Juliajms

I guess I'm not seeing as much denial as you do. I see lots of people talking about racism. Trump himself hid his racism and sexism with nothing but the thinnest of veils. "Oh, I don't know anything about the Klan, how can I disavow them"? The problem from my perspective is what do you do when a large portion of the electorate chooses a racist/sexist/fascist with no shame? Hell, that's why some of these people picked him. Then that leader doubles down and appoints open white supremacists (again hiding being the thinnest of veils) to leadership positions. This sort of Nationalism tends to feed on itself and gets stronger, which has me very worried. The conventional wisdom is that demographics are going to save us at some point, but I've become skeptical of that after what just happened.. I think it would be very foolish to rely solely on that hope. I have no idea where the Democrats go from here, but I hope the leadership comes up with a decent plan over the next year. Maybe we'll be lucky and Trump will come crashing down, but I don't know how that happens given that nothing seems to touch him.

^ I'd love nothing more. Also, I think this is true: Vox ‏@voxdotcom 8h8 hours ago Hamilton tweets are a shiny object distracting people from Trump’s fraud settlement and corruption

Trump is about to be the most powerful man in the country, who is going to take his Twitter from him? Why would they take his Twitter from him, he won and credits social media with his success. All the crazy things he's said aren't hurting him because a good chunk of the population agrees with him. And yeah, I find that depressing as hell, but I can't really deny it at this point.

There is no rational reason to even boycott. This guy (by his own admission) went off his meds and screamed at a barista for "anti white discrimination" because his coffee took too long. At least the original guy has an excuse, the rest of these people seem to honestly believe that Starbucks is discriminating against white Trump supporters.

A follow up to the Starbucks story. http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/18/living/trump-cup-starbucks/index.html Trump cups. Is this real life? Meanwhile the original guy has admitted that he was off his meds the day he went off on the barista and accused her of anti white discrimination.

That's some good news at least. I feel like it's open season and certain politicians are going to be testing to see how much they can get away with.

^ True and let's just say any trust I had in the FBI is now seriously eroded. Lord help us all, I feel Pandora's Box has truly been opened and so much %*&^ is about to go down.

^ I would say that when it comes to FBI operations most Americans wouldn't feel qualified to know when that is justified and when it isn't. It's not like we have the information to make that decision. Obviously children on a no fly list doesn't make sense and anyone can see that is wrong, but when it comes to adults how could individual Americans ever know what that is justified and when it isn't? A registry is much more clearly wrong and worrisome. Also this article is arguing that a registry would be constitutional. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/donald-trump-muslim-registry-constitution-231527

^ Bernie is really too old to be the leader of the party. Is he really going to run for President at 78 years old? Perhaps I'm being ageist, but I don't mean to be. It just doesn't seem practical at all. As for he gutting of entitlements, seniors vote. Maybe it's going to take that pain to make seniors and their children rethink things a bit.

All this talk of a Muslim registry is deeply disturbing.

@JaneAusten I'll agree with you that education in STEM subjects have been a problem for a long time. I remember my chemistry teacher complaining about 20+ years ago. At the same the average IQ is 100. You aren't going to make a math major or an engineer out of that no matter how good your educational system is. So sure, we need to make the most of the potential we have in this country, but I think it's an obvious area where immigration can solve some of our needs.

I would say that a lot of these jobs are in various forms of engineering (computer, bio) and other STEM sectors and not everyone has the brains for it. Some of the health care jobs we need such as elder care are low paying and high stress. Similar to daycare where people are also underpaid.

I wouldn't read the whole article. It's really pessimistic. I just wanted you to know you aren't the only person who wakes up every day with a heavy heart. I'm going to try to take President Obama's advice and stop mourning by Thanksgiving, but I will never accept Trump as normal. He is a blight on the republic.

I'm relieved that President Obama is going to stay involved in politics and help people organize. We really have no idea what exactly is coming for us, we just know that this is one of the most dangerous periods in American history. If Trump and his ilk manage to intimidate and control the press we'll know we are really screwed in a way that may go past the next four years.

@Ms. Quartermaine This article made me think of you, especially the first paragraph. You are definitely not alone in having a hard time accepting this election. http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/of-feminists-and-nazis/

^ I feel like I'm going to have to disconnect from the news cycle soon. I don't want to become a hateful person. I already hate Trump so much. I truly can't believe I hate our President in such a personal way.

I think it takes a long time and it's expensive. I imagine people fleeing from Central America (for example) with their children don't have the time or the money. Plus it isn't like everyone who applies gets in. I know they put an emphasis on family reunification and I also think there is some kind of lottery system, but I've never looked into exactly how it works.

Interesting. I guess I'm not surprised. I've always had mixed feelings on the topic of amnesty. On the one hand I do think there is a pretty strong case that having too many immigrants at once depresses wages and helps business owners, which is why people like Reagan were for it. On the other hand, the idea of mass deportation doesn't sit well with me at all. I was really hoping the democrats would make a better case for it than the usual "we are a nation of immigrants". Yes, and at one point we were a nation of slave owners. What we were or are tells me nothing about what we should be. Looking at countries like Japan does tell us what happens when you have negative population growth and an aging population. That's the case I wanted to hear and didn't because policy was lost in the reality show circus. Also, I think the democrats were a little afraid to really dig into the topic might alienate some core voters. I just hope we do better next time because I think this is one of the topics were we lost he election, but it didn't have to be that way.

Yeah, I'm aware of all of this, but that doesn't explain why pundits like Ana Navarro got it so wrong. Even if it wasn't really 29%, Trump still got more than anyone thought he would. I wish someone would do a piece actually talking to the people who voted.

What I wonder is why so many Latinos voted for Trump. I'm genuinely curious and I haven't seen any think pieces on why that happened.

^ That's why I say Bernie wasn't really talking about rigging the way Trump meant it. It wasn't the same kind of formal rigging. When I looked at the field on the Democratic side I didn't need Bernie or anyone else to tell me that the field had been cleared for Hillary. My guess is back room deals were made and pressure was applied. If Bernie (not a Democrat) didn't run she would have had one lackluster competitor. Does that sound like something that just happened naturally when the Republicans had a field of 16? I think the DNC backed her as their horse from the start and she lost. Maybe next time they should let the process play out a little more naturally. Anyway, what's done is done and none of that means I think Bernie would have won.

POLITICO ‏@politico 2m2 minutes ago .@POTUS: "Campaigning is different from governing...I think he's gonna try as best he can to make sure he delivers." That's what has me worried.

Don't give up. I don't believe anyone knows what the future of the party is right now and I disagree that it can be something more to the left economically in the short term. If you can try to find pity for the people who are poor and voted for Trump. It's a big ask I know, but having lived around them as a child I can tell you that they are brainwashed as children and completely ignorant. I won't say it isn't their fault, but it's very hard to break out of that. Trump is going to bring a world of hurt on these people and maybe that's what it takes to wake up. Of course by then they environment might be passed the point of recovery and the whole human race will be f*cked anyway. That's one more unfair thing about this. "We" could very easily destroy the world and 95% never got a vote.

I don't think that he meant the votes were rigged. I think he was talking about the way the party chooses it's nominees. The democrats did have a strangely empty field, but I also don't think that matters now. It would be better if Bernie stepped back for a bit and let people process this outcome. As for he white working class I have no idea if they can ever be won back without alienating other core voters and that is a huge problem in the short term.

I suppose wishing for the 3rd is wrong. If nothing else Pence makes sure I don't stoop so low.