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You are here: Home / Open Threads / One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time

by John Cole|  November 14, 201610:29 pm| 77 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I remember when I was stationed in Fulda, Germany in the army, and we would sometimes cross the border on weekends to hang out with East Germans we had become friends with (by we, I mean troop mates, I just came along). We’d always bring Jack and Jim and marlboros, because we could get them at the duty free and the East Germans loved them. I digress.

The thing that stood out immediately on those trips was that almost as soon as you crossed the border, you could tell the difference between east and west. The West was in full technicolor, with blue skies and green grass and red roofs and colorful buildings, and everything in the east looked like concrete and smog. It was that visceral and that real.

That’s sort of how I have felt before and after the election. I’m just astonished that I wasn’t cynical enough for the American people. I mean, I knew Republicans would fall in line. They always do. I saw the rot from the inside and got out while I was still somewhat a human. But I didn’t think half the country was this god damned crazy and stupid.

The man is an ignoramus and a fraud, surrounded by white supremacists, warmongers, liars, lunatics and con artists, and he has almost unlimited power because I don’t think for one instance the Republicans in congress will reign him in. They’ll just normalize it like they have everything else that has happened the last few years. It’s downright terrifying.

And I honestly don’t know what we can do. I don’t have faith that Dems will pull together and rebuild. I think we are in for a world of shit for quite some time. Christ, half the lefties I read think the path to the future is shitting all over Clinton and many of them think crapping all over Obama as being too centrist is the way forward. Fuck that noise.

If you thought this was leading somewhere positive, sorry. Not feeling it. We’re all driving Trabants now and Rush Limbaugh is the traffic cop. I’m just going to have to deal with this one day at a time, I guess.

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Previous Post: « We Hold the Line II
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Reader Interactions

77Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    November 14, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    Hmmm…

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    November 14, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    Cole, may I humbly suggest some advice I saw somewhere on the trons:

    But I would like to suggest that things are not as bad as your reactions seem to make them out to be. And that’s not to suggest that things are good. This is not last Tuesday at noon with all the promise that day seemed to hold. But its also not the fall of Rome either.

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 14, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    Wow, that is EXACTLY IT! The difference between grimy sepia and full technicolor is the difference between the bleak Trump landscape and the vibrant Democratic environment. Thanks for the metaphor.

    But shitting on Hillary/Bill and Obama is ridiculous, and I will cut anyone who starts blaming them. I’m beginning to feel slightly less horrible and more geared up to take action. Still not engaging on Facebook or even, much, email. This place is a godsend.

  4. 4.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 14, 2016 at 10:41 pm

    I crossed the border between Germany and Czecho, the first day it was legal to do so. One needed a briefing from the S-2 (unit intel officer), but he was my best friend’s roommate. We woke him up at 6:00am on a Saturday morning. He said “Don’t sell any secrets.” and we were off. Crossing the border was like going back to the ’30s.

    FIDO. When I was in basic training a Colonel asked me want my career path was. I said OCS. He asked how long that lasted. I said 14 weeks. He said “I could stand on my dick in a corner for that long.”

  5. 5.

    joel hanes

    November 14, 2016 at 10:42 pm

    It’s not 1861, nor yet 1939, yet, but the omens are certainly not auspicious.

  6. 6.

    The Fat Kate Middleton

    November 14, 2016 at 10:42 pm

    @Corner Stone: Matter of fact, that’s pretty much what it feels like to me. This is the end of the United States that we’ve known. As one of the commenters on here noted, this is feeling like a death has happened – the death of the nation I loved, the death of my children and grandchildren’s future. Overblown? Alarmist? No matter how I approach this, I simply can’t think otherwise

  7. 7.

    JJ

    November 14, 2016 at 10:43 pm

    Good reminder. Thanks

  8. 8.

    RepubAnon

    November 14, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    The real threat is the Judean People’s Front – not the Republican:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHHitXxH-us

  9. 9.

    Tara the Antisocial Social Worker

    November 14, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    The majority voted for Hillary Clinton. This makes me a bit nuts, that white rural voters got the elite privilege of overruling the majority. But it does help to remind myself that most Americans don’t support this shitshow.

  10. 10.

    xane

    November 14, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    I agree. I see no way forward for us, but I keep some hope, for my kiddos and my kitties. I trust that we’ll make it through.

  11. 11.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 14, 2016 at 10:47 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Saturday night, I came to the conclusion that I will no longer relitigate the primary and that I will only discuss what went wrong in the general with a view to figuring it out and moving forward. Done with Bailey, NR, etc.

  12. 12.

    KS in MA

    November 14, 2016 at 10:50 pm

    1. Write your Congressperson and Senators, early and often.
    2. Call your Congressperson and Senators, early and often.
    3. Write your local newspaper and TV stations, early and often.
    4. Call, ditto.
    5. Do this for as long as it takes–for years, if necessary. That’s what Republicans did, and it worked.

  13. 13.

    Mary G

    November 14, 2016 at 10:50 pm

    Even if it is hopeless, we must do what we can. I am embarking on form n-600 for my housemate’s application for naturalization. I hope to finish it all up before I die.

  14. 14.

    rikyrah

    November 14, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    The majority of the voters went for Hillary. When it is all said and done, she will have received more votes than anyone except President Obama.
    But, I feel for you Cole. ICAM

  15. 15.

    Mary G

    November 14, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Me too. I’ve never used the pie filter, but if I have to, I will. Anything at all about the past election is water under the bridge. I’m looking forward.

  16. 16.

    Regnad Kcin

    November 14, 2016 at 10:57 pm

    @joel hanes: 1939 is the wrong referent. This is 1933. We are one “cop killing protest” (whether ratf*cked or real) away from serious suspension of civil liberties.

  17. 17.

    Corner Stone

    November 14, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    @The Fat Kate Middleton:

    Matter of fact, that’s pretty much what it feels like to me. This is the end of the United States that we’ve known.

    No, I get that. But there are laws, rules and regulations in place that will keep us intact. All the judges appointed by the last several administrations will help mitigate what may happen. And, thankfully, we have a number of Democratic Senators that will do their best to slow walk everything that comes down the pipe. So be well, and know that we’re going to be just fine.

  18. 18.

    NR

    November 14, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Saturday night, I came to the conclusion that I will no longer relitigate the primary

    Tell that to people here still shitting on Bernie Sanders and blaming him for Hillary’s loss.

  19. 19.

    NR

    November 14, 2016 at 11:00 pm

    John, this is what the states looked like in 2009.

    And here’s what they look like today.

    The problem is bigger than the last election. It’s been building for years. A new approach is needed.

  20. 20.

    quakerinabasement

    November 14, 2016 at 11:00 pm

    Keep swinging the hammer, John.

  21. 21.

    Halcyan

    November 14, 2016 at 11:01 pm

    Sometimes the best we can manage is one minute at a time. You are not alone. Mass trauma is what we are all experiencing. Well, except for *them*.

  22. 22.

    Another Scott

    November 14, 2016 at 11:02 pm

    Battle of Fort Necessity:

    The two forces slugged it out all day, with the British getting the worst of it. Washington’s casualties were high. The wounded and the sick filled the stockade. The defenders in the trenches were in waist deep water and under constant fire, their dead comrades floating nearby. British powder stores became wet and their weapons inoperable. In addition, the militia had no bayonets to meet a charge with.

    Night fell with the prospect of a wholesale slaughter the next day. The garrison was practically defenseless and the nearest tree line was only 60 yards away. One quick final rush would have done it. The tomahawk murder of Ensign Jumonville by Tanacharison must have weighed heavily on Washington’s mind. The scenario of 100 Indians racing to get inside his perimeter with their tomahawks and knives at the ready was too terrible to contemplate.

    Lives to Fight Another Day

    Then, as she would do so many times in his life, Lady Luck smiled on George Washington again. French scouts reported a British relief force was closing in on the Great Meadows. In fact, these reports were completely false but as often happens in battle, Captain de Villiers had to work with the information he had. He wanted revenge for his brother as much as his Indian allies wanted scalps and prisoners, but this changed everything. A massacre of British defenders and/or a long line of prisoners in close proximity to a large relief force was not a good idea.

    About 8:00 PM, firing subsided and the French sent a messenger with an offer to parlay. Washington accepted and sent a French-speaking Dutch officer to negotiate with the French commander. Negotiations lasted until around midnight. Washington agreed to surrender. In return, he and his forces would retire from the battlefield with honors. They would be allowed to leave the area unmolested with their colors, weapons and equipment except for the swivel guns.

    […]

    On the morning of July 4, 1754, British forces marched out of Fort Necessity on their way back to Fort Cumberland and Williamsburg. It’s an ironic date – exactly 22 years before the Declaration of Independence. It was the only time in his career that Washington ever surrendered. He would suffer more defeats in the years ahead, but even in the darkest days of the American Revolution two decades later, quitting was never an option.

    I’m not ready to surrender before Donnie even takes office.

    Never give up! Never surrender!! ;-)

    Seriously – Hang in there JC, and CS, and everyone. We’ve got a battle ahead of us; we owe it to our loved ones and those who follow us to prepare and not get disheartened.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 14, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    Economic insecurity still with us

    CLAY COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) — County officials are feeling the effects after a Facebook post launched an outrage on social media.
    The post came from Pamela Taylor, who works as a director at the Clay County Development Corporation following the results of the presidential election. She writes, “It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing an ape in heels.”
    Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling responded to the post saying, “Just made my day Pam.”…
    She says she is sorry for everything that has happened but says she now believes the situation has turned into a “hate crime against me.”

  24. 24.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 14, 2016 at 11:05 pm

    @NR: Blow it out your ass. I simply wonder whether your checks are from the GOP or the Russians. And, yeah, I remember you from the ACA discussions. You have never added value to the discussion here.

  25. 25.

    permafrost

    November 14, 2016 at 11:07 pm

    The stupidity of the left has me leaning towards Canada and renouncing my US citizenship.

  26. 26.

    NR

    November 14, 2016 at 11:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: As I’ve said before, if I was getting paid by the GOP, I’d be cheering you guys on. You want to double down on a failed strategy and leadership that’s ceded unprecedented power to the Republicans and reduced the Democrats to a regional party confined to the northeast and the west coast. I want the Democratic party to change and improve and become a force that can compete with the Republicans. Like it used to be able to.

    If anyone here is on the GOP payroll, it’s you guys.

  27. 27.

    permafrost

    November 14, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    @Regnad Kcin: I’ve been putting it like this ‘one fire away from the Reich’

  28. 28.

    reality-based (the original, not the troll)

    November 14, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    John, I’m with you for one simple reason –

    we can’t reach these people. The horseshit about Democrats need a better message – or more sympathetic messenger – is horseshit. Hilary had a great, progressive, detailed economic message, and was a competent, caring messenger.

    Trump voters didn’t hear it. They will never hear it

    Alone among my family & friends, I am back living in deepest red North Dakota now – and everyone I know here voted for Trump. (except me, my mom, the local Dr, the local lawyer – maybe 20% of the town, at most – )

    How are these people going to ever HEAR the Democratic message? The local newspaper -which used to be Knight-Ridder, and very good – has been bought by the hard-right Fargo Forum,and hews to that line. The local TV news? also hard right. Cable news? They all watch Fox exclusively. They listen to Rush, and get their other news via crazy Aunt Lucy in Minot, who sends them updates via facebook.

    I cannot TELL you how many people excitedly told me that “Hilary is about to be indicted! Fox Said so! ” or “Clinton had an FBI agent killed! My aunt has it on her facebook page.”

    These people are NEVER going to start watching PBS, or reading the New York Times. Epistemic closure is complete. I used to think that Trump was the logical next step in the Bush-Palin-Trump downward slide of the GOP – but actually, it goes back farther than that – to the death of the media fairness rule under Reagan.

    So until somebody can tell me how we can make Trump voters hear us, I am not interested. I suppose I could be mildly interested in how we can turn out more of our voters – – but I’m still too pissed to care.

    John, in the interest of being able to get up and go to work, I went and got some st Johns Wort Yesterday – it always worked on me (they say it either works or it doesn’t – something genetic) – and I haven’t cried once today! so there’s an option – if, like me, all pharmaceutic antidepressants make you manic.

    and thanks for the metaphor – I’ve been explaining this by saying I woke up last Wednesday in 1936 Germany – but maybe Stalinist East Germany is more apt!

  29. 29.

    The Fat Kate Middleton

    November 14, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    @Corner Stone: Thank you. I’ll keep telling myself (and my family) this.

  30. 30.

    Corner Stone

    November 14, 2016 at 11:19 pm

    @NR: I just don’t get it, though. You see what is coming, right? Bannon as top strategist. Ryan and McConnell with basically a free hand, as long as they line up somewhat with Bannon/Kushner.
    We are supposed to piss on HRC now at this point? When this is coming?

  31. 31.

    Regnad Kcin

    November 14, 2016 at 11:20 pm

    @permafrost: touché

  32. 32.

    NR

    November 14, 2016 at 11:22 pm

    @Corner Stone: I’m not interested in pissing on HRC. She’s not responsible for the shift that I illustrated in my comment.

    But understanding how we got into this mess is critical if we’re going to get out of it.

  33. 33.

    John Revolta

    November 14, 2016 at 11:24 pm

    John- I’ve been having (figurative) flashbacks to when I was growing up and I knew that my entire government and most of the people in the country hated me and my kind and wanted us to die. They even had something called the “draft” to help things along. Well, we got through all that, and we’ll probably get through this. There’s a lot more people on our side now, for one thing.

    But goddammit, it truly is a kick in the ass to have that feeling again.

  34. 34.

    chopper

    November 14, 2016 at 11:26 pm

    it’s like the mason dixon line in ‘Southern Fried Rabbit’.

  35. 35.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 14, 2016 at 11:27 pm

    @Corner Stone: NR has always been against us. You and I have disagreed about a shit load of policies and decisions, but I have never thought you were against most things that I supported. NR has always been opposed for “reasons.”

  36. 36.

    Corner Stone

    November 14, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    @NR: Sure. We’re going to need to throw blacks and browns under the bus and also promise to jail Wall Street people. Trump just appointed a white nationalist as his top advisor.

  37. 37.

    chopper

    November 14, 2016 at 11:30 pm

    @NR:

    say, didn’t i tell you to go get eaten alive by red ants?

  38. 38.

    jacy

    November 14, 2016 at 11:33 pm

    @reality-based (the original, not the troll): we don’t need Trump voters to vote Democratic — we need the voters that didn’t vote. Two different problems. And I reached out and changed one person’s mind just today. No doom and gloom from me.

  39. 39.

    Lizzy L

    November 14, 2016 at 11:35 pm

    @John Revolta: Yes. I have been having flashbacks as well. In my case, I am flashing back to 1973, which was the year Roe v. Wade was decided. I remember the joy and relief of it; that women who needed to end a pregnancy could now go to a hospital and get actual medical care. T. has said specifically that he plans to appoint someone to the Supreme Court who will end that. As you say, we got through that, and we will get through this. But it is hard to deal with the realization that we are going to have to fight that battle again, and that we could LOSE. And that this is only one of the multiple battles we are going to have to fight.

  40. 40.

    Jeffro

    November 14, 2016 at 11:37 pm

    @reality-based (the original, not the troll):

    How are these people going to ever HEAR the Democratic message? The local newspaper -which used to be Knight-Ridder, and very good – has been bought by the hard-right Fargo Forum,and hews to that line. The local TV news? also hard right. Cable news? They all watch Fox exclusively. They listen to Rush, and get their other news via crazy Aunt Lucy in Minot, who sends them updates via facebook.

    I cannot TELL you how many people excitedly told me that “Hilary is about to be indicted! Fox Said so! ” or “Clinton had an FBI agent killed! My aunt has it on her facebook page.”

    These people are NEVER going to start watching PBS, or reading the New York Times. Epistemic closure is complete.

    So the answer to your question is right there (well, several answers, actually): in order of your notes but not necessarily the order in which I think Dems should or could take on these problems

    1) Push back on peoples’ slams against mainstream news sources like the WaPo and NYT – we might not always agree with the coverage, but the alternative is…?

    2) Recognize that we are in a post-3 TV channels world and that most folks are glimpsing at their FB feed for 10 seconds of news (as you’ve noted) if they’re looking at anything at all. Ramp up the ads, ramp up the coverage on those “channels”, push hard on whomever is writing those pieces.

    3) Get our deep-pocket donors together to buy up local radio, TV, and newspapers wherever they can (even if it’s just to turn around and put out AP pieces and cat-food ads) Who cares if it only breaks even? If it provides any alternative whatsoever to crazy-ass local conservative media, it’s worth it. (Side note: this is where we’d also want to get folks to direct their letters-to-the-editor to…much more powerful to have local voices making statements in local media. We might not win each cycle, but it will give fellow progressives hope and keep the margins down statewide as well.

    and not finally, but it’s all I’ve got for this evening

    4) it’s important that state and national Dems find ways to crash the conversation…be present at community events and give a short speech about shared values…put op-eds out there about what we hope for our kids…and should we ever have another Dem president (and we will) that person needs to do at least a monthly news conference talking about gains made for all working families, who opposed those gains, and what voters can do in the near-term future to make sure such gains continue to happen.

  41. 41.

    narya

    November 14, 2016 at 11:41 pm

    No retreat. No surrender. My bag of fucks is empty. I am tired of “being polite” and trying to woo those assholes. I am going to call bullshit whenever and wherever I can, and if I get pushback, I’m going to ask why they’re being all “politically correct.”

    Why, yes, I AM still in the rant zone (ht Tom Perotta in “The Wishbones”).

    I see no reason to leave it.

    The picture of the couple happily saying “fuck your feelings”? Guess what: fuck you. Both of you. And the horse in on which you rode. If you think that short-fingered cheeto is going to help you? if you think he’s going to do anything other than plunder your lives? then you are fucking stupid. And I would be happy to tell you that, to your faces.

    I am going to point out that nearly a million MORE people supported Hillary than the cheeto. I am going to point out that MORE people voted for democrats for the House than voted for republicans.

    And, most of all, I am going to point out that the only way republicans can win is by cheating: suppressing the vote, hacking the vote, gerrymandering districts, etc. So they’re cheaters, too.

    Yes, the back of fucks is still empty; why do you ask??

    My ONE suggestion for how we fight back: spend as much effort as possible registering people to vote and fighting to do so. Start NOW.

  42. 42.

    NR

    November 14, 2016 at 11:45 pm

    @Corner Stone: Not what I said at all, but hey, you do you.

  43. 43.

    NR

    November 14, 2016 at 11:45 pm

    @chopper: I don’t know. I don’t pay much attention to you to be honest.

  44. 44.

    John Revolta

    November 14, 2016 at 11:51 pm

    @Lizzy L: Sigh. Growing up in Chicago, I knew more than one woman who had to go clear to NYC to get a safe abortion. Imagine that, whippersnappers.
    Now imagine if you couldn’t even do THAT!
    Well, I hear we’re opening up relations with Cuba, where the healthcare is very good.

    Oh, wait…………………………..

  45. 45.

    Original Lee

    November 15, 2016 at 12:00 am

    I know exactly what you mean, John. The week I was in Berlin (with two days in East Berlin), I felt as if I could see which part of the sky was over East Germany and which part was over West Berlin. Both days I was in East Berlin were overcast, which didn’t help any. My friends and i even took a tram out into the suburbs on the second day, to see if we could find something with some color in it. I was wearing a bright red wool coat and felt as if I was in one of those red umbrella photos the entire time. The crazy part was, it was fall, and even though we knew the trees were in their full color glory, it didn’t seem as bright in the East as it did in the West.

    One of my mentors in my first real job had been on an internship in West Berlin when the Wall went up. She told me many stories about the year she was there.

  46. 46.

    Corner Stone

    November 15, 2016 at 12:02 am

    @NR: Any analysis that says it was a decimation of the message to working class. That state houses fell because the D’s stopped talking to working class voters. That’s all bunk, man.
    Trump appointed a white nationalist to the top advisor role in his administration. Then he made Reince CoS.
    Tell me again how they are going to work with Ryan and McConnell to bring back manufacturing jobs. Mining jobs. Any jobs.
    This has been a mirage of attempts to tell D voters where they needed to go to get the “missing” vote. You may not personally want to toss equality and social justice off the platform. But that is the message being pushed by anyone who types “economic anxiety”.

  47. 47.

    NR

    November 15, 2016 at 12:24 am

    @Corner Stone:

    Tell me again how they are going to work with Ryan and McConnell to bring back manufacturing jobs. Mining jobs. Any jobs.

    They’re not. But by working for their corporate donors instead of working Americans, the Democratic party left the door open for a populist demagogue to come in and make these kinds of false appeals to them.

    Let’s not keep doing the same thing, eh?

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 15, 2016 at 12:28 am

    @NR: But by working for their corporate donors instead of working Americans,

    by, among other things, expanding and preserving the safety net, getting health insurance to over 20 million people, and saving the auto industry.

    Shut the fuck up, Dummy.

  49. 49.

    RandomMonster

    November 15, 2016 at 12:51 am

    Hi John,

    I traveled a number of times to East Germany, not as a soldier but as a student. I had no idea you guys spent time with East German troops. Sounds fascinating and you should relay some more stories about that sometime.

  50. 50.

    Irony Abounds

    November 15, 2016 at 1:12 am

    I’m with you Cole. People who think America is going to emerge unscathed from the Trump Administration (excuse me while I throw up after writing that)…ok, back, have lost touch with reality. Among the problems: Trump has so many conflicts of interest with his business that America’s best interests will take a back seat to what is best for Donald; two Republicans control everything now, and don’t expect Trump to stand in their way as long as they don’t interfere with his business, which means Medicare will be privatized and Social Security eligibility age will get pushed out to most likely 70, which means it will be fairly useless to those who need it most; a very conservative Supreme Court will take firm root along with scads of lower court judges, which means the fat lady is warming up for the end of Roe v. Wade; and our alliances with European allies will take a hit while Donald pals around with Putin, and Russia effectively seizes control of the Baltic States and the balance of Ukraine. Yes we can mobilize, and protest and scream and shout, all of which will do very little good because there will be no oversight or investigations, and the Trump Administration will bully the weak ass mass media into subservience. Ironically, a horrible recession in the first two years would be the best thing for the country in the long run, but it is unlikely because the huge tax cuts will keep things afloat even as the deficit balloons, which means little loss of House seats and gains in the Senate for the Rs (perhaps even getting over 60, which won’t be that big of deal because the filibuster will have been eliminated).

    Doom and gloom? Yep. Does it mean people should give up, of course not, but it doesn’t help to ignore reality either.

    Oh, and while I clearly have not been the biggest Hillary fan, she is irrelevant now, and the reasons she lost in the Electoral College are irrelevant because she presented a very unique set of issues. The problem the Dems need to focus on is finding someone with the chops, both policy wise and charisma wise, to win in 2020, because if the Dems lose in 2020, you really can stick a fork in any version of America that hints at progressiveness, it will be done.

  51. 51.

    Goblue72

    November 15, 2016 at 1:36 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: why are you still here? You lost. You got beat like a rented mule. Again. Running up the vote totals in California doesn’t count. And we are supposed to listen to fools like you? You fucking lost Pennsylvania. Michigan. Goddamn Wisconsin.

    Bwahahahahaha.

  52. 52.

    Goblue72

    November 15, 2016 at 1:36 am

    @Corner Stone: The only voices saying that are the ones in your head.

  53. 53.

    MaryRC

    November 15, 2016 at 1:42 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: But here’s the thing that gives me a little hope. The woman who posted the slur lost her job as a result. The woman who high-fived her is scrambling to keep her job and frantically apologizing/passing the buck. They can’t turn the clock all the way back anymore/

  54. 54.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 15, 2016 at 1:52 am

    @Goblue72: Why, Dwight, you’re celebrating Trump’s victory because some people on a blog make fun of your shape-shifting fantasy role-playing on the internet? How did Betty Cracker put it, “Cosplay radical”? That’s not very Martin, or very Malcom.

    On the sauce tonight, Dwight? Thinking up a new character to play here to distract from the bitter mediocrities of your actual life?

  55. 55.

    RaflW

    November 15, 2016 at 1:53 am

    Unfortunately, I seem to be in a “the Enlightenment was never guaranteed to last forever” mood today.

    I went for a walk in the redwoods south of San Francisco today (before I fly home to MN tomorrow) and it didn’t do a damn thing to awe or ground me, though previous trips to redwoods have been wonderful. I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything is terribly wrong. Because it is.

    And as I wandered among the towering (but second growth, maybe 100 year old trees except for one massive one in it’s own little corral) trees, I found myself wondering if this is nature’s way of getting rid of a couple billion humans in the next little while — massive global disruption, economic collapse, war, drought, famine, pestilence (with antibiotic resistance, no less).

    Maybe Barack Obama was peak humanity, and it’s all down hill from here, for the whole earth.

    On that cheery note, I gotta get to sleep. Home tomorrow. Deeply needed home (for now…).

  56. 56.

    seaboogie

    November 15, 2016 at 1:59 am

    @Halcyan: I sometimes wonder if this is how the GOP felt when Obama won – twice. I believe that they had the same sort of visceral fear of losing white privilege as we do of losing humanitarian values.

  57. 57.

    honestcoyote

    November 15, 2016 at 2:37 am

    I’ve got my fear in check right now after a bad couple of days after the election. It’s more anger now.

    And I think about what I’ve seen in the past and in the present. I remember Bush’s overreach in 2005 with SS, quickly followed by his incompetence with Katrina, and his lingering unpopularity from how he mismanaged the wars. I’m also remembering the final years of Reagan’s presidency. The power vacuum at the top due to a president who couldn’t or wouldn’t lead. The constant leaks, tell-alls, scandals, and not much of anything was accomplished.

    And what I’m seeing now in the state of Kansas. They may have voted overwhelmingly for Trump, but they’re clearly in full rebellion against Brownback now. On election day this year, they increased the number of Democrats in the state house (by voting out Brownback cronies) and rejected Brownback’s attempt to pack the courts. They also voted in several moderates in the Republican primaries, again rejecting Brownback’s faction. The Koch-fueled radicals may have said all the right things about God, guns, abortion, etc., to get elected in the first place but they overreached in trying to kill services the average person counted on. Not to mention trashing the state’s economy. Brownback polls lower than syphilis these days.

    These things in the past, or at present on the state level, doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to happen in the future. But they’re good indicators. It’s obvious Trump is beyond incompetent and by doing things like appointing 2 chiefs of staff, is guaranteeing utter chaos in his administration before it can even get off the ground. The GOP is showing they’re ready for the overreach already, with things like Ryan vowing to kill Medicare. Which will be a bloodbath for the GOP at the hands of angry and scared seniors if he comes anywhere close to doing so.

    So I’m a little optimistic.

  58. 58.

    PSpain

    November 15, 2016 at 2:42 am

    What I do not understand is why there is no talk of fighting back now.

    Where is Obama seeding the government with progressives to counter the oncoming onslaught? Bush did it.

    Why no talk of recess appointments? Starting with the Supreme Court but all down the line from empty seats on every board and committee.

    Make them work the next 2 years. Gum up the works.

    You know if the situation was reversed they would be doing it and openly announcing their plans.

    Play to win.

  59. 59.

    rachel

    November 15, 2016 at 2:46 am

    Hi John Cole, longtime lurker/infrequent commenter rachel here.

    Back in 2004, when you were still an enthusiastic Republican and supported W’s re-election wholeheartedly, I felt much the same as you do now. The knowledge that the majority of voters in country had voted to retain a manifestly incompetent boob and a warmonger whose administration permitted US troops to torture and mistreat prisoners made me sick to my stomach. You OTOH seemed to feel then rather like the Trump voters do now.

    I don’t want to rub your nose in your past errors; I just want to point out that you’ve changed your mind since then. Maybe some Trumpers will too.

  60. 60.

    CarolDuhart2

    November 15, 2016 at 2:46 am

    @NR: He deserves, it the sexist, greedy fuck with his cult of dudebros. Black people were onto him from the start, which is why he never got traction in South Carolina and areas of the North that had a significant fraction of them. Same with Latinos. Which is why he never won Nevada either.

  61. 61.

    dianne

    November 15, 2016 at 2:47 am

    I’m feeling as low as you, John. We can have the most competent candidate in the history of the world but when the next batch of e-mails gets hacked and released, when the FBI director puts his foul hands on the scale, when three million of our base wake up on 11/9 and see the results of their staying home and only then get activated – I know voter suppression played a role but not that much – when my vote in CA is still sitting in a heap somewhere waiting to be counted and a cow in a pasture in Wyoming gets more of a vote than I do and determines who wins, well, we better just face up to it. The whole world is turning hard right thanks to Mr Putin and his under the table money and support. He will be our co-president and Trump’s children will get security clearance and the NSA will be run by newbies because the experienced officers have declined to serve. I’m not feeling too confident about the future, either.

  62. 62.

    CarolDuhart2

    November 15, 2016 at 2:50 am

    @NR: I’ve heard variations of this since the 1990’s. Hillary and Bill worked hard for everyone, but let’s face it: the people don’t finance elections anymore in this country. And Americans were never in line for brocialist notions that money in politics was to be pure as the driven snow. I think the anger was that Bill and to a lesser extent-Obama actually won elections, and that Hillary came close. To the brocialist, Dems aren’t supposed to win in a corrupt system, but nobly lose so that the revolution could come quicker.

  63. 63.

    wasabi gasp

    November 15, 2016 at 4:04 am

    Thanks, Obama.

  64. 64.

    CJ

    November 15, 2016 at 5:23 am

    Short time lurker here lately, though I followed the Juice years ago. I’m just not a talker these days.

    There are a few thoughts I’d like to share with Cole because like him, I can’t quite face the scope of this disaster head on. I’ve been peeking at it through mental fingers trying to find reasons to hope.

    Hope 1. Trump is a narcissist. He wants to be adored and we can get at him through that weakness more easily than other politicians. He may swing with public opinion and we have the majority on our side in most issues.

    Hope 2. Lifting the rock and seeing what is underneath may be the only way this country will move forward.

    Hope 3. We may be wandering in the wilderness, but we are not alone. We are many, we are tough and we will fight.

    That’s all I’ve got at the moment. That and trying to step around this crater in my emotions and start to think of strategy, not just to minimize the damage, but to move forward. It begins with fighting them on how elections are held.

  65. 65.

    Raven Onthill

    November 15, 2016 at 7:08 am

    Sympathies, John. Ravens don’t have a lot of sweet sounds, so I’m not going to try to soothe you but, you know, there’s people willing to fight the racist SOB. There’s strikes at high schools fergawsakes. That’s an accomplishment. Fifty years ago, the it was a fight just to get people to acknowledge racism was an issue and now look. I don’t hold out a lot of hope in the short term, but in the long term I think we’re winning.

  66. 66.

    permafrost

    November 15, 2016 at 7:18 am

    @NR: Working Americans work for Corporate America, by and large.

  67. 67.

    permafrost

    November 15, 2016 at 7:24 am

    @CarolDuhart2: I agree with this. When Sanders first came on the scene my line was ‘he’s the candidates for Democrats who are tired of winning.’ All the compromise, half measures, deal making to get something done, these people will have nothing of it. They want to stay pure and talk revolution.

  68. 68.

    azlib

    November 15, 2016 at 7:51 am

    I have always liked this poem by Adrienne Rich. Pretty much sums up my own feelings right now:

    My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
    so much has been destroyed
    I have to cast my lot with those
    who age after age, perversely,
    with no extraordinary power,
    reconstitute the world.”

    ― Adrienne Rich

  69. 69.

    Phoebes

    November 15, 2016 at 8:36 am

    @jacy: you’re absolutely right. Get those lazy Dems to the polls, starting in 2018. And get the 50 state stategy back. Now!!!

  70. 70.

    Ryan

    November 15, 2016 at 8:40 am

    Fairly certain we’re headed to privatized social security and Medicare; Trump doesn’t give a fuck, what does he have to lose? Maybe in my 70s we’ll get things back to where they are now.

  71. 71.

    LAC

    November 15, 2016 at 9:29 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: amen. Been reading Kurt eichenwald’s piece in Newsweek, dismantling that pile of shit they rode on here. Fuck them – they are useless and not needed for the work ahead.

  72. 72.

    The Truffle

    November 15, 2016 at 9:38 am

    @Ryan: I wonder what will happen when those Rust Belters hear about privatized SS/Medicare. I am sure they did not sign on for that.

    Also, now Trump says he wants to keep parts of Obamacare? Ryan must love that.

    We have our wedge issues, people.

    Meanwhile, the Dems at least seem to be taking the right tack by coming out of the woodwork to condemn Bannon. And Keith Ellison is gunning for the DNC job. If he can run it and employ Howard Dean as a consultant, that would be perfect. We need the 50 state strategy.

  73. 73.

    The Moar You Know

    November 15, 2016 at 10:48 am

    There’s strikes at high schools fergawsakes.

    @Raven Onthill: Interesting news on that front locally here in SoCal. Two of the high schools in our district had massive walkouts, full student/teachers strikes. The other…which needs to be renamed “Deplorable High School” and also happens to be the one my wife’s teaching in, not so much. The kids rioted at lunchtime, running through the school with Trump/Pence signs, wearing hats that said “you’re fired” and telling teachers they would be, and shoving the Hispanic kids out of line and telling them to “get used to it, whites come first”. A handful of kids were suspended and the kids/parents involved have already lawyered up, and I’m betting they’re about to get a nice steaming wad of GOP cash to defend themselves. Gonna be an ugly four years, guys.

  74. 74.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    November 15, 2016 at 10:54 am

    The man is an ignoramus and a fraud, surrounded by white supremacists, warmongers, liars, lunatics and con artists, and he has almost unlimited power because I don’t think for one instance the Republicans in congress will reign him in. They’ll just normalize it like they have everything else that has happened the last few years. It’s downright terrifying.

    And I honestly don’t know what we can do. I don’t have faith that Dems will pull together and rebuild.

    Don’t have faith. But work for it. And remember, the Republicans have shown some of the tactics we need to change.

    First: they try to use language to make their ideas sound good, and then relentlessly push them… not to their base, but to moderates and liberals. They want to sow division in their opponents.

    They make Christians sound persecuted – which makes a lot of people pause and listen, mixing in enough semi-meaningful anecdotes in with the “OMG WE HAVE TO BAKE A CAKE! WE’RE BAKERS, WON’T SOMEONE SAVE US!” to get a bit of a pause. This gives them a chance to pull off a few moderates and liberals who are saying “well, *some* of what they say makes sense” and gives them plenty of “see what hypocrites they are?” meat to throw. (Poor Repub base doesn’t know the meat is predigested….)

    They claim tax cuts will create economic growth and jobs.

    They claim they LOVE babies so they have to fight abortion because they REALLY, truly believe, why can’t those intolerant leftists accept that?

    That tactic has to be turned around.

    The Republican Party should constantly be referred to as the party of layoffs and offshoring.

    We should point out that they’re the pro-abortion party – why else would they keep trying to kill Planned Parenthood? No, they want to string the pro-lifers along; they don’t want to prevent abortions.

    We should point out that we’re so Deeply Troubled because the last Republican left us open to the worst terrorist attack in modern history.

    We should point out that they promised to cut the deficit further, after Obama cut their trillion dollar deficits to reasonable sizes, and now they want to blow it up.

    We should point out that they appoint justices who want to overturn constitutional, settled law (like the Voting Rights Act).

    The big point to all this is to unapologetically attack the things they claim to stand for.

    Call them weak on national defense. Call them weak on foreign affairs. Call them weak on the economy – when the Republicans are in power, here come the layoffs, the offshoring, and the government support of both.

    Fight back. But remember that we’re not after *power* – we’re after *justice*. If these tactics help the Democrats pull back in to power in 2018, the Republicans get another chance to show sanity. If not… keep going until 2020, and then, another chance to show sanity.

  75. 75.

    Earl

    November 15, 2016 at 11:18 am

    So we’re all just ignoring that Obama appointed Comey in 2013?

    I obviously don’t believe Obama wanted this outcome, but he’s such a slow learner that even as late as 2013 he still was willing to put Republicans in positions of authority.

    That should make you question his judgement about many things.

  76. 76.

    Eadgyth

    November 15, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    The only thing to me that is possible is:
    1) I’m not changing my value system or support to be more ‘centrist’. We came from there in the 90’s. That’s done. We support full throated liberalism.
    2) I’ve joined 5 organizations I wasn’t part of before that I should have been. A lot of us can swing joining a few more. They need names on their lists for clout, as well as money.
    3) I find every conservative Facebook post I can and speak to it, calmly but without relenting. We can’t reach them on TV or on the web, but on FB you can often interact with individual people and maybe shift them an iota or two. I used to politely ignore rather than risk offending my cousin or friends of friends. Now I talk to them, and it has been interesting.
    4) I am friending people who write posts I like. I have met tons of new people this way. That has been the best part of this post-election period.
    People get the majority of their news on FB now. We need to be there advocating also.

  77. 77.

    permafrost

    November 15, 2016 at 7:28 pm

    @Earl: I won’t vote for him again.

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