America, you have been had. There has been a coup, a revolution of sorts. We have been taken over by reprobates. There are a lot of people who feel that this is the case, and they have taken to the streets by the thousands in cities around the country protesting the results of the November 8, 2016 election. In what has been considered a stunning upset, Hillary Clinton lost her bid for the presidency. Donald Trump is now president–elect! Hillary Clinton actually won the popular vote, but Trump got the Electoral College votes. This is reminiscent of the Bush administration’s usurpation of the presidency when Al Gore actually received more popular votes. But this is a democracy, and we have to play by the rules that have been established. Hillary Clinton gave an excellent concession speech, and President Barack Obama also gave one in which he urged the country to move toward unity and to give Trump a chance. He admitted, however, that he has his concerns.
Hindsight seems to reveal a number of things. Apparently, Clinton and the democrats failed to understand the depth of dissatisfaction among certain segments of the population. Trump played to this group, and the rest is history. It is also perplexing to see that Hillary Clinton failed to nail the women’s votes as well as those of Blacks who supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Moreover, millions of Americans didn’t bother to vote. Some think that the Bernie Sanders backers were disgruntled and in retaliation threw their support to Libertarian Gary Johnson or Green Party’s Jill Stein. It is clear that they siphoned off a considerable number of votes that would have gone to the Democratic Party. But all of this is water under the bridge.
The country is now faced with a bigger problem. We have elected someone of questionable moral character with zero experience in public office to the most powerful post in the free world. Moreover, he has appointed a Chief of Staff and a Chief Strategist and Advisor both who have zero experience in government. Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who is the Vice President Elect, has been tapped to lead the transition team. Also on this team are the Trump children for whom Trump has asked for top secret security clearance. They are also, however, continuing to run the family business through a so-called “blind trust.”
Ominously, the Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, is set to share “equal power” with the notorious white supremacist and hate merchant, Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart. According to those in the know, it is no secret that Bannon espouses a white supremacist philosophy. It has been said that he created, in Breitbart, an online platform for the Alt-Right. The Alt-Right is a code name for white nationalists.
These are scary times and this is a scary turn of events. Here we have people leading the most important country in the free world who now have the leeway to carve out life the way they see it. It was apparent even during his campaign that Donald Trump saw himself as the ultimate authority, and based on the way that he is proceeding, he is still that person. News reporters are lamenting the fact that he has refused to return calls to the Pentagon, and has not acted in a traditional manner. He still has not released his tax information, and based on the way that he is connecting his children AND his business with world politics, he has the potential of running a private business with ties around the world. This is unprecedented, and it represents a potential for corruption that is unlike anything we have ever seen.
Based on the foregoing, it is certain that America is going to miss the class act that President Barack Obama demonstrated. Those petulant and immature individuals who allowed themselves to be hoodwinked to vote for the charismatic, but character-challenged Trump are, if the current trend continues, in for an experience of Buyer’s Remorse, especially those who are Black or who are members of other minority groups. A luta continua.
