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.
@Transtastic Voyage
Echoing Axecalibur, any trans people in the house?
Beyond that, I’m gonna say what Axe said in a slightly different way.
Make sure you’re eating well, keeping up with your exercise, and sleeping well — as much as you can.
Get online with a trans group and see what they’re saying. Tell them how you feel.
Talk to any IRL trans friends. How are they coping?
If you’re feeling way down, call a suicide hotline.
And of course keep reading and posting on WHTM!
@Wwaxwork
That’s a heartening thought. Thanks!
It’s not super comforting to know that most people didn’t even vote. To me that either means that most people were suppressed or most people are ok enough with the prospect of president trump that they didn’t bother
@Handsome “Punkle Stan” Jack I don’t think Canadians are open in large numbers to heading in the Trump direction at the moment. Since the current campaign for the Conservative Party leadership doesn’t include some of the expected big names some suspect those big names figure they won’t beat Justin Trudeau in the next election in 2019.
There’s still a chance Kevin O’Leary, who will be familiar to some Americans here as one of the investors on ABC’s Shark Tank, might run. Some have compared him to Donald Trump, but he seems more rational, which of course isn’t hard.
Unfortunately some people up here do support Trump. But a few years of actually seeing Trump try to run the US might cool their desire for a Canadian Trump.
@Hugseverycat
I totally agree with you. As an Australian where voting is compulsory, when I moved to the USA I found the idea of people just not voting more than a little strange. Then I found out parties would actually actively work to inhibit people from voting & I couldn’t believe it.
OK technically in Australia what is compulsory is turning up to the voting booth & taking a form, you can just write Mickey Mouse on the form & put it in the ballot box if you want.
@Bina: thanks for mentioning Oklahoma City. People in the US speak of 9/11 as some ‘loss of innocence’ (what they really mean is, of course, a loss of the sense that what happens in the rest of the world can’t affect us).
For me, that was when Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City.
Probably because my own father worked in a very similar building in Reno, Nevada.
WOW,I knew this would happen just not this soon.
Woman who accused Donald Trump of raping her at 13 drops lawsuit
@kupo
because I knew that I couldn’t deal with that situation as well as my coworker, I stayed out of it (my coworker also has more experience than I do handling this). The headphone thing is good advice, I just don’t work in an environment where that’s acceptable.
My coworker did talk to this individual about how he shouldn’t rely on her so much for emotional support. I work with people with disabilities and the behavior was related to the individuals disability so it was understandable but still incredibly unfair to my coworker and behavior that other people aren’t going to be understanding of, it was also something I was not emotionally prepared to deal with.
My mom’s family is much more conservative than my mom and my immediate family and since her mom died, she hasn’t been hearing from her dad as much and then she asked him to join us for thanksgiving and he had already made other plans and I don’t know how much of that is that my grandfather isn’t a particularly emotional or sentimental person so he doesn’t realize how he’s coming off or if he’s mad at my mom because my mom really does not like Trump so that’s upsetting. And then I have roommate drama and haven’t been able to sleep well so I was very emotionally raw today.
@Fabe Really, going by JudgyBitch’s comments, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner. I *am* very disappointed. At least there are people calling her out.
In yesterday’s thread, commenters asked about the future of abortion. Here’s something about its history, and how feminists took matters into their own hands in the 1960s and early 1970s:
History of Abortion in the U.S.
http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/u-s-abortion-history/
This book came out in 1995, and I read a review of it and also heard a radio interview with the author.
Salient points that I can recall:
The Chicago cops didn’t interfere because they had sisters and wives and knew that they might need an abortion too(!).
The women were trained by a guy who was a medical school dropout. Abortion is actually a simple procedure and can be done safely, even if a doctor isn’t present.
Excuse me, but I think we were promised a wall.
Did he mention the wall yet? I really demand that wall.
I saw that too, Jack. I can’t blame her for dropping the charges. Even if she won, she would lose. The alt-right shitheels would make her life misery until the end of days. I can’t blame her.
I hope everyone is starting to get their bearings a little!
@Dalillama and Kupo
I’m glad I’m not alone in not being able to stand the cold. My roommate’s acting like I’m being unreasonable for wanting the temp to be at 70 and it’s hard because I feel like he’s using a bunch of emotional abuse tactic
Also someone just posted something on facebook blaming Hillary for Trump’s victory because she ran her campaign on lies. I am not having a good day
You guys are going into Autumn and many of you are suffering from shock and likely from depression. Seasonal affective disorder can make this considerably worse, so you need to get as much sun as you can while you can.
We’re all different, of course, but when I feel like utter shit, I garden. I have space to, but if you have a window, you can. Even in an office.
So, if you want…
1) Get some seeds from anywhere you like, but given your time of year I recommend lettuce, or fresh herbs where the leaves are eaten – no flowers, roots, or fruit, it’s too cold now. Many online stores will mail out seed cheaply, or you can get expired seed from some places (I usually can sprout that too). Alfalfa is also good.
2) Make a wee greenhouse out of a plastic soda bottle. You can do this by cutting it in half and taping around one side (to make a lid that closes). Decorate it. Maybe put some cool miniatures in it.
3) Plant your seeds in seed raising mix or any other fine soil and water in.
4) Nurture this, making sure that if you can, you take it outside. Try to pop it somewhere safe while you go for a walk outside. You need that sunlight. Soil should generally be moist but not wet.
5) Enjoy some delicious fresh greenery when the days are darkest to help you with important trace minerals and vitamins to bolster your immune system for SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER.
Ah, hell. I’ve wondered about this for a while.
Nonetheless, we’ve got to remember that Hillary and Donald aren’t the only game in town.
The planet: that’s what we need to think about, first and foremost, not to mention everything that lives on our planet
How the Hillary Clinton campaign deliberately “elevated” Donald Trump with its “pied piper” strategy
http://www.salon.com/2016/11/09/the-hillary-clinton-campaign-intentionally-created-donald-trump-with-its-pied-piper-strategy/
Fucking Kellie Leitch I stg. As well, both women in the Alberta PC leadership race have dropped out, one citing harassment. The PC will almost definitely form our next provincial government, and these two were among the more progressive leadership prospects. (The article calls the Wildrose a centre-right party, btw, which… Lol?)
But I apologize for the digression. Hugs and warm blankets for those who want and need them.
@steampunked
Thanks a million!
Would a large yogurt container (instead of a soda bottle) work? Or does the container have to be see-through?
Does it have to be cut in half? Or could I just use the entire yogurt container?
Do you have a link?
Inquiring minds need to know . . . how to manage this coming winter.
@Viscaria Yeah, I heard that, too. Wonder how Rachel Notley is holding up? I can’t believe harassment against her has magically stopped. 😛
(Sorry if my avatar changed. I was posting on my phone before, now I’m on my laptop. I kind of suspect that might make a difference)
Also, speaking of Clinton having won the popular vote despite losing the election…
Does anybody else think it’s ridiculous and kind of infuriating that we still have the electoral college? If I understand correctly, every other Western country has a true democratic vote for their elected leaders. Yet here we are dealing with an outdated system that, by design, often does not accurately represent what the people actually want.
I suspect it’s only still in place because it keeps the two-party system going, which is good for career politicians. But I’d love to hear other opinions.
Or just tell me to shut up if it’s really too off topic right now.
Trump was actually the most pro-transgender and pro-gay of the Republican primary candidates, as evidenced by his closeness with Caitlyn Jenner (who staunchly supports him) and a couple of flamboyant gay provocateurs like Milo Y.
So if anything, this election was the triumph of misogyny (and racism) over homophobia and transphobia. The opposite would have been the case had Ted Cruz won.
I feel so sorry for that woman. It’s hard enough to come forward with an accusation of rape, to get death threats because of it is the absolute worst
Here’s how that’s gonna go…. The wall is designed by an Asian company, no-bid contract for building it goes to a company owned by someone in President Cheeto’s circle. The completion date arrives, the wall is 2/3 done, 300% over budget, none of the work meets the specifications, and no one knows where the money went.
Also, there are already 8 operational tunnels under it.
I don’t know what to say. So I’ll just spam some adorable animal fails I’ve been using to maintain a minimum of happy chemicals in my brainmeat.
http://i0.wp.com/sociorocketnewsen.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/25-of-japans-favorite-animal-fail-gifs11.gif
http://25.media.tumblr.com/85916012299b9d1ed8f13c9ba89dd501/tumblr_mu8ldgg1Y81ri1x2fo1_400.gif
http://i2.wp.com/sociorocketnewsen.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/3.gif
If only America’s fail were quite so adorable.
aghhhh Viscaria, noooooooo
I’m not a Tory, but Sandra Jansen is what a conservative should be. The progressive wing of the PCs is being ousted for a merger with the Wildrose. Don’t do it, PCs, don’t do it! You’re better than that!
For those outsiders – the PCs are the Progressive Conservatives. Go look at Sandra Jansen’s twitter timeline if you want to see a Conservative with Progressive social values. The PCs are undergoing a leadership race, and one of the big leaders is suggesting the party be dissolved and merged with the Wildrose Party, which is influenced by Republicanism.
Jansen’s leaving the leadership race, but she’s not out yet. Fierce as hell. Go get’em, Sandra!