America is not a failed state. Democracy in action means that sometimes we must swallow a bitter pill. In four years we will vote again on a president. In two years many seats in the House and Senate will be up for re-election as well.
At the end of the night when I was about to fall asleep, a commentator on ABC said that the Democratic party needed to take a long, hard look in the mirror – one of the most salient points I heard on television last night. Donald Trump is as unappetizing as they come, but it is clear now: Americans are fed up with big government and insider politics, and fed up with being told that voting conservative makes them deplorable.
Hillary Clinton rose to prominence on the coattails of her philandering husband and her tenure at the State Department was a disaster. She may have been one of the most qualified people ever to seek the position, but her track record itself revealed what many thought all along: she was only out for herself. Between selling fighter jets to Saudis that are being used to massacre innocents in Yemen to an almost-criminal neglect for national security as demonstrated by her careless handling of confidential data on a private server, she was a sloppy Secretary who was out to make a buck, profiting immensely from taxpayer money and from foreign donations to her Clinton Foundation.
I am not thrilled about a Trump victory. I think his comments about women are foul and I hate the thought of him as a representative of my country abroad and as the leader of the free world. Clinton was the more statesmanlike candidate.
The campaign was ugly on both sides. It says a lot that how many Americans rejected the experienced establishment candidate in favor of someone inexperienced and largely unqualified, who ran a total dumpster fire of a campaign and has said appalling things about women and minority groups. The election did come down to the lesser of two evils, and the people have spoken.
America is not a failed state. Democracy in action means that sometimes we must swallow a bitter pill. In four years we will vote again on a president. In two years many seats in the House and Senate will be up for re-election as well.
Today in America toilets will still flush, cars will still drive, lights will still turn on. This is not the end, and those calling doomsday are doing themselves are great disservice. Having exercised your right to vote is wonderful. Sometimes our candidates win, and sometimes they lose. While this election does mark a shift in the course of American political history – a turn towards nationalism, a rejection of big government or globalization – America will still be a great place to live today, tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.
