My friend Michael Klaas is usually pretty laid back, but this election and its aftermath brought him out roaring, and he is so, so right. He’s given me permission to share his Facebook post with you.
I’ve been silent on the election so far. Obviously I’m upset, and I have many thoughts, but I simply must address something I’m seeing a lot of from my well-meaning liberal friends:
Many of you are posing things about accepting the results. Giving Trump the chance to lead. Making peace with our new government so that it can get things done.
Friends… THAT IS NOT HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS. It’s always the liberals who make that mistake. Right-wingers get it. They get that democracy is an all-the-time effort, not just something that happens on election day. They’ve stood in opposition to our president for EIGHT YEARS vowing to stop *any* action he chooses to take. The media tutted and dispassionately admonished them for doing this, but ultimately this tactic got the Republicans everything they ever dreamed of. Dems are out of power at ALL LEVELS, from statehouses to the three branches of our federal government.
Now when the Republicans stand up to beat back gay rights; When they seek to take away your agency over your own body; When they want to give tax breaks to the richest among us and saddle the rest of us with a weak safety net, failing schools, diminished access to healthcare, are you just going to sit down for that?!? Why?? Because on November 8th, 2016 a minority (yes a MINORITY) of voters selected an uninformed bigot on a ballot? YOU GOD-DAMN BETTER NOT! I expect more of you! I DEMAND more of you! Democracy didn’t stop when the polls closed yesterday. It’s happening NOW. It’s LIVE, and don’t let anyone convince you that it’s now your role to shut-up and deal with the results of an election. The Republicans didn’t, and you’re not allowed to either.
Here’s your job: When you see Democrats stand up in the Senate or the House to try and defend our rights and our well-being, you BACK them! You write, you call, you take to the streets if necessary. You do NOT let this new shit government walk all over you or your friends and family. You have an OBLIGATION to be a part of the way this world is run.
All true. We have work to do. There’s democracy to be done.
A minority indeed – about 19% of Americans only as I just noted on another thread here :
https://the-orbit.net/entequilaesverdad/2016/11/16/people-trying-claim-not-racist-voted-obama/#comment-18101
Not only did Trump actually lose the popular vote among the less than half of US voters who bothered – or weren’t stopped from – voting only a relative handful of votes in a few key states determined this horrifically deplorable outcome inflicting it on the rest of the country and our whole pale blue dot in space.
.. Oh & then there’s the development here :
https://the-orbit.net/entequilaesverdad/2016/11/14/stop-trump-take-action-today/#more-31376
Seems Trump might’ve been right about the election being rigged after all ..