Ladies and Gentlemen, your next president is...

Yesterday was Election Day in the US.  American's voted, and Donald Trump is our 45th president.

Talking heads, political pundits, and Pol-Sci professors will exam this election for years, about how the media got the polls wrong, and how the demographics of the voters favored Trump, and so on and so on.  I have my own opinions on why an individual with no political experience was elected - and it will not come as a shock to anyone who works for a living. 

First, the thought of Hillary Clinton continuing Barack Obama's Liberal-Progressive agenda was unacceptable, where many of us are much worse of than we were under George W. Bush due to higher taxes, healthcare costs, and general governmental impositions. 

Secondly, Hillary Clinton was a strongly disliked career politician, and her failure to separate herself from Obama's policies was a mistake.  Her continuing private email scandal (and, let's face it - if it were you or I who mishandled secret information the way she did, we would be in jail - just ask Chelsea Manning), and the WikiLeaks dump of the Podesta emails confirmed the belief that she was untrustworthy or criminal.

Lastly, I think people were just pissed off.  I personally voted predominantly Republican, although I did support Libertarian candidates (including Gary Johnson) where possible.  Through a corrupted primary process, the candidates were not really the choice of the people, and these certainly were NOT the best people for the highest office in the land.  But, between those choices, the people voted for change, rather than more of the same.  A tip for future candidates - when you are courting undecided voters, calling the Americans who disagree with you "Deplorables" is probably not going to win you any votes.

Now, as a conservative, I am not really thrilled with The Donald.  I don't see him as a true Republican, and I can see continued gridlock in Washington as he deals with a truly conservative House and Senate.  I suspect he will be petty in seeking revenge for slights, and he just seems un-Presidential.  But, leaning Libertarian, I can't say I would be upset to see very few laws passed.

I'd like to comfort those Liberal friends of mine - and I think I still have a few.  Trump will not be as bad as you think.  He can't be any less transparent than Barack Obama (who pretended to be the most transparent president, while increasing government surveillance of citizens, and embraced the Patriot Act powers that so many hate), and he may actually restore a bit power to the states (rather than trying to consolidate all power at the Federal level).

My advice to everyone - breath.  Unless your name is Donald Trump, you didn't win anything last night.  Your family still needs to be protected, your community needs to heal, and the country is still in need of change (although we may disagree in which direction it should go).  Be gracious in victory, kind in defeat, and begin working towards a better America in your own family, community, and state.

America has survived Civil War, scandals, and terrorism.  Surely we can find a way to survive each other.

Peace and Love to you all.

Hooray for Our Side

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you

The above quote is from one of the songs that, in my mind, defines the 1960's, "Stuck in the Middle with You" by Stealers Wheel.  It shows the insanity that the late 1960's became, where civil discourse broke down, violence against authority heated up, and many were confused as to which side, if either, really represented America.

Another similarity I see with late 1960's music is from Buffalo Springfield's "For what it's Worth":

     There's battle lines being drawn
     Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

 and later:

     Singing songs and carrying signs
     Mostly say, hooray for our side

Everything old is new again.  The times are once again turbulent, people are more interested in pushing an agenda than debating and deciding what is best.  Everyone has their mouth open, but their ears closed.

Take the Black Lives Matter movement.  Does it appear Blacks are disproportionately killed by police?  Maybe.  In my (very limited) research, it appears that officers MAY be more heightened during a confrontation with a black man than a white man.  Blacks ARE disproportionately represented in prison. However, I do not see rioting as a solution.  If the black leaders are truly leaders (and I have my doubts), they should be directing their followers in methods that DO work - boycotts (hitting those in charge in their pocketbooks) work.  Organized demonstrations work.  But when the demonstrations become disorganized, or violent, they are counter productive.

In this case, as with so many others, people tend to be categorized in one of two different groups - Pro-BLM, or Anti-BLM.  For me, personally, and many of my friends, the issue is much more nuanced.  I cannot support the violence, or the outright disrespect being shown to the police officers, or the generally anti-white rhetoric being bandied about.  I do believe there is a problem with blacks being antagonized by police (in general), but I refuse to lump the good police officers in with the bad as an institution.  I also believe that addressing the way police perceive blacks and other minorities needs to include black-on-black crime, something that is killing blacks at a rate unheard of for a civilized people.     

The same lack of nuance exists in the presidential race.  The first debate is tonight, and I will, for the first time since Bush-Clinton-Perot, refuse to watch any of it.  I have already decided who I cannot vote for, and they are both invited to the debate.  Trump never let a fact get in the way of his version of the truth.  Hillary never let laws get in the way of profit or personal choices.  I trust neither of them.  I also have questions about the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, namely whether he is truly a libertarian or just another politician.  

I identify as a Fiscal Conservative, and normally vote Republican, but I find myself leaning more and more Libertarian as government grows.  For those unsure what a Libertarian really is - and I was one of them relatively recently - I personally prefer this definition from "The Challenge of Democracy (6th edition)", by Kenneth Janda, Jeffrey Berry, and Jerry Goldman:

Liberals favor government action to promote equality, whereas conservatives favor government action to promote order. Libertarians favor freedom and oppose government action to promote either equality or order.

Now, before you start hitting me with "Any vote for Johnson is really a vote for ", let me hit you with a couple of facts.  Fact one, I don't care who wins, it is going to suck either way.  Fact two, living in Indiana, my vote won't mean jack - the state will go for Trump, and my single vote of conscience will not affect that.  IF I lived in a battlefield state, I might feel differently, but I don't, so I don't.

What I would like to do - and I encourage all my friends to try this as well - is to LISTEN to both sides.  They may not change your mind, but you may begin to find common ground, and lower the noise enough to actually see the issues.

Remember, vote early and often!