Boys and Girls, I Think I’ve Gone Cray

“Drown inside my vices all day.”

I was going to use the chorus to this song for the title of my post, since it’s basically the title song of post-election, but I decided to be kind of hipster, LOL.

I would say that this is going to be my last election post, but it probably won’t be, so why lie?

Although this post will be similar to my previous post, it’s more so something to clear things up, for you and my conscience.  I posted that piece on Wednesday, the afternoon that the results of the election were announced, after Hillary Clinton’s concession speech and President Obama’s speech.  I was heartbroken, scared, and hurting when I wrote that post, and it translated.  I look back at it, and I regret it: my emotions got the best me.  I always feel like the best arguments are the ones that a person is clearly passionate about said argument, but can tame their emotions enough to get a coherent and clear thought out.

My previous post was nothing like that: it was full of emotion, and although I stand by the things that I said, I know that there are some stuff that I should have reworded and clarified.  So, that is the purpose of this post.  If you’re tired of reading stuff about the election, feel free to leave.  I understand your frustration, but this election is pretty groundbreaking, so I will continue.

First point, and the most important: I DO NOT HATE WHITE PEOPLE.  I don’t hate anyone, really, because it takes a lot of energy to hate people, and life is too short to hate.  I’m more of a person that strongly dislikes people.  🙂  That’s besides the point though, what I am trying to say is that I try my hardest not to judge people on the basis of their race and skin tone, and I’ve been pretty successful at it for, like, ever.  Haha.  I do make jokes concerning race based on extreme stereotypes though, that is my one flaw.  I’m trying to work on it.  But, I don’t hate white people.  However, the majority of the people who backed Trump were white people (majority, not all), and with the condescending and offensive things he has said, it makes it hard for me to accept Trump supporters, no matter what color they are.

The second thing I want to say, is that I realize that neither candidate is perfect.  I was going through this huge battle with my heart and my head when I was casting my vote.  My heart was telling me to vote third party, which essentially wouldn’t have mattered because I live in CA and the state was going blue no matter what, but my head was telling me not to chance that, especially considering the possibility of a Trump presidency was imminent, and I wanted to make sure I stopped him.

It hurt my heart so, so, so much that I voted for Clinton.  She supports and has done SO many terrible things that I don’t support.  Especially when she stood by her husband and silenced the women that came forward and accused him of rape and sexual assault.  It seriously hurt me when I cast my vote for her, and I repent for what I did.  In a weird and very minuscule way, I’m kind of glad she didn’t win.  Clears my conscience a little.  But, I’m still really, really, really, upset that Trump won.

And the thing is, is that I hear a lot of people who voted for Clinton say similar things as I said.  That they voted for Clinton, but hated the fact that they did vote for her.  They believed that she was the better of two evils, as did I.  However, I don’t hear Trump supporters say anything along these lines.  Maybe because my closest exposure to Trump supporters is my Facebook feed, as well as the fact that it is hard to find news from either side from unbiased news outlets.  Typically, no matter what the outcome, you support your President-elect, but in this case, it is really hard for me to see why anyone would support Trump.

I can see why people voted for him.  His platform was enticing for a lot of people: he championed for poor and working class Americans, who have become seriously forgotten in the political world.  He spoke against the TPP and vowed to stop outsourcing jobs to other countries.  He pushed to “build the wall” between Mexico and the US and stop illegal immigration into the United States.  He also vowed to kill ISIS, and no one wants to be terrorized by ISIS again.

But Trump has said some incredibly ignorant and offensive things throughout the campaign.  He has disrespected women, people of color, Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants, and the LGBTQIA community.  He has cheated the federal tax system for years (people who call him saavy, ugh, please stop) and hasn’t supported the troops and education system and other programs that our federal taxes pay for.  He also has some serious mental health issues and psychopathic tendencies, and this person is going to be the leader of the free world.

Don’t even get me started on Mike Pence.  He is a true bigot, and has a crap ton more experience that Donald Trump in politics.  His political savviness, coupled with Trump’s lack of experience, means that he is most likely going to have a huge say in the Trump administration. He’s already taken on a larger role in the transition, and it probably won’t stop there.  Can we say Frank Underwood in House of Cards, much?  LOLOLOL, I friggen love that show.

But it hurts me that through all the negative things have been said by Trump about already marginalized groups, people support him to the ends of the Earth.  I understand that people are tired of being unrecognized by the elites in Washington, and Trump is someone that might be able to break the cycle.  But, Trump is also an elite himself, so I don’t know how he could be much different aside from the fact that he has ZERO experience in government or has not served our country.  But, when his supporters defend everything he has said, saying that he’s not racist, homophobic, or everything else, that is not being supportive, that is being ignorant.  And maybe you think of yourself as not racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, or homophobic, but by supporting Trump, you’re saying that you don’t care about any of these groups.  Maybe if the supporters say something along the lines that they only supported his policies, maybe I will forgive their vote.  But even then, I’m not fully convinced about it.  I’ll just have to see if and when it ever happens.

Working class white Americans, I hear, understand, agree with your concerns.  Too many American jobs are being shipped out to other countries, and they should stay here.  There are so many Americans out there that have been stripped of their jobs and deserve to have them back.  But, America was only great for you back then because you had jobs.  That same America that you miss so much was a pretty shitty America for people of color and other marginalized groups.  We need to be able to find a balance for all people of the United States.

To say that I hope Trump doesn’t succeed is an ignorant thing for me to say.  I don’t want this country to go to shit, so I hope that he is able to do good things.  But if he resorts to any type of bigotry against marginalized groups, I will be along side the people to protest it.  Washington hasn’t been working for a while, so maybe Trump is what we need to break Washington and create the change that we want to see.  The election of Trump has brought together so many people who strive for social justice and equality for all people.  I hope that through this sad time, we are able to rise above the bigotry and hatred, and fight for what is right.

I’m sorry for all the hate filled things I said in my last post, and hope this clear things up.

This Ain’t Gonna Stop

“So we just gonna continue.”

I am about to feed into the clusterfuck of articles that are about the United States’ 2016 Election Day, but I feel strongly about this, so here it goes.

Today, November 8th, 2016, is Election Day, which signals the hopeful end of this shit-show that we here in the US call the 2016 Presidential Election.  As entertaining as the comedy that has come out of this election has been, I am more than extremely excited for this state of insanity to come to an end.  In my short 22 years of life, I don’t remember seeing an election that has aggravated me so much.  Obviously, none of the candidates are ideal (yes, I am including 3rd party candidates), but all the empty back and forth rhetoric coming from all sides the spectrum has been absolutely grinding, and I, for one, am ecstatic that today marks the end (until inauguration in January, of course).  This election marks a slew of candidates that are far less ideal than any of the other Presidential candidates that have ran in my lifetime, but I cannot stress enough one thing:

IT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER.

Voting is a privilege, no matter how many people tell you that it’s a right.  No one in this country has the RIGHT to vote.  This RIGHT can be taken away so quickly that you don’t even recognize it’s gone.  The people out there that can vote have the PRIVILEGE to vote.  I am a citizen of the US by birth, and have been law abiding enough that today, I can vote in my second Presidential election.  Today, I have the PRIVILEGE to vote for the next leader of the free world.

There are millions of people in this country that would do anything to have their voices heard, do anything to be in the position that I am in, but aren’t for one reason or another.  Many immigrants, documented or undocumented, are unable to vote because they are not naturalized citizens of this country.  It costs “buku” (thanks, Andre 3000)  dollars to become a citizen of this country, and many people don’t even have green card money to shell out to the government, let alone citizenship money.  Undocumented immigration has been a huge issue in this election, and these immigrants OF ALL ORIGINS (not just Mexican) can’t even have their voices heard because of the unfortunate situation they are in.

Today, I vote for them.

There are another couple million people, disproportionately black men, that have been labeled as felons, and have lost their right to vote.  Whether this label has been put on them rightfully or wrongfully, many of these people have been come voiceless, in more ways than one.  Many of these people will never have the chance to vote again.

Today, I vote for them.

It is incredibly easy for me to lose my right to vote, and I realize and recognize this fact.  I am tired of people saying, “Oh, I’m not going to vote in this election because none of the candidates are good.”  Realize what you are saying: “I am not going to vote.”  YOU have the privilege that others would “kill” (for lack of a better term) for.  DO NOT THROW AWAY THAT PRIVILEGE.  RECOGNIZE THAT PRIVILEGE AND USE IT.

I am human, I realize that none of these candidates are the best.  Yes, it hurt me to even bubble in my choice for President, because in my heart, I do not fully believe in the candidate that I voted for.  But, in life, we have to do things we don’t like, and today, I had to partake in doing something I don’t normally do, putting my belief in someone that I don’t fully agree with.

Also, there is more than a Presidential election going on today.  Today, you also have the chance to vote for your state and local officials.  At the end of the day, the results of the Presidential election will not affect you as much as the results of these respective elections.  It is important to vote for the state and local officials of your choice, as it is important for you to vote for your state and local Propositions.  These people and propositions are going to affect you far more than the President ever will in your lifetime, guarantee it.

At this point, I don’t even care who you vote for.  Because it’s not my business who you believe in or not.  All I care about is that you practice your privilege to vote.  Because there are millions of people in this country, and BILLIONS of people in other countries that do not have the privilege to be part of this democratic system, even if it does have some major flaws.

So please, if you are a US citizen, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, go exercise your privilege to vote.