Friday, November 11, 2016

The hate show starts early

With Donald Trump losing the popular vote by about 400,000 and counting, his supporters are wasting no time in spreading his racism, misogyny and religious intolerance throughout the country.


It's not really surprising. This is the rhetoric that got Trump elected. His supporters love him for saying what they feel.

Unlike the anti-Trump protests throughout the country, the Trump hate won't fade over time.

It'll be with us for possibly another eight years. It's here in Oregon, even Bend.

Those of us who are disgusted by the Trump-led hate need to speak out.

In that vein, it was gratifying to read on ESPN, of all places, what Gregg Popovich, the esteemed coach of the San Antonio Spurs, had to say about the election.

He expressed exactly what more than half the country feels about Trump and this shameful election.

Here is a sample:

"I'm still sick to my stomach, and not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenor, tone and all the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic," he said before the Spurs' home game against the Detroit Pistons. "And I live in that country where half the people ignored all that to elect someone. That's the scariest part of [the] whole thing to me."

"What gets lost in the process are African-Americans, Hispanics, women and the gay population, not to mention the eighth-grade developmental stage exhibited by him when he made fun of the handicapped person," he said. "I mean, come on. That's what an eighth-grade bully does, and he was elected president of the United States. We would have scolded our kids. We would have had discussions and talked until we were blue in the face trying to get them to understand these things. And he is in charge of our country. That's disgusting."

Thank you, Popovich. It took guts to say what you did. I hope other leaders do the same.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

May the farce be with you

With Donald Trump's victory Tuesday, Americans will find that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

Naturally, Karl Marx can be credited with that phrase.

We've had plenty of tragedy in our history, now comes the travesty.

For those who longed for the tragic days of George W. Bush, you now get to experience them anew, on steroids.

You want more wars, you got 'em.

You want a terrible economy, you got it.

You want to be known as a former great nation, you got it.

Much will be written about this election. It'll make no difference.

Americans wanted an unqualified, sexist and racist, white man to run this country.

And, that's what we'll get.

The rational world is appalled. Markets are tanking.

On Nov. 8, 2016, America no longer became a beacon of hope to the oppressed of the world.

With Trump in charge, we are now the oppressors.

The idea of "American Exceptionalism" is officially over.

We chose to make America worse again.

Of course, there will be no wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

The Canadians may consider a wall to keep Americans out of their country.

Health care will only be for the rich. Social Security will be privatized. Forget about Medicare or Medicaid.

Corporations will be rewarded even more when they send jobs overseas.

We can burn more coal until the cows come home.

Women will lose whatever gains they made in the last 50 years.

The angry, white man won.

God Bless America.

We'll need it.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Trump: A man for no seasons

Separated at birth?
Donald J. Trump means a lot of things to a lot of people.

To most women, he is the ultimate "male chauvinist pig."

To our allies, he is the face of the "ugly American."

To most Latinos, he is one "bad hombre."

To most Muslims, he is the great recruiter for ISIS and al Qaeda.

To most Americans, he is a blowhard, fraud and egomaniac.

And yet, Trump could still win this thing tomorrow.

To some angry white men and, sadly, some angry white women, Trump is the Great White Hope raging against Mexicans, women, Muslims, immigrants, African-Americans, the disabled, and, incredibly, veterans.

To Vladimir Putin, Trump is a kindred spirit, a Mussolini.

To many Chinese, he is right about foreigners and building a wall. Afterall, the Chinese led the way with the Great Wall in a failed attempt to keep people out.

To dictators everywhere, Trump speaks their language of repression.

Trump is easily the most divisive candidate from a major party in American history. He's also the most unqualified candidate.

The hate that Trump has fomented will linger for years. He has managed to stir up the worst attributes among us, both here and abroad.

He not only has tarnished our democracy, he's also dug a grave for the Republican Party.

The only way he could Make America Great Again is by losing decisively on Nov. 8.

Here's hoping that the majority of Americans come to their senses and reject the fascism that Trump represents.