So Donald Trump has won ,
A result that I am not entirely upset with, not terribly thrilled but it is what it is. As I actually preferred him to her, but for the most obscure reason. Preferred is really kind of stretching it, for I truly was not a fan of either, Ben Carson was my choice, with his quietly intellectual , method and gentle way. Shows how naïve I am to think that someone with gentility could think to make it through the meat grinder of national political selection.
My reason is that I abhor the idea of professional politicians. I call them careerist politicians. They are not in keeping with the foundation ideals of the nation.
Farmers and shopkeepers would go off and serve a term and return to their shop or farm and would resume a real life. Now we send people off to congress for a lifetime and they in turn spend that lifetime running for re-election . Re-election is frequently a given until there comes a time that the district is reconfigured , as in the case of Scott Garrett of NJ, who now finds himself out of congress.
But one of the most difficult jobs to lose is that of US Congress. Once in it is almost a guaranteed position for life---except when as I say the district is re-aligned as his was.
I have never like the idea that we would have so many people running our government who had no connection to real world jobs and real world concerns. We have a class of people who go to law school , not to practice law , but to enter into the political arena. Immediately after graduation they slide into various appointed public service jobs and continue to try and parlay that into higher and better. Cory Booker comes to mind as does Bill Clinton, The Obamas, Hillary Clinton, Chris Christie, Joe Biden, and too many others to mention. I don't like it , perhaps I am jealous of their smooth road way of life, when compared to the hard knock life most of us struggle with. When we visit our daughter in Washington DC I see them on the streets and I see that they have an ambition that is self centered. It has an appearance, it is young and uncaring and so full of themselves that it is repulsive. It is modeled on the career politico. People think of them as people of accomplishment, when in actuality there is little that they have put forth to get where they are except sign up for the party. Real people of accomplishment go to work every day for years and years, what these folks do is not work. Shaking hands and attending legislative sessions is not work. Bricklaying, roofing, paving, teaching, doctoring, nursing, lawyering, driving a truck, fixing a pipe , attending to a customer that is work. Politics is not work and let us all get that straight, politicians are not worker bees.
I thought it the height of arrogance on the part of Teddy Kennedy that he would claim his senate seat to the point of his death, a point which had brought him to non functioning status So it was that I was more desirous of Trump than Clinton. Neither thrilled .me. I just wanted change of the way things are done. Be careful of that you wish for, you might just get it is the cautionary thought that runs in my mind.
She, Hillary would have governed in an acceptable manner , if one supposes that an acceptable manner is all we seek. She carried the baggage of a party that was arrogant in its treatment of the people, as evidenced by her own self enrichment and the treatment of those who would seek to run against her. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and John Podesta were devious if not evil in the treatment of Sanders and his followers.
But before anyone gets too smug, he should understand that the problems of the nation are very real and very substantial, many of they were left unattended for the last 8 years and they have grown
unchecked . Problems like the deficit, now grown to the point that it will take a herculean effort to wrestle iy to ground. And not to forget the social problems that have festered, substance abuse levels unprecedented , stagnation of wages and reduction of living standards. Home ownership a bulwark of a thriving society is at an historic low, which means that community and stability of the lives of people is threatened. So again do not be too smug in your own sense of vindication over an election. Do not allow yourself to lord over others who are upset by the results.
So don't expect a miracle, because it isn't about to happen like that.
And tone it down folks, I hear stories of old friends and relatives severing relationships over this election and I am saddened by that idea. I heard one story related as to a husband and wife at odds over an election, another of business partners and yet a third between siblings. All of whom are rending their relationships --- over this. You have got to be kidding. Think about how it was that you allowed yourself to become so invested in the likes of these two, who are unknown to you, to the point that you would forsake a wife a partner a friend .
Your friends and family are all you have in this life that make it worth living. Respect them and their choices and if they do not respect your's do not lash out , just accept it as is. Would I cast aside a friend because he voted for Trump or for Hillary, shame, shame on me. Go ahead and move to
Canada but don't attack your friends and neighbors and family.
It is what it is, says my wife of impeccable good sense and truer than that it does not get. We all have our lives to live and we have to come to grips. The hand wringing and the tears are a sign that some folks need to get a grip and come into the real world. A mother on TV, consoling her 7 year old over the result of an election is just a bit much if you ask me. There are so many This election has little impact on your own life, go back to living it.
Yesterday, I spoke about the press and today I see that they are continuing in their effort to foster discontent and division amongst the people. Take a break from them, take a break from MSN and AOL and Drudge and Breitbart. Go for a walk smell the air. Think about all those who have gone before to make this a decent livable country , Think about the servicemen and women who have
made great sacrifices. It is veterans day. Get out of your own head.
Lower the volume folks don't destroy that which is dear over this.