November 10, 2016: Crazy Election Talk

Posted by Scott on

It’s been a nutso couple of days, to say the very least… 😛

We all went to the NICU Tuesday night to visit Matthew and I sincerely thought, like many, that Hillary had the election in the bag, but as it turned out, the polling site that I was watching didn’t refresh automatically for me so I didn’t really see things turning south until her projection dropped from about 78% down to 55%.

Since then, it’s been insane trying to figure out what’s going on as many people are (rightfully) panicked and many more are (not so much rightfully) being real jerks about the results, seemingly oblivious to just how much the GOP fought against President Obama’s elections for pretty much his entire term as president!

I have a hard time taking somebody seriously when they say to “just get over it” when the guy who just won literally spent Obama’s entire first term claiming that he was a Kenyan Muslim who wasn’t even qualified to be President in the first place…

Anyways, I most definitely count myself among those who are concerned for what the future of a Donald Trump presidency holds, as highlighted last night by the collection of social media posts that I shared showing so much violence and hate being directed by Trump supporters towards the same minorities that Trump marginalized throughout his entire campaign.

I understand that there has been protesting / rioting in cities across the country in response as well, however frankly I don’t see how the two are even in the same ballpark.

Personally, I’ve been trying to process everything by writing as much as possible, be it humor or otherwise. In a way, I hate writing so much about Donald Trump … I even wrote a humor piece saying as much a week or two ago … however I also believe that humor is therapeutic and sometimes that’s what people need to help them get through difficult times like these.

I heard a quote from Stephen Colbert tonight that said something worth considering…

“In the face of something that might strike you as horrible, I think laughter is the best medicine. You cannot laugh and be afraid at the same time.”

My humor column that will be out in a few hours is tailored around the outcome of the election – hopefully in a silly and fun, yet thoughtful kind of way – and I’ve already posted a couple of pieces up on Just Laugh, and I expect to start posting more again in the future. Because it’s helping me to get out some of the emotions involved with watching all of this unfold, and if my words can help to inspire or educate or simply give a little comic relief to someone else struggling with this idea of Donald Trump being our 45th President and his legion of followers enacting the vitriol that he taught them over the last 16 months on the campaign trail, then all the better.

I think these words by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Gavin Aung Than (Zen Pencils) are super important for creative types to remember right now – “When things get tough … Make Good Art.”

Stay safe, stay strong, support each other, and don’t let anyone tell you that racism and sexism and bigotry is ok because America is better than that, regardless of what any political candidate wants to say to win votes.

If you’d like to read any of the other things that I’ve written about the election over the past few days, you can find them here:

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