So, I hear there was some kind of election that took place a week or so ago, and for some reason everyone seems to be a bit stressed about the results. Knowing how much my fan base cares so much about how I think about things, I thought I would just make a couple of comments about the whole thing. (Disclaimer: No one cares one iota about what I think, so I’m just feeding my ego by pretending that people actually do)

1. The result. During the primary, I remember stating numerous times that Trump really shouldn’t be discounted. I even described the whole situation as a potential “mule” effect, meaning that it may be one of those situations that defies predictive algorithms and statistical approaches. People said I was stupid and ignored me. They pointed to people like Nate Silver and said that was why I was wrong. Turns out, Nate Silver was extremely wrong (and still going on talk shows pretending that somehow he really wasn’t, even though he most certainly was). People are now starting to come out of the woodwork claiming that they knew this was going to happen all along. They didn’t. They were so completely wrong and just don’t want to admit it to themselves.
2. Hillary was the worst candidate the Democrats could have ever run for president. I kept saying this to people. It wasn’t because I liked Bernie. It was because I really didn’t like Hillary. And I suspected that a great deal of people in the country didn’t either. Enough to mean the Electoral College might seriously disappoint her. The responses I got from people were quite hostile, so I stopped talking about it. And then people I really respected started revealing they “were with her” and I felt bad talking in negative terms to those people who I didn’t want to get into social biffs with. Well, she lost. And that’s just one of those things. First off, she was never all that popular with America in the first place. She was beaten horribly by Obama eight years before because people wanted pretty much anyone but her. This time around, the Democratic Party basically railroaded America into having no choice but her, so everyone had to sign onto her name as “with her”, and when the numbers were finally counted, people weren’t really with her. Oh, sure, she won the popular vote, but let’s put this into some perspective. She was running against what should have been a sure thing: A candidate who alienated practically every demographic, spoke out loud with his inner voice, and didn’t give a flying crap what anyone thought about him. And he still managed to beat her on the state by state basis so that the Electoral College is now his. She lost. He won. Except people don’t want to accept that and will continue complaining about it for the next couple of years as she’s unemployed and he’s the President of the United States.
3. This should be the end of the Clinton Dynasty. Bill was great. No one wanted Hillary. Which means this should be the last we hear from them. Except that’s not going to be the case. In a few years from now, we’re going to start hearing about the GREAT CHELSEA CLINTON, who has actually done absolutely nothing in her life other than be the daughter of a president and a loser for president. Yet, she’ll eventually emerge as “OUR ONLY CHOICE” some day in the near future. Mark my words. The girl who has done nothing but receive a special network job ONLY because she’s someone daughter will one day be a shoo-in for political office. And we’ll have to endure more years of a dynasty that really should have been contained with one excellent president.
4. Protests. Yes, I understand people are upset that Trump won when they didn’t want him. But rational choice statistics causes me to think: “Why protest if NOTHING can possibly change?” Protesting Trump isn’t going to lead to a recount and a sudden declaration that we were wrong, that Clinton should now be president. Protesting isn’t going to change the minds of the people who backed Trump (or any Republican) especially in an election that was much more about not wanting one candidate as much as another. Boycott businesses? Sure, but what purpose does that serve? Before and during the election, we heard all sorts of horrific comments from CEOs of Papa Johns, Hobby Lobby, Chick Fil A and a bunch of others, but people are still shopping at those places and not changing their ways. Boycotts don’t work when you weren’t originally a daily shopper at the place you’ve decided never to shop at in the future. So, about the only purpose protesting is doing right now is to serve one’s own personal desire to be upset, kind of like when little kids scream until someone acknowledges them. And like those kids, when no one acknowledges them, nothing really changes. And if the only acknowledgement you get is to be arrested (and have no support from the community around you as a result), then all you managed to do was start up your criminal record which will probably make it more difficult to get work in the future. Part of what made dumping tea into Boston Harbor in the 18th century turn out to be a good idea was that the community recognized this as a positive thing and supported future protests. None of the protests I’ve seen seem capable of doing that because for the most part, no one even knows the protests are even happening, other than to be inconvenienced for a few moments (like when an actor gets arrested for climbing up the side of the Bay Bridge and stopping traffic; most people are generally just pissed at the actor for making their commutes a bit longer).
5. Going Forward. This is a more difficult one to discuss because our country seems to be in a bit of a pickle because few people want to move forward after the election, yet the reality is that eventually exactly that is going to have to happen. Trump is going to be president. That doesn’t get postponed or changed just because half of half of the country voted for the other candidate (the other half of the country didn’t care enough to even show up to vote). So, come January, things either move forward or we end up in total anarchy. Historically, and statistically, I don’t see the latter case happening, meaning that business will be as normal, even if a bunch of people walk around all pissed about it.
6. Movements. The biggest casualty of this election, in my opinion, is the population of people who have gained great ground over the years that are completely frozen in time right now because alternative political forces routed them and beat them in the field of battle itself. This means a lot of people who were walking around with chips on their shoulders, convinced they were not only power centers but the power brokers themselves, are kind of on the outskirts of power, realizing that all of America didn’t respond to their proclamations as they were expecting. A lot of liberal power centers were seriously humiliated on that day, including boisterous celebrities, the Daily Show (and numerous other talk show personalities as well), and entire news media outlets. A sea change really should take place here, but won’t because the personalities involved will make the wrong assessments and continue to do the same things they did before, except now they’ll try to shame the conservatives who liberals have never learned generally don’t take that sort of bait (something they should have learned during the George W Administration). An example of what I’m talking about: I watched for about two weeks before the election of how many times The Daily Show went from being a satirical news site to being a cynical news site to straight out becoming an advocate for the Hillary campaign. I used to defend The Daily Show from conservative attacks, but wow, they were so over the top with one-sided commentary (not even humor) that I began to equate Trevor Noah with a Hillary talking bot. If that sort of thing continues, as I suspect it will, then we’re in for a very interesting four or eight years of negativity and shame approaches to reporting the news.
7. Moving to Canada? This “threat” needs to just be removed from the English grammar process. We don’t live in a world where you can easily just move to another country any longer. Unless you’re already a citizen of Canada, your chances of being able to move to Canada are pretty close to nil. First, you have to have the economics to allow yourself to make such a move, apply to that country itself (which has quotas and immigration much like the US does), and you have to have some kind of job lined up for when you get there. If you don’t, your chances of being accepted aren’t really there. So the two prongs of this “threat” need to disappear. First, the threat is baseless and rarely ever going to be carried out. Second, trying to hold someone to it because that person made the threat needs to also understand those practical implications. A person threatening to move to Canada and someone actually being able to do it are quite disconnected. Now, a number of celebrities have made that threat, but if someone is a celebrity and that fame requires working in a country that isn’t Canada, again, its a baseless threat and should be laughed at and never taken seriously. I imagine we’re going to hear a bunch of conservatives shaming liberals these days about their threats to leave to Canada and that they never did. Just stop it already. Both of you.
8. Future legalities. This is the one thing I find interesting because this election exposed both Clinton and Trump to all sorts of potentially illegal activity that should be addressed. From foundations that promised money to Haiti and never delivered to universities that might have cheated people out of lots of money, including federal funding, there is a lot that needs to be accounted for. I suspect NONE of it to be addressed over the next few years. And that’s really all I’m going to say about that.
9. So, we had our election and now we’re back to the wait for our next election. Remember Rousseau’s claim (reworded for clarity): We’re only a democracy when we vote; at all other times, we’re under the control of the people who run our authoritarian government. Remember that as you pay your mandatory taxes and register your cars for the permission to drive on your country’s roads at a speed mandated by government representatives and enforced by uniformed men and women who carry guns. It’s our democracy.