…and goodnight, America, you’ve been great. I wish I’d appreciated you while we were together. I tend to be negative and find faults in you. I tend to be an iconoclast, but today I realize we had it pretty good together, you and I. I’m sorry you had to die.
No, I will not give the new President a chance. I will not support him. I have no political differences to put aside because this is not about politics. I’ve voted Republican in the past, I’ve voted Democrat. I vote for people, not parties. I don’t entirely agree with any one party. But I agree that our leaders must be wise. I’d like to think my leader has more wisdom than me.
This man, this demagogue, this tyrant, this fool, this showman, this liar, this reality tv celebrity, has no more wisdom than me. I’d say he’s got far less. He does have more money. More ambition. More vindictiveness. More hurt inside his Grinch heart, and less capacity for growth. He’ll get worse now that he’s won, not better.
I would say I hope those who voted for him are happy, but I can’t say that. I hope those who voted for him feel remorse for their decision which will haunt all of us for the foreseeable future. If we are wise and persistent, we will repair this mistake and remove him from office. If not, goodnight America, you’ve been great.
waltbox 
No Thanks. I’ll unsubscribe.
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I hear you, Walt. I do. I’m not as optimistic as I seem, but we both have kids. We have voices. We have pens and opinions. Dissent is necessary in democracy. I’m marching with my daughter tomorrow. There’s a lot of people, especially the press, who will hold him accountable. Let it settle. Today was hard for the majority of us. But we fight on. It’s the only way. x, DD
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Thanks, DD. Again, well said. The press have to get back to being the press, though. We haven’t had a Woodward & Bernstein, since, well, Woodward & Bernstein. But you’re right. There’s dissent to be dissented, marches to march, and fights to fight.
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I’m heartbroken.
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I hear you. I’m gut-punched.
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Yep. I’m that too. Utterly exhausted and sickened.
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The only fool Walt is you because you still don’t get it
It’s what the American people want
But I agree I’ll unsubscribe you
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I am one of these “American people,” and I am among the majority of them who did not vote for Trump. I have no problem with an Electoral College victory that doesn’t reflect the majority vote. The issue I have is that I want a wise leader who treats all people with respect and can speak intelligently about his or her vision for the country without belittling or demeaning others. I want a leader who respects tradition, and the Constitution, and the limits on executive power. I want someone who understands that in the role of Public Servant, they are accountable to the public, and therefore should accept and respond to scrutiny appropriately and professionally. I don’t feel I have that, and I’m not happy about that. In fact, I’m angry and disgusted. And as a member of the larger international community, I’m also embarrassed by and ashamed of the person representing me. If you disagree with any of that, I’ll be happy to discuss it with you, regardless of whether you subscribe.
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I see tinges of the “real American” slant coming from a lot of President Trump’s supporters. As in saying “it’s what the American people want” – implying that all the millions (who are in the majority) who didn’t vote for their candidate are discounted as Americans. Some people need to learn how to use qualifiers. Speak your truth, Walt! I cancelled out one of those unsubscribers by subscribing.
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Thanks Michelle. I wrote and posted this a few days ago when I was really disgusted with things. I took it down with intent to edit it slightly, to “soften” it. I’ve reposted it without changing a word, because I’m still disgusted, and that may be a mistake, but so be it. Going forward, when I post on this topic, I will be using a tone more like the comment I made on your site today.
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I think it’s a decision anyone who is writing in a public forum is going to have to make. I tend to edit out a lot of anger, but the post I wrote for inauguration day had more anger and saltiness added. There was just no way around it. I’m not sure why everyone who dissents is expected to pour out rainbow and sunshine, while the “winners” get to be uncivil punks. We’re through the looking-glass now…
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You’re absolutely right, we’re through the looking-glass, and it’s sickening and surreal, and I don’t like it here. It was also preventable, but that’s another topic. I write in a lot of different styles on this blog, and sometimes I get silly or vulgar, and I will continue to, but I also feel the quality of public discourse in this broken country needs to improve. I’ll do what I can. 🙂
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I take heart from the 327 women’s rights marches in America Saturday and that there were scores more on all continents. When women march, they have the tenacity, patience, and will to see change, and, as they say, women’s rights are human rights.
I also am encouraged hearing journalists talk about how best to approach reporting an administration that lies about the small things and can be guaranteed to lie even more about the big things.
Chuck Todd, today, challenged Kellyanne Conway, chief liar of the Trump administration, on Spicer’s easily refutatable lie about the number of people at Trump’s inauguration. She tried to slip by with bullshit about “alternate facts”, which Todd quickly called that another way to say “falsehoods” (He should have just called them lies….) The soulless Kellyanne was unable to get out of that one. She’s not stupid, just too clever by far. I don’t believe a word she says!
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That is encouraging, that bit about journalists. Soulless is a good word for Conway and her ilk. I’m shocked by how rapidly their behaviors and lies are spreading.
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Walt, I absolutely feel and think the same way. The morning after the election my husband went to work in a t-shirt with ‘Things Just Got Weird’ on the front! He’s had the shirt for about a year and that day it seemed particularly appropriate to wear. Thank you for being so candid and transparent. I think we need to be as honest as possible about how we are truly experiencing life in the States right now. I grew up in the Middle East and I’m terrified of the Administration’s movement toward a similar style of ruling this country, one person making the decisions for all the citizens. If we hold back or try to force ourselves to just ‘get through the next four years’, then we will end up with a huge mess to clean up and likely lose more freedoms and more lives. I think one thing we can all do is take a look at what Our Part is in all this, and make a decision to face our fears (retribution, anger from others, bullies, etc.) despite how uncomfortable it feels. I love that you said, “I wish I’d appreciated you while we were together…”. It’s hard to really understand what we’ve got without some contrasting experience to compare it to, so don’t be hard on yourself. There is power in collective negative / fear based thinking, but there is also power in positive / rational / compassionate thinking. We can get through this when we work together! I hope you have a great week! I’ll be following your blog 🙂
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Thank you for your insight, your kind words, and your thoughtfulness. I agree. Are you from here or the Middle East? You write like a native speaker and you said “we” a lot, so just curious. But you are right. One positive thing coming out of this new Trump era is that it’s beginning to feel okay again to speak freely, as opposed to speaking in a “politically correct” way, which is a term that shocked me when I first heard it and had to come to accept over time but never agreed with. Feels like the shackles have come off a bit and it’s okay to exercise true freedom of speech once again, assuming of course that we do so with respect and courtesy, and in a way that encourages other people to listen, not shout back. The irony of Trump is that shouting and bullying is what has defined him of late, and that’s exactly the wrong way to engage in public discourse, especially for a civic leader, but perhaps that’s what it takes to move the needle. I still don’t support him, though, and won’t, unless he begins to behave in a civilized manner.
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I was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, but I’m an American Citizen. My father worked for an oil company, ARAMCO. My dad is Canadian and my mother is American. Re: ‘beginning to behave in a civilized manner’, I am not hopeful of that change happening. It’s very difficult for people to make changes and it becomes even more difficult as we age. And, it is especially rare for change to occur in someone with his personality traits. But, I think there is hope in highlighting and calling out the unacceptable behaviors and attitudes. The more that people feel uncomfortable with how he’s behaving the more that he will get push back and debate, and the more he’ll act inappropriately.
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I think you’re right, the more he is challenged, the more he will respond, and the response will come in the form of an attack, and the attack will certainly cross legal and ethical barriers that will facilitate his removal from office. At worst, he will be a one-term President. At best, he will be removed from office in short order. And then we can get on with the work of healing wounds and facilitating dialogue between those whose opinions differ, as opposed to fighting them.
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I have no idea what to do with it. Frankly I can’t like either one of them.
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Yeah, I think a lot of us had that problem.
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That’s raw and simple, to the point, as it should be. Presidents shouldn’t be common people. ’nuff said. Glad you put this out there.
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Thanks duder.
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So well said, Walt, When I got home last night, a U-Haul with Arkansas plates was parked out front. Can people in your country’s lives be that miserable they would trust in this buffoon to save them? We up here don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
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I think Trump stopped being someone to laugh about when he first started getting votes during the primaries. When he became the Republican nominee, he became a serious concern. When he won, that was the time for tears. Now it is time for us to stand up and fight. Probably past time. Maybe well past.
This is not a political fight. This is not a left versus right fight. This fight is about the essence of this country, and its root in Constitutional governance. Trump could have been stopped, legally, and he wasn’t. That’s a travesty. Now he’s the President, and he has shown in just a few days that he has no respect for or understanding of tradition, diplomacy, history, or common courtesy (all of which was clear a long time ago). He’s a dictator, and possibly a sociopath, and the free world must stand up to him.
I know this may sound overly dramatic, like wtf has gotten into Walt, but I’m entirely serious. This is a crisis. Look at the international chaos he caused this weekend with a pen stroke. The scariest thing is that he likes that chaos in the same way a child likes to see ants rush about when their mound is poked.
I would say don’t laugh, don’t cry, just do whatever you can however big or small to help us right this wrong. Even if that’s just welcoming your new neighbors.
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I agree with you Walt. If your first act as POTUS is to withdraw medical care from 20 million of your own people, that shows what type of ‘leader’ you are. I sit here literally gobsmacked each day by yet another thing he has done or said and it gets worse day by day. Now he’s banned Muslims who have green cards from re-entering the US? Also notice that all the countries on his ‘banned’ list are countries he has no business ties with and most of the banned countries have no US citizens killed by their citizens. How is he allowed to keep running his 300+ business’s when Jimmy Carter was made to sell his peanut farm? How is he allowed to get away with not declaring his taxes? I despair. I feel we are closer to a global war by every additional day he is POTUS.
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These are crazy times, Kate. I was surprised myself to learn that there are no regulations requiring a President to divest from businesses or release tax returns. But doing so is a tradition that previous Presidents have respected. This man, who doesn’t deserve to be honored with the title of President, has no respect for tradition. Or history, or diplomacy, or much of anything else. I’m optimistic that he won’t last four years. I think he will break laws and be impeached. Or he will be deemed unfit for the office and the 25th Amendment will be enacted, which enables his removal from office with what amounts to a vote of no-confidence. I was fearful and disgusted throughout the election. I was sick to my stomach when he was elected. He never should have gotten that far, and the fact that he did is a problem. But I’m actually more optimistic now than ever, based on what he’s doing and how so many people are responding to it, that we’ll remove him from office.
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I agree he won’t last 4 years. There have been protest marches all over UK about the Muslim ban and about him coming here on a state visit! There’s a petition being signed in UK with more signatures than people turning up at his inauguration requesting the visit be cancelled. It must surely be a first for a POTUS who has been in office less than a month to mobilise so many of his own people and people around the world against him in such a short time (or even ever). That Bannon guy worries me to death also. I can’t believe he has been given so much power when he was never elected to office or (as far as I can see) scrutinised to see if he is even fit for office. I just hope that however short a time The Orange One is in power, that whatever he has signed off or put in place can be undone in as short a time. However I think in diplomatic terms it maybe some time before US is back on track. We love you guys, but not your POTUS
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I hope there are significant, large protests if he does visit the UK. They won’t do a thing to change his mind or behavior, but they will help change the mind of his more moderate supporters and encourage and support the rest of us. He will always have supporters, unfortunately, we just need to tip the balance. Then things will begin to proceed as they must for good of our country and the rest of the world. We love you, too!
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Awww Shucks Walt :0) The petition to stop the visit has got to over 1.5 million signatures and the visit is to now be debated in Parliament. Even Prince Charles has said he’s not happy with what Trump has been doing. There’s a rumour that Trump has demanded the ‘Full Monty’ – gold carriages, state dinners, and for some reason wants The Queen to stand and watch him play a round of golf! (I’m not a royalist, but she’s getting on a bit, she can’t be standing on a freezing golf course at the whim of a Tangerine Meatball at her age).
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Shame on the Tangerine Meatball if he requested those things! I do hope it’s just a rumor, and I would bet it is, but who knows, I wouldn’t put it past him.
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I hope they’re rumours too, but I wouldn’t put it passed him – and that’s what worries me about him.
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