There is no bright side.
President-elect Donald Trump has started walking back some of his promises. A fence, maybe, instead of a wall. We’ll just deport criminals at first, not all undocumented immigrants. We’ll improve Obamacare, not repeal it. And he didn’t really mean all those campaign rants and threats, according to his apologists. That was just campaign hyperbole, the kind of thing candidates have to say to get elected.
Relax if you like. But there is no bright side. The nation’s next president is a xenophobic nativist who has bragged about sexually assaulting women, whose lack of experience, vindictiveness, and volatile temperament make him not just unsuited for the job but dangerous.
Mike Pence, Stephen Bannon of Breitbart News, Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich: We have known from the start what kind of people Trump would surround himself with. And the Congress that will be in power come January is full of Trump enablers. Together, they will set this country back in ways that will haunt us for decades.
During his campaign, Trump was clear about his attitude toward people of color, toward women, toward Muslims, toward immigrants, toward people with disabilities. Now he can turn that attitude into terrible action. Backed up by the Supreme Court.
Just as serious: his rhetoric is giving other Americans license to do great harm. It took less than a day for that to begin to exhibit itself here in Rochester, with a Muslim American woman reporting that two people had already told her to go back home where she came from, and someone burning Pride flags flying at two different homes.
In Wellsville, someone painted “Make America White Again” and a swastika on a softball field dugout; at SUNY Geneseo, a swastika and “Trump” were painted on a dorm. On a bus in New York City, according to New York magazine, a white couple harassed a Muslim Hunter College student, yelling that she had to remove her hijab.
Maybe these are the outbursts of a few extremists. Maybe their hate-filled celebration will flame out, and calmer heads will prevail among the Trump supporters. But a racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim sentiment was clearly a factor in Trump’s win. Trump bellowed out that sentiment. And numerous Republican leaders embraced him.
This country’s traumatic history of discrimination and violence against minorities was never a thing of the past. Now, the person in charge of the president’s strategy will be a man who has been head of a white-nationalist, anti-Semitic media company.
Climate change, income inequality, Social Security, LGBTQ rights, abortion rights, health care, international relations, diplomacy: Donald Trump and the hard right will be in charge of all of that come January 20. So: there is no bright side. But there are lessons in this election outcome. And the future of the country hangs on what we learn from them, and how we act on what we learn.
Here are a few on my mind right now:
1) It’s long past time to address the needs of the unemployed and the underemployed. Technology and trade agreements have left millions of Americans unemployed or underemployed. That is a fact. Better public policy could have helped prevent that, and we haven’t summoned the will to act.
Donald Trump promised the moon in his campaign, but he can’t snap his fingers and create manufacturing jobs. And as important as infrastructure improvements are, we won’t solve all the problems of the unemployed with massive road, sewer, and bridge projects. Not everyone is skilled in those jobs. Not everyone lives where the work is needed. And short-term construction work is not a long-term career.
Real solutions won’t come overnight. Some will take decades. But we’ll never get the equitable, strong economy we need if politicians in both major parties didn’t learn one of the big lessons from November 8: Many people were motivated to vote for Trump not because of racism or xenophobia, but because they want jobs and financial security.
Donald Trump could actually lead this effort. And yet the news Sunday was that an initial Trump move will be to search for and deport as many as 2 to 3 million immigrants who he says are criminals and are in the US illegally. Smart political move, maybe; it may make Trump supporters feel better. But it won’t create jobs. It won’t improve anybody’s well-being.
What we need are jobs that offer a stable future, college that is affordable, job-training programs, policies that lift wages. But those are expensive. And the country will have no way to pay for them after Trump and a Republican Congress cut taxes and ramp up military spending.
Jobs were a key issue in this campaign. Unless we act, they’ll be a key issue four years from now.
2) The Democratic Party needs major reform.
On November 8, Democrats lost an election they should have been able to win. We can spend the next decade debating whether Hillary Clinton was the best candidate the Democrats had. Certainly she entered the campaign with a ton of baggage, and Democratic Party operatives seem to have underestimated its seriousness.
But that wasn’t the only problem, and complaining about the FBI’s e-mail investigations – as Clinton is – is a dangerous distraction. Trump was promising change, and despite Barack Obama’s growing popularity, Clinton and her surrogates didn’t make a case effectively for continuing and expanding his policies.
Just as serious: the Clinton camp reeked of elitism. It had an exclusivist, we-know-best attitude at a time when young people in droves had been getting involved in public policy and political activism. The remnants of the Occupy movement, the growing Black Lives movement, the Fight for $15 movement: young people were involved in all of those. Bernie Sanders gained the loyalty of many of them. Clinton never did. And, in fact, she and her surrogates could be downright condescending toward them.
There was former Secretary of State Madeline Albright’s comment at a Clinton rally last February, telling young women who were supporting Sanders: “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.” There was feminist icon Gloria Steinem, at that same Clinton rally, adding to the insult: “When you’re young, you’re thinking: ‘Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.’”
And there was Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” description of Trump supporters.
You can’t insult voters in one breath and win them over in the next.
Donald Trump is not a populist. His policies won’t help many of the people who voted for him. And a strong Democratic candidate should have been able to defeat him. Now, the Democrats have to wait two years for a chance to win control of the Senate, and the odds against them will be enormous then.
And it’ll be four years, of course, before they have another chance at the White House. Given the work that has to be done, and the thinness of their bench, it may take that long for Democrats to turn their party around.
At the moment, Democrats need a strong group of leaders, to not only reshape and reinvigorate the party but also to reinvigorate the rest of us, to help us overcome our disillusionment, to inspire us, and to keep us focused on the job ahead. Fortunately, we don’t have to look far for that leadership. It’s work tailor-made for Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama.
3) As for the rest of us? We have work to do. Protest marches are important. But that has to be followed by activism. And we all need to be in this for the long haul. This week, we’re publishing a partial list of local activist groups, and we’ll add to it throughout the coming weeks. Find one and get involved. The hard work – on justice issues, civil rights, the environment, health care, jobs, and all the rest – will have to start here at home.
Hampson and Wightman
The community lost two outstanding, creative members earlier this month, and this publication lost two friends and former writers, Tom Hampson and Warren Wightman.
Tom – whose name is familiar to any area jazz lover, thanks to his long-running, engaging show on WXXI radio – initiated our coverage of jazz, bringing his knowledge, his experience as a musician, and his passion to our readers for several years. Warren, a brilliant, multi-talented man, wrote about science and nature in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Each was an expert, with an astonishing breadth and depth of knowledge. And each had a unique ability to write about what he knew in a way that was both authoritative and great fun to read: interesting and personal. You felt you were listening to them talk, and they were talking especially to you.
They loved what they wrote about, they were generous in sharing their knowledge and their talent, and we’re grateful for their important contributions to our pages.
This article appears in Nov 16-22, 2016.
Wow what a cheerleader for our country! Your hateful vitriol, and negativism will surely inspire most Americans.
I suppose from now on, we have to expect more of this prejudgment and disrespect for the outcome of our democratic election. Have you always been a sore loser, if you don’t get your way?
Sorry you lost but the American voices who wanted change, were heard; they don’t agree with your thinking and your vote, so whose the bigot now?
Politics today, is I think, about making NOISE, not just information.. Trump is an incredible NOISE MAKER, and thus he won.
We make NOISE on the Fourth of July. We have to learn how to make more NOISE in the right directions, not in the crazy ways that Trump seems to want.
http://www.SavingSchools.org
Hateful vitriol? The editorial was a list of facts. The only real opinion was whether this list of facts would be good or bad for the country.
Why do some Republicans, the party of personal responsibility, demonstrate such thin skin over and over?
Towler and the rest of the City staff seem to still be having temper tantrums at not having gotten their way. My children used to have similar spats, but at least they had an excuse. Such vicious, hateful speech by people professing love. One only has to look at the photos from the UofR protest to see examples, “Fuck Trump”, “Make Racists Afraid Again”, and of course my favorite, “Deport Hate Speech”. If we were to do that, Towler, most of the City staff, and many protestors and Clinto supporters would be leaving the country along with many Trump supporters.
Mary Anna, Trump has a learning disability, LD. There is so much that seems beyond his understanding. But I believe that having a learning disability has helped him to connect with folks who may also have LD problems.
He speaks their language. His confusion RESONATES with millions. For some people, Trump can do no wrong or say no wrong with his FEAR and NOISE…. Thanks
Trump wants to seal our borders and not let people in who have come here illegally. Who opposes this reasonable action?
1. Corporate campaign donors to both parties who want cheap labor and new consumers
2. The Democratic Party and the media because the children of illegals become citizens and overwhelming vote Democrat.
If the Hispanic vote were overwhelmingly Republican , Obama would have built the wall and the media would be his loudest supporters.
Harry, as I keep saying, Trump has accomplishments and you can see them and touch them. All Hillary had was words, and her words were empty. Haven’t you ever see Trump Tower in NYC? He built it at the age of 35. Trump Tower in Chicago is a more recent addition to his portfolio and in a city loaded with incredible architecture and super tall buildings it’s #2. It sure helps to be able to back up your words. Sorry you weren’t paying attention.
Trump is a person who is driven to succeed and refuse’s to lose. I, for one am very happy we will have a leader in the White House soon.
Luxemburg, where were you when Lonsberry launched his FUBO merchandise line? When Sheriff Joe kept trying to prove Obama wasn’t born here?
Ms. Towler makes some perceptive comments about the need for Democratic party leadership to change the attitude it conveys to who could be their strongest supporters. The problem afflicts the local party establishment as well. The condescension and entitlement described is present in the local party establishment as well, and with all due respect, this posture is often excused and supported by CITY newspaper. CITY supported Clinton against Sanders, claiming she was “more electable,” contrary to compelling evidence otherwise. They joined establishment Dems in support of such quackery as Mayoral Control of schools (replacing elected school boards with appointed ones), they dropped any pretense of fair play in Bronson/Barnhart primary, they supported the imposition of a Democratic mayoral nominee in 2011, without consent from rank and file Democrats (with grotesque results) — and have generally covered up and/or dismissed numerous issues of fair process and civility within the local democratic party. It would be difficult to overstate the hostility and bitterness this has engendered. This must be addressed and corrected.
I keep reading these articles about how electing Trump was somehow a hateful act, and exposes the hatred of so many Americans. I want to echo Don Sherman’s thoughts, it seems a whole lot of hatred has been exposed, but its not coming from Trump voters.
Ms. Towler, I understand your consternation but I don’t empathize with it. There were plenty of red flags suggesting you should have distrusted the polls, not read the New York Times, not watched CNN and, especially, not nominated a colossal corrupt fraud like Hillary Clinton. But you were dying to score another “first”: the first woman POTUS. And the reason I don’t empathize with you is because I had to endure 8 years of Bill Clinton and 8 years of Barack Obama. Never, during those years, did I think America was not my country, least of all that I should leave it; not that I could afford it, mind you. Only liberals think that way.
Now, you comfort yourself with the thought that Trump might not do all the things he talked about while campaigning. Perhaps. But his pick of Steve Bannon as chief strategist and Senator Jeff Sessions as AG is a good indication that he will.
But here’s what ominous. Not that Trump might have to divert the Potomac to wash out the Augean stables Washington has been turned into by the Clintons and the Obamas, but that Barack Obama has refused to tell the anti-Trump demonstrators to cease and desist. That is despicable. And it tells us that he does not accept the results and may thinkjust like you, probablythat they are illegitimate.
Trump makes me feel PARANOID. How can I trust him for make sensible decisions about anything? What about the crazy ideas floating around, letting the “cat out of the box”?
On the other hand, perhaps the craziness will help us to sort out our own lives, for the better. Maybe the Trump insanity will help to get us out of our COMFORT ZONES to better face reality… Time will tell.
http://www.SavingSchools.org
Let me add from John Donne, 1624. Perhaps the election of Donald Trump will help us to engage more with one another, to come our of our comfort zones and work together for change:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
John Donne
Since Trump’s election, so many good things are starting to happen. In fact, this, from Harry Pearle gives me hope for the future.
“On the other hand, perhaps the craziness will help us to sort out our own lives, for the better. Maybe the Trump insanity will help to get us out of our COMFORT ZONES to better face reality… Time will tell.”
The Election of Trump has its good points. No more promoting wars, saying to other nations we are right or do as I say not what I do, questioning what President Eisenhower warned about: the Military-Industrial Complex which has been getting us into wars which we have not won since World War ll and what author Sun Tzu wrote 2000 yrs ago in THE ART of WAR the cost of protracted warfare. Let’s make friends but the deal has to benefit America, make no enemies. There are other things we have to wait and see. I feel the nomination of Hillary was “rigged” by the Democrat Leadership. Sure she did good in the past and along the way built “too much garbage” but the Election was really about who do we trust.
“He’ll probably get us killed, but I’m voting for him anyway.” – Trump support in Kentucky earlier this fall.
Hey are Jews “real people” as questioned by an alt-right why just yesterday on CNN. There are always apologies. But are they, you know, real people?