This post, Dear Readers, was originally supposed to be about the Cubs’ victory in the World Series. Big news here in Chicago.
I’ll run that one on Thursday if you don’t mind.
It’s kind of hard to ignore the biggest news to hit our country since 9/11.
Author’s Note: When I first started this blog four and a half years ago, I made a decision about its content. I was going to keep it light.
After all, my column, “Social Studies,” which ran for ten years in the Pioneer Press, had been crafted along similar lines and it had been very well-received.
I’m just not cut out to tackle important topics like politics, religion, and other heavy weight social issues. It would take better minds than mine to dare to give an informed opinion. In any case, I seem to be built along more comic lines. It’s very hard for me to not see the funny and absurd aspects of all human nature.
I was just born this way.
But despite my tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek leanings, I had always intended to take a serious moment to get some perspective on the 2016 election and then write a post about what it meant to me- and my daughter and my granddaughter- to be able to vote for the first woman President of the United States.
Oops.
I wasn’t completely blind-sided, though. Last Sunday, Natasha Facetimed me for a visit with Sam and Carly.
(Photographs by Natasha Tofias)
My son-in-law Zach was home and I got a chance to say hi to him, too.
Zach is a politico with long-standing ties to Bill Clinton. He worked for him for eight years. Now he works for Mike Bloomberg. Thus he happens to be my “Inside the Beltway” guy for all things Washington D.C.
I thought I’d take a minute from kvelling at my grandchildren and ask a real expert his election prognostication.
“Is it going to be close, Zach? How does it look to you?”
“If we’re lucky it’s going to be close,” Zach replied gloomily. His tone scared me.
“Really? You’re worried?”
“Oh yeah. This one is not in the bag. I’m not sure if she can win it,” he said.
He sounded so dejected that I got alarmed.
It was my first wake up call. This election was not going to be a slam dunk.
Hmmm.
Well, by now we all know the results.
But we all can only guess at the consequences.
Trump supporters are crowing and feel vindicated- as well as victorious.
People I have talked with seemed genuinely hopeful that Donald Trump will help make their lives less fraught with financial trouble. They believe that he will bring back economic stability into their paycheck-to-paycheck lives.
Hillary backers are probably just coming around from the shock and are probably deeply disappointed.
And terrified.
People I know are scared that everything they have stood for and battled for- equal rights, women’s reproductive rights, gay rights- will disappear in the wake of a retro-conservative, Trump-appointed Supreme Court.
Either way, it’s too soon to call it.
As for my opinion, I’m going to take an easy way out here. I’m going to let Russell Brand voice my P.O.V here. Take a few minutes and listen to this Brit’s voice of reason.
I’m with Aldous Snow on this. All the way.
This is the world we live in now. Not just the North Shore One Percenters but the poor, the disaffected, the angry. They stood up and demanded that we acknowledge that everyone isn’t as fortunate or educated or just plain lucky as we are.
But I’m a cock-eyed optimist.
And one day I know that I will get to write that post about electing our first woman President.
I’m born that way, too.
And now, let Will Farrell and Zach Galifianakis take your mind off the last election.
Here’s looking at you, 2020.
And save me some ink.
Ellen, I listened/watched that Brand clip, but he seems to be missing the elephant in the room, no pun intended. Read some of the post-election headlines, particularly about the sorts of people emerging from that “drain the swamp” rhetoric.
Did you see last night’s SNL cold open? I’m sure there will be a link to it soon enough. It was Kate McKinnon, the actress whose uncanny Hillary–opposite Alec Baldwin’s brilliant Donald Trump–brightened up this otherwise dismal election season. She was in character, accompanying herself at the piano, playing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” It brought tears to my eyes (I had taken my first day off in months, and been consoling myself listening to Cohen all day).
Spoiler alert: We’ll have a Cubs tribute crossword puzzle by Thursday. I think your readers will like it.
Yes I saw it. Yes I thought SNL handled the moment with grace- and Lorne Michael’s convenient case of amnesia. Talk about the elephant in the room. He certainly gave Trump way more than 15 minutes of fame when he let him host the show. We can agree to disagree on this one. But chin up. We’ll always have crossword puzzles. Thanks, George.
Ellen– I also posted the Russell Brand vid on my Facebook page this week because I thought it was on topic as well. I still do despite the bitter rhetoric that the country has been vigorously engaged in. There certainly are some horrible statements and scattered actions coming from the Trump support side but I’m dismayed as well at the fear and loathing, peppered with meanness and vitriol I’m seeing from Hillary supporters. I bet Joe Biden is simply beside himself with a second sense of profound loss.
That said I’m an optimist and I have full faith in my fellow Americans that this too shall pass. To me 1968 was even more divisive, especially considering those were actually more civilized and gentle times without cable TV and social media. It’s time to support the office of the presidency fully despite how we feel about the man sitting in the chair. This is one of those challenges that calls upon us to again shine as the the country and the people we are. I expect Trump will grow into the job as so many before have done. I expect he will surprise us. I believe he personally relates more closely to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer then he does Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell. The former two are cut from much more similar social and experiential cloth. Don’t be surprised if more good things get done in Washington than we’ve become accustomed to of late. A pretty wise and liberal fellow once came up with a of couple of lyrical lines we can call upon today: Let It Be and Give Peace a Chance.
I ageee with you and Mr. Lennon on this, Gary. But I think that a lot of people would rather curse the darkness than light a candle. It’s going to be a fascinating four years- no matter what.
I write this as someone who voted Libertarian.
A couple of things Russell Brand hit on are interesting. First, many people feel Liberalism has failed them. Actually it isn’t classical Liberalism that has failed, it is Progressivism that’s failed many people. If you want Liberalism, then the Libertarian Party should be your choice. But the Progressives in this country want socialism. If you take a look at what Obama’s and the Dems policies have done over the last 8 years, you will see a very slow economy and a lack of job growth, especially in the heartland. And you can’t blame it on the Great Recession because it only took three years after the Great Depression started for growth to dramatically rise.
The other thing Russell Brand said is that you have to understand what motivated people to vote the other way. This is extremely important. Why are their thoughts different than yours?
If you take a look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it is extremely understandable. The foundation of the pyramid begins with physiological needs being taken care of first and foremost (food, water, warmth, rest). The second tier up is about safety and security. If you are living in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin and you see that your jobs have been transported to Mexico or China or other places, and you are unemployed or underemployed, then those two tiers are the most important things on which you react. If you live in West Virginia and Pennsylvania and the government has taken away your coal mining jobs, you don’t really care that a candidate is a man or woman, or what his sex life is all about. The only thing that matters is putting food on the table to support your family.
Most of the people who are shocked by the result are already near the top of the Maslow hierarchy where your psychological needs and your self fulfillment needs are more important.
Since almost the entire map of the U.S. was red, except for the west coast, the northeast and a big city like Chicago, I think the Democrats really need to do a lot of soul searching as to why their message is not resonating outside of the big cities. Not only did Republicans win the presidency, but they now control most statehouses and most governorships.
I think people actually want our two sides to sit down with one another and hammer out their differences. When you try to go it alone, as with Obamacare, or the edicts of using a pen and a phone to go around the law making process to force regulations and rules upon your society, all you do is alienate the other side. And make no mistake, the Trump supporters were extremely energized.
We need to stop living in an echo chamber and start listening to what the other side is saying. For those people who always blast media outlets like Fox News, perhaps you should listen to that station periodically to hear what at least half of the population of our country is feeling. What I heard was that the Republicans were tired of hearing that they are racist, homophobes, misogynists, xenophobes etc. just because they disagreed with the Democrats’ opinions.
I believe Trump’s beliefs are a mixture of both sides of the aisle. His past tells me he has some liberal leanings and some conservative leanings. I think he truly wants to help the people in the inner cities who have never gotten ahead despite all the “help” they supposedly have gotten from the Democrats. I think he wants to help those people on the bottom of the Maslow Hierarchy. Only time will tell.
Having not voted for him, I will at least give him a chance.
Thanks for this close analysis, Steve. You hit on many salient points that can help “explain” the outcome of this surprising election. And your last sentiment is the best one, I think. 👍🙏🍀
Ellen –
Don’t know Steve Wolff, but couldn’t agree with him more. It’s less about where we’re going, than how we got here. This election was literally one of the one-time wonders of the universe —- two random meteors colliding a billion light years away. Statistically, the ultimate Black Swan.
Yes, it’s a real wake up call. Hopefully, something positive will result from it. Fingers crossed. Thanks, David. 🙏👍
I too can’t wait for a female president.
However, whenever I hear a leftist crying about a female president, they’re REALLY saying a LIBERAL, LEFT-WING one.
To a Democrat, “Heaven help us if the first female president is CONSRVATIVE”.
Let’s not fool ourselves!!
I was once a proud South Side Chicago DEMOCRAT. No more. I didn’t leave the party. The party left me.
JFK, Truman, Humphrey, Scoop Jackson, Ed Muskie and even Adlai Stevenson are wondering what the hell has happened to their party. These are the kind of DEMOCRATS I was proud to vote for.
Now-a-days, I’m tired of being called a “racist”, “bigoted”, “woman hating” and finally, according to Hillary, “deplorable and irredeemable” voter.
Yes, a female CONSERVATIVE is what we need!!
I’ve been waiting for you, Bernie. Your returns are late but I’m still counting them. Good luck- to all of us.