Update: My 2 Cents (How Cheap)
Update: further thoughts on this page.
Well, we’ve underestimated how bigoted and xenophobic this country still is. And we’re going to pay, some much more than others. I don’t consider myself well-off, but I recognize that I’m in a privileged enough position that I’ll likely be around with voting-rights intact four years from now. Not everyone is so lucky.
So what will we do about it? I’ve summed up my thoughts on that in my reply to this page by mr.fusion:
…I predict there will be lots of terrible things for which Trump and the neo-Republicans will deserve blame. There will be no need to blame them for hangnails & molehills. They’re going to screw us for real. I’m not of the “death before dishonor” school-of-thought, but we need to keep at least a modicum of dignity. When the time comes, (and it’ll come more than once) we’ll need to be credible enough to say “I told you so.” We’ll need to remember how to be rational and coherent when it’s time to convince everyone else that we can pick up the pieces.
As for a change in democrat leadership, and being relentless in holding the media’s feet to the fire, I say abso-bloody-lutely. Pressure state branches of the democratic party to make their party nomination process more transparent and, ahem, democratic. Create a new wave of democrats: an empowered grassroots upheaval who are relentless with messaging like the Tea Parties were in 2010 and Fox Noise has been for over the last decade & half. In that respect, we absolutely do need to fight fire with fire. I’ve believed as such back in 2012 & 2014. I hope liberals will be more receptive of this idea now.
Edit: oh, and if anyone is worried that the resources don’t exist to create a “counter-tea-party”, don’t be. Considering how the stock market has reacted to Trump’s victory, I’m quite sure there will be plenty of deep pockets who have little confidence in the democratic party as is, and therefore can be convinced to back such an insurgency.
There will be time to hash-out our long-term strategy. But for now, we also need to help those most likely to be endangered by our republican-elect government. I have no good advice on that. (again, privileged. Sorry, I know my limits) I can only suggest to not procrastinate discussing this topic.
But the first thing we need to do is look for signs of hope. I know, I know. I cringed a bit just typing that. But we have to remind ourselves that all is not lost, that there is a path to victory. We’ll need to remember this because we’re going to lose many battles in the near future. And there will be more casualties added to the current toll. (just ask #BlackLivesMatter) We’ll need to keep sight of that hokey ray-of-light at the end of this dark tunnel.
- For starters, Trump is a con man who told his marks what they wanted to hear. Now he's going to screw them over for his own benefit, for the same reason cats kill birds even when they're not hungry. Its just as much a compulsion for him as sexual assault. Years ago, Trump promised Scotland his golf course w/ resort would create lots of new jobs. Just ask those who went along with that plan what they think of Trump now. That's how the Drudge Distort/Fox Noise audiences will feel about him later, possibly within the next two to four years. He'll have a much harder time maintaining his support from them.
- Speaking of unlikely allies, lots of republicans turned against Trump when he was nominated. Granted, it was mainly those who are no longer in office, or worked for such. But before we write them off, remember that several republicans sued democrats over attack ads associating them with Trump. It remains to been seen how many of them are still disgusted by his toxicity now that it's clearly worked in his favor. But we may have more potential Republican allies in office than we realize. And I suspect their numbers will increase as Trump screws things up. We'll have watch close for awhile to see if there will be enough such "turncoats." But it is an avenue worth pursuing.
- As I've said before, there are alot of people with money who fear & suspect as we do that Trump's administration will be disastrous. Don't underestimate their influence now that the s**t's inevitably going to hit the fan.
- And finally, cold comfort as it may seem, we now have a definitive go-to counterpoint to shut-up those who insist racism in America is bygone. This talking point was used to justify gutting the enforcement powers of the Civil Rights Act. It was also used to justify striking down school transfer programs that previously done away with school segregation in northern states which exploited a deliberate loophole in said Civil Rights Act. Don't underestimate the importance of debunking this nonsense in a thorough and concise manner. Even if the benefits of doing so aren't immediate. (because they likely won't be)
Anyway, those are my thoughts, general as derivative as they are.