Trump's America: Day1 - Dealing with the Guilt

Just for the sake of clarity, Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States last night.

When I was in Mississippi with the Red Cross after hurricane Katrina, I was encouraged to let clients in the shelter I worked at tell their stories. It was the best way for them to get their feelings under control and start learning to live with what happened.

Donald Trump was elected to be the 45th president of the United States last night.

So, that happened.

I honestly didn't believe it was possible. More fool I.


Good one reality.




I'm going to start with the silver linings:

• We are having a mild Autumn in the Midwest, so I haven't had to heat the house yet.
• I finally get the surgery I've been needing in just a few weeks.
• I am more intelligent than the leader of the free world.

I stayed up most of the night following election results. I wasn't afraid until Trump got Florida. From there, I constantly tore down and rebuilt the model as more and more red filled the map like the dawn of the fabled zombie apocalypse.

I have an odd combination of panic, shame and survivor's guilt this morning.

I am a middle-aged, middle-class white male, for what that is worth. All of us are equally "Not Trump" in the Donald's eyes.

Unfortunately, he has confirmed that white hate is still a very real, surprisingly vital thing in this country. He and his supporters are the living equivalent of "my opinions are better than your facts."

For those who will object, these are some of those facts:

• Trump has admitted to not paying income taxes for a protracted period of time. He verified this himself during the second presidential debate.
• Trump does not respect a woman's body. Recordings exist of his descriptions of mistreatment of women. He does not dispute this.
• Trump believes that modifying a contract after the other side has lived up to their end is just good business and defensible if one has the legal staff for it. (Let me know if you need verification on this)

Like I said, I am a middle-aged, middle-class white male. I personally have little to worry about on the surface, but I have many friends who are not MAMClaWhiM. Their freedoms are in danger. I hate it that I will be lumped into so many categories to which Trump belongs.

I am intending to hit this blog more regularly to document the next four years and to keep track of this journey down the rabbit hole. If nothing else, I want this to keep my feelings hot for the 2018 and 2020 election cycles.

Catchy? Yes? No?