Sleeplessness


Reading time – 57 seconds  .  .  .

I am bewildered – terrified of what this megalomaniac might do with both houses of Congress in his lap. The Iran nuclear deal, NATO, the Middle-East – so much may be undone or destructively overdone that can shatter the tenuous grasp of world stability that this man doesn’t understand.

Larger still is that this country contains 58,000,000 people who knowingly elected this sociopath.

What kind of country is this when Trump events look like the Nuremberg rallies?

What kind of country is this where women, African-Americans, Hispanics, veterans and active military people were insulted, belittled and abused, yet millions of them still voted for him? Who are these people? How can we understand them voting for someone who hates them and would discriminate against them?

What kind of country is this when the winner intends to jail his political opponent? Was that just campaign talk? His followers don’t think so.

The Constitution expressly prohibits any religious test, yet Trump has pledged to prevent any Muslims from entering the country. Who’s next on his list for discrimination?

What kind of country is this when a candidate commits to deporting 12 million people (over 8,200 people per day, every day) and his idiocy is cheered by 58,000,000 others?

What kind of country is this where white supremacists’ voices of hate are welcome and where hate crimes have already soared?

What will happen to the Supreme Court? Whatever it is will shape America for decades and I’m very afraid of the shape it will take.

Is this how the really bad stuff starts? That is the question that is keeping me from sleeping well.

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

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Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
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7 Responses to Sleeplessness
  1. Steve Grossman Reply

    Yes, this is how the really bad stuff starts.

    1934.

  2. Pascal Reply

    Jack, he absolutely reminds me of Hitler in the 30’s.

    Putin and the far right movements in Europe (France and Hungary among others) were the first ones to congratulates him, and this sign is clear.

    Most people blame candidates when they don’t keep their electoral promises. For once, I pray that’s just what he will do.

    Warmest regards form Luxembourg
    Pascal

  3. Amy Tucker Reply

    I don’t even have words today. I didn’t sleep well. I kept waking up and forcing myself not to check the news on my phone because I knew I wouldn’t fall back to sleep. My friend from Europe texted me early this morning saying, “My dear Amy, I am shocked. This is as scary as Europe in 1932 to me. A 2016 Hitler. I wake up now and feel a nightmare. All my prayers are for you and your kids.” Then the tears started.

    My 10-year-old called me this morning while I was driving to work. He told me he was nervous about going to school because he knows kids who wanted Trump to win and he didn’t know how to talk to them. 10 years old. We had a great conversation about how to allow others to have their opinions while respectfully asserting your own. The crazy part about that is, I, an adult, was anxious about going to work because I know people who voted for Trump and, like my son, I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle the conversation because it is so emotionally charged. He’s only 10.

    I held my 17-month-old this morning and apologized to her for the world in which I am raising her.

  4. dominickpalella Reply

    To answer all of your questions Jack – a country where corporations and the wealthy control two private political parties and the mainstream media. And possibly every other media source in the future. A country where a sizable minority of its voting-age citizens takes action, and makes their choices based on what they hear, but don’t have the intellectual ability to fully understand what it means. A country where the vast majority of its voting citizens accept the fact that they should only have a right to vote in elections, but no right to interfere with the decisions of those who end up being elected.

    Accept reality Jack, Trump is our new sovereign leader; you are now one of his subjects and servant to obey his commands. This goes for all your other elected officials. You are, for the time being at least, free to complain to them and point out how they commit waste, fraud, abuse of your tax dollars and rights to others. On the other hand, if you want to begin the process of electing individuals who will actually be accountable to you, instead of their political party leaders and corporate lobbyists, visit my site: TrueDemocracyNow.org

  5. Jim Altschuler Reply

    I said it I was very worried about it yesterday, I shuddered over it yesterday evening, I trembled laying in bed last night. Trump scares me.

    I suggest that Trump is far worse than merely being a megalomaniac. I’m no psychiatrist so I won’t try to label his maladies, but, from what I have seen, he’s got more problems (that will affect the country, its reputation with allies and enemies alike, but most of all its citizens) than just megalomania.

    This person scares me. Deeply. Not just for myself. Not just for my family and friends. Not just for North America. I’m scared for the world. I’m afraid that in his ignorance and ego (and “Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead” attitude) he will let “slip the dogs of war”. Traditional enemies, newer radicals, even individuals who are just a bit off-kilter. I’m afraid that all of them, and perhaps more that I haven’t figured on yet, will feel that this is the time, the opportunity, to poke the red, white and blue bear and see what damage they can do.

    Most of all, I’m scared for the people I love and care about. For the hazards that I suspect will befall them under this new “leadership” as well as all of the citizens of the United States of America.

  6. Frank Levy Reply

    Jack –

    This is certainly not the letter I had hoped to be writing the morning after the 2016 election.

    I just read this morning’s Jax Politics.

    I had been sitting at my desk for several hours trying to understand what happened, is happening. I am at a loss to truly understand.

    I want to blame somebody and strike out. There really is no one to blame and no one to strike out at, and even if there was, it does not change the reality we face this morning.

    I do not understand. I really do not understand how we got to this catastrophe. I do understand the anger people feel over being left behind – but it is trump and the 1% that screwed them, not immigrants, Jews, or Muslims . I understand their anger at seeing the rich get richer while they feel they are losing ground economically – but history and the facts prove that those angry people are far better off when Democrats are in office. I understand people feeling totally frustrated, even angry at government for its failure to help improve people’s lives – but it is people like Trump who have thwarted a hard working president from getting lots of stuff done. What I do not understand is how these people would turn to Republicans, and to Trump of all people, for the solutions when they have repeatedly worked against the best interests of the middle-class and blue collar workers. I certainly do not understand the racism, bigotry, and fear upper middle-class whites who make up most of Trump’s supporters.

    Most of all I do not know what to do next. I am afraid talk will not be enough. I do not see Trump and the Republican Party reaching out for the common good of all the American people. I see a fascist dictator coming to power. I do not see Trump or his administration being the president of all the people. Common sense, facts, and compromise are not on the agenda. I never imagined we would have to once again “march in the streets” to ensure voting rights, civil rights, needed social programs, and equal justice for all. I never dreamed that the core of this country is as racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic, and anti-immigrant as it apparently is. I ever believed that America would truly become a white Christian Nation where the Bible replaces The Constitution as the law of the land.

    I often find that writing helps me both dissipate my anger and fear, and figure out what to do next. This morning the anger, disappointment, and fear blocked the words.

    Your blog this morning captured most of what I have been thinking since about 8:00 PM last night when it became pretty apparent that Hillary had lost the election. I really knew the election was lost when on Monday I watched Hillary’s rally in PA. I told JoBeth when Hillary finished her speech that she knows she has lost the election. Her body language, her inability to get out her message, and her tone of voice yelled “all is lost.”

    Thanks for your eloquence and clear thinking on a morning when clear thinking is at a premium.

    The thought that keeps going through my head is that more than 50% of American voters have just repudiated everything you and I believe in and stand for. More than 50% of America has repudiated the ideals of the Founders and The Constitution. The shinning house on the hill has fallen. What do we do now?

    Will we ever be able to undo all the damage to the American ideal, our electoral system, the legal system, to compassion, generosity, and common decency that will occur beginning today?

    Sorry to be such a downer. Thanks again for your writing.

  7. Kirk Landers Reply

    Democracy takes courage and the willingness to compromise with others. A little intellectual curiosity–enough to actually understand how an economy works, for example, or to think through the consequences of great decisions–would help, though America has never had a lot of that.

    It’s hard to see a happy ending to this. A deep recession is likely to follow. Even though the economic philosophies of Trump and the GOP rank and file are different, they both envision shrinking the economy rapidly, which is the one certain way to induce a recession. Such a recession would tend to reinforce an electorate that votes according to hate and bigotry.

    I feel as though I’ve lived to see the end of the American democracy. Fortunately, the concept still exists in Europe and Canada, though there is pressure, especially in Europe, from fascist elements as vitriolic as ours.