Sad and disgusted

[halfshellvenus]

It is staggering to me that half of the country chose a traitorous, fascistic, child-raping con-man to be president again (especially after he failed the first time around).

I worried about Kamala's electability from the beginning, not because of her suitability for the job (I think she would have made a terrific president) but because the nexus of being both black and female seemed too risky. I still hoped she'd be elected until the end, but as in 2016, we got a surprise glimpse of how racist and sexist our country is.

I dread the destruction of economic policies and safety-net programs, and the additional damage to the Supreme Court. And I weep for Ukraine.

There is so much more I could say, but I haven't got the strength nor the stomach for it right now.

Comments

[adoptedwriter]

Agreed.

[halfshellvenus]

Yesterday was a day of mourning, similar to 2016 except worse because we know what Trump has threatened and we also objectively know he is much more awful than people thought in 2016.

[sewn]

I am so sorry to see all this unfold and dreading the domestic and foreign policy changes.

[halfshellvenus]

Oh, so am I. Trump and his Project 2025 cronies will be busy destroying the country and the economy at home, but there will be ripple effects in Europe (I hear Poland is on Putin's list after Trump stops helping to defend Ukraine) and the Middle East.

I can only apologize for how many of my fellow countrymen are so blindingly stupid.

[maygraderhema]

I fear the same things, although I've taken a hard look and read some opinions that have given me some perspective (Not eased my fears, but a different ledge to look at it from.) I currently live in a incredibly red part of Georgia, and I'm honestly not surprised she wasn't able to pull the same kind of narrow win Joe did, but she did exceed Hillary so that's something.

Social Security is my only current source of income, so this could get ugly for me personally, but I know people far more marginalized than my lily-white ass are going to feel it more. I am trying to work from the position that both halves of the country think they are doing what's best for the county - I may disagree with the other half in so many ways, but I really believe that. They literally do not see most of what we fear as either likely to happen or as bad as we think. And my little community is very much (weirdly enough for the rural area I'm in) evenly split between white, black, hispanic and far to middle easterner. )

***Gives you a big hug***

[halfshellvenus]

I've seen all sorts of speculation about the voting results, although I don't think you can get away from the fact that, for all the complaints about Hillary not doing the work in the flyover states and being too unlikable, Kamala was very likeable, put energy into all the right places, and was also highly qualified. The major difference there was that Harris was femaling while black, and we as a country are still horribly backward on racism and sexism. :(

I spend a lot of time on Quora these days, where you get a lot of opinions from people in other parts of the world. One woman's input was that Americans tend to be fairly ignorant about stuff outside this country, and so many of them generally just do not understand that inflation is a global problem and that the U.S. is doing better than many other countries. That and ignoring the dangers to Social Security and SS/Medicare, and probably soon birth control.

It will all be such a mess.

*hugs back*

[thewayne]

It's tragic that a person could be great in office but can't be electable, and tragic that a person who would be absolutely horrible in office and should be unelectable and flat-out disqualified from office is not only elected but re-elected.

[halfshellvenus]

It really is. And I think back to the insurrection, and that one of the major reasons for the Senate to finish the work that Mitch McConnell and others weaseled out of was that it would have prevented Trump from ever being able to run for office again. They were too chicken-shit to do it, and look what it has cost us all.

And worse, when the people who voted for him because "better economics" and "helping me and others like me" get screwed over by his failure to do anything good, they will not learn a single damn thing from it.

We spent all of Wednesday in mourning, and the shock was less than 2016 (because at least we knew it was possible), but the dismay was even greater-- because now we know what he's truly capable of.

[thewayne]

Yep.  Once again, people being short-sighted or even completely blind and voting against their self-interests.  I was reading a piece on Quora about states, such as Texas, which have been completely controlled by Republicans for ages, and yet they still blame everything on the Dems.  If that's not complete irrationality, I don't know what it is.

[halfshellvenus]

I have read that same thing at Quora a couple of times as well. Something like 29 years of Republican-controlled everything, and yet Republicans still blame the Democrats for the current state of disaster and voters are actually stupid enough to buy into it. \o?