Not clinically, and no I’m not suicidal or going to drink or any of that shit, I’m just so disgusted and down about the election still. It just horrifies me that so many people voted for Trump.
And the worst thing is now they aren’t paying attention to what he is doing and just think it is business as usual.
I hate our fucking media.
Ang
F’ing yes. This, exactly.
Trentrunner
I had an epiphany yesterday:
All that matters is pocketbook/security issues.
Trump is:
A rapist? Doesn’t matter.
Corrupt? No one cares.
Ignorant and proud of it? Fine, so is America.
We Dems cannot run against Trump as a uniquely disgusting and corrupt person (though he is).
We can only run against Trump by anchoring the GOP to him and him to the GOP.
And here’s the theme:
“Trump and his GOP want to keep making themselves rich on your backs.”
That’s it.
Now, where do I collect my 7-figure consulting fee?
Major Major Major Major
@Trentrunner: there’s an opinion going around that I think is seriously worth considering that Trump is basically Berlusconi. The way B was ultimately defeated was by treating him like any other politician with shitty policies rather than the country-destroying monstrosity he more or less was.
Raoul
Our fucking media seems to hate us too. So, real question: what are our options? Just canceling the NYT and skimming various clickbait news sites isn’t going to provide a whole lotta news or context.
What is the emerging media that may have credibility in the Rump era?
I was having lunch with a millennial yesterday, one who is smart, tactical, driven, a new mom, and wife of an early Xer who has a teen age daughter. She was talking about how to their generation, the lack of one figurehead leader is par for the course. She described new movements as leaderful rather than leaderless – more collective and process-oriented than top-down.
WHich has me thinking, what are the information gathering and analysis-creating modes for folks in the up n coming generations? 20th century journalism seems to be failing, and pining for what is gone, or getting pissed about it, or depressed, ain’t gonna help. So. What’s next? Something’s gotta come next.
(I’ll acknowledge that the something might not be good. But if we sit on our asses, that’s more likely. If we can seek out new channels, and encourage them and support them, we have a chance)
dlwchico
Yup, same here. I go back and forth between rage and despair.
SatanicPanic
Getting together with like-minded people and talking it through really helped me. I’m still not in a good place (and who knows if I’ll ever be!), but it was a start.
schrodingers_cat
Same here. My outrage meter is broken.
OT: I want to go visit Jodhpur, so pretty!
From Shudh Desi Romance ( rough translation: Pure Country Romance)
Mike in NC
I read an article today by Rick Perlstein, where a commenter stated that the media deliberately drove the election the way the Titanic was driven into the iceberg. Now they’re reporting from the main deck. Quite apt.
Jerzy Russian
I hear you. I have come to the conclusion that more of half of the people out there are below average. Today I heard a caller to the local sports radio station say that Trump was given a million dollars from his father and turned it into a billion dollars. First, my understanding is he got way more tha 1 million, and second, it is by no means obvious that he is a billionaire. There were several bankruptcies and we still have not seen any tax returns. Normally I either ignore or pity stupidity but on this case stupidity can get us all killed.
Raoul
If I can synthesize a Major-Trent combo, I think the message might be: Rump’s complete mishandling of X situation (and there will be many!) is because his administration is all about making his friends rich, and screwing you and me. His policies are destined to fail, but he is sitting pretty as long as his cronies get richer.
Gin & Tonic
63 million Americans wanted to vote for “Fuck You!”
That *is* depressing.
NotMax
Despondent rather than depressed, personally.
rikyrah
Texas to cut Planned Parenthood from Medicaid
12/20/16 07:35 PM EST
Planned Parenthood will no longer receive funding from Texas’s Medicaid program, state health officials announced Tuesday.
Officials delivered a final legal notice to Planned Parenthood, the Texas Tribune reports, and the change will take effect in 30 days unless the organization files an appeal with the state.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and state health officials first moved to cut Medicaid funding last year when controversial undercover videos of Planned Parenthood officials surfaced.
Anti-abortion groups have claimed the videos prove the organization is “harvesting” fetal tissue, but the videos were proven to be highly edited, and Planned Parenthood fully denied the allegations.
Texas’s Planned Parenthood affiliates use Medicaid funding for family planning and women’s health services — separate from its abortion services, which don’t receive public funds.
The battle will likely move to federal court
SiubhanDuinne
John, I am the same. I’m totally horrified at the fast normalization of all the Trump awfulness, and I don’t know where it will end.
My sleep is all fucked up. The first few weeks after the election I couldn’t even really fall asleep until about 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. Lately I’ve managed to get to sleep earlier, but it’s fitful and full of the most bizarre, troubling dreams. And the last few nights, I’ve been falling asleep at 11:00 or midnight but wake up every hour on the hour until about 5:00 or 6:00 a.m., when I then piss away the entire morning catching up on lost ZZZZ’s. Depression manifests in odd ways.
And Christmas? I can’t remember when I cared less about the holidays. People say things like “Have you finished all your shopping?” and I just look at them like “What in the fuck are you even talking about?” I don’t want to be this way, but as long as Trump and his Trumpkins and Trumpettes are within pissing distance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I can’t pretend to be all cheerful and okay when I’m not.
tl;dr — I feel all your feels, John.
Yarrow
I think we’re on the verge of becoming an authoritarian state. Freedom of the press will be curtailed and our meek press won’t stand up for themselves. Other freedoms will be curbed and anyone who isn’t white and male will be made to suffer. There will be surveillance at all times in all ways – it will be legal. Police, military and FBI will be encouraged to “keep citizens in line.” There will be no recourse against police violence. Our prison system will continue to grow.
As for elections, I don’t think we’ll have free and fair elections anymore. We’ve seen the last one this year, such as it was. Harsher voting restrictions, doing away with early voting, things like that will be the legal way to affect elections. Then making up new rules for why certain people can’t be on the ballot will be a new one. There will be more like that. Then I forsee an “event” that happens – probably an event arranged by Trump and his goons (think Reichstag fire) and then a state of emergency will be declared and elections “postponed.” After that it’s Trump all the way.
People are talking about how Democrats can fight back. I think that’s almost naive in its assumption that Democrats will be allowed to fight back. As a people, as a nation, we have to stop this authoritarian power grab. I know there are some Republicans who are also standing up to Trump. We need to band with them. This is not Republican vs Democrat. This is authoritarian vs democracy. That is our fight.
Elmo
Yep.
I hate my country. Every new outrage is met with a shrug – what did you expect? The business in North Carolina? Elections have consequences, and the legislature is what it is.
It’s almost clinical, how my own reactions mirror the symptoms of depression and shock. But that doesn’t matter, because nothing matters.
I believed in American Exceptionalism. That belief is gone, shattered, never to return. Our oligarchy is like any other. It would almost be liberating, if it weren’t so crippling.
TaMara (HFG)
You’re not alone. My phone and email are busy with people who are not coping. I can’t offer much, except to say, “you’re not alone” . I walk around every day and try to focus on what’s good in my life, but then I get caught thinking, WTF, who are these people who did this? How can I interact with them, many of whom I related to?
Starfish
@Jerzy Russian: Death Cab for Cutie likes the million dollar number.
raven
Oh boy, here we go again. Fight the fuck back!!!!
brendancalling
Yup. It’s a hard pill to swallow.
The only bright side, I guess, is that everything is gonna collapse pretty fast for him? Maybe?
Also, remember a lot of people just stayed home. Something like 90 million people.
I dunno. We’re fucked, really. I sure hope PBO does a recess w/Garland but even that is no fix.
Iowa Old Lady
@rikyrah: This just annoys the hell out of me. Rs snotted that in a govt run health program, the govt would come between patients and their doctors, so the law was written to say the govt insurance could be used at any otherwise qualified provider who’d take it. The patient got to choose. Then the complaint was that people were using their Medicaid at a provider the Rs didn’t approve of. Make up your minds.
MJS
It’s not the media. It’s the people of this country. The media hasn’t changed all that much – they’ve sucked for a long time. Republicans showed what we always knew – that their unifying philosophy is “Republicans uber alles.” The others to blame are those who sat home, or didn’t take the threat seriously and voted for Stein or Johnson.
LongHairedWeirdo
I’m sorry, because I respect you, but I feel I need to take this shot: remember why *you* voted Republican. There were things that I’m sure you regret in retrospect, but in the time, you thought you were right.
Don’t be disgusted by the people. Don’t assume they made an informed choice. Figure out how to reach them, and how to fight back against the hate being spread. They hook people like they hooked you.
That said: there’s no more anti-smoker than an ex-smoker of a certain type. So feel free to acknowledge that you’re probably a bit more anti- than some, and think about how and if you can use that.
RoonieRoo
I’m in the same boat. I think that is why I’m still wallowing in the “burn it all down” camp. I’m having a hard time getting any motivation to protest or do anything constructive as I almost want to watch as the Trumpkins bite it big when they repeal ACA, and fuck SS and Medicare. I am no longer a good person in any sense.
Major Major Major Major
@Raoul: “…also his policies just cost you $4000/year in social security money and made it so your parents will have to move back in with you when they’re old.”
gbbalto
Going to eastern Canada as always for Christmas. Canadian sister e-mailed me to ask for a Trump-free Christmas. She says that she and BIL have stopped watching news and are now sleeping better. I can’t blame them, but FSM help me, I am trying to figure out what else to talk about even though I don’t recall talking about politics the previous 20+ years (we all think alike). That asshole has taken control of our minds…at least mine! Maybe the break will do me good.
ETA a little politics but not at this level of horrid.
rikyrah
Donald Trump will violate the US constitution on inauguration day
Laurence H Tribe
Because of the emoluments clause, the electoral college would be fully justified in concluding that he is unsuited to the presidency
When Donald Trump swears at the inauguration that he will “faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States”, he will be committing a violation of constitutional magnitude.
The US constitution flatly prohibits any “Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States]” from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State”.
Known as the emoluments clause, this provision was designed on the theory that a federal officeholder who receives something of value from a foreign power can be tempted to compromise what the constitution insists be his exclusive loyalty: the best interest of the United States. The clause applies to the president and covers even ordinary, fair market value transactions with foreign states and their agents that result in any profit or benefit. That a hostile government has gotten its money’s worth from our president is obviously no defense to a charge that he has abused his office.
Trump’s continued interest in the Trump Organization and his steady stream of monetary and other benefits from foreign powers put him on a collision course with the emoluments clause. Disentangling every improper influence resulting from special treatment of Trump’s business holdings by foreign states would be impossible. The American people would be condemned to uncertainty, leaving our political discourse rife with accusations of corruption. These problems are exacerbated by the fact that Trump has regularly declined to make his business dealings or tax returns transparent.
MJS
@Elmo: Why did you believe in American exceptionalism? Beyond empty slogans, what led you to believe America was inherently “the greatest country on earth”? There has always been plenty of evidence that that particular concept was hogwash.
Ohio Mom
Me too.
JPL
@rikyrah: Yeah and Comey will start an investigation.. right!
The one thing we have to remember is they don’t want us to vote, and that alone should encourage us to get out the vote. In GA Cobb county voted for Hillary. That is huge, but we need to build on that momentum.
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
By the very act of his taking the Oath of Office on January 20th, Donald J. Trump will be committing perjury. Before he even takes his tiny, tiny hand off whatever Scripture he chooses (my money’s on a first edition of Art of the Deal).
Starfish
They are paying a tiny bit of attention and JOKING about Russians.
schrodingers_cat
@Raoul: BBC, CBC, non-American media.
MomSense
I think we have to start organizing locally in small groups, only people you really know and trust and gradually build our small groups. Start by studying non violence and learning how to communicate so that all the issues are explained in values.
cmorenc
@Gin & Tonic:
…and were oblivious to the fact that for about 50 million of them, “you” was their own selves.
Denali
You are not alone in this state of mind.
Iowa Old Lady
@SiubhanDuinne: I noticed in B&N today that someone had turned the copies of Art of the Deal so only the back cover showed. Small acts of resistance.
gbbalto
@gbbalto: OK! My theory is that we have to find ways not to think about this rat fucker (poor rats!) at least some of the time or we’ll go nuts and not have the energy to resist:
I’m dreaming of a Trump-free Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
Serious about this. I’m no expert on authoritarian regimes but it seems to me that successful Dear Leaders have this oxygen sucking capability that has to be fought.
gbbalto + several
Major Major Major Major
@cmorenc: nah, they knew. The hope is just that you get fucked HARDER.
Starfish
@cmorenc: And three Democratic electoral college voters voted for Colin Powell.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Ahem. :)
Elmo
@MJS: That was shorthand for a slightly different concept than “greatest country on earth.” Sorry. By American Exceptionalism, I meant:
Democratic norms
The rule of law
A robust tradition of debate
A strong inclination to avoid the appearance of impropriety
And probably other things that are more instinctive than overt
But I was wrong. We live in a Third World kleptocracy. Public office is nothing but a means to private wealth. Power exists for its own sake, and the only constraint on that power is force. There is no reason that power should respect anything else. There are no “norms,” and any suggestion otherwise is weakness.
Does that make more sense?
Lizzy L
I am despondent, but not depressed. I am angry. I am sleeping reasonably again. I don’t think we are on the verge of becoming an authoritarian state, but I understand why Yarrow thinks so. I’m with raven; we need to fight the fuck back so that we don’t go down that road any farther. The people who voted for T are a minority of the country. I don’t think we should assume that the people who didn’t vote are going to be happy if Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc. are threatened, or if we get into a trade war with China, or if the EPA disappears. I want the Democratic party to stand firmly in opposition to T, and I’m prepared to raise my voice to support that. I’m prepared to be uncooperative with policies I find morally repugnant, such as registration of American citizens for any reason. I will not be respectful or tolerant of bigotry. I will join with others in my community to protect the vulnerable. I will pay attention, and I will not shut up.
And yeah, fuck (most of) the media.
M. Bouffant
Fuck everything & everybody to hell in a handbasket, I say!
This nation is about to get what it deserves, good & hard, & it deserves every single minute of suffering.
martian
So, maybe the this is the thread to ask, has anybody seen redshirt around here since the miserable early hours of 11/9? This Goodbye, Cruel World. was the last comment I’ve seen, and I didn’t turn up anything more recent searching. I was concerned by a couple of his comments before the goodbye. It probably seems stupid since I’m mostly just a lurker, but I’m worried for him.
rikyrah
Tom Perez @TomPerez Dec 19
.@GOP If being Asst AG for Civil Rights makes me “radical on race issues” it’s worth questioning who’s “radical.”
JMG
The history of this country was always a race between the ideals of democracy, and the reality of white racism within even the people who expressed those ideals. Race over. Forget democracy. Stupid white people will eventually demand a war which they will lose, seeing as how they (we, I’m white) are outnumbered.
MomSense
@martian:
Nope and I’m worried about him.
Gvg
We can’t know if he is profiting if we don’t know for sure everything he owns. Congress should supena his tax returns the first time he does something in office that they think he profited from. The IRS can’t leak them legally but they sure can be obtained legally in that context. And then we will know not guess. And every presidential candidate from then on will know it will happen to them.
I expect he has always broken the laws and it will become proven but I also think COngress will take awhile to see the need. He picks fights though and doesn’t realize they have power and interests too.
mai naem mobile
I feel the same way. I am just having a hard time getting beyond that people voted for this moron. The worst part is I don’t think the Dems can do much except wait for the GOP to fuck up. A good part of me thinks the Dems should not cooperate at all with the GOP even if it means it’s going to hurt people. Thats the only way all the blame is squarely put on the GOP. The Dems are not going to get credit for saving anything anyway. Furthermore, there’s a good chance they’ll get blamed for not doing more.
Adam L Silverman
@martian: No, but… I think she emailed me about two weeks ago. Its a different email address than she uses to post here, but based on what was in the email I’m relatively sure its her.
Major Major Major Major
@martian: oh dear.
ETA: @Adam L Silverman: phew!
Aunt Kathy
I was thinking just today that I was going to have to get used to being out-of-sorts until that asshole is out of our White House. It’s just the way it’s going to be.
raven
Water Girl has checked out too.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@NotMax:
Indeed that’s the better word for me as well. My formal medical dx notwithstanding.
@raven: That’s an excellent point. Can we please perhaps also not hash out for the 758th time what campaign mistakes were/could have been/might have been made? While we’re thinking constructively.
3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)
@Ohio Mom: Yeah, it’s not normal to wake up in the morning and your first thought is something to the effect of, “I wonder if the world is going to end today?” Not normal. At all.
At least one thing is better – I need to lose a few pounds, and I haven’t had my stomach settle enough for me to eat like I used to… so there is that. Maybe I’ll be able to run faster from the jack-booted thugs.
MazeDancer
It’s a dreadful limbo time because Trump hasn’t done anything yet except appoint repulsive sub-monsters for his monsterhood. And shown that Putin is his boss. But we don’t have any specific thing to fight, yet, because he hasn’t been sworn in and we can’t take action.
When the legislation starts, we’ll fight. Even if Schumer appeases, we’ll fight. There are more of us. It feels like less because the media is worthless. Yet, the NY Times announced today their new beefed-up team heading to DC avowing to “follow the money” – yes, they tweeted that – and investigate. Think they didn’t like losing so badly to WaPo.
So, I am somewhere between “America dies now” and “America revives now”. As in, some decent percentage of Dems don’t give a shit about anything except saving our democracy.
Also, I think killing Medicare and Social Security will not be okay with Trump’s base, not to mention the rest of the country. And Ryan and McConnell will tell Trump he either kills Medicare and Social Security or they will impeach him. So the GOP will not be unified.
And John McCain and Lindsey Graham are not okay with America becoming a neo-Nazi Russian acquisition. So there is hope. But it is insane how we are in this place.
MJS
@Elmo: I suppose, but this country was stolen from others, built to a large extent on the backs of slave labor, relied heavily on the subjugation of women and minorities for continued growth, and has an alarming propensity for foreign adventurism that frequently leads to thousands of casualties. So whatever the definition, American exceptionalism was always a myth.
martian
@MomSense: I hope he’s just taken a step back from the insanity, I really do. He didn’t make a big fuss or anything, but he said something to Conster about already being dead in a way that spooked me. Not drama seeking, just matter of fact. And then, after a bit, just a GBCW.
raven
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike): It depends on where you are and what you are doing.
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: I’ll shoot an email across to that person and see if I can confirm.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: I’m most worried about Different Church Lady. Unfortunately she used a dummy email to post here, so my attempt to contact her bounced back.
Culture of Truth
Like Obama I like to think about the greatness of the America experiment and the arc of history, etc,, etc., all of which is still true, (as of today, anyway) but I’m very disappointed in my fellow Americans.
I should have seen this coming, as a I wrote a while ago about how America was going to become more a nationalist country, and I’ve long explained how my local non-entity Congressman keeps getting re-elected, as “people are selfish.” Which is also still true, but here’s the thing — after year-after-every-other-year of trying and failing to knock him out, this year voters kicked his ass to the curb and replaced with a Democrat. Perhaps there’s hope after all.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: I mean this place is a bummer about half the time.
NickM
I’m depressed to. I took my kids to the local diner and had to listen to a loud obviously well off old lady say all these great things about “Mr. Trump”. I tried to make sure she overheard me talking about stupid old idiots but she was too high on her own supply and I couldnt out talk her Claxton voice. I thought about saying some awful things and then I recognized what I was becoming. But I have to say I’m coming to feel that I honestly wouldn’t piss on about half my fellow countrymen if their heads were on fire. And that sucks. I was never hateful before but now I can’t help it.
schrodingers_cat
@raven: I have been thinking of doing the same. This constant gloom and doom is depressing to say the least. I am also pondering ceasing all correspondence with my-I-am-too-good-to-vote for Hillz, purity pony friend. Her constant o/p of stupid is annoying.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Yea, it’s not unusual for Water Girl to take breaks.
Li'l Innocent
@MJS: it’s true the media have even turning themselves ungovernable gossips for quite a while -but it’s not true that it was always like this. If you’re old enough to remember when the news divisions of the networks were free from the pressure to entertain and deliver audience to advertisers, it’s even more depressing , however it gives some direct insight into why many of your fellow Americans are so unable to make a distinction between fact and fiction. Everything didn’t use to be an infomercial.
James E Powell
@Raoul:
I’ve been reading and hearing that same song for at least 30 years. That stuff sounds all good, but it just doesn’t produce election wins. Like lot of great ideas that come from somewhere and go nowhere. There is no new paradigm. There are two rules: get elected, get re-elected. Failure to do both is catastrophic.
martian
@Adam L Silverman: redshirt is a she person? God, I hope you’re right that she’s out there. It’s really been weighing on me. And now I’m sounding like the drama seeker, heh.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
aren’t there two commenters, redshirt and redshift, one a man from Maine and the other a woman from VA? I think the former had been a lot more frequent in the run up to the election, and that’s who GBCW’d. I could have the gender and geography mixed up there.
Iowa Old Lady
The threads on recipes, pets, gardens, etc. are soothing because you know the people are politically in the same sad state you are, but they’re chatting about normal life and supporting one another. We need some of that.
raven
@schrodingers_cat: Yea I go hang with my RWNJ hawaiian buddy on Sunday mornings. I’m flabbergasted at some of the shit he says but I suppose my constant reference to that fucking nazzziii you assholes elected doesn’t thrill him either.
Culture of Truth
Sorry about the typos there. He was a tea partier *and* a non-entity as well. And now he’s gone. Violating norms on his way out, but ding dong, motherfucker.
schrodingers_cat
Speaking of missing people, I haven’t seen Purplegirl here in months. I hope she is OK.
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think you have the genders reversed, but the names and locations correct.
MomSense
@raven:
She’s really busy working and also stressed about the election.
raven
When I hit the gofund me for newdealfarmgirl it had her FB link and I was surprised to we have 3 mutual friend who are all FDL people.
raven
@MomSense: That’s what I figgered.
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: And Trump’s judicial picks will uphold Texas’ move. We’re screwed.
On another depressing topic, I’ve heard that MSNBC is drifting ever rightward. I miss Current TV.
Culture of Truth
@James E Powell: Yeah, I’m a little skeptical. OFA is a genuine grass roots, organization, but it also had strong leadership. And when it comes to elections, “leaderless” sounds like a sure-fire way to lose.
Elmo
@MJS: Yes. Agreed. But what’s new for me is the absence of even lip service to the ideal. We have always been a flawed nation with high ideals. Now we are just a flawed nation, with everyone acknowledging that it’s all about the grift.
Probably makes me shallow and juvenile to care so much about the ideal that I despair at its departure. But there it is. The kleptocracy is naked now, and I can’t even pretend to care.
Is that better?
MomSense
@Adam L Silverman:
Same. She was having a tough time a month or so before the election.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: redshirt is a woman from Maine. Redshift is
alsoawoman, I’m not sure from where.schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: NoVa, I think.
ms_canadada
@Starfish: Are you familiar with the Bonzo Dog Do-Dah Band? ‘Death Cab for Cutie’ is on YouTube if you’re interested’ featuring the late, great Vivian Stanshall. ‘Canyons of Your Mind’ is one of my faves, and the ‘movie’
‘Sir Henry at Rawlinson End’ featuring Trevor Howard as Sir Henry, is truly an insight into insanity. BTW, Neil Innes, (Monty Python, The Ruttles, Grimms) was a member of the group. If you need a laugh, watch Sir Henry!
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Everyone is such positive, optimistic, and hopeful here…
Patricia Kayden
@raven: Sorry to hear that. Sigh.
Viva BrisVegas
I disagree, they’ve won.
It’s not rocket science people.
All the things that people are claiming as the cause of the Triumph of the Trump, such as white anxiety, racism, resentment of elites, urban rural divide, these are mere symptoms of the underlying problem that Piketty has already spelt out.
Wealth is being inexorably transferred from the working and middle classes into the pockets of the very rich. Wages are stagnant or dropping, household debt is increasing, living standards are in peril. People are jostling for a smaller and smaller portion of the economy.
The saddest thing is that the rich don’t even know what to do with all this money. By depressing wages they have depressed demand, and the result is anemic economic growth figures now and into the foreseeable future.
So what is the final step in avoiding responsibility for this mess? By pitting one half of the working/middle class against the other. Telling their supporters that the elites that they are voting for aren’t really elites and that all their problems aren’t due to economic pressures created so that Trump can buy an extra yacht, but because working people just like them who might be a different skin color are competing for ever scarcer and scarcer resources.
It’s a rat race and the rich have decided to keep all the cheese.
Adam L Silverman
@martian: I’ve sent an email across. I’ve also sent an email to the address she used to comment here. I’ll report back if/when I hear anything.
Elmo
@Adam L Silverman: Sorry Adam. Your posts are my favorite, meaning no disrespect to the other FPers, because your field and mine are congruent. But I can’t help the disgusted, resigned acknowledgment that this is my country now.
martian
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: redshirt is a Mainer and, I had thought, an older guy. But I’ve been wrong on the Internet before.
martian
@Adam L Silverman: Thank you.
Adam L Silverman
@MomSense: I emailed her the day after election day and it bounced back. Since the email address she used to comment here is a dummy, I have no way to check in on her.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@martian: I could never remember if redshift or Redshirt was female, but I believed one of them specified that gender. I also had some concerns about different church lady’s mood. A commenter I believe to be male, for some reason.
Adam L Silverman
@Elmo: Thanks, I think…
Patricia Kayden
@raven: And push Democratic politicians to grow a spine and fight back with us.
3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)
Well, at least I had some good news yesterday – if I get my ACA insurance ripped away, I know I don’t have breast cancer. My biopsy came back benign. Sorry if that was TMI, but I had been afraid that the GOPers would do something right in the middle of my treatment had it been otherwise.
My plan for the next month or so is to literally get my house in order by cleaning and de-cluttering from top to bottom, then see if I can find ways to help other people, since we’re probably all on our own for a while, and we need to stick together.
And I’ll watch hockey and college hoops, read, and make jewelry, and wait for the world to change – and see if I can help nudge it in the proper direction, one person at a time.
janeform
@mai naem mobile: Seconded.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike): Good news is never TMI. Glad to read it.
maye
Only twice in the last 150 years has the same political party kept the White House after 8 years, so history was against us in 2016. That said, it was a shock to watch people put a certifiable lunatic in the presidency. The shock has worn off, and now there’s just an overlay of fear. Fear of the unknown. I do think before authoritarianism takes hold, there will be a civil war. We had one civil war; we can have another. And I think only half the military would back the administration.
Louise B.
Would the front pagers consider dedicating one post every day to a specific subject relating to what we can do to fight the Republican agenda? That might help people stay a little more positive. Examples: if you’re lucky enough to be in a position to make charitable/political contributions this season, how do you maximize their effectiveness in fighting the Republican agenda? If you live in a blue state, how do you organize to help the red states fight the Republican agenda?
James E Powell
@MJS:
This is the thing. The post mortems that lament the candidate, the campaign, the FBI, the press/media and so on all follow the same rule: never say anything bad about the voters. What we’ve learned over the last 20 years is that despite progress on some of the social issues, the majority of Americans are still ignorant, mean-spirited, selfish bigots. The only reason most of them don’t support things like concentration camps and mass murders is because nobody in authority has told them that they’re supposed to.
martian
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): There’s an interesting paper to be written, I think, somewhere in the details of how people present and how other people perceive Internet personae.
This election was ground shifting, and some of us were already not feeling too steady on our feet. I feel like crisis counsellors should have been brought in to help the traumatized victims like they are after mass shootings or other big, public tragedies.
3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Thanks for the support! That was definitely a personal weight lifted. (Now if I can lose some more “personal” weight… ;-D)
Adam L Silverman
@Elmo: Also, if you’re comfortable with it, shoot me an email offline and introduce yourself. We can talk shop.
Adam L Silverman
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike): Congratulations!
debbie
@mai naem mobile:
I think you’re right. I’ve been practicing my I-told-you-sos.
Capri
Gloria Steinham said in response to this election that abusers are always their worst and domestic violence victims are always most at risk when they’ve decided to leave. The election is that dynamic writ large. It’s just like they’re saying “If I can’t have this country, no one can.”
I blame the right wing media. It turns out that 30 years of non-stop propaganda does have an effect, particularly on unsuspecting, gullible people. There are is a huge percent of the country that believes that being a Russian pawn is better than having a democratic politician in office. That doesn’t just happen.
Ruckus
@Elmo:
There is no such thing, never has been. Unfortunately rethuglicans still believe it. OK as long as you are a rethuglican. Which is why they want to get rid of everyone who isn’t. We aren’t exceptional, our political system may be unique, but it has flaws (see Nov 8), we are now, IMO about as bad as 30s Germany was, which really isn’t that far off a lot of places, IOW lots of us hate anyone not perceived to be like us in some way, religion, color/race, even/especially gender. The idea of equality of being and equality of opportunity wasn’t even really thought about in that way at the founding of the country. It took 200 yrs and lots of hard, some times dangerous work to even get to where we are today. And the people in charge soon want all of that to go away. Can they do this in 2 to 4 yrs? Can we mobilize enough people to elect enough decent people in time to slow/stop the decline? I wouldn’t bet tomorrows lunch money on it. Decline is always much faster than political growth. Always.
Personally I see this as the decline of this over 200 yr experiment in government as it’s Waterloo, it’s ending. It won’t happen over night of course and it’s not like I’ve never been wrong about anything before, but this feels different. Lots different. If it goes like I think it will, I give us maybe 10 yrs as a country. I have no idea what might actually happen then but I’m willing to bet that it won’t be all that much fun getting there.
Aleta
@martian: I’ve been wondering how s/he is, too. Ok I hope and maybe it’s just that here is not the best place for healing right now.
SiubhanDuinne
@Iowa Old Lady:
Excellent! ? ? ?
Ohio Mom
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike): I don’t worry about the world ending this week but I do look around my cozy-enough little household and life and think, “How much longer will/can this last? What could possibly be a realistic Plan B for us?” I worry most about my kid, and what life will hold for him as a person with autism who will always need the social insurance net.
I tell myself that once the new year starts, so do my advocacy efforts. I decided I’m focusing on disability-related issues. I fully expect to be enraged at how clueless my fellow suburban disability moms are, I already know that about them. But maybe now they’ll start to get it.
As for you, I hope you get a handle on what sounds like too much anxiety. You gotta eat regularly and well if you want to stay healthy. If we are going to follow Raven’s orders and fight, we all have to take care of ourselves first.
SFBayAreaGal
Redshirt is a female and from Maine. I believe she was at one of the Balloon Juice get togethers before the election.
3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks, Adam. (BTW, I concur with the others here – you do some really good work. Readable, succinct, and informative.)
Aleta
@raven: Yeah I miss her too. I hope they are taking internet break for sanity or something.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Well, either you planted the seed in my fertile mind a month ago and I forgot, or GMTA.
Or possibly out-and-out plagiarism. Who knows, on the Internet?
Mobil RoonieRoo
I’m really hoping that the missing are just needing an extended break from the Internet and the related difficulty of shutting out the reality of the Trumpocolypse. I hope. I’m finally back to where I don’t have to have my mouthguard in during the day. But I am having to tune out reality most days.
BillinGlendaleCA
@ms_canadada:
It’s also in The Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” movie.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Ohio Mom: I’m happy to help with disability advocacy. Shoot me a note to fls at the mail of google and we can plan to have a conversation. I’m not as close to the color tree town where you are as I was, but still in the area.
@Aleta: I can report that she’s very busy with new work.
ms_canadada
@Patricia Kayden: Please consider supporting Free Speech TV…Thom Hartmann, Amy Goodman, Stephanie Miller, Bill Press, and so many other Progressive voices.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I wonder how long it will take them to figure out, again, that there’s a market for opposition media. Sooner or later the Vanity Fair example will seep in, and somebody will remember what happened with Olbermann and why they hired Rachel Maddow in the first place.
I hope.
Ohio Mom
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike): Oh, so that’s why you weren’t eating! NO one eats when they are waiting for biopsy results. From personal experience though, any weight lost comes back in short order.
Here’s a pro tip: God forbid you ever go through that again, get some avitan from your primary care doc.
martian
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike): I am genuinely happy for you, that’s wonderful news.
@Aleta: Yeah, it’s completely understandable if some people have pulled back. I’ve been mostly curled up like a pill bug myself. I want to be hopeful for next year but, yeah… One foot in front of the other will do for now.
Sandra L Hanlon
@Yarrow: I agree. My allies until this threat is past is anyone who is defending our rights & equality under the law. The partisan battles can resume later. I feel this is an existential threat to our country. I am backing conservatives, moderates, & liberals who are facing this threat honestly and vowing to fight back. I am not allowing lies to stand. I am telling all my neighbors what minorities are going through right now. I don’t care if they hate me. I will not let these people tell me they didn’t know. I am letting them know.
3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)
@Ohio Mom:
That’s me. I like to think I’m not “worrying” so much as weighing our options. Hubby and I used to move around a lot, and we’d do what we called “getting light” periodically, just to make a move easier. I’m doing my cleaning primarily as therapy, and because I am more comfortable (and more able to deal with a crisis) when there is less clutter. And I think you have a great focus there with the disability moms thing. One person at a time.
And I do get nutrition – I have become really good at making high-nutrient smoothies for when eating seems too upsetting, and I’ll be back riding my bike and listening to audiobooks in a week or so.
I’m really not as depressed as I sound – I try and look at things as changing, and hope to roll with whatever happens, and be able to resist when it becomes necessary.
Suzanne
I am considering changing my organ donor status to NOT AN ORGAN DONOR. I don’t want my organs to keep any Trump supporters alive.
Adam L Silverman
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike): Thanks, though I’m not sure succinct is the word you’re looking for…
Woodrowfan
@Yarrow: I tend to agree, with the exception of them “arranging” a Reichstag fire. ISIS or Al Quada will do something and the republicans will jump on it to make themselves a permanent ruling party. Just “for the duration of the emergency”
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Not based on their 8-11 PM and Saturday/Sunday 10AM – 12PM blocks they aren’t.
3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)
@Adam L Silverman: “Succinct” like beauty, can be in the eye of the beholder!
Woodrowfan
@maye:
close… 4 times.
Republicans 1860, 1864, 1868, 1872, 1876, 1880 (though 1876 gets an *)
Republicans 1896, 1900, 1904, 1908
Democrats 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948
Republicans 1980, 1984, 1988
Ruckus
@schrodingers_cat:
I do an obvious ignore to the trumpster at work. And I make sure he knows that I’m ignoring him. It keeps me from smashing him upside the head with a large solid object as I suspect that would only change my mailing address and nothing more.
For some reason I’m not as depressed as I was a month ago. Politically nothing has gotten better, obviously just worse. But nothing I’ve seen in the last month or so has been unexpected to me, other than I rather underestimated the number of fucking morons in this country. Right now I don’t see how to fight back, as raven reasonably and rightly suggests. Our system is set up to have an orderly transfer of power, above almost everything else, there are very little in the way of checks and balances for a crime of this magnitude. The country didn’t speak, the system did. So how do we stay within the system and stop the juggernaut of stupidly vile shit coming down the pike? The system just isn’t set up to control the level of takeover that we have in store. It was supposedly set up to protect us from that occurring in the first place, but it’s obvious that it failed at that task.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Okay, I sit corrected.
BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: Redshirt’s probably building her bunker, every compound has to have a bunker. So sez Omnes.
Mnemosyne
@martian:
Redshirt is actually a woman — it turned out that she and (I think) efgoldman knew each other slightly IRL through work. She’s a cranky old cuss, so that’s probably how you made the mistake.
Mnemosyne
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike):
Phew! Mine similarly came back benign in April, so at least that’s one bit of good news from this fucking year.
Aleta
@SFBayAreaGal: Just to reassure myself, did redshirt intentionally identify a gender (publicly to the blog, not only in private to a few)? The general section of Maine I saw mentioned, but any gender ID I missed.
Since ID can be more dangerous here for some women (and for gay men and for the women and men who also self-identify as transpeople) than for straight white men, I’d like to be sure the public ID came from redshirt. Does anyone know ?
Ruckus
@Li’l Innocent:
No it really has been this way for ever. TV was different for a while as it was young because it was competing for eyeballs, and doing it from scratch. Newspapers have always had a slant in one direction or another, as it suited the publisher. As TV has become the news source for the nation, newspapers and radio have been second fiddle for some time now and TV has assumed the place, stature and bigotry as newspapers have always exhibited.
Adam L Silverman
@Aleta: Speaking only for myself, if it hadn’t been in a comment, I would not have known. With the exception of the email I think I received from her a couple of weeks ago, I’ve never had any correspondence with her.
Gin & Tonic
@Aleta: I think it’s semi-common knowledge, but I also don’t think she ever confirmed or denied it.
Mnemosyne
@Aleta:
She corrected me at one point, so I don’t think it was an actual secret, especially once she and efgoldman figured out that they knew each other.
Uncle Ebeneezer
@Louise B.: This would be great. One of the biggest problems I’m having is trying to figure out where to point my energy, time etc. I assume once the GOP starts the active fuckery it will be a little easier, but still it would be great to know what things are coming down the pike, how to respond, what we can do etc.
Kayla Rudbek
@Adam L Silverman: depending on the size of the nuke aimed at the Pentagon, the Patent Office will likely be in the air blast radius, and will most likely be in the thermal radiation radius.
ms_canadada
If any of you need a respite, I have a spare room! I live in Hamilton, Ontario, (City by the Bay!) half way between Toronto and Niagara Falls.
I live with my son, who is a student at McMaster University & our dog, beagle-hound, ‘Scooter’. We are crunchy-granolas who would be happy to host anyone who is in need of a break from the craziness in America. Daughter & son-in-law are moving back from U.S., as well as my niece in NYC. If anyone is interested, we are open to hosting visitors from the U.S.A.
Adam L Silverman
@Kayla Rudbek: oy vey…
J R in WV
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike):
So glad for you!! Take care cleaning and all. If you have a site where your jewelry is shown, post it, I’m sure many others would be interested… I surely am.
ms_canadada
@BillinGlendaleCA: My late husband and I had a record label, Reel Recordings, whereby we were able to meet with many British musicians. Are you familiar with Robert Wyatt from Soft Machine? My late husband wrote a book, ‘Wrong Movements – A Robert Wyatt History’. Soft Machine toured the U.S. with Jimi Hendrix. I have a diary written by a roadie (Hugh Hopper – who eventually joined Soft Machine and was a dear friend of ours) from that tour.
Millard Filmore
@rikyrah:
Well, unless Congress approves of the deal. Fixing that little obstacle should not take very long.
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
Succinct does not just mean short. Some subjects just can not be expressed in bumper sticker length soundbites and be, as the definition also states, “clearly expressed.” And two pages is shorter than a book.
Kayla Rudbek
@Adam L Silverman: Christmas at ground zero indeed. At least now the patents and published applications are up on the internet unlike in the War of 1812 (although the Patent Office was the one building that the British army spared)
Aleta
@Suzanne: That’s something I hadn’t thought about.
For the first time, I really can’t tolerate people that I used to make an effort to at least tolerate. Though I’m still trying to balance that in my mind with not wanting any extra suffering to happen to their children (like losing a home from unemployment, or getting hit by an even more miserable parent). A number of those kids will grow up to be liberals and/or radicals, despite growing up under the thumb of authoritarian worshipers, so I hope they make it out OK.
Yarrow
@Sandra L Hanlon:
I think this is key. I also think it is different from the 2000 election. When Shrub “won” there was a lot of complaining but people didn’t feel it was an existential crisis for the country. They do now. And many of us remember 2000. There will be much less going along and getting along. People are standing up and speaking up. Tell your neighbors – those who you think you can and who won’t kill you if you do.
And call all your representatives and even some in other states. If they’re Dems, insist they stand firm, that they stand up for Medicare, SS, Medicaid, Obamacare, against infringements on hard eared rights, etc., etc. If they’re Republicans tell them what you are for and against and where you stand. If they are Republicans in another state but are standing up against Trump, thank them. Do what you can. Make your voice heard. And start now and get in the habit. Call so often those people are sick of you. And show up at a town hall if they have one coming up. Have a good question to ask and ask it.
Aleta
@ms_canadada: I’d love to stop by sometime.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Yarrow:
“Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…eh…ya can’t get fooled again…”
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Redshirt is the one who posits the recent Mad Max movie as the greatest thing since sliced fire, IIRC.
(And if that doesn’t draw her out, nothing will. :) )
SFBayAreaGal
@ms_canadada: Thank you for your generous and kind offer.
Ruckus
@3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike):
@Mnemosyne:
I’m really glad that both of your biopsies came back benign, neither of mine did. Always a million times better to hear an emphatic negative, rather than sorry, it’s positive because that really gives you a crappy outlook.
BillinGlendaleCA
@ms_canadada:
Nope, but I though it funny that there was a song called “Death Cab for Cutie” in “Magical Mystery Tour”. I ran across it leaning about The Ruttles. I got 3 DVD/Bluray’s recently: All You Need is Cash, Magical Mystery Tour(I’d seen it in college), and Living in the Material World(George Harrison biography by Scorsese).
Raoul
Two parting shots on this thread, since there are newer ones above:
1. Just three counties – Macomb County, MI; York County, PA and Waukesha County, WI – elected Donald Trump, per Cook Report.
2. Being depressed is exactly what the GOP wants you to be. So don’t give them your sad feefees to dine on!
Ruckus
@ms_canadada:
I offered to come if I could make it permanent the last time you offered. But I’d bet that wasn’t what you meant.
celticdragonchick
@Ruckus:
Agree. This feels different, and somehow…final.
Things are going to happen that cannot be undone. My bet is the first of those things will be the use of tactical nukes in Syria on ISIL targets.
After that…we will see hell on earth.
celticdragonchick
@NotMax:
Aleta
@Louise B.: Did you happen to see these suggestions for making Congress listen,maybe inhibiting them, written by former congressional staffers? It seems useful.
Pinksnapdragon
@Adam L Silverman: Redshift is a man from northern Virginia. He attended a meet-up here with Doug J several years ago.
Louise B.
@Aleta: I did see it, and it was really interesting. I just think that some daily morale building on specific substantive topics would be a real boost for this community.
Louise B.
@Uncle Ebeneezer: Me too. I just feel like I’m flailing.
chopper
@Kayla Rudbek:
lucky for me I’m hoteling then.
opiejeanne
@ms_canadada: That is a very kind and generous offer.
I met Ruckus and I think he’s kind of cute in a crusty old guy sort of way.
Ruckus
@opiejeanne:
Thanks!
Joseppe
Best (worst) proof yet of the Dunning-Kruger effect… compounded when stupidity is validated.
Manyakitty
@BillinGlendaleCA: Scorsese’s doc about Harrison BLEW MY MIND. So good, and worth every minute spent watching (it’s almost four hours long). George has been one of my few sources of peace and release lately, and can inspire cathartic weeping.
One of my professors in grad school had the perfect word to describe my current state of mind: gloomth. It’s the opposite of warmth, and I can’t shake it. Baked almost no cookies this year (my traditional gift), bought no other gifts. Just DGAF. At least I regained some function at work–lost about a month there, staring out the window and praying for that giant meteor.
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
Hey, she’s met me, you haven’t. And she and her husband are about my age so they get a break.
Ruckus
@Manyakitty:
This reminds me of a VA acquaintance, young guy 30ish. He made the statement that he couldn’t see living till he was 90. Told him I understood because I’d been his age once upon a long time ago but that when you start to see 90 as a possibility you want to just to be able to reach it, just to be able flip off all the bullshit you’ve lived through and all the assholes you’ve had to put up with to get there. I suppose it’s like hoping your kids have kids so they can go through the shit you lived through.
Dadadadadadada
@Trentrunner: About two years ago, I came up with a brilliant (if I do say so myself) ad theme: Republicans Want You Dead.
Any number of specific messages could be built around it to appeal to any number of constituencies: Obamacare, police violence, gun violence, environmental safety, workplace safety, foreign wars, reproductive health, etc. etc. etc. The general pattern was for a survivor of one of the above (an Iraq vet, say; or a coal miner who narrowly escaped one of the coal-mine disasters; etc.) to recount their survival, and dwell heavily on the tragedy of someone very similar who was not so lucky. Cut to any Republican making a statement likely to lead lots of similar people to their deaths (advocating attacks on Iran, cuts to coal-mine regs, more cops in tanks, etc.) and the slogan: “Republicans Want You Dead. Vote [specific Democratic candidate] in November.”
For some reason, the Clinton campaign, Tom Steyer and the NY Dems never went anywhere with it.
Trinity
This. This. This.
Lurking Canadian
@Dadadadadadada: So uncivil! Have you no concern for the pearls that would be clutched on Sunday morning TV?!?
MzRAD
Keep your shit together, Grumps McCole. Consider how We the People can work on educating our fellow citizens of the value of progressive policies in a way that bypasses the media and the stasis of the Democratic party. Can we crowd-source explication of the best DNC/Hillary Clinton platform items? Kind of like Austin Goolsbee (sp?) with his little white board but with much more diversity and panache. Make the explanation as easy to grasp as possible, and fun. Is possible we could demo this idea here in a post or two? Please advise and chin up, man.
Candace King
And to make things even more horrifying, there is a poll out today that says that people who didn’t vote aren’t sorry.