This thread is for positive posts for how we'll get by after the 2016 US election. Articles about how we've been through worse and survived, analysis that points to there being a way forward, maybe even distractions.
I know this thread may seem insane given what's happening across the forum, but there have been posts in the US 2016 election thread that gave me some hope. Right now I feel similar to the way I felt after 9/11. I feel numb and frustrated and depressed and anxious. It's a really toxic mix and it's not healthy for me. I need something to soothe me so maybe later I'll be able to get back into the proverbial fight. Until I feel steady enough to do that, though, I'd love to read, listen to or watch something, anything that says this might not be the end as we know it. If this thread stays empty, then so be it. But I think it would be nice if there was one thread, a catch-all for hope.
I heard this on ABC news last night, still early in the evening.
American toddlers today are majority non-white.
Oakland and SF are planning protests tonight. If done the right way, this can be very emotionally healing.
CA green-lit (lol) open marijuana sales, so I'm kinda siked about that option having both northern & southern CA family that I visit annually.
From January on, Republicans now own their policy failures, and they can't pretend it's all the fault of Dems.
From January on, Republicans now own their policy failures, and they can't pretend it's all the fault of Dems.
Mmm... We have another thread for that. I'm serious. I need something. I'm not doing well with this.
This is a good read even if it may come across as perhaps a little too prematurely optimistic:
http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/11/its-go...
America didn’t die. In fact, what happened last night is America being very much alive. Half the country felt ignored and angry and disenfranchised and they wrested control of the government from the people they felt ignored by. That’s how democracy works. It’s an uncomfortable compromise where half the country is appalled by who the president is at all times. Obama’s elections made tens of millions of people feel the same way.Now granted, this is an unusual case. Trump is extra appalling. So much so that much of his own party is appalled by him. That’s unusual. But it’s not unusual where it counts—he got about the same number of votes as Hillary and ended up winning pretty big in the electoral college. That makes him no less legit a president than anyone in the past.
Secondly, a bigger point: no one person has the power to RIP America, no matter what they do. America is bigger than you or me, and America is much, much bigger than Donald Trump. America is a 320-million-person melting pot, run by a government made up of thousands of people working within a twisty, convoluted set of branches, ruled by a 240-year-old instruction booklet that specifically makes it impossible for any one dick to ride a wave of populist anger into a position where he can RIP America. America is un-RIP-able, at least by the hands of any president.
America survived a civil war, slavery, two world wars, a handful of crippling recessions, 9/11, and a whole lot of really shitty presidents—and it’ll survive Donald Trump.
Sorry, DS, I found that of some significant comfort this morning. I guess I think in abstracts or something. I can look at the likely train wreck and shrug and think "Not my fault". And if it goes well, more the better for us. In a way, it's liberating.
Change is scary, but if we have to spend some time back in the 70's economically, or the 50's socially, or whatever, people will this time have examples and memories of better situations to compare to, and they won't put up with it for long. I suspect that the folks that Trump has awoken will be bitterly disappointed to see that their local factories and coal mines and such are not coming back - ever - even with Obama gone and the liberals vanquished. And they will be looking for scapegoats, and all they will see is a sea of "R"s...
The pendulum will swing back eventually, and forward progress will resume. Seriously.
There are some things that Trump says that I can get behind.
Although I'm not so sure how he will pay for it, I can get behind his plans to focus on rebuilding our infrastructure. This is badly needed.
Although he said the right conservative rhetoric around conservative social issues, I have a feeling that he doesn't believe it. Specifically I have a hunch he will not target gay rights, I suspect he will be pretty liberal about views on marijuana (at least hopefully maintain a blind federal eye to let the states do what they want). I know his recent rhetoric around abortion is very pro-birth but he at one time stated he was strongly pro-choice. I have a feeling he doesn't give a rat's ass about it but what that will translate to I'm not sure.
Melania is going to have high entertainment value as a first lady.
Dammit, that's all I got.
Thank humanity for checks and balances?
I have no idea what this country will look like in four years, but we have survived other setbacks in the past, and other countries have survived worse.
Plus, as I mentioned in the general thread, political music is always better during republican administrations. (just trying to stay positive 
)
I have no idea what this country will look like in four years, but we have survived other setbacks in the past, and other countries have survived worse.
Plus, as I mentioned in the general thread, political music is always better during republican administrations. (just trying to stay positive
I was riding around with my father-in-law the other day and he had some folk music on. I literally thought, "Is it impossible to make good folk music anymore? I miss folk music. Maybe it'll make a comeback."
I'm developing a narrative in my mind that might allow me to weather the next few years:
Recognizing the troubling trends of anti-intellectualism and angry militant groups, a group of New York friends concoct a honeypot scheme to draw the more secretive and possibly dangerous groups festering in the American hinterlands out into the open. These groups, emboldened by the examples of ISIS and idiot ranchers needed a champion, an avatar, someone they could embrace as one of their own while still aloof enough to be a leader from afar rather than in the trenches. Only a political mind as devious and deceitful as Hillary could convince blue-collar malcontents to embrace a playboy billionaire mobster as one of their own. And only a personality as bombastic as Donald could maintain the farce and live that contradiction without breaking. Together they hatched a scheme that would provide a stage for the most dangerous elements lurking in American culture and draw it into the light where, surely, it would wither and die.
CA green-lit (lol) open marijuana sales, so I'm kinda siked about that option having both northern & southern CA family that I visit annually.
I got access to florescent lights and hydroponics. #JustSaying
I got access to florescent lights and hydroponics. #JustSaying
Up to three plants, I believe. Which is a whole heap...
The pendulum will swing back eventually, and forward progress will resume. Seriously.
This. Very much so.
Maine voted in favor of ranked-choice voting, legalizing marijuana, increasing taxes on income over $200,000 by 3%, and increase the minimum wage to $12 by 2020 (also raising the minimum wage for tipped employees until it matches the non-tipped minimum wage in 2024).
I was riding around with my father-in-law the other day and he had some folk music on. I literally thought, "Is it impossible to make good folk music anymore? I miss folk music. Maybe it'll make a comeback."
Rasputina? Sort of folk, sort of historical, sort of experimental rock done on cellos....? 
ruhk wrote:I have no idea what this country will look like in four years, but we have survived other setbacks in the past, and other countries have survived worse.
Plus, as I mentioned in the general thread, political music is always better during republican administrations. (just trying to stay positive
I was riding around with my father-in-law the other day and he had some folk music on. I literally thought, "Is it impossible to make good folk music anymore? I miss folk music. Maybe it'll make a comeback."
And maybe we'll get a few albums out of Green Day or Rage Against The Machine.
I mentioned elsewhere that Trump's driving force seems to be proving people wrong, so maybe in order to keep up his contrarian streak, he'll end up being a very moderate, socially progressive candidate that helps push forward intelligent and long-term vision policy. Just so he can say "Told you losers. Sad. I'm the best."
I mean, this is the hope-all, right.
Comedians and satirists will have an absolute field day...until Trump f*cks with the First Amendment because he's a thin-skinned child who can't stand people making fun of him.
Run the Jewels has put out some excellent stuff:
None of that is safe for work.
I mentioned elsewhere that Trump's driving force seems to be proving people wrong, so maybe in order to keep up his contrarian streak, he'll end up being a very moderate, socially progressive candidate that helps push forward intelligent and long-term vision policy. Just so he can say "Told you losers. Sad. I'm the best."
I mean, this is the hope-all, right.
Definitely the wild card in this is...well, him.
Melania is going to have high entertainment value as a first lady.
Disagree. I foresee a lot of Democratic douchebags doing some serious sex work shaming, some shaming on her intelligence, and potentially shitting on her for not being as large on policy/initiative work as Michelle/Hillary were because they can't respect her potential choice to be a wife/mother rather than a beacon for whatever causes she believes are important.
I'm not looking forward to the fights with my Democrat friends who consider all three perfectly acceptable to already insult her for.
From January on, Republicans now own their policy failures, and they can't pretend it's all the fault of Dems.
They will blame everything on eight years of Obama and you know what? It will work because it's exactly what people who voted for this clown want to hear. I work with two very staunch Trump supporters, neither of which like or admire him, but both voted for him anyway because they were fed up with 8 years of Obama.
Robear wrote:From January on, Republicans now own their policy failures, and they can't pretend it's all the fault of Dems.
They will blame everything on eight years of Obama and you know what? It will work because it's exactly what people who voted for this clown want to hear. I work with two very staunch Trump supporters, neither of which like or admire him, but both voted for him anyway because they were fed up with 8 years of Obama.
So much this. All failures will be blamed on Obama. Past, Present, and Future. Trump voters will lap it up wholesale because that is what they want to believe.
Glycerine wrote:Robear wrote:From January on, Republicans now own their policy failures, and they can't pretend it's all the fault of Dems.
They will blame everything on eight years of Obama and you know what? It will work because it's exactly what people who voted for this clown want to hear. I work with two very staunch Trump supporters, neither of which like or admire him, but both voted for him anyway because they were fed up with 8 years of Obama.
So much this. All failures will be blamed on Obama. Past, Present, and Future. Trump voters will lap it up wholesale because that is what they want to believe.
We already have a recriminations thread. Please don't do that here.
DS, have you watched Obama's speech yet? I found it uplifting. For me, I want to get better at being involved in politics and in reaching out to others so that more people understand what's at stake and are more willing to get involved in the process. I already toe the line on this at work, I think I have impacted some people's thoughts on politics and have pointed out passive racism to the point where it has become uncomfortable, and yet, as a public servant, I have to remain as neutral as possible so that I can serve all. It's exhausting. What I need to change about me is that I need to connect more with people who share my same political concerns and goals rather than just try to appease those that I'm forced to sit beside and forced to smile and nod to. I need to make my voice heard and I need to feel that support and energy to continue.
I want to pledge that I will be a political ally to the LGBT community, the black community, the Muslim community, the immigrant community, to women and girls and any other people faced with losing basic human rights and facing oppression. I don't want to just sit politely, I want to also fight harder to make this a more perfect union, with liberty, equality and justice for all. I'm going to focus more on midterm and local elections. This is what hope looks like for me. I'm not gonna lie, there's a lot of work to do and as someone said upthread, I'm not sure I'm up to the task either, but I'm going to try.
Also, this is for a distraction, and an example of what makes America great, wish I had a video to go along with it, but trust me Daveed Diggs is AWESOME!:
Stewart Mills, a sniveling worm of a man and wealthy trust fund POS, was defeated yet again by Rick Nolan for my representative in spite of an insane amount of outstate money being poured in the district.
Nolan has done a great job fighting copper nickel mining in Northern Minnesota and preserving our wilderness areas.
He also proudly holds an F rating from the NRA in spite of being a lifelong hunter and outdoorsman. Why? Well, he supports 'No Fly, No Buy' meaning that if you're on a no-fly watch list, you shouldn't own a gun.
Oddly enough, I think the most optimistic thing about the Trump election so far is the fact that he seems, at least on the surface, to be committed to continuity in the markets. This will undoubtedly piss off many of his supporters, but his choice to pick a decades long veteran of Goldman Sachs to head the Fed pretty much means business as usual.
Way to go Northern Minnesota!
DS, have you watched Obama's speech yet? I found it uplifting. For me, I want to get better at being involved in politics and in reaching out to others so that more people understand what's at stake and are more willing to get involved in the process.
I haven't yet. I took a break from Facebook and basically all media the last couple of days. I couldn't handle it. So I haven't seen it yet.
What you said above about getting more involved in the process is my main touchstone of hope right now, honestly. Whenever I read someone say they want to get more involved or work for a charity or something I get more hopeful. If ever there was a time for turning off the snark machine and the 24/7 armchair punditry and just helping each other now is the time. I'm happy to see others have reached that conclusion.
I'll check out the video too later. Thanks.
I want to pledge that I will be a political ally to the LGBT community, the black community, the Muslim community, the immigrant community, to women and girls and any other people faced with losing basic human rights and facing oppression. I don't want to just sit politely, I want to also fight harder to make this a more perfect union, with liberty, equality and justice for all.
This right here is what I'm doing as well to try to increase the hope and optimism. I've already started donating to a few really good organizations, and I'll probably add a couple more before the end of the week. At least I can feel like I'm really doing something instead of sitting back and letting everything go to shit.
And Massachusetts also just legalized marijuana
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