It's the cruelty, stupid
Nov. 13th, 2016 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsWhen Barack Obama became the president of the United States, nobody who voted for his opponent killed themselves, or feared for their lives. There was lots of screaming about FEMA camps from the Alex Jones wing, and just as much screaming about "loss of religious autonomy" from the Christianist wing, and of course all the fear about "taking away our guns."
None of that happened. The people who voted against Barack Obama knew that the entrenched power in this country was on their side. That regardless of the power of the presidency, the congress, their state and local officials, the police and the judiciary, were overwhelming on their side. They knew that whatever happened, the power structures in this country would mostly still be on their side four years later.
You may remember during the George W. Bush administration when his surrogates complained that the press, in its criticism of Bush's actions in Iraq, "emboldened the terrorists." It was mostly bullshit, and attempt to discredit and unnerve the press into being silent on his mistakes.
The election of Trump has emboldened the terrorists within our own borders: the ones who delight in using terrorism as a tool to maintain their position as the ones with the power on their side.
We've already had reports of suicide. We've already had reports of at least one murder by a white nationalist attacking a Muslim man. Trump voters may not have "intended" this, but actions have consequences, and these are the consequences: the people with the least amount of power, the people who haven't got the courts, or the police, or the Congress, or the President, on their side, have been told in no uncertain terms that they don't matter.
It's the cruelty, stupid. When Barack Obama became president, he didn't come across as a cruel or heartless man, and in the years since he's shown grace, magnificence, and generosity the likes of which we may never see again. His supporters tried to emulate him, and for the most part we succeeded.
Trump's supporters are delighted in their desire to end the First Amendenment and to kick the crap out of protesters, harass, hurt, and kill minorities, forcibly destroy existing marriages between people of the same sex. Donald Trump wants a national database of all Muslims in the United States
The GOP-led House and Senate are full of men just waiting to overturn Roe v. Wade. Steve King, the infamously incendiary GOP representative from Iowa, can't wait to overturn Griswold v. Connecticut, and consequently make it illegal to give contraception to a minor. With the GOP in charge of both the legislature and the executive, wait until your parents or grandparents lose Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, as George W. Bush tried to do. With the GOP in charge of it all, watch them sell off the National Parks to multinational corporations as a way to "balance the budget." Attorney General Rudy Guiliani has already stated his desire to make Stop-and-Frisk By Militarized Police Officers the law of the land. Paul Ryan has already signed onto efforts to undo the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Say goodbye to collective bargaining, anywhere, by anyone. Maybe, just say goodbye.
It's the cruelty, stupid. We're about to watch a bunch of sex-hating, youth-hating, minority-hating white guys set the rules for the rest of us, and while there may be some friction between what their constituents voted for and what they want, they're the guys with the levers of power in hands. And they don't care who they hurt, because sex-hating, youth-hating, minority-hating white guys are gonna get so much gratifying frission from cruelly hippie-punching the other half of America, the slightly-more-than-half majority that voted for Hillary, for the next four years.
None of that happened. The people who voted against Barack Obama knew that the entrenched power in this country was on their side. That regardless of the power of the presidency, the congress, their state and local officials, the police and the judiciary, were overwhelming on their side. They knew that whatever happened, the power structures in this country would mostly still be on their side four years later.
You may remember during the George W. Bush administration when his surrogates complained that the press, in its criticism of Bush's actions in Iraq, "emboldened the terrorists." It was mostly bullshit, and attempt to discredit and unnerve the press into being silent on his mistakes.
The election of Trump has emboldened the terrorists within our own borders: the ones who delight in using terrorism as a tool to maintain their position as the ones with the power on their side.
We've already had reports of suicide. We've already had reports of at least one murder by a white nationalist attacking a Muslim man. Trump voters may not have "intended" this, but actions have consequences, and these are the consequences: the people with the least amount of power, the people who haven't got the courts, or the police, or the Congress, or the President, on their side, have been told in no uncertain terms that they don't matter.
It's the cruelty, stupid. When Barack Obama became president, he didn't come across as a cruel or heartless man, and in the years since he's shown grace, magnificence, and generosity the likes of which we may never see again. His supporters tried to emulate him, and for the most part we succeeded.
Trump's supporters are delighted in their desire to end the First Amendenment and to kick the crap out of protesters, harass, hurt, and kill minorities, forcibly destroy existing marriages between people of the same sex. Donald Trump wants a national database of all Muslims in the United States
The GOP-led House and Senate are full of men just waiting to overturn Roe v. Wade. Steve King, the infamously incendiary GOP representative from Iowa, can't wait to overturn Griswold v. Connecticut, and consequently make it illegal to give contraception to a minor. With the GOP in charge of both the legislature and the executive, wait until your parents or grandparents lose Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, as George W. Bush tried to do. With the GOP in charge of it all, watch them sell off the National Parks to multinational corporations as a way to "balance the budget." Attorney General Rudy Guiliani has already stated his desire to make Stop-and-Frisk By Militarized Police Officers the law of the land. Paul Ryan has already signed onto efforts to undo the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Say goodbye to collective bargaining, anywhere, by anyone. Maybe, just say goodbye.
It's the cruelty, stupid. We're about to watch a bunch of sex-hating, youth-hating, minority-hating white guys set the rules for the rest of us, and while there may be some friction between what their constituents voted for and what they want, they're the guys with the levers of power in hands. And they don't care who they hurt, because sex-hating, youth-hating, minority-hating white guys are gonna get so much gratifying frission from cruelly hippie-punching the other half of America, the slightly-more-than-half majority that voted for Hillary, for the next four years.
