When I finally went to bed late last night, there was a small part of me that hoped I would wake up this morning to find that Donald Trump’s improbable victory had been nothing more than a very bad dream.
Barring that, which I knew was a bit of a long shot, I hoped that I would at least wake up with the inklings of a plan for what to do about this catastrophe. I hoped I could write a rousing blog post sketching out my thoughts on the road ahead– for this blog and for the anti-Trump movement as a whole.
Alas, that didn’t happen either. I’m still processing the bad news, emotionally and intellectually. And I know a lot of you are doing the same.
And that’s ok. Trump will not take office until the end of January. There will be plenty of time to come up with ways to fight back against the orange one.
Right now the important thing is to take care of ourselves and those around us. Give yourself however much time you need. Avoid stress. Don’t beat yourself up for what happened, and don’t take out your anger on others on our side. Turn off the news if need be. Do whatever you need to do to clear your head and keep yourself safe.
In the comments here, feel free to continue the discussion that started in the “VOTE” post yesterday. And please share any self-help and self-care strategies you have — even if all you’ve got at the moment is pictures of cats and videos of hedgehogs.
If trolls show up, or if there is anything else that pops up in the thread that I should know about, please send me an email about it.
We can fight this thing. We can beat this thing. But first we need to get ourselves centered.
@Troubelle
Respect. Your minority is a temporary technicality
I look forward to the unfolding of your plan
(But keep yourself safe, always)
It’s my first time commenting here even though I’ve been a reader for quite some time. I’m from France and have deep links with the US through my professional and personal life.
I am scared for the future but this makes me want to fight back. In any way that I can. Tonight, I’m crying. Tomorrow I will get up and go to work, and continue teaching English to people and encouraging them to broaden their minds.
David, thank you so very much for the work you do here. It is necessary, now more than ever.
All commenters here, I have appreciated reading lots of things from many of you over the past two years without ever knowing what I could contribute myself. I have seen passionate debate, intelligent sarcasm, deep discourse and lots of reading recommendations. I will continue to come here. I might not comment much but I salute all of you.
ohhhh fuck that, Kellie Leitch.
Oh god, Nazi graffiti in Philadelphia.
Just like to say, no matter how prejudiced the President, his advisers and half of America may seem right now, the gay, lesbian, transgender, fluid gender or whateverthefuck you want to be genie is out of the bottle, there’s no stuffing it back in.
Women are 50% of the population, they WILL stand up for their rights over their own bodies, eventually, it seems to be taking longer for American women to appreciate this, but they have to get there eventually.
As a UK woman, I’d like say thank you America for taking the pressure of us for making the dumbest decision of 2016.
And now we’re back to standard time, I’m going to be driving home in the gloaming, as the sun sets.
I’m going to try really hard not to see that as meaningful, and let it get me down.
Anti-Trump protests are starting.
I’m a trans woman and honestly after these results its hard to keep up hope. I feel like my existence was just criminalized. Idk what to do. Anyone here have any tips for how to move forward?
@Dalillama
I know, I’m just one of those people who gets ridiculously cold ridiculously easily (have you ever been to the south where people are freaking out about how cold it is out and it’s like 65 degrees outside? I’m like that and my roommate has decided that to save money we should just not heat our apartment (passed what we are legally required to) and I would like to heat to at least 70. so I’ve been miserable trying to be nice and put up with and I finally reached my boiling point and I’ve exploded at him, so it might seem ridiculous but now I know that that’s one of my roommate dealbreakers.
http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/gallery/no/754.gif
Canada…be better than us…be…better…
Also, stop that.
Good.
The electoral votes don’t happen for a while. Clinton has the popular vote. Hopefully with enough stink, we’ll get her in.
Here’s my oxygen mask: petting Dilma for days at a time
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e224/arjentina86/www.GIFCreator.me_yZ14OF.gif
I also found this old gif which may come in handy for the days to come:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e224/arjentina86/600BF398C4CE7F1E.gif
@sparkalipoo
I know how that goes. I wear two Pears of socks and layers if I’m not able to control the temperature.
Edit: wth, autocorrect? I’m leaving that there because it’s funny to imagine pear socks.
@Transtastic
Hiya, I’m Axe! I remember you from a while ago. Welcome back! Sorry I can’t help you (paging transpeeps), but maybe, for right now, get your bearings. You can’t walk til you can stand. 1st, make sure your safe (physically, emotionally, financially, etc). Then, we can trudge on. If I’m being condescending or saying things you already know, please ignore 🙂
@Handsome Jack: We’re working on it. :/
@Scildfreja INR?! Exactly which elites were gotten rid of??
I’m determined to stay strong. There might be some tears & other stuff that comes along for the ride, but I’m going to stay strong.
We’re all suffering. My heart goes out to all of you.
Every one of us has many, many reasons to keep on keeping on. Call upon your innate resilience and your born-with-it creativity.
Thanks to everyone for your messages, whether of despair (yeah, I’m feeling it too) or hope (yay!).
https://twitter.com/jtemple/status/796450691661185024
sweet mother mary
To American peeps: Have anyone read Tracy Duckworth’s book ‘Changing the Rules of Engagement’? Wondering if it’s useful.
@Victorious Parasol
This is just one day.
Take it one easy, calm day at a time — as much as you can.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
We’re all rooting for you!
@Nanuqi
Thank you.
@everyone else
If you can….dig your heels in. It’s going to get rocky. Do not give in to despair, as has been said.
@Transtastic Voyage
*Hugs* and solidarity, sister. I’m right there with you.
@Sparkalipoo
Hubby has the same problem. The commune will be adequately heated; groundsource heat pump for preference, but we’ll see. I’d love hypocausts but they cost a fortune.
@Falconer
Pretty much sums up how I feel right now:
@Transtastic I am still getting my bearings as well. If you have any trusted friends, especially fellow trans folk, I think it is a good time to touch base with everyone. Get together with people and just talk about whatever comes naturally. It’s been working well for me, I am usually pretty asocial but it’s been really helpful to remind myself that there are people who have my back and respect me as a person still.
I’m an immigrant living in the US. I wasn’t able to vote this year.
What I remind myself of is that almost half of eligible Americans didn’t even vote in the election. They didn’t believe in hate any more than Democrat supporters did, they just decided to not vote for the Democrats. Less than 25% of the eligible voters picked Trump.
When you are living your life day to day remember the majority of Americans didn’t vote for Trump. The majority of Americans are not hate filled & bitter like Trump supporters. Of eligible voters in american say what 160, lets be optimistic & say 170 million of them didn’t vote for Trump. The whole country isn’t filled with hate, just a small portion of it & a stupid electoral system gave you this result.
Seriously you guys need to look into preferential voting. You get to protest vote AND help decide the major party in power if your protest candidate doesn’t win, it’s awesome.
Just my take on the situation & the idea that is keeping me going. My oxygen mask if you will.
PS. Yes I know the numbers aren’t exact but they are near enough for the point I’m making.
Trump has apparently already talked with Benjamin Netanyahu about the two meeting as soon as possible. Hopefully this will make some of his alt-right fanboys queasy.
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/trump-invites-netanyahu-to-meeting-at-the-first-opportunity-israel/
Hi, everyone. Have lurked for a long time. De-lurking to commiserate. As someone who stood aghast when the UK voted for Brexit, I can empathise.
Thank you for being such a kind on-line community. Your consistent decency has helped me more than you know. Thanks.