Hellobee Boards

@Modern Daisy:maybe this is better as a separate thread and you don't have to answer, but I'm curious what issues were important to you or how you feel like your voice has been overlooked over the past few years?

It's interesting because even though the current President and I share similar priorities, I have also felt like my voice did not matter because Congress openly made it their mission to block any action that Obama wanted to take, despite the fact that a majority of the country elected him - twice! The current state of our government is frustrating for everyone, I suppose.

I really did not want to take part in these political posts, but as someone who lives in "Rural America" I know a lot of Trump Supporters who are not "racist, bigot, or misogynist" and labeling all of them as such, as many on HB have done recently, is just as hateful and judgemental as some of the things Trump has said.
They are nurses, pharmacists, farmers, daycare providers, teachers, business owners, etc. etc., just as are the Hillary Supporters I know. None of them are bad people. Most or all of them didn't like either option. I won't pretend to know all of their reasons for voting the way they did, but it was NOT because they are racist, hateful people.
I'd like to believe the people deserving of such a label are in the extreme minority, just as the Hillary supporters burning American flags are.
What do we do now? We raise our children to be loving, caring, and accepting of all people, regardless of skin color, sexual orientation, weight, gender, OR opinion. The same way we would've (I hope) done a week ago. Trump is not raising our children, WE are. WE set the example for them. WE call out any injustices we witness.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: @Madison43: I do not speak for @Modern Daisy, but conservatives definitely aren't adequately represented in the mainstream newspapers. Not among their reporters, not in their coverage, and only in the tiniest bit on the op-ed pages. I don't watch TV, but the NYT, LA Times, and WaPo are all what I consider mainstream news outlets and I read them. Once in a while they do a really good job of covering conservatives or looking at things through a not-wholly-liberal lens. But this happens rarely, and that is probably because their reporters are basically all liberal. And NPR, man, I love them, but they are one big audio liberal editorial. I'd give the WSJ a B- for representing conservatives (bonus points for Peggy Noonan), but they're mainly focused on financial issues, so it sort of stands to reason that they’d lean right.

The liberal bias is a problem because our democracy requires that people be able to think and discuss freely in public the important matters of the day. An independent press is absolutely necessary, because that is what provides the forum for free public debate. We don’t have that right now in our main publications. When a few big outlets dominate the discussion and they don't have any, or only a very few, conservatives among them that isn't a discussion, it's a diatribe.

And I’d note that to @Madison43’s point about not feeling your voice matters because the other side in Congress won’t vote for your policies, that that is how it’s supposed to work. The majority is supposed to be held in check. Conservatives aren’t supposed to be able to impose their ideal world on liberals and liberals aren’t supposed to be able to impose their ideal world on conservatives. I think that’s a completely ingenious design, even if it does mean that I have to stop and listen to my neighbor who disagrees with me and figure out a compromise.

@honeybear: I whole heartedly agreed that the design of the executive branch is genius - my point was more that there is absolutely no discourse, no dialogue, no compromise, no aisle crossing, nothing. We are at an absolute stalement - no ones voices are being heard.

@honeybear: I so agree (didn't read all previous responses). The media needs to figure out how to get everyone's voice represented or they will continue to feel disconnected and get things wrong. I just wish the media could go back to real reporting of fact rather than this stupid spin.

LO is five and we have had several political conversations within the past weeks. She wanted the girl to win so we could have the first woman president. Yesterday she was in disbelief and wanted to know why there were more votes for Trump. I told her it is like if you are at the zoo (where we were driving to at the moment) -and you always wanted to see a panda or a unicorn or a cheetah but the zoo director kept the same animals, year after year. Which would give you a better chance at getting a new animal? Keeping the old director and his team or voting in a new one? (New one.) That's why more people (electoral votes are yet to be explained) chose the new president. They hoped for a change.

@petitenoisette: I saw a clip from yesterday's Daily Show that summed up how I feel about this. Hasan Minhaj said "You personally may not be a racist, sexist, xenophobe but that comes with the package. So if you take that deal, what you're telling me is "Hey man, I don't hate you. I just don't care about you." I understand not wanting to explain your reasons in this environment but I haven't seen anybody give a reason for voting for Trump that is enough to balance out all the harm he has vowed to do to anybody different from him.

Re: moving forward, I saw somebody suggest that the first step was to pick one cause, and then figure out one thing you can do to help. Maybe you donate to Planned Parenthood. And then you go from there.

@mrs.shinerbock: This.

For me, I grieve first. I cry angry hot tears for our children and anyone who isn't white, male, or straight. Then I practice self care. I turn off the news and put on music, I practice yoga, I read stories on Pantsuit Nation.

And then I Pantsuit Up. I donate to Planned Parenthood, check in on friends, smile at strangers, write Hillary a thank you note, think about a real action plan for the next 4 years and beyond that involves volunteering my time and money to those who represent the "minorities" of this country and the environment. I think about the lessons and examples I'll provide for my son so he unpacks his privileges and lives with an open heart, always.

Also, MASSIVE shout out to our teachers.

@shootingstar: "To me it's actually worse than that. If you are accepting Trump's racism, sexism, etc then are tacitly agreeing with him."

I actually agree. I don't think you can say "he's all these terrible things, but..." and complete that sentence in any acceptable ways. I don't care what he has that appeals to you, the minute he said he's going to put a ban on Muslims entering the US you can't vote for him.

@DesertDreams88: Thank you for posting this. I'm not American but this choked me up and I needed to read it. What a wonderful message to give your kids.

Donating to Planned Parenthood, telling off racists on FB (it's like a full time job), going to the Million Woman March in DC in January with so many likeminded women. And it is going to be amazing.

Take heart: in my opinion, this election result is the last, gasping breath of the old guard. Women and minorities are rising up.

Honestly he needs to be watched like a hawk and anything hinting at unconstitutional, racist, sexist, anti-science needs to be called out immediately, protested, and sued about in court.

No amount of hugging children will undo things he proposes to do. Many uncomfortable conversations will need to occur with kids, family, neighbors. Be more active in local politics.

I agree there was name calling on both sides during this election but a minority of Americans came together to elect someone who could not coherently discuss policy during debates, focused instead on name calling other candidates, and gave credence to every negative stereotype of different groups of Americans he could find. Yeah, that's a hard one to defend, I can see why no logical defense of him can be found in media or even in public forums, how do you defend that?

@Mrs Green Grass: the old "fair" media has been absolutely DECIMATED by layoffs and budget cuts. Because people would rather get their own POVs spoon-fed to them on Facebook. The journalists who are left who truly try are maligned on the daily. I don't see the media coming to the rescue here unless there's a sea change of thinking about how we want to get our news.

@DesertDreams88: Thank you for saying this to your classrooms. This gives me SO much hope that we can do something.

@bluestriped bee:

This is something ALL of us need to do. Everyone who believes in racial equality, religious freedom, gay rights, and the equality of women. We ALL have to support each other and support the rights of the any all groups to come under fire for being part of the "other".

@bluestriped bee: exactly! All I see from my known Trump supporters are that they think all the stuff being shared by Shaun King is fake and made up and these racist acts aren't happening. So, don't sit there and say you're not racist and that's not why you voted for him, but then deny others' very real experiences as lies.

This is the reason I didn't want Trump. http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/us/post-election-hate-crimes-and-fears-trnd/index.html

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: And there's this... https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/797051337326395392