AFTER THE FALL

    One week into the post-election period many of us (if one is to go by the popular vote totals) thought was an impossibility and we see protests in cities across the country saying, or should I say shouting "NOT MY PRESIDENT" and a surge in hate-fueled and bigoted incidents:   high school water fountains labeled 'white' and 'colored';   a Muslim woman being screamed at, told she should hang herself with her own hijab;   kids in a lunchroom being taunted with shouts of 'build the wall!  build the wall!';  at least one gay man being beaten bloody on the street;  nooses being hung from trees on college campuses, trucks flying the confederate flag with the riders shouting "Trump!  Trump!  Trump!" and the cars, even black churches, being scrawled with racist graffiti.   The list totaling somewhere around 200....and those are only the ones we're hearing about.   one of the most recent was a tape of a substitute teacher threatening those children of minority status in his classroom that if their parents weren't born here they would be deported and they (the children) would find themselves in foster care.

     Of course there are those claiming the marches are being staged by paid protesters and cases of violence toward individuals must be looked on with skepticism since, after claiming for months that the election would be rigged, why could not the vocal discord in the aftermath be considered some form of theater staged by a disgruntled 'few' being paid to put 'the mandate' of the people...as Paul Ryan claimed it was....in dispute.   One of trumps favorite spokespersons, sheriff David Clarke of MIilwaukee, went so far as to call them 'anarchists' who should be dealt with by calling out the national guard, setting curfews and using tear gas, however he did say any confrontations should be limited to the use of 'non-lethal force'.   Personally I'm wondering if that precludes the use of dogs and fire hoses which have a certain degree of historical precedent.   after all, during this campaign many have been saying they want to return us to the days when America was great and the KKK and other white supremacist groups would consider the times of Jim Crow to be "The Good Old Days".

     But I digress from my intended point.

    My disappointment over the end result and the ensuing disgusting acts of hatred and violence aside, one thing has weighed on my mind:   with my thoughts of "He's Not My President" have i slipped into the mindset of those Teabaggers who swarmed the internet and held countless sign-carrying-flag-waving gatherings that began in 2008 with the election of our countries first black president?  Have I become the hypocrite i accused them of being?   I tell myself, perhaps delusionally, of course not, because my dislike is not based on something as superficial as the man's color....although the orange is certainly disconcerting, not to mention most unnatural.   It's not the hair, again disconcerting and fairly unnatural, no matter what he says.   And it's not the hands because that leads to involuntarily envisioning things that i don't want to think about.   It's entirely about what the man says, then changes his mind about what he says and what he stands for, until he decides he wants to stand somewhere else.   It's because he casually demeans, insults and degrades so many people without regard for an individual's or a whole group's feelings.   Then we have the lies.   While one can generalize by saying all politicians lie (they do to an extent) and pander (most definitely), none have been so blatant with their falsehoods and so adept at not being able to keep track of what he lied about and when.   In these days of everything you want or don't want being available on your laptop with just a few keystrokes it's almost beyond comprehension that anybody could actually think that they can get away with much of anything.   Yet, somehow, he was believed every step of the way, lauded by his 'fans' and ultimately rewarded with the ultimate seat of power in America, if not the world.

     And while I am bothered by these thoughts of hypocrisy I can only return to this prevailing concept:   We were taught to respect the office of the president, which i do.  I just can't respect the man.  He has not yet given me any reason to do so.   He has shown little to no respect for countless groups and minorities...Mexicans, Muslims, the disabled, women, gays, veterans and their families.   Every time he turns around it's appeared that he's always been able to find someone else to insult.   Even his own supporters, whom he had the nerve to call 'uneducated' to their faces....and they cheered him for it.

     So as Obama and Clinton and leaders from practically every walk of political life and their minions talk about it's going to take some time and we have to give the president-elect a chance, give him the benefit of the doubt because 'his success is the country's success' which, by the way, is a phrase I'm getting a little tired of hearing and, if you'll excuse me, I'm not quite ready to believe.   I'd honestly like to but it's going to take some time.   I'm not ready to jump into the deep end of that pool.   So I'm giving the cynic inside of me permission and even encouraging it to exist and thrive, to do every little thing i can do to help hold our next president's feet to the fire, to hold him accountable for every position, action and statement.   It may take some time and it may never happen because it may not be enough but for now I withhold the respect some people say he deserves but, so far, based on some of the people, those 'best and brightest' he's promised to surround himself with, my hopes are far from high.  Right now call me pissy, a poor loser, even a whiny little bitch, but I am exercising my rights to feel as I do, to say what I think and be who I am as an American.   Maybe that does give me more in common with those who rallied under the anti-Obama banner that I'd care to admit and certainly more than I'm comfortable admitting but I guess that's just something I'll have to live with.

     One final thing.   I'm not used to staying on topic without a substantial quotient of snark or sarcasm.   All  I can say is, don't get used to it.