What now?
"The result is that there have been frighteningly few societies in the history of mankind which have not been separated by either race, class or gender." This is simply historically wrong. Rome is a fine example of the opposite. And it is not alone. "Fifty years ago in America, we made the first real effort, at scale, in the history of man, to change it in a society as diverse as ours." This is just historical illiteracy. The Roman, the British, the American systems prior to 50 years ago all made real efforts, at scale, in the manner he says they did not. He seems to have read Zinn's history of America, perhaps he should have read: The Roman Empire, Economy, Society, and Culture, by Peter Gurney & Richard Saller, among other books. The American experience was tainted by slavery, but this was only because the various states needed to be united or fail, the Southern states relied upon a slavery driven economic system, and the North had the choice of either allowing slavery, or remaining enslaved to the British. This issue was not resolved 50 years ago, but during the 1860s. Nor was suffrage addressed 50 years ago, but during the second decade of the 20th century for the nation as a whole, and much earlier in many of the states. What happened 50 years ago was at best a nominal change, with much of the change being little more than a rolling disaster for blacks/coloreds, and women. Welfare has destroyed the low income black/colored/white family, and women entering the workforce, far from panacea, has left women unhappy, harried, and frustrated. "On Tuesday, we took one giant leap backward on the arc of our journey to one people. And over the last four days, I’ve been bombarded by explanations of why Donald J. Trump was just elected president. I don’t need any more. I didn’t need them in the first place. I know why he was elected. He was elected because the only message that matters for the American government in 2016 is a need for change. And when the alternative to that change was someone who moved into the White House when I was fifteen, (I’m 40 now) that choice was clear for some. But it was a choice. And the ultimate choice that was made, the one people will remember a hundred years from now, was a willingness to ignore personal decency and fair treatment towards people who are different in service to that change." It is interesting that he already knows the trajectory, and outcome of the Trump Presidency although Trump has yet to take office, name Cabinet members, or begin pursuing a policy agenda. For all of his protestations of independence, and lack of political/ideological adherence to Hillary/progressivism, what else could account for this? Humorously, Trump has already indicated he will appoint a gay man to the highest post an "out" gay man has ever been appointed. I expect he will follow suit with other appointments which will erode this authors points, but none of that will likely alter his opinion. " . . . [W]hat you showed us with his nomination and your vote in the election, is that you can’t be trusted to do it without us." In the end, the authoritarian always shows his true colors. None but those opinions he approves can be trusted. The other is never sufficiently adult. This is a petty tantrum, being thrown in a petty manner, by a petty man, about a petty issue. Fine. But there is no adult here. He is a child wearing his parents clothing, cute, precocious, but a child nonetheless. "Many of my devout conservative friends were remarkably quiet when their candidate trashed their personal values. And they were remarkably quiet when their candidate made inexcusable first hand remarks about minorities, women and disabled Americans. And they were remarkably quiet when the dark forces of white supremacists aligned themselves in support of their candidate." Anecdotal evidence is always perfect because it is indisputable, I cannot argue these points as I do not know his "friends," no matter how apocryphal. The last sentence is simply infantilized reasoning. Whether a KKK member claims agreement with Trump, or a violent, homicidal communist claims agreement with Clinton neither deserves to be tarred with the odious beliefs of that individual. The left has long played a game of claiming the ability to tar the right with all manner of such slime, yet as we see with this election it is always the left, and the left supporters who are violent, attacking Trump supporters myriad times during the campaign, and now acting violently during the post election. The left's bogeymen ginned up for the right never seem to materialize. Even more odious, is the fact that these bogeymen are nearly always conjured from the historical past, a past where the KKK was actually the militant wing of the Democrat party in the South, where the murderous actuality was done in the name of the Democrats not Republicans. I suspect this author knows nothing of these truths, nor would he care. The authoritarian urge is strong in this author, it is reflected in American progressivism, which is simply the American run at socialism, but because Americans are uncomfortable with authoritarianism, it is less so than British socialism, European socialism, or the true horror show of East European/Asian socialism, with its 100 million corpses. He may want to tell the rest of the nation how to behave but this election was essentially the rest of the nation telling people like him to F@#$ off. " So when there’s a KKK rally in North Carolina to celebrate the election of the candidate you support, you no longer have any excuse not to condemn it with the same uncompromising vigor that you condemned Hillary. Let’s see the memes. Let’s see the Facebook posts. Let’s see the outrage." I have never met a conservative, and I am not and never have been one, who does not denounce the KKK, antisemitism, racism, etc. Sorry, this is a strawman argument. Perhaps they do exist, but they must be rare if one never encounters them. On the other hand, where have Hillary, or Obama, or Biden, or the DNC been while the anti-Trump protestors destroy millions of dollars in property, disrupt businesses, injure, and maim? These are people acting in the name of these people, in the name of the Democrat party, in the name of liberalism, and progressivism. Perhaps Hillary, and Obama should speak out regarding these actions? Just saying. "Perhaps the rest of America can trust you to hold the leader of our government to the change you so uncompromisingly sought. But we won’t trust you to look out for our fellow Americans who are different. So get ready for four years of vocal, loud, peaceful I pray, dissent. If you thought the core Trump supporters would be loud if Hillary Clinton won, what do you think is going to happen now that you’ve marginalized a group that has much more to lose than freedom from background checks for guns and a ten percent lag in wage growth?" Again, for a man without ideology he is quite ginned up about exactly nothing. Trump has not acted, this is one man loudly counting his chickens before they are even layed eggs, let alone hatched. And exactly what has this group he so loudly brays about to lose? Saying they have something to lose is not the same as providing some evidence of actual loss, or even actual potential loss. The left, and this author is of the left, has a long and storied history of crying wolf. We have seen throughout this election cycle person after person coming forward to make claims of loss, only to find that the crimes, and loss they claim never happened. These are the antics of the left, they no longer hold much sway, the rest of us are disinclined to believe these pettifoggers, liars, and cheats. He ends with perhaps the most appalling strawman ever. "If insistence on decent treatment of all Americans makes me a liberal in the eyes of conservatives, then maybe we should take some time to reflect on who our modern conservatives actually are. The world is watching." Oh Jesus, wrap yourself in the flag, bang a drum, shoot a rocket out your ass, you beclown yourself you little prat. You do not insist on decent treatment for "all Americans." To the contrary you and your ilk insist on special treatment for you, and your fellow travelers. Not being a conservative, but a classical liberal, I don't feel any need to reflect on what modern conservatives actually are. I do feel compelled to hold conservatives, and progressives/liberals like this authors feet to the fire. My thoughts on Trump have been mixed, but less so since the election. The actions of the progressives after the election show they are incapable of behaving responsibly, and are unwilling to rein in their more violent elements, of which they have myriad. They deserve less say in the political sphere until they can come to grips with this. I do strongly believe that the American two party system needs two strong parties to suss out policies, before they are written into law, nothing reinforces this more than the disaster that is Obamacare, the 8 years of disastrous Obama domestic economic policies, and even more catastrophic Obama foreign policies. Millions have died not because Obama is the prat he is, but because the two party system was stymied, and the Republicans were incapable of countering Democrat party excesses. It was not until 2012 that the voters were able to rectify the congressional imbalance, and reassert two party give and take regarding policies. The result was Obama simply moved to an Emperor model of the Presidency, and using the executive order to thwart the two party system. Unsurprisingly, the voters balked, and sought change. The two party system restored, middle America will expect Trump to run the nation from a Republican position, but with the advice and consent of the Democrat party. If he fails, he will have to pay for that, but if the Democrats fail, it will be they who pay. I stand ready to point out Trumps failings, but only after he has acted. I did the same with President Obama, waiting until he acted like a lunatic progressive before holding him to task for those beliefs. Prejudging the actions of an individual is, well, prejudice, and a very negative form to boot. But authoritarians will always out, as this one has. Clearly, the left, the progressives, the Democrats need their 40 years in the wilderness to sort out these issues, and have their come to Jesus. Make it snappy, please, we need a two party system in functional working order, and it does not appear that the other parties are capable of taking over the reins at this time.
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