I went to bed around 11:15, seeing the election sliding away from Mrs. Clinton. Slept very, very fitfully. It almost wasn't sleep. Awoke to the surprise that Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania!) had gone red. Stunner.
At some point I'll be able to engage in sober, rational analysis about why Mrs. Clinton lost. The missed opportunities. The tactics that could've maybe delivered victory. This is not the time.
I'm less emotional than I was twenty-four hours ago, but still quite angry. It's more like a cool but persistent resentment and disgust. Though I applaud Mrs. Clinton for her conciliatory tone, I feel anger over the scars that Mr. Trump and his supporters are leaving. Therefore, I pose these questions for Mr. Trump and his supporters to ponder:
1) To what extent will the aggression and insensitivity exhibited in the campaign (i.e. "Trump that Bitch" and "Lock Her Up") be a part of the White House?
2) What steps will Mr. Trump make to rein in the racially and ethnically insensitive words and tone of his campaign and his followers now that he's president?
3) Will the administration continue to threaten the press with limiting their access Mr. Trump and his White House as they attempted to do in the campaign? Will the administration threaten to use civil and criminal legal action against opponents?
4) What steps will Mr. Trump take to be more sensitive to the needs and concerns of women?
Mr. Trump and his supporters waged a nasty, nasty campaign. They need to own that and fix that, or else this will be a short, disfunctional presidency. And we, as citizens, need to do all in our power to remain vigilant, calling them on the base, crude behaviors they normalized during their successful run to the White House.
1 comment:
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