I have to leave this thread for a while because responses are coming so fast that I simply do not have time to deal with them all (and reckon with the stupidity within)
If you think that is a copout and I have nothing to say to respond to x y and z feel free to pm me or add me on steam to find out just how fucking wrong you are
I will leave with the following statements:
1. Nothing gets me angrier than people acting like anyone who isn't a big fan of the election result is a "crybaby" or a "sore loser". this isn't a fucking game, people's lives are at stake- like they are in literally every election. this transcends politics, acting like it's all one big joke is such a privileged position that it's hard for me to even fathom.
2. I guarantee none of y'all were particularly gung-ho about the electoral college on Monday. It's a horrendous system that disenfranchises people on the basis of race, decreases voter turnout because of people who know that their state is a fait accompli, and is set up (like gerrymandering) to almost always help out the same political party over and over again.
3. Donald Trump has already released a 100-day plan which, while deliberately vague for the purposes of misleading people at times, does present a very good picture of what some of his policy goals will be. In light of that, anyone still saying "give him a chance, u don't know what kind of president he will be!!!" is a moron.
4. I do not condone the violence in some of the protests, but sadly I understand it. The vast majority of protests are peaceful, just like the vast majority of Trump supporters. The problem with the violence of Trump supporters is a) what they are violent on behalf of, and b) the continual refusal of Trump himself to condemn any of it. Peaceful protests and civil disobedience are two of the cornerstones of our democracy, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Hundreds of people I know are at the protests in NYC right now and I can assure you that they are primarily peaceful, and utterly massive.
4b. It's also incorrect when people say protests like this are pointless. Remember the Tea Party? This is how such a movement starts.
5. I love the irony of people claiming I'm some sheltered college student when my school is over 50% students of color, and I grew up in the most ethnically diverse city in the world. If we are going to use the sheltered argument, I'd say the people who have never listened to the personal testimonials of minorities are pretty goddamn sheltered. I just went to my US/Latino History class where the student population is probably 80% Hispanic, which was one of the more depressing experiences I've had as of late.
6. I have never, nor will I ever say that the primary reason Donald Trump won is because his supporters are racist. First of all, the overtly racist Trump supporters are people who would always vote Republican no matter what (except for maybe Ben Carson lol), and not at all the swing voters who could decide the outcome of an election. More importantly though, this strawman covers up a more important truth; many voters may not be indisputably racist, but they chose to vote turning a blind eye to both the rhetoric and policies of Donald Trump which are. We can discuss why that is, but we must first admit that any Trump supporter has to reckon with that fact, whether it be because they support his protectionism or because they hated Clinton that very much.
7. As elliot began to hint at, we are in a post-Jim Crow era; our laws are not, on their face, racially discriminatory. Yet, in their disparate impacts, many of them become just that- the War on Drugs, Voter ID laws, any slashing of government assistance, any proposed immigration or mass deportation, etc. Supporting most of these policies (except the latter two), might not require any racial bias from the voter, but try telling that to a black guy who bears the brunt of such policies.
8. On Muslim immigration/mass deportation of illegal immigrants- I do not believe it is a stretch to use the term 'racism', or at least 'racial bias', when people call for policies based on an emotional belief that a particular group is culpable for a problem when the data simply does not support it. All evidence we have suggests that Mexican undocumented immigrants are not just a net positive for our economy, but utterly central to it. Hell, Trump's whole focus on outsourcing jobs to China and the need to fight against that just shows how hopeless it is to consider the work, especially in the agricultural sphere that migrant workers do as something that we can just replace with unemployed American citizens.
9. To a degree, it wouldn't matter if Trump were a faceless, personality-less robot, because he has already made it clear that he will surround himself with a cadre of extreme social and economic conservatives and be, AT LEAST, a Bush Administration 2.0. If you find that appealing, all power to you. But if you're living the pipe dream that he's 'not even a conservative', you will be disappointed.
10. I do not watch CNN, MSNBC, or any other tv news. To the extent that good journalism is still accessible, it can be found 95% of the time in print media. For example, here was an incredible, and prescient article I read the other day:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/13/liberal-media-bias-working-class-americans
11. I cannot recommend enough that people here really peruse the aforementioned 100 day plan; I am sure some of you (slayer, spacecadet) will support the agenda within, but I am confident that many of y'all would find yourself questioning some of his plans, at least when each of the small summaries within has been expanded and explained by someone who understands his implications.
12. If you don't believe that even children are legitimately anxious about the result of the election (not always accurately, ie "mommy will I be deported back to Puerto Rico?"), then you haven't been paying attention, or don't know a person of color.
14. I will end with this: I am usually the biggest believer of shying away from judging the personal character of a politician in favor of his policies. For instance, I have never given a shit about sex scandals (other than as a humorous, reality tv-esque distraction), because the personal vices of a politician shouldn't overpower his or her ability to enact good on a societal level. However, the sheer volume of Trump's many, many disgusting comments is hard to ignore, and it's sadly fairly easy to see a link between his general disdain for most other people and the kind of president he will be.
I am sure I am forgetting important points to address, but that's life. I need to take a cold shower and prepare for what I'm going to do to fight this man every step of the way and get a true populist progressive candidate the next time around. I highly recommend supporting the ACLU in the meantime.