stupid, he just lacks the wisdom to listen to advice and the self-restraint to keep from saying stupid shit. But if the results hold, we are a hell of a lot closer to the next global financial crisis than we were yesterday, and if that hits, I think that will pave the way for our worst fears in terms of possible fascism and bloodshed in the streets. If Trump does grenade the economy that badly, his supporters will very likely lash out and blame everyone else for sabatoging the country, and we are all quite keenly aware of where that usually goes.
posted by wierdo at 1:30 AM on November 9, 2016 [53 favorites]
I've cried myself out and am going to try to sleep for two hours before I have to explain this to my son. I'm so sorry to all the mefites that wake up to this timeline.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
My internet (comcast) was just out for 50 minutes. That probably didn't cause me any anxiety at all. (My phone was choking on mefi.)
I keep coming back to the thing where we need to go high when they go low, etc., But right now I honestly don't even know how to cope let alone actually DO SOMETHING. I have been doing something my entire life. And I've already been told by a male tonight that I shouldn't be so upset about this election or the amount of hate the win involved. And just. FUCKING NO.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I keep coming back to the thing where we need to go high when they go low, etc., But right now I honestly don't even know how to cope let alone actually DO SOMETHING. I have been doing something my entire life. And I've already been told by a male tonight that I shouldn't be so upset about this election or the amount of hate the win involved. And just. FUCKING NO.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh, I meant to note that one strong reason why I think it'll take a year or two for it to really play out: The bureaucracy. Civil servants and the Fed will be bailing his ass out the entire way, but eventually all their obstruction of his terrible ideas will reach its limit. And at that point (assuming he does what he told the deplorables he'd do), it's off the cliff we go.
posted by wierdo at 1:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by wierdo at 1:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
So what the heck happens on November 28 when Trump plans to testify before Judge Curiel in the Trump University case?
posted by zachlipton at 1:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 1:33 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
Nothing that we thought matters actually matters.
The pessimistic view is that we really are in late capitalism where the postwar order has well and truly fucked, people are so angry so the usual rituals of American democracy are both quaint and ineffective in the face of a candidate who can tap into that anger. And indeed, not simply America but everywhere from Britain to India to the Philippines to Japan to Turkey and on and on and on are embracing similar characters.
I think it's partly that, but also because Trump taps into something unique to the American psyche: celebrity. He's a pop cultural icon, and instantly recognizable. The news networks were falling over themselves to get stories of his next outrageous exploit. They were his ground game. So he didn't need any of what mattered. It was the time for the outsider.
posted by Apocryphon at 1:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
The pessimistic view is that we really are in late capitalism where the postwar order has well and truly fucked, people are so angry so the usual rituals of American democracy are both quaint and ineffective in the face of a candidate who can tap into that anger. And indeed, not simply America but everywhere from Britain to India to the Philippines to Japan to Turkey and on and on and on are embracing similar characters.
I think it's partly that, but also because Trump taps into something unique to the American psyche: celebrity. He's a pop cultural icon, and instantly recognizable. The news networks were falling over themselves to get stories of his next outrageous exploit. They were his ground game. So he didn't need any of what mattered. It was the time for the outsider.
posted by Apocryphon at 1:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
I don't know how many people are still watchiing the votes but Michigan is actually razor tight. To the point where if it were decisive in the electoral count it would absolutely be worth Clinton asking for a recount and a full count of provisional ballots.
Not sure they will do that since PA flipped red, though.
posted by Justinian at 1:34 AM on November 9, 2016
Not sure they will do that since PA flipped red, though.
posted by Justinian at 1:34 AM on November 9, 2016
So what does matter?Trump said something in his victory speech about it being "not a campaign, but a movement." Maybe the answer lies there.
The top comment on HN seems to reflect this, though I don't know if I agree with its prescription:
It is possible to view this as an isolated event or a trend. Coming on the heels of BREXIT this is a trend.posted by Coventry at 1:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
The attempts at building an interconnected globalised world are beginning to fail. A bunch of elites decided to create their own trans-national utopia unchecked by borders and dismissed all criticism as racist or bigoted. The globalisation project has been rejected by a majority of the population. Whether it is for economic reasons or just plain bigotry is something for the sociologists to study and not something I can pontificate on.
Also people seem to care a LOT about immigration and preserving their culture. Instead of patronising these people it's time we tried to understand their concerns and try to assuage them.
There is no genuine leftist alternative. It's a choice between center-right "left" that's sold out to the establishment and the far right.Economists need to stop acting like priests in the medieval ages who justified the existing order . The rural voter who lost his job doesn't care about the theory of comparitive advantage.
If this trend holds this will soon take hold in France and other European nations. This is a return to the world of the 1920s. Not gloom and doom but a much more unstable global order with every country for itself. Not what we need when we face planet scale threats like global warming. Get out of your bubble.
Hang out more on subreddits you don't agree with.
The divide is bridged one person at a time.
denial
anger
bargaining
depression
acceptance
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
anger
bargaining
depression
acceptance
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
They're going to abrogate the Iran nuclear deal just like Bush II did with the N. Korea deal, leading to who knows what kind of geo-political consequences. They're going to ignore every climate change deal in place and actively work against any future deals. They're going to put at least one and probably more than a few hyper-conservative justices on the Supreme Court and try to roll back every civil rights gain of the last forty years. Is Obamacare over? I don't see how it isn't. A renewal of the Voting Rights Act? No chance. The Wall? I personally think it's kind unlikely but mass deportations and increased, aggressive ICE enforcement are much more likely and plenty bad on their own. They're going to appoint an attorney general who will at best be unsympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement and at worst considers it a domestic terrorist organization. Like with Brexit, there'll be an increase in the day-to-day hostility towards minorities, especially Muslims and Latinxs. If feel like crying and puking at the same time but somehow can't muster the strength.
posted by mhum at 1:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [34 favorites]
posted by mhum at 1:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [34 favorites]
I mentioned before that we were going to try in vitro, my husband and i.
We've changed our minds. We're not going to bring a brown child into this world.
posted by Tarumba at 1:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
We've changed our minds. We're not going to bring a brown child into this world.
posted by Tarumba at 1:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
Currently blasting Yorktown to get myself to leave my hotel room and go do my fucking job.
"When you knock me down, I get the fuck back up again"
posted by mrzarquon at 1:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
"When you knock me down, I get the fuck back up again"
posted by mrzarquon at 1:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
If anyone would like any other fabulous historical omens, as people have been pointing out on a certain listserv I subscribe to, today is the 217th anniversary of 18 Brumaire, 9 November 1799, when Napoleon seized power. See Matt Ford, A Thermidorian Reaction, The Atlantic (27 July 2016), for additional date coincidences.
I bet that article felt fun to write at the time ...
posted by Sonny Jim at 1:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I bet that article felt fun to write at the time ...
posted by Sonny Jim at 1:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
A San Francisco street corner late tonight.
posted by zachlipton at 1:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by zachlipton at 1:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can't fall asleep, so decided to write down the pie-in-the-sky things I'm focusing positive energy on:
1. Obama will be meeting with him. Make those meetings extensive, and free from advisers, and maybe Obama can scare him about the magnitude of the job and convince this former Democrat to flip on at least some issues or tone down his horribleness.
2. That Ivanka and Jared Kushner bring in some liberal influence and not just to their pet causes. That Jared's brother Josh (who founded the ACA insurer Oscar) might be able to influence them to keep some form of ACA.
3. That WE, THE PEOPLE are able to bait him into Twitter wars with GOP leaders and give the Dems an opportunity to pass some stuff with him (infrastructure, etc).
4. That he is too busy raiding the government to help his hotels and friends to do anything else.
5. That some Democratic leaders have the grace, patience and charm to bend his ear and gain a little influence. This guy is a friendless creep and all of his supporters are losers. I think he knows that.
6. Bill Clinton reaches out to him and they restart their utterly gross friendship, for the good of the country.
Yes in essence I propose we try to "turn" him (insert Mike Pence joke then weep). I mean why not? He has no lifelong principles/goals other than making money and feeling important.
posted by acidic at 1:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [47 favorites]
1. Obama will be meeting with him. Make those meetings extensive, and free from advisers, and maybe Obama can scare him about the magnitude of the job and convince this former Democrat to flip on at least some issues or tone down his horribleness.
2. That Ivanka and Jared Kushner bring in some liberal influence and not just to their pet causes. That Jared's brother Josh (who founded the ACA insurer Oscar) might be able to influence them to keep some form of ACA.
3. That WE, THE PEOPLE are able to bait him into Twitter wars with GOP leaders and give the Dems an opportunity to pass some stuff with him (infrastructure, etc).
4. That he is too busy raiding the government to help his hotels and friends to do anything else.
5. That some Democratic leaders have the grace, patience and charm to bend his ear and gain a little influence. This guy is a friendless creep and all of his supporters are losers. I think he knows that.
6. Bill Clinton reaches out to him and they restart their utterly gross friendship, for the good of the country.
Yes in essence I propose we try to "turn" him (insert Mike Pence joke then weep). I mean why not? He has no lifelong principles/goals other than making money and feeling important.
posted by acidic at 1:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [47 favorites]
I just wonder when they knew.
Her campaign went quiet about 6 hours ago, as the pundits were starting to say things like "we didn't expect him to do so well in these swing states". I assume that's when they started to get numbers. Those poor people. I can't imagine what they must be feeling right now, to have run so long and so hard into.. this.
posted by fight or flight at 1:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [24 favorites]
Her campaign went quiet about 6 hours ago, as the pundits were starting to say things like "we didn't expect him to do so well in these swing states". I assume that's when they started to get numbers. Those poor people. I can't imagine what they must be feeling right now, to have run so long and so hard into.. this.
posted by fight or flight at 1:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [24 favorites]
I'm assuming we are going to see a rust belt exodus. The blue cities will be growing in population, the gerrymandering is only going to leave us at a disadvantage, but I don't blame any at risk person from wanting to move to a state where they are going to accept you.
I am seeing state vs federal show downs now around immigration, deportations, and things like legalization of marijuana at such a scale. I really hope CA is able to just exonerate / expunge those criminal records before Trump ever gets into power.
posted by mrzarquon at 1:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
I am seeing state vs federal show downs now around immigration, deportations, and things like legalization of marijuana at such a scale. I really hope CA is able to just exonerate / expunge those criminal records before Trump ever gets into power.
posted by mrzarquon at 1:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
As someone who comes from a politically unstable country: Hillary needs to get the fuck out of the country right now.
France does not extradite, AFAIK
posted by Tarumba at 1:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
France does not extradite, AFAIK
posted by Tarumba at 1:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
This was a surprise because a *lot* of people lied to the pollsters. Not shamefully. Gleefully. A big 'FU' to the whole establishment, media included. They knew what they were doing. Polling agencies are going to need to develop strategies to handle bad actors like this in future.
This victory was nothing more than a primal scream. 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore'. Racism, homophobia, sexism -- we have to go up a whole level of consciousness to get to that. At this level, it's just raw reptilianism -- fear of exstential threat and a disturbing lack of empathy. And a group of elite bullies are using that to coast to power.
And the dread liberals feel tonight is pretty much what conservatives felt 8 years ago, rightly or wrongly. Welcome! You too can spend 4-8 years terrified by what the other side is going to do to you.
posted by zaixfeep at 1:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
This victory was nothing more than a primal scream. 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore'. Racism, homophobia, sexism -- we have to go up a whole level of consciousness to get to that. At this level, it's just raw reptilianism -- fear of exstential threat and a disturbing lack of empathy. And a group of elite bullies are using that to coast to power.
And the dread liberals feel tonight is pretty much what conservatives felt 8 years ago, rightly or wrongly. Welcome! You too can spend 4-8 years terrified by what the other side is going to do to you.
posted by zaixfeep at 1:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
I think her speechwriters did prepare one as a matter of course, but once she realized it was real and how devastated most of us are, she wanted to write something better.
posted by acidic at 1:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by acidic at 1:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I am horrified and uncomprehending. My parents lived through fascist Italy and WWII and this is what they've always described it as: hate, fear, anger at the other, grandstanding incompetence, self serving hunts for power aided by those with a vested interest in controlling and subjugating the people. I feel real icy terror for my children's future. It's like I just saw it vanish.
But I believe that we are stronger together. I know that. So let's get to work, friends. Let's get to work.
posted by lydhre at 1:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
But I believe that we are stronger together. I know that. So let's get to work, friends. Let's get to work.
posted by lydhre at 1:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
Y'know how your mind drifts off, like I'm supposed to be working but I've got the tv on in the background and then suddenly I snap to and it hits me and I realize this really happened. I just really can't grasp it. How did this happen?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Whoever said "When fascism comes to America, it will come draped in the flag and carrying a cross" was apparently being optimistic. All it took was "Hey guys, I'm a fascist. Who's with me?"
:(
posted by faceplantingcheetah at 1:51 AM on November 9, 2016 [77 favorites]
:(
posted by faceplantingcheetah at 1:51 AM on November 9, 2016 [77 favorites]
I feel like every bully, crank and sexual harasser I've ever encountered has been emboldened and their views enshrined in law and I am in despair.
posted by Space Kitty at 1:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [43 favorites]
posted by Space Kitty at 1:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [43 favorites]
From Richard Rorty’s Achieving Our Country: (1998)
Many writers on socioeconomic policy have warned that the old industrialized democracies are heading into a Weimar-like period, one in which populist movements are likely to overturn constitutional governments. Edward Luttwak, for example, has suggested that fascism may be the American future. The point of his book The Endangered American Dream is that members of labor unions, and unorganized unskilled workers, will sooner or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking or to prevent jobs from being exported. Around the same time, they will realize that suburban white-collar workers—themselves desperately afraid of being downsized—are not going to let themselves be taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else.
At that point, something will crack. The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking around for a strongman to vote for—someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots. A scenario like that of Sinclair Lewis’ novel It Can’t Happen Here may then be played out. For once a strongman takes office, nobody can predict what will happen. In 1932, most of the predictions made about what would happen if Hindenburg named Hitler chancellor were wildly overoptimistic.
One thing that is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past forty years by black and brown Americans, and by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back into fashion. The words “nigger” and “kike” will once again be heard in the workplace. All the sadism which the academic Left has tried to make unacceptable to its students will come flooding back. All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet.
posted by Apocryphon at 1:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [102 favorites]
Many writers on socioeconomic policy have warned that the old industrialized democracies are heading into a Weimar-like period, one in which populist movements are likely to overturn constitutional governments. Edward Luttwak, for example, has suggested that fascism may be the American future. The point of his book The Endangered American Dream is that members of labor unions, and unorganized unskilled workers, will sooner or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking or to prevent jobs from being exported. Around the same time, they will realize that suburban white-collar workers—themselves desperately afraid of being downsized—are not going to let themselves be taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else.
At that point, something will crack. The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking around for a strongman to vote for—someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots. A scenario like that of Sinclair Lewis’ novel It Can’t Happen Here may then be played out. For once a strongman takes office, nobody can predict what will happen. In 1932, most of the predictions made about what would happen if Hindenburg named Hitler chancellor were wildly overoptimistic.
One thing that is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past forty years by black and brown Americans, and by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back into fashion. The words “nigger” and “kike” will once again be heard in the workplace. All the sadism which the academic Left has tried to make unacceptable to its students will come flooding back. All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet.
posted by Apocryphon at 1:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [102 favorites]
The more I think about it, the more I'm struck by how we're living in a topsy-turvy bizarro version of the pre-WW2 universe. Amidst a period of economic weakness and global uncertainty, the US, UK, and Russia (plus potentially France) are being swept up in a fervor of xenophobic nationalist movements with authoritarian/fascist overtones. Meanwhile, Germany is the linchpin holding together an increasing fragile postwar coalition of democracies via its status as the financial powerhouse of Europe, with a leader who's acting as the world's strongest political advocate for open borders and multiculturalism.
It makes me genuinely wonder if we're headed for WWIII, and if this time America will be on the wrong side of history...
posted by prosopagnosia at 1:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
It makes me genuinely wonder if we're headed for WWIII, and if this time America will be on the wrong side of history...
posted by prosopagnosia at 1:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
This is interesting... The DNC tried to shape the discourse to elevate Trump.
posted by Coventry at 1:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Coventry at 1:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
I'm still watching the vote come in though I think I'm about done.
Clinton is virtually certain going to win the popular vote as stated but I think the electoral college results are way closer than we realized a few hours ago. Not in terms of who is going to win; Trump. But the margins he's winning by in the rust belt are tiny. He might end up just 10k up in Michigan out of 5,000,000 for example. So that's pretty agonizing.
posted by Justinian at 1:58 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
Clinton is virtually certain going to win the popular vote as stated but I think the electoral college results are way closer than we realized a few hours ago. Not in terms of who is going to win; Trump. But the margins he's winning by in the rust belt are tiny. He might end up just 10k up in Michigan out of 5,000,000 for example. So that's pretty agonizing.
posted by Justinian at 1:58 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
Oh, also, we have to really hope that he does make it his personal mission to destroy his primary opponents and GOPers who disparaged him. Don't care what happens to them, but it'll run down the clock. Too bad Kasich's not in Congress; he's a great target.
This is also the first president who can be tweaked by listening to someone talk on CNN. It's like we have a direct line to the Oval. We should use it.
posted by acidic at 1:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
This is also the first president who can be tweaked by listening to someone talk on CNN. It's like we have a direct line to the Oval. We should use it.
posted by acidic at 1:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I feel like every bully, crank and sexual harasser I've ever encountered has been emboldened and their views enshrined in law and I am in despair.
every rapist on earth has just received the ultimate validation for their acts
im ready for the meteor
posted by poffin boffin at 1:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [41 favorites]
every rapist on earth has just received the ultimate validation for their acts
im ready for the meteor
posted by poffin boffin at 1:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [41 favorites]
This is also the first president who can be tweaked by listening to someone talk on CNN. It's like we have a direct line to the Oval. We should use it.
I like this, although nation-states may also realize this.
posted by StrawberryPie at 2:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I like this, although nation-states may also realize this.
posted by StrawberryPie at 2:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
It makes me genuinely wonder if we're headed for WWIII, and if this time America will be on the wrong side of history...
If we're really going to remember Weimar, are we going to look forward to a Corbyn-Trudeau-Hollande alliance to liberate us? Merkel too, for the maximum irony.
posted by Apocryphon at 4:35 PM on March 29
posted by Apocryphon at 2:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
If we're really going to remember Weimar, are we going to look forward to a Corbyn-Trudeau-Hollande alliance to liberate us? Merkel too, for the maximum irony.
posted by Apocryphon at 4:35 PM on March 29
posted by Apocryphon at 2:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
This is interesting... The DNC tried to shape the discourse to elevate Trump.
posted by Coventry at 1:57 AM on November 9 [1 favorite +] [!]
Welp, that sure backfired. Had they but known of the masses of angry rural voters whose livelihoods were destroyed by NAFTA!
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 2:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Coventry at 1:57 AM on November 9 [1 favorite +] [!]
Welp, that sure backfired. Had they but known of the masses of angry rural voters whose livelihoods were destroyed by NAFTA!
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 2:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I saw comments that implied people replying to polls lied, but I didn't catch references to evidence. Was this actually the case? Was there an organized effort to lie to poll-takers?
posted by StrawberryPie at 2:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by StrawberryPie at 2:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
thanks for sacrificing the rest of us on your altar of ideological purity
no, thanks for giving us the same old, same old to vote for instead of real change, which is what the people wanted - even at the cost of electing a fascist buffoon
i was with her, but i'm afraid i'm done - done with the democrats, done with the system, done with our government, done with much of my country
it is time to prepare ourselves for the long road of real change and perhaps revolution - something that i know i probably won't live to see at my age
we tried it the democrat way and it hasn't worked
posted by pyramid termite at 2:06 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
no, thanks for giving us the same old, same old to vote for instead of real change, which is what the people wanted - even at the cost of electing a fascist buffoon
i was with her, but i'm afraid i'm done - done with the democrats, done with the system, done with our government, done with much of my country
it is time to prepare ourselves for the long road of real change and perhaps revolution - something that i know i probably won't live to see at my age
we tried it the democrat way and it hasn't worked
posted by pyramid termite at 2:06 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
This is interesting... The DNC tried to shape the discourse to elevate Trump.What's the provenance of that screenshot?
posted by Sonny Jim at 2:08 AM on November 9, 2016
It's not clear yet, StrawberryPie. The more likely explanation is that the pollster turnout models were WAY OFF.
posted by Justinian at 2:08 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by Justinian at 2:08 AM on November 9, 2016
I guess demography is only destiny if everybody votes.
Everyone saying you can't win on White Nationalism alone was dead wrong.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 2:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Everyone saying you can't win on White Nationalism alone was dead wrong.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 2:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I like this, although nation-states may also realize this.
I think they already know.
posted by vbfg at 2:09 AM on November 9, 2016
I think they already know.
posted by vbfg at 2:09 AM on November 9, 2016
pyramid termite: The Democratic Party seems like the only practical avenue for the left.
The Tea Party showed how to do it.
posted by Coventry at 2:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
The Tea Party showed how to do it.
posted by Coventry at 2:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Here in Germany this morning, the front page of the national non-tabloid newspaper Die Zeit has been coloured blood red. Hearing lots of 'Good morning and, yes, this is real' on the radio.
posted by romanb at 2:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by romanb at 2:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Sonny Jim: Wikileaks, apparently. I found it here.
posted by Coventry at 2:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Coventry at 2:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
CA and the other blue states don't have to put up with this shit. I've always said that but it will be interesting to see how it plays out now that the traditional barriers to "getting involved in politics" for business people media figures are gone.
posted by fshgrl at 2:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 2:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Another reason to look to 2018: A ton of Governor races are coming up then. We need to control as many states as possible in time for the next round of congressional redistricting otherwise we're never gonna fucking get out of this mess.
posted by en forme de poire at 2:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by en forme de poire at 2:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
If nothing else this has shown the weakness of modern leftist rhetoric built around call out culture and shouting about various -isms. It presumes people are playing by the same rules and find it shaming. But the model breaks down when people don't think they're racist and the wheels come off completely when that's considered a feature by a large portion of the population.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 2:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 2:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
I know you're not supposed to say this (denial) - but think about it. Everything Trump accuses of his opponents he is guilty of himself. Meanwhile, the polls have never been this far off since Dewey/Truman and back then they had a very primitive system compared to what we have now. You think Republicans are above cheating? I sure as fuck don't.
posted by fungible at 2:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
posted by fungible at 2:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet.
All this time, Bernie-leftists were saying it was economics, and Clinton-liberals were saying it was racism and identity politics. (Emphasizing those separate bits, at least.) Turns out one is influenced by the other. Both sides were part right, just neither could effectively create a combined plan to address both. (Not that they didn't try.)
Partly, as it's been mentioned before elsewhere, in America class isn't merely based on income or wealth. It's also a cultural perception thing. What the Democrats were selling to offset race-based resentment and economic frustration, it didn't culturally speak to all of those Rust Belt voters who wanted to stick it to the college profs and urban elites.
posted by Apocryphon at 2:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
All this time, Bernie-leftists were saying it was economics, and Clinton-liberals were saying it was racism and identity politics. (Emphasizing those separate bits, at least.) Turns out one is influenced by the other. Both sides were part right, just neither could effectively create a combined plan to address both. (Not that they didn't try.)
Partly, as it's been mentioned before elsewhere, in America class isn't merely based on income or wealth. It's also a cultural perception thing. What the Democrats were selling to offset race-based resentment and economic frustration, it didn't culturally speak to all of those Rust Belt voters who wanted to stick it to the college profs and urban elites.
posted by Apocryphon at 2:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
fshgrl: I posted in the state thread, but I am proud of CA today. It's small comfort obviously but we did good. Massive margins, mostly good proposition results, good state races. And, like I said, massive margins. Bigger than either '08 or '12 for Obama by a couple points.
posted by Justinian at 2:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 2:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
For the more politically astute, I just posted a question about the odds of Obamacare surviving a Trump presidency in AskMeFi. Yes, it's a grim depressing topic, but please check it out.
posted by Beholder at 2:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Beholder at 2:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
fungible: They learned from 2000. You don't have to fuck with the vote totals when you can stop people from voting in the first place. This wasn't voter fraud it was voter suppression+Comey. They didn't change the votes, they stopped the opposition from casting them in the first place.
That's my read anyway.
posted by Justinian at 2:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
That's my read anyway.
posted by Justinian at 2:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
Nothing unites people like mutual hatred.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 2:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 2:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Nah, you guys don't understand; they expect a literal wall. They will demand a literal wall. We need to keep reminding them about that wall. Day 105 of trumps presidency: where is the wall? Day 210: wall not even started. Day 355: no wall. Remember the wall? I saw 2 undocumented folks today. Where is the wall?
But reality and facts doesn't matter anymore. Go read Jay Rosen's final reflection on the press. This all started back with the rejection of "the reality-based community" and the GOP's "retreat from empiricism" in 2004. Romney, the spreadsheet-reading private capital guy, was the reality-based community's last stand. We're in fantasy-land now.
What's that have to do with a wall? Simple: you just point to a chunk of the border fence that already exists, hype up how many drones you've got patrolling the border, put out press releases about the deportations ICE already conducts right now under Obama, and you've got yourself a wall without ever building anything.*
I mean, they just about got away with Mission Accomplished; getting away with not building a wall is easy.
* The biggest problem, of course, and it's the one that has me just utterly crushed right now, is that DACA and DAPA can be ended with the stroke of a pen.
posted by zachlipton at 2:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
But reality and facts doesn't matter anymore. Go read Jay Rosen's final reflection on the press. This all started back with the rejection of "the reality-based community" and the GOP's "retreat from empiricism" in 2004. Romney, the spreadsheet-reading private capital guy, was the reality-based community's last stand. We're in fantasy-land now.
What's that have to do with a wall? Simple: you just point to a chunk of the border fence that already exists, hype up how many drones you've got patrolling the border, put out press releases about the deportations ICE already conducts right now under Obama, and you've got yourself a wall without ever building anything.*
I mean, they just about got away with Mission Accomplished; getting away with not building a wall is easy.
* The biggest problem, of course, and it's the one that has me just utterly crushed right now, is that DACA and DAPA can be ended with the stroke of a pen.
posted by zachlipton at 2:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
I remember the polls being more positive for Sanders vs. Trump than Clinton vs. Trump during the primaries, but polls also said Clinton was more likely to win during the general election. It was a non-incumbent election. It's very well possible that no one the Democrats ran would have been able to win this year.
posted by FJT at 2:16 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by FJT at 2:16 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh God, it really is like Brexit+
Worst year ever. It's not that America elected a mysogynistic idiot for President or that the UK is leaving the EU that worries. It's the rhetoric. Even after shamelessly standing on a rascist platform they won.
I'm starting to think that it's liberal ideology that is an anomaly. People really just ain't no good. I'm done with the affairs of man. The Planets got a fever and we elect politicians who will just keep raping and pillaging her for printed paper.
posted by twistedonion at 2:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
Worst year ever. It's not that America elected a mysogynistic idiot for President or that the UK is leaving the EU that worries. It's the rhetoric. Even after shamelessly standing on a rascist platform they won.
I'm starting to think that it's liberal ideology that is an anomaly. People really just ain't no good. I'm done with the affairs of man. The Planets got a fever and we elect politicians who will just keep raping and pillaging her for printed paper.
posted by twistedonion at 2:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
He might end up just 10k up in Michigan out of 5,000,000 for example. So that's pretty agonizing.
Tell me about it. I know it's totally irrational, but I feel personally responsible for that shit on some level because in my MI county, 10,305 people voted for Trump.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:21 AM on November 9, 2016
Tell me about it. I know it's totally irrational, but I feel personally responsible for that shit on some level because in my MI county, 10,305 people voted for Trump.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:21 AM on November 9, 2016
I can't do this. Today, in the high school office where I work (along with one other American, two Brits, a Kiwi, and a Canadian), there was hushed shock, and Japanese teachers asking us what happened. I had to leave the room because it just isn't in me to try to answer. That's not a cute turn of phrase, it's the literal truth. I don't have the strength to face their well meaning questions. I don't know how, in the morning, I'll deal with junior high students who have no idea what just happened, and who are more than likely to think it's hilarious.
I thought I'd burned all the hope out of myself a long time ago, thought I'd rid myself of any last vestige of faith in humanity, and holy shit, there's a burning pain in me telling me I hadn't.
I honestly don't want this world. I don't want to *be* in this world. I'm done with people, I'm done with belief or faith in any concept of any innate goodness in humanity. And I think I really need to quit teaching. Teachers have to have some hope that what they're doing has meaning, that the work they do is for a long term good, and I don't believe in any of that anymore.
I'll go on, because it's what I do. I'll wake up tomorrow, go to work, get through the day. And the day after that. But I can't see any way that I'm going to be living out my life just going through the motions, because I'm not willing to ever have hope or faith again.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:23 AM on November 9, 2016 [43 favorites]
I thought I'd burned all the hope out of myself a long time ago, thought I'd rid myself of any last vestige of faith in humanity, and holy shit, there's a burning pain in me telling me I hadn't.
I honestly don't want this world. I don't want to *be* in this world. I'm done with people, I'm done with belief or faith in any concept of any innate goodness in humanity. And I think I really need to quit teaching. Teachers have to have some hope that what they're doing has meaning, that the work they do is for a long term good, and I don't believe in any of that anymore.
I'll go on, because it's what I do. I'll wake up tomorrow, go to work, get through the day. And the day after that. But I can't see any way that I'm going to be living out my life just going through the motions, because I'm not willing to ever have hope or faith again.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:23 AM on November 9, 2016 [43 favorites]
I don't look forward to explaining this to my kids.
posted by drezdn at 2:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 2:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
OK, I'm too old to deal with this nonsense. Keep the Social Security and Medicare taps turned on and I won't bother you. If you voted for this asshat he's your problem. Let me know how it turns out. I'll be busy elsewhere...
posted by jim in austin at 2:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by jim in austin at 2:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
All the talk about desperate people voting for Trump because they are willing to take any change at all is complete bullshit. I know it's what the media was mostly pushing last night, but the facts just don't bear it out. If it were just the uninformed failing to realize that Hillary's platform would be better for them and not knowing the Republicans are the main reason nothing has gotten done, I might believe it.
However, this was not a change election in the slightest. If people really were just fed up, they'd have also thrown out Senators and Congresspeople left and right. They didn't, for the most part. The median Trump voter's income is above the median national income. Not only that, but above the median income for white people.
No, not change. Not economic desperation (for the most part, but I do suspect it got enough extra folks to the polls to give Trump his tiny margins to go with his tiny hands), almost entirely racism and misogyny. Trump voters knew precisely what they were doing. Trying to excuse them by saying they were desperate for change, any change, is a complete misread. It's worse than the mandate the media is already handing him. Amazing how when Republicans squeak by the media gives them free reign, but when Democrats win by much larger margins no such mandate is given.
posted by wierdo at 2:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [54 favorites]
However, this was not a change election in the slightest. If people really were just fed up, they'd have also thrown out Senators and Congresspeople left and right. They didn't, for the most part. The median Trump voter's income is above the median national income. Not only that, but above the median income for white people.
No, not change. Not economic desperation (for the most part, but I do suspect it got enough extra folks to the polls to give Trump his tiny margins to go with his tiny hands), almost entirely racism and misogyny. Trump voters knew precisely what they were doing. Trying to excuse them by saying they were desperate for change, any change, is a complete misread. It's worse than the mandate the media is already handing him. Amazing how when Republicans squeak by the media gives them free reign, but when Democrats win by much larger margins no such mandate is given.
posted by wierdo at 2:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [54 favorites]
no, jim in austin, something's got to be done
posted by pyramid termite at 2:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 2:28 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
I didn't know where to look for comfort, and then I remembered. JK Rowling's twitter account doesn't disappoint. Her message is that we continue to stand strong and fight, no matter what. She also says to eat chocolate. 🍫🍫🍫
Seems like I'm not the only one who went to her for comfort.
You can read her feed here
posted by Tarumba at 2:31 AM on November 9, 2016
Seems like I'm not the only one who went to her for comfort.
You can read her feed here
posted by Tarumba at 2:31 AM on November 9, 2016
Nah, you guys don't understand; they expect a literal wall. They will demand a literal wall.
IOKIYAR.
Seriously, they didn't want a physical wall. They wanted a WALL. They wanted a wall of prejudice, oppression of immigrants, and dominance of white people. They want Mexico to pay. They want all brown people to pay.
Oh, there will be some program or initiative. Thee will be photo ops. There will be billions of dollars spent, and lots of speeches. News segments about heavily armed guys wearing aviator glasses roaring around in humvees. And there will be a lot more people who will be stopped and asked for papers, if they're in the wrong neighborhoods. And the people working in the fields, factories and restaurants, who will still find ways into the US because they're needed for the economy, will find a different sort of wall.
There will be a wall. And people will die because of the wall. And he will be celebrated for that.
posted by happyroach at 2:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [33 favorites]
IOKIYAR.
Seriously, they didn't want a physical wall. They wanted a WALL. They wanted a wall of prejudice, oppression of immigrants, and dominance of white people. They want Mexico to pay. They want all brown people to pay.
Oh, there will be some program or initiative. Thee will be photo ops. There will be billions of dollars spent, and lots of speeches. News segments about heavily armed guys wearing aviator glasses roaring around in humvees. And there will be a lot more people who will be stopped and asked for papers, if they're in the wrong neighborhoods. And the people working in the fields, factories and restaurants, who will still find ways into the US because they're needed for the economy, will find a different sort of wall.
There will be a wall. And people will die because of the wall. And he will be celebrated for that.
posted by happyroach at 2:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [33 favorites]
My state has been single party across the board since 2011. The one thing we could rely on was Obama and to a lesser extent the Supreme Court. That's gone now. Every bad idea that the Republicans have been pulling at the state level is in play at the Federal one. SIFUABS
posted by drezdn at 2:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 2:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'd like to congratulate President Putin, Julian Assange, Alex Jones, as well as the heads of ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and the KKK. Also, Jill Stein.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [50 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [50 favorites]
No, not change. Not economic desperation (for the most part, but I do suspect it got enough extra folks to the polls to give Trump his tiny margins to go with his tiny hands), almost entirely racism and misogyny.
I think the Keepin' It 1600 folks had it right, as usual, that 3 types of people voted for Trump:
1. Trumpistas who dug the angry hate messages, etc.
2. Republicans who, when it comes down to it, vote red no matter what kind of mammal the party puts in the slot.
3. People who hate Hillary Clinton.
No one of those would be enough to do it. But there were enough highly motivated 1s and 3s to compensate for the probably smaller than usual number of 2s.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I think the Keepin' It 1600 folks had it right, as usual, that 3 types of people voted for Trump:
1. Trumpistas who dug the angry hate messages, etc.
2. Republicans who, when it comes down to it, vote red no matter what kind of mammal the party puts in the slot.
3. People who hate Hillary Clinton.
No one of those would be enough to do it. But there were enough highly motivated 1s and 3s to compensate for the probably smaller than usual number of 2s.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
The post-enlightenment dream of progress towards a rational future has sustained all kinds of politics of hope. There are deep problems with that. But if it is any comfort to anyone facing that today, it might be worth noting that there is no point in the history of humanity when the world was not full of crazy and when the figures of authority were not the craziest and most dangerous. It's been a bit quiet since WW2, for sure, but it is, unfortunately, business as usual.
An ethical stance starts with your lived centre, not with "society", which is, and will remain, turbulent. Seeing the mess that is society doesn't for a moment relieve or rob you of your ethical stance, your centre, your values.
posted by stonepharisee at 2:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [15 favorites]
An ethical stance starts with your lived centre, not with "society", which is, and will remain, turbulent. Seeing the mess that is society doesn't for a moment relieve or rob you of your ethical stance, your centre, your values.
posted by stonepharisee at 2:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [15 favorites]
If anti-NAFTA/out-sourcing was the thing, why the fuck did people vote for the guy who outsources!?!?!?!
posted by drezdn at 2:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 2:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
I am going to go teach a class with a number of Muslim students, a number of recent immigrants, and all but three are black. I don't what to say to them. I really, really don't.
You say, nations have weathered worse; sometimes it gets ugly, but they survive. You say, the shock of this is caused by people who believe their friend and their friends' friends and think that "those idiots" can't possible believe "that garbage." And you say, none of the disastrous things the worst trumpists want are going to happen right away, and many of them won't happen at all - Trump is a blowhard, not a schemer. He'll happily let the economy collapse and add arbitrary restrictions on immigration, but as far as kicking out people who are already here... that costs money and takes planning, and Trump sucks at both of those.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
You say, nations have weathered worse; sometimes it gets ugly, but they survive. You say, the shock of this is caused by people who believe their friend and their friends' friends and think that "those idiots" can't possible believe "that garbage." And you say, none of the disastrous things the worst trumpists want are going to happen right away, and many of them won't happen at all - Trump is a blowhard, not a schemer. He'll happily let the economy collapse and add arbitrary restrictions on immigration, but as far as kicking out people who are already here... that costs money and takes planning, and Trump sucks at both of those.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
Probably fewer and more lukewarm 2s, that is.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:35 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:35 AM on November 9, 2016
EMRJKC94, don't forget the media that normalized Trump while pounding on the "Clinton email" nothingburger. And James Comey, for that matter.
Donald Trump ran a bad campaign and had qualities that should have disqualified him a dozen times over. Yet the polls utterly failed to perceive a Republican wave election. Figuring out what happened there has to be the first step -- looking at the data, I'm sure we all thought Clinton had it in the bag. I know I did. But this year the Blue Wall fell.
posted by Gelatin at 2:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Donald Trump ran a bad campaign and had qualities that should have disqualified him a dozen times over. Yet the polls utterly failed to perceive a Republican wave election. Figuring out what happened there has to be the first step -- looking at the data, I'm sure we all thought Clinton had it in the bag. I know I did. But this year the Blue Wall fell.
posted by Gelatin at 2:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
I wonder if he can be bribed with real estate. He loooves that stupid Old Post Office. Can Paris lease him some prime property in exchange for staying in the Paris Agreement?
posted by acidic at 2:37 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by acidic at 2:37 AM on November 9, 2016
so many thoughts tonight.
I think the half-way-there approach to health care had a lot to do with this. You have millions of people paying increasing fees to the insurance companies that healthcare reform was meant to protect them from, with the threat of federal penalties if they don't. The Dems needed to throw out the usurers, and they failed. The republicans certainly played a large part in that failure by not implementing the ACA properly in the red states, and increasing the pain felt by their base, while laying the blame on the coastal elites. And the result - though well-intentioned on the part of the dems - looks like a big, continuing fuck-you from the federal government, who continue to roll around with the insurance companies.
I've observed this pain first hand in my brother, who lives in St Louis, who didn't get a college degree, who has struggled from one shit job to the next for years because of a bullshit conviction on his record. He's a good soul, and firmly in the anti-everyone camp politically.
And yeah, we almost certainly did get the best reform possible under the actual on-the-ground circumstances. But it wasn't enough. And the failure of the American system to create meaningful reform has pushed us into even further division.
Our system is broken. It's on a trajectory where creating further problems - emphasizing its broken-ness - is a path to power for... well, people like Trump. It begins to look like a self-reinforcing cycle of decay.
We need to focus on changes that bring up those who are low in the world, and focus on unequivocal goods, on reforms which objectively remove the pain. We need to start organizing in new ways. We need to stop unfriending people and start talking to them. We need to move out of the bay area, and stop ignoring the rusting interior. We absolutely have to stand up for racial justice, stand up for the environment, stand up for a better future. We have to be the ones who actually throw out the usurers. And that, it's clear now to me, means taking care of our brothers, and spreading love to the darkest parts of this nation.
posted by kaibutsu at 2:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
I think the half-way-there approach to health care had a lot to do with this. You have millions of people paying increasing fees to the insurance companies that healthcare reform was meant to protect them from, with the threat of federal penalties if they don't. The Dems needed to throw out the usurers, and they failed. The republicans certainly played a large part in that failure by not implementing the ACA properly in the red states, and increasing the pain felt by their base, while laying the blame on the coastal elites. And the result - though well-intentioned on the part of the dems - looks like a big, continuing fuck-you from the federal government, who continue to roll around with the insurance companies.
I've observed this pain first hand in my brother, who lives in St Louis, who didn't get a college degree, who has struggled from one shit job to the next for years because of a bullshit conviction on his record. He's a good soul, and firmly in the anti-everyone camp politically.
And yeah, we almost certainly did get the best reform possible under the actual on-the-ground circumstances. But it wasn't enough. And the failure of the American system to create meaningful reform has pushed us into even further division.
Our system is broken. It's on a trajectory where creating further problems - emphasizing its broken-ness - is a path to power for... well, people like Trump. It begins to look like a self-reinforcing cycle of decay.
We need to focus on changes that bring up those who are low in the world, and focus on unequivocal goods, on reforms which objectively remove the pain. We need to start organizing in new ways. We need to stop unfriending people and start talking to them. We need to move out of the bay area, and stop ignoring the rusting interior. We absolutely have to stand up for racial justice, stand up for the environment, stand up for a better future. We have to be the ones who actually throw out the usurers. And that, it's clear now to me, means taking care of our brothers, and spreading love to the darkest parts of this nation.
posted by kaibutsu at 2:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
Too tired to read more about it right now so it'll have to wait until tomorrow but I see reports online that Dem sources believe that the Comey letter did swing the election to Trump. The margins are smaller than the effect they saw from the letter. That's really not good.
posted by Justinian at 2:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 2:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
Woke up wondering which universe I had woken up in, checked news- turned out to be the crazy one again.
Christ, back in 2000 folk wrote about "the end of history", how everything was all sorted and we would have no more wars as we were all so advanced and cool. Then 9/11 which was used as an excuse for much fuckery. We'll look back on Islamic terrorism concerns as a fucking golden age- "Remember when we used to worry about a few maniacs? Anyway, back to the trenches lads."
How do you explain to a 5 year old that the guy you have called a bully, a racist and a fool is going to be the most powerful person on Earth? How do you teach kids about democracy when the system leads to periodic bursts of mentalists taking control appealing to the basest fears and insecurities?
Is our system so fucked that the "anger" from those who feel themselves disenfranchised is legitimate, or must we look them square in the eye and call them cowards and the enablers of evil?
They say in a democracy the people are asked what they want, then they get it given to them good and hard.
The temptation to wards nihilism is strong- to soothe your disappointment knowing that the folk that voted for evil will suffer (cf Brexit voting fools whose money and opportunities are cut off due to their blindness) but while this is true, those who voted against will suffer more. The change in atmosphere as to what is acceptable to say/do to minorities got so much worse post Brexit (400% rise in hate crimes in London is a figure the London Met has published). I am worried that in the US a minority of arseholes will take this as carte blanche that their hateful agenda is the will of the majority.
Historically high life expectancy and living standards. The ability to communicate practically for free with people across the globe. Technology that would have got you burnt as a witch previously, nestled in our pockets. Enough food to feed the world (albeit the way it is distributed means that it doesn't). Centuries of scientific improvement. The opportunity to learn from our past mistakes. All for nothing?
This year has been one continuous kick in the teeth.
posted by Gratishades at 2:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
Christ, back in 2000 folk wrote about "the end of history", how everything was all sorted and we would have no more wars as we were all so advanced and cool. Then 9/11 which was used as an excuse for much fuckery. We'll look back on Islamic terrorism concerns as a fucking golden age- "Remember when we used to worry about a few maniacs? Anyway, back to the trenches lads."
How do you explain to a 5 year old that the guy you have called a bully, a racist and a fool is going to be the most powerful person on Earth? How do you teach kids about democracy when the system leads to periodic bursts of mentalists taking control appealing to the basest fears and insecurities?
Is our system so fucked that the "anger" from those who feel themselves disenfranchised is legitimate, or must we look them square in the eye and call them cowards and the enablers of evil?
They say in a democracy the people are asked what they want, then they get it given to them good and hard.
The temptation to wards nihilism is strong- to soothe your disappointment knowing that the folk that voted for evil will suffer (cf Brexit voting fools whose money and opportunities are cut off due to their blindness) but while this is true, those who voted against will suffer more. The change in atmosphere as to what is acceptable to say/do to minorities got so much worse post Brexit (400% rise in hate crimes in London is a figure the London Met has published). I am worried that in the US a minority of arseholes will take this as carte blanche that their hateful agenda is the will of the majority.
Historically high life expectancy and living standards. The ability to communicate practically for free with people across the globe. Technology that would have got you burnt as a witch previously, nestled in our pockets. Enough food to feed the world (albeit the way it is distributed means that it doesn't). Centuries of scientific improvement. The opportunity to learn from our past mistakes. All for nothing?
This year has been one continuous kick in the teeth.
posted by Gratishades at 2:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
also, this is a thing I've been thinking about a lot:
"The emergence of new forces of urban factions, rural voters, and others, engaging in continued conflict with each other for their own interests, meant that the problem of effective governance awaited resolution. The populist government of the Gracchi had come to an end by violence; and this provided a brutal precedent that would be followed by many other rulers of Rome."
Irreconcilable differences between the rural and the urban don't lead to good places. When the strong-man takes power and fails to deliver on the promised change, the next thing to do is start blaming the remaining parts of the old order, or any other scape goat that can be found. And that's how you get to violence, purges, and the complete dismantlement of the democracy. A Trump presidency is extremely alarming; a failed Trump presidency is absolutely terrifying.
posted by kaibutsu at 2:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
"The emergence of new forces of urban factions, rural voters, and others, engaging in continued conflict with each other for their own interests, meant that the problem of effective governance awaited resolution. The populist government of the Gracchi had come to an end by violence; and this provided a brutal precedent that would be followed by many other rulers of Rome."
Irreconcilable differences between the rural and the urban don't lead to good places. When the strong-man takes power and fails to deliver on the promised change, the next thing to do is start blaming the remaining parts of the old order, or any other scape goat that can be found. And that's how you get to violence, purges, and the complete dismantlement of the democracy. A Trump presidency is extremely alarming; a failed Trump presidency is absolutely terrifying.
posted by kaibutsu at 2:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
I slept for 2 hours then woke up with a screaming panic attack. I don't know how I'm going to work today. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't stop shaking. Is it going to feel like this for the next 4 years?
posted by soren_lorensen at 2:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 2:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
Outside the Mormons who voted for McMullin, and prominent business and political figures who were embarrassed by/at Trump, the great Republican divide simply didn't happen. The people who voted for Romney voted for Trump, with some working class people who were dismayed by Romney's private equity stuff added in. The Romney --> Trump people chose to be quiet about it, though, having no personal percentage in being called names.
It will be fascinating to see the exit poll cross tabs about what the people who voted for Obama in 2012 did. I think they overwhelmingly voted for Clinton, with maybe some reduced turnout among marginally attached voters. But I think that could easily be wrong. Maybe those new Trump voters were former Obama voters?
posted by MattD at 2:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
It will be fascinating to see the exit poll cross tabs about what the people who voted for Obama in 2012 did. I think they overwhelmingly voted for Clinton, with maybe some reduced turnout among marginally attached voters. But I think that could easily be wrong. Maybe those new Trump voters were former Obama voters?
posted by MattD at 2:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
I've switched over to Al Jazeera and their summary of the Trump campaign just hit all the lowlights. "Her loss is more of a reflection of a broken electoral system" "If he has a strategy, it's nothing more than demagoguery"
Straight talk.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
Straight talk.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
This year has been one continuous kick in the teeth.
Yup.
posted by drezdn at 2:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yup.
posted by drezdn at 2:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
A Trump presidency is extremely alarming; a failed Trump presidency is absolutely terrifying.
and inevitable - i've often wondered if our next president would become the scapegoat for the inevitable crash that's coming for us - now we have that jackass for president and he's going to be like a deer in the headlights when the shit hits the fan - or he actually does something that sets things off early
the thought of trump as national scapegoat is appealing but it won't be worth the cost - even if the country is ruined, i wonder if that will be enough to wake up the people who voted for that man
posted by pyramid termite at 2:52 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
and inevitable - i've often wondered if our next president would become the scapegoat for the inevitable crash that's coming for us - now we have that jackass for president and he's going to be like a deer in the headlights when the shit hits the fan - or he actually does something that sets things off early
the thought of trump as national scapegoat is appealing but it won't be worth the cost - even if the country is ruined, i wonder if that will be enough to wake up the people who voted for that man
posted by pyramid termite at 2:52 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
the problem being that a sizable percentage of the american people suck and our culture is broken because of it
posted by pyramid termite at 2:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 2:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
Guys I spent some time in a pretty dark place earlier and was on the phone with the local suicide hol line and am now feeling better and have new rounds wirh my therapist set up. If you're despairing, take care of yourself. We can't help fight if we're not here. Love again.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [101 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [101 favorites]
This year has been one continuous kick in the teeth.
Yup, except for that one lovely, joyous if comparatively inconsequential thing that happened last week, which is now poisoned by being inextricably associated from now on with this other unthinkable thing. Thanks, you bastard.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:54 AM on November 9, 2016
Yup, except for that one lovely, joyous if comparatively inconsequential thing that happened last week, which is now poisoned by being inextricably associated from now on with this other unthinkable thing. Thanks, you bastard.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:54 AM on November 9, 2016
MAKE AMERICA VOTE AGAIN
posted by chavenet at 2:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 2:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Wow I got pretty quick to the NO MORE phase of news.
SAME. Lasted about ten minutes with NPR this morning after I went to bed early in an anxiety spin and woke up to Fear realized, knowing that I need to, for example, eat but not sure how.
I'm waiting for my spouse's job offer to land today - our ticket out of the South. Wondering if I should re-up my IUD early or just go straight for tubal ligation to be safe...
posted by circle at 2:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
SAME. Lasted about ten minutes with NPR this morning after I went to bed early in an anxiety spin and woke up to Fear realized, knowing that I need to, for example, eat but not sure how.
I'm waiting for my spouse's job offer to land today - our ticket out of the South. Wondering if I should re-up my IUD early or just go straight for tubal ligation to be safe...
posted by circle at 2:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Our country is about to be in ruins :( I know it wasn't the greatest country by any means, and there's always been fucked up things behind the scenes, but I love this place, I thought (and still think) that we can do better. How could this happen to us? 55 million+ people just told me and all of my friends and so many of you that they don't give a fuck about us. This is the most depressing day of my life.
posted by gucci mane at 2:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [25 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 2:57 AM on November 9, 2016 [25 favorites]
LA was bidding for the 2024 Olympics to be announced next year. The IOC are not fans of our new leader.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:58 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:58 AM on November 9, 2016
Did he not pay them?
posted by vbfg at 2:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by vbfg at 2:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
I really wish The Toast were still around.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
LA was bidding for the 2024 Olympics to be announced next year. The IOC are not fans of our new leader.
Like Brexit, the Trump vote is likely to have all sorts of unintended consequences.
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Like Brexit, the Trump vote is likely to have all sorts of unintended consequences.
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
The IOC are not fans of our new leader.
They are too much alike... unsubtle frauds.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
They are too much alike... unsubtle frauds.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I haven't been giving much rational and calm thought to these results but the one thing I keep coming back to is: how much damage will Trump have to do to get people to rethink things?
I don't mean to sound like I'm advocating for burn it to rebuild it because I'm not. I'm trying to grasp where the majority of American's point of action is. Obviously he has said so many horrible things and his policy is basically terrible but a heck of a lot of people just don't care or even like that.
posted by JakeEXTREME at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't mean to sound like I'm advocating for burn it to rebuild it because I'm not. I'm trying to grasp where the majority of American's point of action is. Obviously he has said so many horrible things and his policy is basically terrible but a heck of a lot of people just don't care or even like that.
posted by JakeEXTREME at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I can't believe Wisconsin re-elected useless suit-filler, Ron Johnson. Feingold was probably the closest politician to Bernie running as a Dem yesterday and he lost again to Ron "I only really care about Benghazi and Obama-care" Johnson.
posted by drezdn at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
My wife (who is from Russia) finds it all darkly hilarious: "See? This is where democracy gets you. You let stupid people decide what happens to your country".
Actually I have some complicated thoughts about it. I didn't celebrate when Thatcher died, because I've lived in a country with Putin and there are levels to this shit. Brexit screwed us up in the UK, but that's a regional problem, and there's a fair chance Scotland will stick with the EU (again it's, y'know, the implication that is horrifying). But it sounds like the political establishment in the US is going to be completely lopsided for the next two years, and merely being elected has not rendered Trump capable of doing the job. Plus a critical lost 4 years for climate change (human rights can be won back, coastlines less so). And the fact that a large number of Americans listened to what he had to say and voted for him anyway (see above re: implication).
Weirdly though, both political tantrums this year prove that democracy works. Even if it's harmful for the country, if it's crashing the economy, if it's everything that international elites don't want: the people vote, and it happens. It's like finding a bit of bone in your hamburger - it proves it's real meat. Cold comfort when you're choking on the bone though...
I guess for the near future it's a case of take care of yourselves and each other, and prepare for rising intolerance and sea levels.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 3:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
Actually I have some complicated thoughts about it. I didn't celebrate when Thatcher died, because I've lived in a country with Putin and there are levels to this shit. Brexit screwed us up in the UK, but that's a regional problem, and there's a fair chance Scotland will stick with the EU (again it's, y'know, the implication that is horrifying). But it sounds like the political establishment in the US is going to be completely lopsided for the next two years, and merely being elected has not rendered Trump capable of doing the job. Plus a critical lost 4 years for climate change (human rights can be won back, coastlines less so). And the fact that a large number of Americans listened to what he had to say and voted for him anyway (see above re: implication).
Weirdly though, both political tantrums this year prove that democracy works. Even if it's harmful for the country, if it's crashing the economy, if it's everything that international elites don't want: the people vote, and it happens. It's like finding a bit of bone in your hamburger - it proves it's real meat. Cold comfort when you're choking on the bone though...
I guess for the near future it's a case of take care of yourselves and each other, and prepare for rising intolerance and sea levels.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 3:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
In all seriousness I hope someone is able to make America great again.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
I wouldn't be shocked if, under Trump, the Republicans will start drafting every piece of legislation they can to limit voting.
posted by drezdn at 3:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 3:02 AM on November 9, 2016 [17 favorites]
how much damage will Trump have to do to get people to rethink things
Not to Godwin or anything but just look at history. So long as they remain populist they can get away with horrific crimes.
First thing Trump wants to do is ship immigrants home. Second, stop funding the fight against climate change and spend it on building more pointless shit.
Both these things would increase jobs for his core white male vote. Whether he gets to do these things is another thing, but the intent is there. If he isn't able to follow through on policy he looks good as he is fighting the system.
Not going to end well.
posted by twistedonion at 3:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not to Godwin or anything but just look at history. So long as they remain populist they can get away with horrific crimes.
First thing Trump wants to do is ship immigrants home. Second, stop funding the fight against climate change and spend it on building more pointless shit.
Both these things would increase jobs for his core white male vote. Whether he gets to do these things is another thing, but the intent is there. If he isn't able to follow through on policy he looks good as he is fighting the system.
Not going to end well.
posted by twistedonion at 3:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
another thing - if the republicans get tired of him and decide to impeach him, let's hope the democrats say no to conviction
"you break it, you bought it, you're stuck with it"
posted by pyramid termite at 3:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
"you break it, you bought it, you're stuck with it"
posted by pyramid termite at 3:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think there's almost no chance in hell of the Republicans impeaching him. They voted for the guy.
posted by drezdn at 3:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 3:09 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Tell me I'm over-reacting when I fear my children may not get to vote in a free election. Ever.
posted by papercake at 3:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by papercake at 3:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
i think you underestimate just how inept and stupid he really is
posted by pyramid termite at 3:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 3:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
I want to hear someone's definition of the "elite" that this election is supposed to be repudiating because I feel pretty fucking repudiated right now and I'm pretty far from an elite anything.
posted by soren_lorensen at 3:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 3:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
I'm calling it here first: Time Person of the Year 2016 will be "Stupid White Men"
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 3:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 3:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
I pray for an ineffective and inept 4 years.
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
He personally doesn't have to be effective. Paul Ryan will be. Trump just needs to be willing to sign anything Congress puts in front of him.
posted by drezdn at 3:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 3:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
I wouldn't be shocked if, under Trump, the Republicans will start drafting every piece of legislation they can to limit voting.
Oh, honey. The laws they have now obviously worked, so that's waaaaaaay down the Honey-Do list. O-Care is obviously first. Then abortion. Then what's left of the safety net. Then killing the EPA. Maybe OSHA, too. Then selling-off the parks.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
Oh, honey. The laws they have now obviously worked, so that's waaaaaaay down the Honey-Do list. O-Care is obviously first. Then abortion. Then what's left of the safety net. Then killing the EPA. Maybe OSHA, too. Then selling-off the parks.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:13 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
I'm not trying to minimize here, but it felt a lot like this when Bush won as well.
posted by davey_darling at 3:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by davey_darling at 3:14 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
But, what I really want to know is how soon PrezTrump will have the columns on the White House gilded?
posted by Thorzdad at 3:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 3:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm trying to grasp where the majority of American's point of action is.
We passed it. This *was* their action.
posted by mordax at 3:16 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
We passed it. This *was* their action.
posted by mordax at 3:16 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Side thoughts:
Not since Jimmy Carter's family was a first family so mocked. After Carter was out of office it continued, though respect grew for some people like Miss Lillian and for his sister Jean.
Hollywood insiders must be apoplectic.
Who's going to play at the Inauguration Ball...Ted Nugent? Charlie Daniels?
DT will need to stay at the White House, which (really isn't) a Trump property.
Now I'm off to work, where the mood will be funereal and we'll be preparing for a potential shutdown. Hands shaking as I type this.
/sidethoughts
posted by datawrangler at 3:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not since Jimmy Carter's family was a first family so mocked. After Carter was out of office it continued, though respect grew for some people like Miss Lillian and for his sister Jean.
Hollywood insiders must be apoplectic.
Who's going to play at the Inauguration Ball...Ted Nugent? Charlie Daniels?
DT will need to stay at the White House, which (really isn't) a Trump property.
Now I'm off to work, where the mood will be funereal and we'll be preparing for a potential shutdown. Hands shaking as I type this.
/sidethoughts
posted by datawrangler at 3:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I want to hear someone's definition of the "elite" that this election is supposed to be repudiating
According to Trump, you could start with the 50 national security officials who signed a letter denouncing him the other day.
posted by Coda Tronca at 3:17 AM on November 9, 2016
According to Trump, you could start with the 50 national security officials who signed a letter denouncing him the other day.
posted by Coda Tronca at 3:17 AM on November 9, 2016
When Walker "dropped the bomb" on Wisconsin, I was frustrated with the rest of the state, such that I didn't want to travel outside of the city much. I feel like that now. Hell, I planned on going to the train show this weekend and I don't even want to do that because it skews conservative and there will be ridiculous pro-Trump bits.
posted by drezdn at 3:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 3:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Anybody in the arts who wants to keep their enterprise funded by government dollars will play ball, but it's going to be very hard to watch that process.
posted by datawrangler at 3:20 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by datawrangler at 3:20 AM on November 9, 2016
"We have met the enemy and he is us." -Walt Kelly, "Pogo"
posted by the painkiller at 3:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by the painkiller at 3:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
DT will need to stay at the White House, which (really isn't) a Trump property.
I have a feeling he'll refuse to, or find a way around this.
posted by drezdn at 3:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have a feeling he'll refuse to, or find a way around this.
posted by drezdn at 3:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm not trying to minimize here, but it felt a lot like this when Bush won as well.
Admittedly I was in my early 20s, but this is qualitatively different from both 2000 and 2004 for me in that at least you knew mostly what you were getting with Bush. It sucked, but it was largely predictable.
What are the next four years going to hold? I don't think anybody really knows. Trump isn't just a rubber stamp yes man. He will do crazy, uncontrollable things that embarrass all reasonable people and torch America's name.
We just don't know what those things are yet.
posted by uncleozzy at 3:22 AM on November 9, 2016 [29 favorites]
Admittedly I was in my early 20s, but this is qualitatively different from both 2000 and 2004 for me in that at least you knew mostly what you were getting with Bush. It sucked, but it was largely predictable.
What are the next four years going to hold? I don't think anybody really knows. Trump isn't just a rubber stamp yes man. He will do crazy, uncontrollable things that embarrass all reasonable people and torch America's name.
We just don't know what those things are yet.
posted by uncleozzy at 3:22 AM on November 9, 2016 [29 favorites]
DT will need to stay at the White House, which (really isn't) a Trump property.
I am looking forward, in a bleak sort of way, to the Oval Office redecoration.
posted by tavegyl at 3:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am looking forward, in a bleak sort of way, to the Oval Office redecoration.
posted by tavegyl at 3:25 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm not trying to minimize here, but it felt a lot like this when Bush won as well.
Yeah, and that ended with 6000 American troops dead in Iraq and Afghanistan, half a million dead Iraqi civilians, and ISIS. And that's just off the top of my head.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 3:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
Yeah, and that ended with 6000 American troops dead in Iraq and Afghanistan, half a million dead Iraqi civilians, and ISIS. And that's just off the top of my head.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 3:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
I feel like I'm in a Philip K. Dick novel.
nope. margaret atwood. sorry.
Closer, but I think Kafka: “There is an infinite amount of hope in the universe ... but not for us.”
posted by kozad at 3:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [19 favorites]
nope. margaret atwood. sorry.
Closer, but I think Kafka: “There is an infinite amount of hope in the universe ... but not for us.”
posted by kozad at 3:26 AM on November 9, 2016 [19 favorites]
To me, this feels utterly fucking different than 2000. In 2000, I thought we were just going to get a shitty Republican president, but that the rules of the game were fundamentally going to stay the same.
More fool me, since 9/11 let the Republicans redefine our social fabric.
My husband is sitting in the half-light in the other room, holding our infant son who woke up yelling a few minutes ago. I having no fucking idea what kind of world my child will grow up in, or whether, as a visibly non-white person who may be queer, who may become disabled, who may fight in the ground wars that flow out of this presidency, he will have a chance at all.
posted by joyceanmachine at 3:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [28 favorites]
More fool me, since 9/11 let the Republicans redefine our social fabric.
My husband is sitting in the half-light in the other room, holding our infant son who woke up yelling a few minutes ago. I having no fucking idea what kind of world my child will grow up in, or whether, as a visibly non-white person who may be queer, who may become disabled, who may fight in the ground wars that flow out of this presidency, he will have a chance at all.
posted by joyceanmachine at 3:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [28 favorites]
So I went to bed last night knowing this wasn't looking good. At all. Then I couldn't sleep, but was too terrified to look at my phone. At what point in the night did our world shift into a dystopian nightmare? How is this real?
I am calling out sick today. To those of you able to go to work and function, you are awesome and a more civil person than me.
posted by nightrecordings at 3:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
I am calling out sick today. To those of you able to go to work and function, you are awesome and a more civil person than me.
posted by nightrecordings at 3:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
I will be entering a self-imposed media and social media blackout for a while, as I grieve for the future that was lost last night, come to terms with the world in which we are now living, and give the wounds in my heart some time to begin healing. If you are feeling distraught, anxious, despondent, or otherwise upset after last night's results, I suggest you consider doing the same. Either way, let's all take time to gather with our loved ones, to grieve, and to take care of ourselves. For we must fight on. We must not give in to despair. There are hard times ahead, and we must prepare to meet them head-on. I will be gone from this space for a little while, but I will return. I love you all, and I wish you peace, strength, and safety.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [20 favorites]
Can we stop saying that it was people hurt by things like NAFTA that won it for Trump. Voters making under 50k backed Hillary. Trump won people over 50k.
posted by drezdn at 3:29 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 3:29 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
Closer, but I think Kafka.
JG Ballard seems the obvious choice here. I just finished Millennium People and it made for some f-ing deeply unnerving election reading, let me tell you.
posted by reedbird_hill at 3:30 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
JG Ballard seems the obvious choice here. I just finished Millennium People and it made for some f-ing deeply unnerving election reading, let me tell you.
posted by reedbird_hill at 3:30 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
A man who had the enthusiastic backing of the Ku Klux Klan was elected to the most powerful office in the world. The sickness and moral rot in this country are just beyond words, and no amount of brave talk can cover it up.
posted by informavore at 3:30 AM on November 9, 2016 [65 favorites]
posted by informavore at 3:30 AM on November 9, 2016 [65 favorites]
I'm not American and don't live there. I'm Canadian-but-legally-British living in the UK. I just send the same email to a friend, verbatim, that I sent post-Brexit. The short version:
In a weird way this proves democracy works. The international business elite and the global neo-liberal structure did not want this. At all. And yet, here we are.
posted by generichuman at 3:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
In a weird way this proves democracy works. The international business elite and the global neo-liberal structure did not want this. At all. And yet, here we are.
posted by generichuman at 3:31 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
I am calling out sick today.
It's tough and I'm not even American. Good luck with your day, remember all despair gives you is a headache and sore stomach. Anxiety is the enemy.
posted by twistedonion at 3:32 AM on November 9, 2016
It's tough and I'm not even American. Good luck with your day, remember all despair gives you is a headache and sore stomach. Anxiety is the enemy.
posted by twistedonion at 3:32 AM on November 9, 2016
This was a surprise because a *lot* of people lied to the pollsters.
The simpler explanation is that the pollsters asked the wrong people. Maybe their "likely voter" lists didn't reflect the actual voters.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
The simpler explanation is that the pollsters asked the wrong people. Maybe their "likely voter" lists didn't reflect the actual voters.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
Hey, he's a reputed billionaire property developer, reality-TV star, brand manager... what can possibly go wrong?
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:33 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:33 AM on November 9, 2016
Trump isn't just a rubber stamp yes man. He will do crazy, uncontrollable things
I honestly don't know. The last week or so before the election, where his access to Twitter was cut off, and he seemed almost calm at rallies? That showed he can be handled. He's a blowhard and a bully, and they are susceptible to flattery. The GOP will have a babysitter taking care of him, assuring him that all these great bills are his idea, and he should sign them. Sure, they'll let him have his moments to vent, but for the most part, the republicans have free reign for the next two, if not four years. And even better, we've got a businessman who's solution to failing is bankruptcy. Hopefully someone can explain how that doesn't work with nations.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I honestly don't know. The last week or so before the election, where his access to Twitter was cut off, and he seemed almost calm at rallies? That showed he can be handled. He's a blowhard and a bully, and they are susceptible to flattery. The GOP will have a babysitter taking care of him, assuring him that all these great bills are his idea, and he should sign them. Sure, they'll let him have his moments to vent, but for the most part, the republicans have free reign for the next two, if not four years. And even better, we've got a businessman who's solution to failing is bankruptcy. Hopefully someone can explain how that doesn't work with nations.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Distraught American liberals should apply to migrate to Australia.
Between us, we should be able to ensure no RWNJ government is ever elected here again.
Plus, there's always New Zealand as our fallback option.
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Between us, we should be able to ensure no RWNJ government is ever elected here again.
Plus, there's always New Zealand as our fallback option.
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
They'll just start the titles of all the bills with "The Donald Trump Act to Make America Great Again by [terrible thing]" and he'll sign it.
posted by drezdn at 3:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 3:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
JG Ballard seems the obvious choice here.
Or maybe Norman Spinrad?
posted by Dr Dracator at 3:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Or maybe Norman Spinrad?
posted by Dr Dracator at 3:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm having trouble articulating any thoughts right now. Mostly I'm curious about exit poll data because that will give us a better idea of what the hell happened (and why). People were angry and motivated to vote.
Clinton just passed Trump in the popular vote count on NYT, though! 58,875,708 votes to 58,842,289. That is a heartening fact that nobody should forget, despite its lack of real-world consequences at this point.
posted by ropeladder at 3:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
Clinton just passed Trump in the popular vote count on NYT, though! 58,875,708 votes to 58,842,289. That is a heartening fact that nobody should forget, despite its lack of real-world consequences at this point.
posted by ropeladder at 3:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
Trump isn't just a rubber stamp yes man. He will do crazy, uncontrollable things
He's a lazy CEO. He's not the idea guy. He's just the promoter of whatever idea his "team" thinks is best. The BIG question is who will be the main idea man behind him? Pence? Ghouliani and the rest of the Cabinet? That's where you need to be looking for clues.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
He's a lazy CEO. He's not the idea guy. He's just the promoter of whatever idea his "team" thinks is best. The BIG question is who will be the main idea man behind him? Pence? Ghouliani and the rest of the Cabinet? That's where you need to be looking for clues.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:38 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
On the one hand, Trump didn't just beat Hillary, he beat the establishment candidates in the Republican party also, everyone single one. For a lot of reasons (some good, some not) people are very glad to go with something totally new, even if its dangerous. That's understandable in the general.
On the other hand, just had someone in distant family passively aggressively gloat at me on Facebook and my first thought was not a pretty one, so strap in, Thanksgiving will be not be fun.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:39 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
On the other hand, just had someone in distant family passively aggressively gloat at me on Facebook and my first thought was not a pretty one, so strap in, Thanksgiving will be not be fun.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:39 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
Hey, he's a reputed billionaire property developer, reality-TV star, brand manager... what can possibly go wrong?
He is America's Silvio Berlusconi, but beyond worse.
posted by nightrecordings at 3:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
He is America's Silvio Berlusconi, but beyond worse.
posted by nightrecordings at 3:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
Just deleted all the political feeds from my Twitter, Facebook and Newsblur. I just can't. I may have to drop away from Metafilter for a while. I love you all but I need to tend to my physical and mental health. Keep well.
posted by octothorpe at 3:42 AM on November 9, 2016 [56 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 3:42 AM on November 9, 2016 [56 favorites]
I just want to thank everyone for the wonderful community we had here. I am going to take Anticipation's suggestion:
Thanks to the mods for letting this technical and social nightmare dominate their time. I wish everyone well.
posted by mmoncur at 3:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
I will be entering a self-imposed media and social media blackout for a while, as I grieve for the future that was lost last night, come to terms with the world in which we are now living, and give the wounds in my heart some time to begin healing. If you are feeling distraught, anxious, despondent, or otherwise upset after last night's results, I suggest you consider doing the same.I'll be leaving Mefi for at least a few days, and Facebook probably longer. I have to take care of myself and my family and then I can think about what to do for the future.
Thanks to the mods for letting this technical and social nightmare dominate their time. I wish everyone well.
posted by mmoncur at 3:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
I can't wait for him to start walking back building the wall (he will because it's literally fucking impossible)
The wall is already being built. Not with bricks and mortar, but...I work for an NGO that, in part, resettles refugees here. Just yesterday in a new-employee orientation, we discussed how there are four governors that have recently announced that they are dropping out of the naitonal program to resettle refugees in their state. It's the federal government that resettles refugees, so technically that's an empty gesture, but still, four states stood up and publically said "not here." And it was after Trump spoke in 2015 about banning Syrian immigration that thiey started dropping out.
The wall is already being built. It is being built with people say "not here", saying "we don't want you". It is being built each time it's someone in power who says that.
The refugee resettlement initiatives are federal programs, and we just had Trump elected president. Trump didn't build the wall, he himself is the last brick.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [49 favorites]
The wall is already being built. Not with bricks and mortar, but...I work for an NGO that, in part, resettles refugees here. Just yesterday in a new-employee orientation, we discussed how there are four governors that have recently announced that they are dropping out of the naitonal program to resettle refugees in their state. It's the federal government that resettles refugees, so technically that's an empty gesture, but still, four states stood up and publically said "not here." And it was after Trump spoke in 2015 about banning Syrian immigration that thiey started dropping out.
The wall is already being built. It is being built with people say "not here", saying "we don't want you". It is being built each time it's someone in power who says that.
The refugee resettlement initiatives are federal programs, and we just had Trump elected president. Trump didn't build the wall, he himself is the last brick.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [49 favorites]
By the way, my understanding is that white people in every single demographic broken down on age, gender, college education -- they went for Trump.
Meanwhile, every single nonwhite version of those demographics went for Hillary.
So every single white person even thinking bout posting some billshit to Metafilter about how this was about how the Democrats shoulda nominated a leftist or this was about NAFTA or any fucking thing at all besides how far many, many, many of your fellow white people will go to enforce the systems that protect white people at the expense of everyone else, whether that was in the form of actually voting for Trump or voting third party or posting the nonsense that you are about to do
take a long, hard look at yourself
and then come collect your goddamn trash.
posted by joyceanmachine at 3:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [97 favorites]
Meanwhile, every single nonwhite version of those demographics went for Hillary.
So every single white person even thinking bout posting some billshit to Metafilter about how this was about how the Democrats shoulda nominated a leftist or this was about NAFTA or any fucking thing at all besides how far many, many, many of your fellow white people will go to enforce the systems that protect white people at the expense of everyone else, whether that was in the form of actually voting for Trump or voting third party or posting the nonsense that you are about to do
take a long, hard look at yourself
and then come collect your goddamn trash.
posted by joyceanmachine at 3:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [97 favorites]
Post title to be used sometime within the next four years: Oceans Rise, Empires Fall
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:43 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
I'm not sure the poll data was horrible based on who was polled. I just think huge chunks of people weren't polled such as middle age people who voted for the very first time. I can name at least five people that I know who all voted for the first time and they are all 45 years old+.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 3:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 3:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
my understanding is that white people in every single demographic broken down on age, gender, college education -- they went for Trump.
less than 50% of young white voters, and less than 50% of college educated white voters, voted trump.
vice.
(sorry, after posting, i read the rest of your post and realised i ended up "defending whites" which wasn't really my intention; i just saw the first few lines and noticed they were wrong, factually. i agree white voters in general have a lot to think about).
posted by andrewcooke at 3:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
less than 50% of young white voters, and less than 50% of college educated white voters, voted trump.
vice.
(sorry, after posting, i read the rest of your post and realised i ended up "defending whites" which wasn't really my intention; i just saw the first few lines and noticed they were wrong, factually. i agree white voters in general have a lot to think about).
posted by andrewcooke at 3:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Meanwhile, every single nonwhite version of those demographics went or [sic] Hillary.
No, that's not the case.
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
No, that's not the case.
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I honestly don't know. The last week or so before the election, where his access to Twitter was cut off, and he seemed almost calm at rallies? That showed he can be handled.
He only seemed "almost calm" by the incredibly low bar he set for himself. Even in the final stretch, he continued to repeat lies like the claim that the US is the highest taxed country in the world (not even remotely close), his campaign had people claiming a protester with a sign was an "assassination attempt," surrogates like Conway and Hughes continued to pedal nonsense, "joked" we should just cancel the election and give it to him, had a surrogate tweeting racist tweets, ranted about the election being "rigged" because lots of people were in line late at night to vote in Nevada, and even just today, his campaign sent a construction lawyer to badly argue a ridiculous lawsuit in Nevada over the same issue.
Not starting a Twitter war at 3am and doing a terrible job reading off a teleprompter are really, really low standards for a President.
posted by zachlipton at 3:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
He only seemed "almost calm" by the incredibly low bar he set for himself. Even in the final stretch, he continued to repeat lies like the claim that the US is the highest taxed country in the world (not even remotely close), his campaign had people claiming a protester with a sign was an "assassination attempt," surrogates like Conway and Hughes continued to pedal nonsense, "joked" we should just cancel the election and give it to him, had a surrogate tweeting racist tweets, ranted about the election being "rigged" because lots of people were in line late at night to vote in Nevada, and even just today, his campaign sent a construction lawyer to badly argue a ridiculous lawsuit in Nevada over the same issue.
Not starting a Twitter war at 3am and doing a terrible job reading off a teleprompter are really, really low standards for a President.
posted by zachlipton at 3:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Mod note: One deleted. Sorry folks, but we won't be having any "kill them before they kill us" type of posting here, or violent fantasies / proposals. Also, if you are feeling the need to rage, I totally get you, but pretty much every single person here is in pain and coping as well as they can. Please don't use this as a place to lash out. Thanks.
posted by taz (staff) at 3:49 AM on November 9, 2016 [28 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 3:49 AM on November 9, 2016 [28 favorites]
I don't think that the reason the Democrats lost an election that hinged on white nationalism is the failure to nominate a Jewish socialist.
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:49 AM on November 9, 2016 [116 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:49 AM on November 9, 2016 [116 favorites]
I think my alcohol is wearing off and I still am afraid to go to sleep. Because if I try to sleep I will have to think, instead of just reading comments. But I feel a need to try to take personal stock.
I'm in a much better personal position to face this disaster now that I was a few months ago. Our income is better, and we have employer-provided health insurance, even though it is actually costing us significantly more than our ACA plan. So we're not facing literal death if the ACA is repealed. Us personally, with both of us having chronic conditions.
There's no option of us moving. Not out of the country, not to a blue state. This was the first conversation we had this morning.
I run two small businesses. It's so impossible to even think about them right now. How do I ask people to buy frivolous stuff from me when I want to advise them all to save their money in case of apocalypse. During the Bush administration I was a social worker, not a capitalist. I only do this now because I couldn't physically be a social worker anymore.
I was barely worrying about the election this week because I have been stressing so hard getting ready for a vending event this coming weekend, and dealing with my health getting in the way of that. Last night I came close to writing the whole thing off and cancelling because the bother just wasn't worth it. Surely no one will be buying stuff they can live without NOW. But some people who will be there talked me round. So at least I'll be with friends. But I'll also be with a lot of Trump voters. I'm going to be so, so drunk.
Oh, and I may have started smoking again tonight. I haven't cried yet. I'm afraid if I do I won't stop. I keep turning it round into anger. But I had to stop reading FB or I was going to lose it. Final straw was a black man, a friend, posting about how we need to take care of the people more vulnerable than us and stand with immigrants and women and trans and queer people.
posted by threeturtles at 3:51 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
I'm in a much better personal position to face this disaster now that I was a few months ago. Our income is better, and we have employer-provided health insurance, even though it is actually costing us significantly more than our ACA plan. So we're not facing literal death if the ACA is repealed. Us personally, with both of us having chronic conditions.
There's no option of us moving. Not out of the country, not to a blue state. This was the first conversation we had this morning.
I run two small businesses. It's so impossible to even think about them right now. How do I ask people to buy frivolous stuff from me when I want to advise them all to save their money in case of apocalypse. During the Bush administration I was a social worker, not a capitalist. I only do this now because I couldn't physically be a social worker anymore.
I was barely worrying about the election this week because I have been stressing so hard getting ready for a vending event this coming weekend, and dealing with my health getting in the way of that. Last night I came close to writing the whole thing off and cancelling because the bother just wasn't worth it. Surely no one will be buying stuff they can live without NOW. But some people who will be there talked me round. So at least I'll be with friends. But I'll also be with a lot of Trump voters. I'm going to be so, so drunk.
Oh, and I may have started smoking again tonight. I haven't cried yet. I'm afraid if I do I won't stop. I keep turning it round into anger. But I had to stop reading FB or I was going to lose it. Final straw was a black man, a friend, posting about how we need to take care of the people more vulnerable than us and stand with immigrants and women and trans and queer people.
posted by threeturtles at 3:51 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
So, now that the media has succeeded in their decades-long quest to take out a Clinton, maybe they can use some of their newly found free time to do some fact-based reporting?
Just a thought.
posted by tocts at 3:51 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
Just a thought.
posted by tocts at 3:51 AM on November 9, 2016 [13 favorites]
The one thing I'm hoping for now is that Trump gives the horrible Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke a spot in his administration.
posted by drezdn at 3:53 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 3:53 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
So, now that the media has succeeded in their decades-long quest to take out a Clinton, maybe they can use some of their newly found free time to do some fact-based reporting?
In terms of available man-hours, the media's free time has only shrunk. The Internet has reduced the number of people being paid to report on stuff.
posted by ocschwar at 3:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
what happens after Trump scuttles the Iran deal, Iran starts spinning its centrifuges again because why not, and the Saudis get nukes to stand off with Iran
i think the current hope is that nuclear winter fixes global warming.
posted by andrewcooke at 3:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
i think the current hope is that nuclear winter fixes global warming.
posted by andrewcooke at 3:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is me: ‘I Feel the Hatred.’ Mexicans Reel in Shock After Trump Victory
posted by Omon Ra at 3:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Omon Ra at 3:54 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
What do we do? I'm all for working within the system, generally, but there are a number of actually life-and-death things going on here, between the Republicans in general and Trump in particular being completely unqualified to deal with the current diplomatic/military situation and of course the climate change issue that requires seriously for real right now drastic action, and in four years things will be worse and the system will be even more rigged against change. It will be too late for many, and those of us that make it will have to deal with the fallout of those years probably until our deaths. "They go low, we go high" isn't going to work because a lot of us will be too dead to go high. We need something that can start working immediately.
posted by IAmUnaware at 3:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by IAmUnaware at 3:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
I can't bear to go to work today. I haven't slept much. I feel so much despair and fear and I keep crying. For the first time I've had the thought that I'm so glad I don't have grandchildren. I am taking Anticipation's advice to stay away from media and social media for a while until I can gather some strength to fight again. I never want to see Facebook again. Just for today I'm giving myself permission to stay in a cocoon of sleep, novels, and quiet. Tomorrow I will get back out in the world and stand up for what is right. But there are some people in my life that I really never want to see again. Thank you for being here, Metafilter.
posted by a fish out of water at 3:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by a fish out of water at 3:55 AM on November 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
Andrewcooke, the standard isn't whether more tha 50 percent in each category.
It's that more white people in every single category voted for Trump outright, and then when you throw in the third party or other viewers -- yeah.
posted by joyceanmachine at 3:56 AM on November 9, 2016
It's that more white people in every single category voted for Trump outright, and then when you throw in the third party or other viewers -- yeah.
posted by joyceanmachine at 3:56 AM on November 9, 2016
sure - i clarified my post a little, which may not have made the insta-feed. oh, no. i'm still misunderstanding. i think i got you now after reading another reply.
posted by andrewcooke at 3:58 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by andrewcooke at 3:58 AM on November 9, 2016
It's that more white people in every single category voted for Trump outright, and then when you throw in the third party or other viewers -- yeah.
But what's the relationship between the observed votes and a hypothetical third candidate? I think that's what's confusing some people here.
posted by polymodus at 3:58 AM on November 9, 2016
But what's the relationship between the observed votes and a hypothetical third candidate? I think that's what's confusing some people here.
posted by polymodus at 3:58 AM on November 9, 2016
If Trump is going to align us with Putin, he needs to make some sort of peace with their ally, Iran. Maybe he'll rewrite the existing treaty in word salad and offer it to them, claiming he invented it himself.
posted by Apocryphon at 3:59 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by Apocryphon at 3:59 AM on November 9, 2016
.
posted by tofu_crouton at 3:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by tofu_crouton at 3:59 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am asking my congress lady today:
1. That she not attend the inauguration.
2. That she not attend any other white house function, or the SOTUs.
3. That she not shake his hand even if given the chance.
Grind the guy down by making it clear that no, the nation will not unite behind such a scumbag.
He's old. He has a fragile ego. He can be ground down the way Obama wasn't. And he has to be.
Everyone who has slighted him risks retaliation from the boss of the NSA. The list has to GROW now, and grow quickly, to protect those of us who have already stuck their necks out.
If he can be ground down, then we just have to deal with his retinue. They are the scum of the GOP, since all the Republicans with decency are also being sidelined. But they are not narcissistic and delusional like Trump himself.
posted by ocschwar at 4:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
1. That she not attend the inauguration.
2. That she not attend any other white house function, or the SOTUs.
3. That she not shake his hand even if given the chance.
Grind the guy down by making it clear that no, the nation will not unite behind such a scumbag.
He's old. He has a fragile ego. He can be ground down the way Obama wasn't. And he has to be.
Everyone who has slighted him risks retaliation from the boss of the NSA. The list has to GROW now, and grow quickly, to protect those of us who have already stuck their necks out.
If he can be ground down, then we just have to deal with his retinue. They are the scum of the GOP, since all the Republicans with decency are also being sidelined. But they are not narcissistic and delusional like Trump himself.
posted by ocschwar at 4:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
Threeturtles, don't start smoking.
I think the prospect of a truly shit president is new to most of you, but it isn't for me.
Things are unfair and uncertain, but first you need to take care of yourself. If that means taking a break from the Internet, then do that. Look into transitioning to a more predictable income, somehow. Be pragmatic and deal with this the same way you would deal with a natural disaster. Maybe offer different products, maybe get a part time job. Maybe wait and see if people will still buy stuff while you develop a plan B.
When you're in a better place mentally, you can start with activism or volunteering. Keep yourself informed but not in an overwhelming or psychologically dangerous way.
For real don't smoke. Don't let circumstance control you. We all do what we can. You're not helping anyone by damaging your health.
posted by Tarumba at 4:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [19 favorites]
I think the prospect of a truly shit president is new to most of you, but it isn't for me.
Things are unfair and uncertain, but first you need to take care of yourself. If that means taking a break from the Internet, then do that. Look into transitioning to a more predictable income, somehow. Be pragmatic and deal with this the same way you would deal with a natural disaster. Maybe offer different products, maybe get a part time job. Maybe wait and see if people will still buy stuff while you develop a plan B.
When you're in a better place mentally, you can start with activism or volunteering. Keep yourself informed but not in an overwhelming or psychologically dangerous way.
For real don't smoke. Don't let circumstance control you. We all do what we can. You're not helping anyone by damaging your health.
posted by Tarumba at 4:00 AM on November 9, 2016 [19 favorites]
it's the thought of spending the next 4 years surrounding by a country of people that I know voted for a racist, misogynist, xenophobic dictator that really, really makes me ill.
I got ill in pretty much exactly that way after finding out that 2/3 of my compatriots thought our then-new "anti-terrorism" laws, which give the Australian Security Intelligence Organization the power to detain and interrogate "terrorist suspects" without charge for extended periods in enforced secrecy, were a good idea.
Coming to terms with the fact that one's own social circle is but a tiny fragile bubble floating in a sea of maliciously stupid ignorance is just hard.
I don't know how I'm going to work today. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't stop shaking. Is it going to feel like this for the next 4 years?
No. Pretty soon the numbness sets in. Then comes the depression. Then after a while the Trump era is over and we can all wake up and get on with cleaning up the incredible pile of shit it left in its wake. Well, those of us that the depression didn't actually do in.
One of Trump's main points in his acceptance speech was his plan for a lot of public works. I could easily see that passing Congress since Dems will support it.
No, not "public works". "Infrastructure". The difference being that "infrastructure" is something you can contract out to the private sector. Expect more toll roads and bridges, more private hospitals, more private schools, more private prisons, more of everybody's hard-earned trickling up toward the 0.01%, because for-profit infrastructure is all you're ever going to get under a regime as heavily invested in tax cuts as Cheeto Mussolini's.
even if the country is ruined, i wonder if that will be enough to wake up the people who voted for that man
how much damage will Trump have to do to get people to rethink things?
i think you underestimate just how inept and stupid he really is
If history has taught us anything, it's that "surely this" is a forlorn hope.
The simple, sad fact is that there will always be a vast contingent of irredeemably gullible idiots ready and willing to support the genuinely vicious in their ceaseless efforts to fuck everything up for everybody. The chickens are never going to stop voting for Colonel Sanders, and expecting them to wake up and smell the burning feathers is an exercise in futility.
Resistance to the consequences of this is an endless grind and a complete pain in the arse but the need for it will always be there.
posted by flabdablet at 4:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
I got ill in pretty much exactly that way after finding out that 2/3 of my compatriots thought our then-new "anti-terrorism" laws, which give the Australian Security Intelligence Organization the power to detain and interrogate "terrorist suspects" without charge for extended periods in enforced secrecy, were a good idea.
Coming to terms with the fact that one's own social circle is but a tiny fragile bubble floating in a sea of maliciously stupid ignorance is just hard.
I don't know how I'm going to work today. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't stop shaking. Is it going to feel like this for the next 4 years?
No. Pretty soon the numbness sets in. Then comes the depression. Then after a while the Trump era is over and we can all wake up and get on with cleaning up the incredible pile of shit it left in its wake. Well, those of us that the depression didn't actually do in.
One of Trump's main points in his acceptance speech was his plan for a lot of public works. I could easily see that passing Congress since Dems will support it.
No, not "public works". "Infrastructure". The difference being that "infrastructure" is something you can contract out to the private sector. Expect more toll roads and bridges, more private hospitals, more private schools, more private prisons, more of everybody's hard-earned trickling up toward the 0.01%, because for-profit infrastructure is all you're ever going to get under a regime as heavily invested in tax cuts as Cheeto Mussolini's.
even if the country is ruined, i wonder if that will be enough to wake up the people who voted for that man
how much damage will Trump have to do to get people to rethink things?
i think you underestimate just how inept and stupid he really is
If history has taught us anything, it's that "surely this" is a forlorn hope.
The simple, sad fact is that there will always be a vast contingent of irredeemably gullible idiots ready and willing to support the genuinely vicious in their ceaseless efforts to fuck everything up for everybody. The chickens are never going to stop voting for Colonel Sanders, and expecting them to wake up and smell the burning feathers is an exercise in futility.
Resistance to the consequences of this is an endless grind and a complete pain in the arse but the need for it will always be there.
posted by flabdablet at 4:01 AM on November 9, 2016 [21 favorites]
I'm politically fascinated by all of this, though. Like, the actual mechanisms of election reporting, campaigning, GOTVing - apparently none of that matters. Apparently you can run a troll campaign, make numerous fuckups, break all the established norms, have no ground game, no real advertising, no GOTV strategy, tweet about sex tapes at 3am, praise a dictator, have no coherent policy positions at all, and still win.
Polling, election reporting, ground game, GOTV efforts, policy documents. Will those things ever matter again? Did they ever actually matter? Apparently we don't need any of that stuff at all! Maybe we never did.
My background is in digital advertising stuff. We've joked in our industry that part of the reason that print and old-fashioned advertising spend is falling while online is increasing, is that for the first time advertisers can actually measure results. Maybe print ads and billboards and tv spots were actually never that effective. People just thought they were. It just took something else to come along to demonstrate it. This feels the same.
I think this could mean a change for political campaigning. The age of the demagogue, where being outrageous and viral and shareable beats* all the traditional ways to campaign.
Brexit was a warmup act, an initial experiment. Trump proved it works.
I wonder if our side can learn to do it, too.
* I really had to stop myself from saying Trumps. He's taken that word from me.
posted by generichuman at 4:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
Polling, election reporting, ground game, GOTV efforts, policy documents. Will those things ever matter again? Did they ever actually matter? Apparently we don't need any of that stuff at all! Maybe we never did.
My background is in digital advertising stuff. We've joked in our industry that part of the reason that print and old-fashioned advertising spend is falling while online is increasing, is that for the first time advertisers can actually measure results. Maybe print ads and billboards and tv spots were actually never that effective. People just thought they were. It just took something else to come along to demonstrate it. This feels the same.
I think this could mean a change for political campaigning. The age of the demagogue, where being outrageous and viral and shareable beats* all the traditional ways to campaign.
Brexit was a warmup act, an initial experiment. Trump proved it works.
I wonder if our side can learn to do it, too.
* I really had to stop myself from saying Trumps. He's taken that word from me.
posted by generichuman at 4:03 AM on November 9, 2016 [32 favorites]
Somebody, I forgot who, asked about self care. What activities can we do to keep from wallowing in despair. This is a tough one for me, since I have an awesome imagination, and it's going into overdrive right now.
So right now, I'm delving into rereading Band vs Band, comic, which is the brightest thing ever, and also enjoying the really enthusiastic commentary section of the latest two postings of Strong Female Protagonist.
So my recommendation for people, is grab for the things that keep you sane. Grab them, wallow in them, nourish them, and hold them tight. Because sooner rather than later, they may need you more than you need them.
posted by happyroach at 4:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
So right now, I'm delving into rereading Band vs Band, comic, which is the brightest thing ever, and also enjoying the really enthusiastic commentary section of the latest two postings of Strong Female Protagonist.
So my recommendation for people, is grab for the things that keep you sane. Grab them, wallow in them, nourish them, and hold them tight. Because sooner rather than later, they may need you more than you need them.
posted by happyroach at 4:05 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
Apparently you can run a troll campaign, make numerous fuckups, break all the established norms, have no ground game, no real advertising, no GOTV strategy, tweet about sex tapes at 3am, praise a dictator, have no coherent policy positions at all, and still win.
It seems kinda important to point out that you forgot to include "... if you're a white man, running against a woman.". Like in so many cases, the point at which the established rules of the game seem to suddenly stop mattering is when non-whites and/or non-dudes are trying to play.
posted by tocts at 4:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [36 favorites]
It seems kinda important to point out that you forgot to include "... if you're a white man, running against a woman.". Like in so many cases, the point at which the established rules of the game seem to suddenly stop mattering is when non-whites and/or non-dudes are trying to play.
posted by tocts at 4:08 AM on November 9, 2016 [36 favorites]
nur ein gott kann uns retten
.
posted by dis_integration at 4:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
.
posted by dis_integration at 4:10 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
If exit polls are accurate, Trump won a third of Latino men, and a good percentage of white women. The sexism and the white nationalism are a huge part of his act, yes. But surely there's more to it as well. Some sort of generalized demagoguery that allows him to stir up the worst impulses from different groups, to set tribe against tribe. I know of friends' parents, Asian immigrants, who were pro-Trump. My own dislike him, consider him unfit, but don't hold any particular fear or animosity towards him. There's reports from exit polls that minority turnout were lower than 2008 and 2012. There's a generalized perception from white liberals that there's a racial war being waged against minorities. Maybe so, but many would-be victims themselves don't seem to be forming a united front.
posted by Apocryphon at 4:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [23 favorites]
posted by Apocryphon at 4:11 AM on November 9, 2016 [23 favorites]
This was a surprise because a *lot* of people lied to the pollsters.
The simpler explanation is that the pollsters asked the wrong people.
Having been through two of these "WTF was THAT?" votes in the UK recently, my best guess is that whatever has changed in how we do democracy has also broken polling. Polling just doesn't work any more. Also not working: the media, the idea of having actual policy ideas, putting any value around experience and expertise, strategic campaigning, some at least baseline level of honesty... It seems that a whole lot of things we thought of as essential parts of the system no longer are, and a whole lot of other things we thought we'd long since ditched from the system are back with us, like strongman politics or proudly-worn xenophobia. So I don't know exactly what went wrong with the predictions in these three votes - maybe it wasn't even the same thing going wrong - but fundamentally, the accuracy of polling works on the basis that we understand how elections work and how voters act, and I don't think we do any more.
I'm really sorry, America. This seems so horrifically bleak. I don't even have any words, apart from to wave my arms around wildly while saying "fuck" a lot. But, ugh, if this is what politics is becoming across the globe, then at least there are more and more people worldwide to work on a solution and find a better way. I have no idea what that solution could be but at least there's hundreds of millions of us trying, right?
I have mostly lurked on the election threads, but I was so, so impressed by how many MeFites were working hard to get out there for Clinton's campaign, knocking on doors and making phone calls. (And when I read any "Americans Do Foolish Thing!" type of coverage in our international media, I'll be remembering all those valuable things done too and I won't let the horror block out the good.) That kind of energy and effort and belief, it matters. I am possibly being wildly optimistic here, but I still stand by this: even if everything seems upside down to the point where polling doesn't work and campaigning doesn't work and whatever else, that kind of effort from people wanting to make their country a better place does work, eventually. It might take us a bit of time to work out how to use that energy in this type of bizarro world politics, but in the end, we'll find a way.
posted by Catseye at 4:16 AM on November 9, 2016 [33 favorites]
The simpler explanation is that the pollsters asked the wrong people.
Having been through two of these "WTF was THAT?" votes in the UK recently, my best guess is that whatever has changed in how we do democracy has also broken polling. Polling just doesn't work any more. Also not working: the media, the idea of having actual policy ideas, putting any value around experience and expertise, strategic campaigning, some at least baseline level of honesty... It seems that a whole lot of things we thought of as essential parts of the system no longer are, and a whole lot of other things we thought we'd long since ditched from the system are back with us, like strongman politics or proudly-worn xenophobia. So I don't know exactly what went wrong with the predictions in these three votes - maybe it wasn't even the same thing going wrong - but fundamentally, the accuracy of polling works on the basis that we understand how elections work and how voters act, and I don't think we do any more.
I'm really sorry, America. This seems so horrifically bleak. I don't even have any words, apart from to wave my arms around wildly while saying "fuck" a lot. But, ugh, if this is what politics is becoming across the globe, then at least there are more and more people worldwide to work on a solution and find a better way. I have no idea what that solution could be but at least there's hundreds of millions of us trying, right?
I have mostly lurked on the election threads, but I was so, so impressed by how many MeFites were working hard to get out there for Clinton's campaign, knocking on doors and making phone calls. (And when I read any "Americans Do Foolish Thing!" type of coverage in our international media, I'll be remembering all those valuable things done too and I won't let the horror block out the good.) That kind of energy and effort and belief, it matters. I am possibly being wildly optimistic here, but I still stand by this: even if everything seems upside down to the point where polling doesn't work and campaigning doesn't work and whatever else, that kind of effort from people wanting to make their country a better place does work, eventually. It might take us a bit of time to work out how to use that energy in this type of bizarro world politics, but in the end, we'll find a way.
posted by Catseye at 4:16 AM on November 9, 2016 [33 favorites]
Hannity must be elated not just because Trump wins, but because this will probably screw over Megyn Kelly in a major way. Murdoch Jrs were all ready to shift Fox news to the middle under Hillary but I bet those plans just got thrown in the shredder.
posted by PenDevil at 4:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 4:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
I've got zero patience with all the rhetoric in my feed about "it's not that bad, the sun's still rising, we'll fight on." Yeah, sure, of course we will. But I am sitting here considering that they've run the table. An R President (who happens to be crazy), R House and Senate, who will then nominate an arch-conservative to the vacancy on the Supreme Court? Game over. Checks and balances gone. For a long time to come. We're going to lose Obamacare almost immediately, and all our social gains are in question with the next gay-marriage, campaign funding, and reproductive-rights cases to go to the court. Ryan is going to make nice and set the agenda; Pence will be his henchman.
Sorry to be so pessimistic; I'm sure I'll rally, but the "when you walk through the storm" people seem to me right now out of touch and hopelessly naive. And that's before I even reflect that, when I walk out into the world now, I will always be conscious that 50% of this country thinks that as a female, I am so much lesser that they will elect a dangerous shitstain before a competent and qualified woman. I have clearly been told I'm 2nd-class. So, it's going to take a while to absorb this new reality, and I'm not going to feel sunny, rah-rah or "let's organize" about it for some unforeseeable about of time yet. It feels more important to get my papers in order.
posted by Miko at 4:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [125 favorites]
Sorry to be so pessimistic; I'm sure I'll rally, but the "when you walk through the storm" people seem to me right now out of touch and hopelessly naive. And that's before I even reflect that, when I walk out into the world now, I will always be conscious that 50% of this country thinks that as a female, I am so much lesser that they will elect a dangerous shitstain before a competent and qualified woman. I have clearly been told I'm 2nd-class. So, it's going to take a while to absorb this new reality, and I'm not going to feel sunny, rah-rah or "let's organize" about it for some unforeseeable about of time yet. It feels more important to get my papers in order.
posted by Miko at 4:17 AM on November 9, 2016 [125 favorites]
By the way, my understanding is that white people in every single demographic broken down on age, gender, college education -- they went for Trump.
Not quite (538).
Non-college white men went huge for Trump (+49)
Non-college white women went a little less huge for Trump (+28)
College white men went big for Trump (+15)
But college white women went for Hillary (+6)
So basically, an education wasn't enough to overcome the racism and sexism of white college men. She lost because white collar guys are still largely deplorable. And I say that as a college educated white guy. The poll miss in the college educated vote is because white college men came home to Trump regardless of what they told pollsters.
* usual caveats about the accuracy of exit polls
posted by chris24 at 4:18 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
Not quite (538).
Non-college white men went huge for Trump (+49)
Non-college white women went a little less huge for Trump (+28)
College white men went big for Trump (+15)
But college white women went for Hillary (+6)
So basically, an education wasn't enough to overcome the racism and sexism of white college men. She lost because white collar guys are still largely deplorable. And I say that as a college educated white guy. The poll miss in the college educated vote is because white college men came home to Trump regardless of what they told pollsters.
* usual caveats about the accuracy of exit polls
posted by chris24 at 4:18 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
Trending on Russian Twitter: #трампнаш (our Trump). So not everyone's sad.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 4:18 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 4:18 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
I went for a walk in the snow with my dog. I recommend being around animals if you can, they are good company. It helps a little. Thank you so much to the mods, for your work.
posted by tardigrade at 4:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by tardigrade at 4:19 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
OK, I'm too old to deal with this nonsense. Keep the Social Security and Medicare taps turned on and I won't bother you. If you voted for this asshat he's your problem. Let me know how it turns out. I'll be busy elsewhere...
'Inner emigration', huh? Your Social Security is going to be handed over to Paul Ryan. This isn't someone elses' problem.
posted by thelonius at 4:20 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
'Inner emigration', huh? Your Social Security is going to be handed over to Paul Ryan. This isn't someone elses' problem.
posted by thelonius at 4:20 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
After tossing and turning for a long time, I finally got to sleep. Then I had that terrible moment, where for a few brief sleepy moments you forget that the world has come crashing down around you, and then it hits you.
I didn't even need to open up mefi. I saw the NYT notifications on my phone.
I haven't been able to stop crying since I woke up. I wish I could call in sick to work, but that's not really an option for me. Still, maybe it's better than wallowing in my grief all day at home alone. At least I know that all my coworkers will be similarly horrified. Unlike 2004, when I was surrounded by very happy people, which only made the Kerry loss so much worse. I'm so sorry to those of you who will have to face friends, family, and coworkers who voted for Trump.
I just don't know how we go on. I know I felt this way in 2000 and 2004, but GWB for all its horrible fuck ups wasn't even at the level of Trump.
And it's not just Trump. It's the people in this country that elected him. It's crushing.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
I didn't even need to open up mefi. I saw the NYT notifications on my phone.
I haven't been able to stop crying since I woke up. I wish I could call in sick to work, but that's not really an option for me. Still, maybe it's better than wallowing in my grief all day at home alone. At least I know that all my coworkers will be similarly horrified. Unlike 2004, when I was surrounded by very happy people, which only made the Kerry loss so much worse. I'm so sorry to those of you who will have to face friends, family, and coworkers who voted for Trump.
I just don't know how we go on. I know I felt this way in 2000 and 2004, but GWB for all its horrible fuck ups wasn't even at the level of Trump.
And it's not just Trump. It's the people in this country that elected him. It's crushing.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:21 AM on November 9, 2016 [18 favorites]
This article A miss bigger than a missed story from PressThink was published on November 6 but I think it really gets at what happened last night. It's not just "reality-based politics" that's being rejected, for a segment of the population it's reality-based reality itself. Of course I thought Clinton was killing it- she had facts and figures and plans! Trump never cared about any of that and he was never seriously challenged on it. I've noticed this with the anti-vaxxers I've encountered- you can argue and argue and cite study after study and it just does not matter.
I don't know how to fix it, but that's a big part of what happened last night I think.
posted by TheLateGreatAbrahamLincoln at 4:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [42 favorites]
I don't know how to fix it, but that's a big part of what happened last night I think.
posted by TheLateGreatAbrahamLincoln at 4:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [42 favorites]
I'm very worried for the people of the United States right now.
I'm even more worried for the people of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [39 favorites]
I'm even more worried for the people of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:27 AM on November 9, 2016 [39 favorites]
How did Republicans who repudiated Trump do last night? I'm worried for their safety.
posted by waitingtoderail at 4:32 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by waitingtoderail at 4:32 AM on November 9, 2016
I think the civic institutions and traditions of America are in for one hell of a stress test.
posted by srboisvert at 4:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 4:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
~College white men went big for Trump (+15)
~So basically, an education wasn't enough to overcome the racism and sexism of white college men.
The idea that college somehow enlightens a person's thinking died a long, long time ago. College in 2016 is little more than a job training treadmill. People go in, drink a lot of beer, make connections, get a business degree and get out. There aren't too many colleges out there anymore proudly trumpeting their "liberal arts" bone-fides. It's all "preparing for the future" which, in 2017, means getting job training. Basically, if you go in as a sexist, racist creep, chances are very good that's how you're going to come out.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [62 favorites]
~So basically, an education wasn't enough to overcome the racism and sexism of white college men.
The idea that college somehow enlightens a person's thinking died a long, long time ago. College in 2016 is little more than a job training treadmill. People go in, drink a lot of beer, make connections, get a business degree and get out. There aren't too many colleges out there anymore proudly trumpeting their "liberal arts" bone-fides. It's all "preparing for the future" which, in 2017, means getting job training. Basically, if you go in as a sexist, racist creep, chances are very good that's how you're going to come out.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:32 AM on November 9, 2016 [62 favorites]
if you go in as a sexist, racist creep, chances are very good that's how you're going to come out.
To be fair, that's how it's been for most of the history of college. The 60s and 70s were a total anomaly in that regard.
posted by Miko at 4:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
To be fair, that's how it's been for most of the history of college. The 60s and 70s were a total anomaly in that regard.
posted by Miko at 4:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
I'm calling it here first: Time Person of the Year 2016 will be "Stupid White Men"
Oh God, not again. I won like three times already.
posted by sour cream at 4:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
Oh God, not again. I won like three times already.
posted by sour cream at 4:34 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
How long will it take for the cheetoh charlatan to crumble? Faites vos jeux mesdames et messieurs!
posted by mareli at 4:35 AM on November 9, 2016
posted by mareli at 4:35 AM on November 9, 2016
I think the civic institutions and traditions of America are in for one hell of a stress test.
The stress test was his candidacy. This is the crack. The institutions are crumbling. The world order is now broken.
I am terrified.
posted by dis_integration at 4:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [25 favorites]
The stress test was his candidacy. This is the crack. The institutions are crumbling. The world order is now broken.
I am terrified.
posted by dis_integration at 4:35 AM on November 9, 2016 [25 favorites]
What Thorzdad said. If you want to meet some impressively anti-intellectual people, feel free to swing by my academic department and sit in on a variety pack of 300-level courses. And that's in liberal arts.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:36 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
The institutions are crumbling. The world order is now broken.
I'm just hoping this is the left's version of "Obama is coming for our guns."
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
I'm just hoping this is the left's version of "Obama is coming for our guns."
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [10 favorites]
So basically, an education wasn't enough to overcome the racism and sexism of white college men. She lost because white collar guys are still largely deplorable.
One other thing on this; obviously there are lots of deplorable white collar guys and always have been. As a former Republican who lived in Texas I know a bunch of them. But they all voted R before. What is surprising about this result is that it seems a number of college white men who voted Obama in 2012 went Trump in 2016. I guess that shows the power of misogyny.
posted by chris24 at 4:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [15 favorites]
One other thing on this; obviously there are lots of deplorable white collar guys and always have been. As a former Republican who lived in Texas I know a bunch of them. But they all voted R before. What is surprising about this result is that it seems a number of college white men who voted Obama in 2012 went Trump in 2016. I guess that shows the power of misogyny.
posted by chris24 at 4:37 AM on November 9, 2016 [15 favorites]
Interesting exit polling data. No, it doesn't seem to be the working poor who supported Trump. People with higher incomes were more likely to vote for him. He did particularly well among men, uneducated white people, and people who live in small towns or rural areas. Looks like more people voted for Trump because they disliked Clinton than voted for Clinton because they disliked Trump. A lot of people voted for Trump even though they think he's not honest and trustworthy, while hardly anyone voted for Clinton if they thought she was not honest and trustworty.
Of course, given the general failure of polling in this election, exit polls probably need to be taken with a pillar of salt. But still interesting.
posted by klausness at 4:39 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
Of course, given the general failure of polling in this election, exit polls probably need to be taken with a pillar of salt. But still interesting.
posted by klausness at 4:39 AM on November 9, 2016 [14 favorites]
The idea that college somehow enlightens a person's thinking died a long, long time ago. College in 2016 is little more than a job training treadmill.
Not even that. It's a credentialing mill. Lots of people with BAs that leave them with neither an education nor job skills, but still put them ahead of those who don't have a BA.
This is part of the problem today.
posted by ocschwar at 4:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
Now we get to see the comedy-tragedy of Trump trying to govern. The Republicans have a golden opportunity to turn the Supreme Court to the right for a generation -- and it infuriates me that McConnell's bad faith in blocking Garland's nomination has been validated -- and there's little doubt that the Republicans will undo much progress, but they also have to deliver on a lot of promises that either aren't so easy or will have obviously negative effects on their own constituents. Ryan now has to repeal Obamacare, and what, if anything, will replace it?
The last time the American people got a taste of full-on Republican governance was under Bush the Lesser, and it was such a miserable failure that the party faithful had to rebrand themselves as the "tea party."
And the demographic tides may not have been enough to overcome the white racist vote, but neither can electing Trump entirely change the direction in which the country is moving. Today the fight to make Trump a one-term president begins.
posted by Gelatin at 4:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
The last time the American people got a taste of full-on Republican governance was under Bush the Lesser, and it was such a miserable failure that the party faithful had to rebrand themselves as the "tea party."
And the demographic tides may not have been enough to overcome the white racist vote, but neither can electing Trump entirely change the direction in which the country is moving. Today the fight to make Trump a one-term president begins.
posted by Gelatin at 4:40 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Real question: how much danger is HRC in right now of being imprisoned?
I keep thinking back to my grandparents in Paris and how they did not have their papers in order when the orders came to start rounding up the Jews. How long is long enough to wait? Until HRC is jailed like Yulia Tymoshenko? Some other sign? I'm not asking rhetorically.
posted by moonlight on vermont at 4:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [27 favorites]
I keep thinking back to my grandparents in Paris and how they did not have their papers in order when the orders came to start rounding up the Jews. How long is long enough to wait? Until HRC is jailed like Yulia Tymoshenko? Some other sign? I'm not asking rhetorically.
posted by moonlight on vermont at 4:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [27 favorites]
The people have spoken etc etc etc
My interest at this point is in what the so-called data was telling us. Polls of every kind, aggregated; betting markets--all predicted a strong case for the Dems to win...Only that prof who predicts, and Michael Moore, and Donald Trump seem to believe Trump would win...why, how did so many "pundits" go wrong?
posted by Postroad at 4:41 AM on November 9, 2016
My interest at this point is in what the so-called data was telling us. Polls of every kind, aggregated; betting markets--all predicted a strong case for the Dems to win...Only that prof who predicts, and Michael Moore, and Donald Trump seem to believe Trump would win...why, how did so many "pundits" go wrong?
posted by Postroad at 4:41 AM on November 9, 2016
I'm just hoping this is the left's version of "Obama is coming for our guns."
That would be nice, but I think it's reasonable to say. The old world order is crumbling, because this is profoundly destabilizing to our alliances and international position - let alone our domestic security. Things are going to be changing.
posted by Miko at 4:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
That would be nice, but I think it's reasonable to say. The old world order is crumbling, because this is profoundly destabilizing to our alliances and international position - let alone our domestic security. Things are going to be changing.
posted by Miko at 4:41 AM on November 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
why, how did so many "pundits" go wrong?
Bad polling's the answer, as stated above. Not enough consideration of organizing by internet.
posted by Miko at 4:43 AM on November 9, 2016
Bad polling's the answer, as stated above. Not enough consideration of organizing by internet.
posted by Miko at 4:43 AM on November 9, 2016
Real question: how much danger is HRC in right now of being imprisoned?
It would be very wise for anyone who has been outspoken against the President-elect to lay low and be very mindful of their surroundings.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 4:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
It would be very wise for anyone who has been outspoken against the President-elect to lay low and be very mindful of their surroundings.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 4:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
Polls of every kind, aggregated; betting markets--all predicted a strong case for the Dems to win...
Same thing happened with Brexit. Polling seems to be broken now - whether its the methods, demographics, or people just lying about their intentions, they are way off.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:44 AM on November 9, 2016
Same thing happened with Brexit. Polling seems to be broken now - whether its the methods, demographics, or people just lying about their intentions, they are way off.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:44 AM on November 9, 2016
I think trump and his creeps will forget about HRC, truly.
posted by zutalors! at 4:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by zutalors! at 4:44 AM on November 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Yesterday morning, I thought I might be waking up today with a combination of still drunk and hung over, but I didn't really think I'd be doing so after less than three hours of sleep.
I also didn't think that one of my first tasks would be to mine last night's original election thread for favorites that I could recover for use in this thread on comments expressing the same combination of outrage, grief, fear, despondency, and shame that others have expressed since the "maybe we might be headed for some recounts" time I finally passed out around 2:30 and the "no, this is not a drill, DJT (I can't even bring myself to use his full name) is going to be the fucking President" now that we're apparently living in.
I work for an R1 university, but my paycheck comes from sponsoring agencies in the federal government. As a strong believer in a healthy, functioning federal government, this is usually a source of immense pride for me. Right now, it just adds to my worries.
Springsteen played "Long Walk Home" at Hillary's Philly rally on Monday night, and yesterday it was stuck in my head all day. It's kind of a melancholy song at times, but by the time the bridge kicks in, it takes a hopeful turn:
I just don't know where we go from here, but I hope that through my network of friends, family, and this community I can find answers in the coming days and weeks. To the many of you who are in a much more vulnerable position than me and my family, all I can offer right now other than sympathy is a promise to try to be part of the solution, whatever that may reveal itself to be.
posted by tonycpsu at 4:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
I also didn't think that one of my first tasks would be to mine last night's original election thread for favorites that I could recover for use in this thread on comments expressing the same combination of outrage, grief, fear, despondency, and shame that others have expressed since the "maybe we might be headed for some recounts" time I finally passed out around 2:30 and the "no, this is not a drill, DJT (I can't even bring myself to use his full name) is going to be the fucking President" now that we're apparently living in.
I work for an R1 university, but my paycheck comes from sponsoring agencies in the federal government. As a strong believer in a healthy, functioning federal government, this is usually a source of immense pride for me. Right now, it just adds to my worries.
Springsteen played "Long Walk Home" at Hillary's Philly rally on Monday night, and yesterday it was stuck in my head all day. It's kind of a melancholy song at times, but by the time the bridge kicks in, it takes a hopeful turn:
Here everybody has a neighborThat last verse there is ringing pretty hollow to me right now. America's full-throated repudiation of multiculturalism, inclusiveness, and basically the entirety of the enlightenment puts me in a place where I really don't know where the limits are. What seemed like the floor 24 hours ago might be miles above where the ceiling is now. The likelihood of a popular vote victory is the coldest of comfort -- yes, it might mean can say technically Trump doesn't speak for a majority of us, but if your Chipotle burrito consisted of 47% or 48% norovirus, I don't think you'd eat it.
Everybody has a friend
Everybody has a reason to begin again
My father said "Son, we're lucky in this town
It's a beautiful place to be born
It just wraps its arms around you
Nobody crowds you and nobody goes it alone"
"Your flag flying over the courthouse
Means certain things are set in stone
Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't"
I just don't know where we go from here, but I hope that through my network of friends, family, and this community I can find answers in the coming days and weeks. To the many of you who are in a much more vulnerable position than me and my family, all I can offer right now other than sympathy is a promise to try to be part of the solution, whatever that may reveal itself to be.
posted by tonycpsu at 4:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [16 favorites]
Trump as president is one thing. But a Trump administration stacked with all the Trump cronies you couldn't stand looking at during the campaign? And Trump-nominated Supreme Court justices (only requirement is that they praise Trump) with a Trump-friendly Senate to rubber stamp them?
Meanwhile, I'm living not far from Europe's current border with the Russian empire while CNN says "Donald Trump victory shocks world, pleases Putin."
posted by pracowity at 4:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
Meanwhile, I'm living not far from Europe's current border with the Russian empire while CNN says "Donald Trump victory shocks world, pleases Putin."
posted by pracowity at 4:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [8 favorites]
I have to be down on my local university's campus later today, and it's going to be very hard to see a student wearing a hijab and not really fear for their safety in the coming weeks.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 4:45 AM on November 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Regarding self-care: I've written several times on AskMe about the best coping technique I know: Improve, Appreciate, Connect, Protect. I'm practicing it this morning and it helps, it really does.
An action in the "protect" category is... sharing the best coping technique I know. If you have friends who are completely at a loss, I invite you to share this with them, too.
posted by Sublimity at 4:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [38 favorites]
An action in the "protect" category is... sharing the best coping technique I know. If you have friends who are completely at a loss, I invite you to share this with them, too.
posted by Sublimity at 4:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [38 favorites]
I can't believe that at this time yesterday, I was so pumped up about casting my vote for the first woman president.
And now this.
Aside from all the other horrors, as a woman, I just feel so defeated. We really can't win, can we? No matter how qualified, no matter how much support and money we have, no matter how much we want it, the world still sees us as fundamentally less than.
I have a tendency to be very outspoken, sometimes even abrasive. I know that rubs people the wrong way sometimes, and this is just one more reminder that most of society only wants us if we know our place.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [85 favorites]
And now this.
Aside from all the other horrors, as a woman, I just feel so defeated. We really can't win, can we? No matter how qualified, no matter how much support and money we have, no matter how much we want it, the world still sees us as fundamentally less than.
I have a tendency to be very outspoken, sometimes even abrasive. I know that rubs people the wrong way sometimes, and this is just one more reminder that most of society only wants us if we know our place.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:46 AM on November 9, 2016 [85 favorites]
I think this year has permanently killed my capacity for optimism. My only goal for 2017 is to brace myself for whatever's coming and to try and do something useful in the face of whatever it is. The idea that somehow progress will be a thing has faded completely from my mind; my only - weak - hope is that we somehow avoid or minimise the worst kind of regression.
Here is my favourite baby panda, anyway.
posted by Aravis76 at 4:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
Here is my favourite baby panda, anyway.
posted by Aravis76 at 4:47 AM on November 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
One term? Hah, he could be dictator for life. At the very least he gets two terms because there is literally nothing he could do that would make people not vote for him, down to shooting PoC on the White House lawn. We're outnumbered. I hate white people.
I went to bed at midnight and I have been wide awake since 3 a.m.
Let's work on secession, because there is just no resolving this. West Coast, let's get out of here.
I don't know what is wrong with our species that (a lot of) men just hate the motherfucking goddamned shit out of women, but they do. I don't know if this is solvable or something we can ever get past either.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [28 favorites]
I went to bed at midnight and I have been wide awake since 3 a.m.
Let's work on secession, because there is just no resolving this. West Coast, let's get out of here.
I don't know what is wrong with our species that (a lot of) men just hate the motherfucking goddamned shit out of women, but they do. I don't know if this is solvable or something we can ever get past either.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:48 AM on November 9, 2016 [28 favorites]
posted by bz at 8:48 PM on November 8, 2016 [6 favorites]