media shocked. “how did trump win” they said. “how could this bombastic fascist become president after we gave him more than half a year of completely free airtime until his momentum reached critical levels” they said. “we’re so surprised”
How did he win? Because in the mainstream media’s efforts to be “fair and balanced”, they treated Trump’s crimes and Clinton’s errors as if they were the same. Trump’s decades of shady business practices were glossed over, while Clinton was constantly painted as being untrustworthy. Trump can parade his ignorance and promise pie in the sky without being called upon to defend his proposals, while Clinton constantly was questioned about what her well-stated policies were. Trump got treated like an entertainment figure while Clinton got treated like a politician. Trump’s appalling statements were chalked up to him not being a “polished politician”, while Clinton was flailed if she put a toe out of line.
So don’t at all surprised and shocked that the beast that you helped build is now loose and going to devour the entire country to appease his ego.
You are not bad for going back into the closet or not wearing your hijab or presenting as your assigned gender in the coming weeks. You are still deserving respect and you are still worthy of love. Your physical safety comes first.
What are the chances we can make a big enough deal in the next to months reference Obama picking a justice that we can make that happen? We need to find a way to make that happen. Omg
bc thats what it is. no one wanted to like her, no one wanted to trust her. people who supported her kept having to add the disclaimer that they didn’t really want her in power, she was just the ~lesser of two evils~
the republican smear campaign against her worked bc people love to hate women
and it doesnt matter how good they are at what they do. doesnt matter that she’s the most competent person to run for president maybe ever. ppl would rather see a dangerous, unstable, bigoted lunatic in the white house than a woman. ppl who voted for bernie would rather switch their support to gary johnson – whose platform is much closer to trump’s than it is to bernie’s – than support the woman who beat their old white fav. trump is winning bc he’s running against a woman, and the misogynist masses would give literally anyone but her the win
this is so funny because i, personally, am exhausted by how much white women love to claim the victim narrative. wake up, girl. it’s black women who are driving the gender gap against trump… white women are voting him in by a majority (:
no person of colour gives a shit about whether or not hillary is or was likable–many of us voted for her despite disliking her because we were scared shitless of the other option.it is genuinely shocking to me that you would implicate black and latino men in this when it was white people all along.
it wasn’t about the republican smear campaign against her–it was the racism and bigotry donald trump campaigned with that appealed to white voters.
get this into your head: it wasn’t about her being a woman except peripherally. it was about race. white voters weren’t voting against clinton–they were voting for trump, for racism, for the deportation of muslims and latinxs. sear this chart into your little eyeballs and TAKE SOME FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT.
To the 5% of people in Arizona who voted 3rd party- if you had voted for Hillary, that’s 11 electoral votes that would have gone to her.
To the 3% of people in Florida who voted 3rd party- if you had voted for Hillary, that’s 29 electoral votes that would have gone to her.
To the 5.5% of people in Michigan who voted 3rd party- if you had voted for Hillary, that’s 16 electoral votes that would have gone to her.
To the 5% of people in New Hampshire who voted 3rd party- if you had voted for Hillary, that’s 4 electoral votes that would have gone to her.
To the 3.3% of people in Pennsylvania who voted 3rd party- if you had voted for Hillary, that’s 20 electoral votes that would have gone to her.
To the 5.7% of people in Wisconsin who voted 3rd party- if you had voted for Hillary, that’s 10 electoral votes that would have gone to her.
Total, that is 90 electoral votes. As I type this, Hillary needs 61 to win.
Please just let that sink in for a second.
Hillary would’ve been elected right now, at this very moment, if instead of you protesting your vote, had just voted for her. She would EASILY be President.
You KNEW 3rd party candidates didn’t stand a chance. You were told. But instead, you had to vote for them anyways, and guess what?
You screwed us over. Congratulations.
I hope that feeding your “both candidates are bad” superiority complex is worth a Trump presidency.
basically snl, jimmy fallon, literally any other prime time shows, magazines and everything else that ignored the concerns against donald trump for ratings can all fuck off, and it’s gonna be a real kick in the face when next week they’re all talking about how the world’s gonna end because of donald trump’s presidency, as f they didn’t have a hand in cleaning up his image in the media
This includes Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage a constitutional right; Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which reaffirmed a woman’s right to choose first articulated in Roe v. Wade, another Supreme Court case. Grutter v. Bollinger, which instituted affirmative action, the entire body of Civil Rights case law, plus anything related to due process, including the right of minors to due process, your right to an attorney, Miranda rights, inadmissible evidence, etc.
(Even if Trump appoints the worst possible SC nominee, they still can’t reverse any of these decisions without a really significant case coming before the Court with new facts, and then they have to write an opinion stating how this case is different than that other case…it’s unlikely to happen.)
Write law or repeal any existing law
While traditionally, presidents have exerted influence on the legislative agenda (see, Obama’s role in advancing and promoting the Affordable Care Act) they cannot actually write or pass legislation. Bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and simple resolutions must be introduced in the House by a Representative.
Presidents cannot strike down law. Only Congress can repeal laws, and only the Supreme Court can strike them down as unconstitutional.
Presidential influence is just that—influence.
(And if—for example—you are hated by 95% of the party you joined last week, and burned all your goddamn bridges by insulting them at various points in your campaign…..they’re unlikely to partner with you in crafting legislation.)
Make any law or declaration that infringes in any way on the rights of the states
So in the US, most of the rights are reserved to the states. You name it, it’s a state-run power. Criminal procedure and law? States. Medicare and Medicaid? States. The definition of marriage? States. Insurance, health departments, housing, unemployment benefits, public education, all these are state programs. And the president cannot infringe on those powers given to the states.
(This is why down-ticket voting is so important, because Mike Pence as governor of Indiana had 800x the power he’s going to have as VP.)
Declare war.
This one is the most complicated, because with the advent of our “conflicts” in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc. there has been a significant shift in the articulation of the war doctrine, and it is one of the least restricted of the president’s “restricted” powers. But, despite all that, a president still has no power to declare war.
Unilaterally appoint heads of administrative departments
Unilaterally make treaties with foreign nations
Essentially, while presidents have a lot of power, it’s mostly unofficial—they can’t make sweeping laws, they can’t overturn existing rights, the most they can do is refuse to enforce them (which is absolutely a threat! and a problem! but we aren’t electing de facto royalty.
This is the only post so far that’s given me any solace
Literally millions of Americans right now are telling women this: It doesn’t matter how qualified you are. It doesn’t matter how smart, capable, or experienced you are. It doesn’t matter if you are the most qualified person for your job in American History… You are still not as good as a sexist, racist, bigoted, misogynistic fuckboy who paints himself orange.
A quick note based on my post-Brexit experience in the UK – in the time period after the election, your biggest threat will not be Trump and his government. It will be your newly validated bigot neighbours. After Brexit, hate crime shot up by 60% in the UK nearly overnight and it still hasn’t returned to its pre-Brexit level. I imagine the same will happen in America. Be careful. No matter who they are, Trump voters are not your friends. Be safe. Your biggest enemy right now is the neighbour you went to church with and the people you pass on the street every day. Lock down. Go to ground if you have to. Look out for one another. Please, be careful.
Thoughtfulfangirling 