By Ryan Callihan
On Tuesday night, roughly half of America decided to elect a reality star as the leader of the free world.
In other words, America decided that Donald Trump should head our nation for the next four years.
Despite winning the popular vote by more than 600,000 votes, Hillary Clinton, the most qualified presidential candidate we’ve had in years, lost the electoral college race to 270, 228-290.
Strangely enough, Trump, in one of his numerous Twitter tirades, tweeted that the electoral college is bad for a democracy in 2012.
Florida, a crucial battleground state, swung the race in Trump’s favor with its 29 electoral votes. A whopping 56 of Florida’s 67 counties voted for the Republican candidate.
On Saturday, Clinton reached out to some of her top campaign donors to discuss how FBI Director James Comey’s decision to announce another email related scandal just days before the election caused the Clinton campaign to lose the momentum it had gained.
And I can’t say I disagree with her. Comey’s announcement did nothing more than tarnish Clinton’s image during a critical time.
On Tuesday night I watched numbly as Trump won the presidency. I wondered if the rest of the world watched the same debates I did. Time and time again, Clinton argued circles around Trump and shamed him for not having actual plans and policies.
Already, Trump has dropped a ton of his campaign promises such as absolutely getting rid of Obamacare, but he still plans to carry out some of his hateful ideas.
In an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday night, Trump announced that he would still be deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, he is contemplating hiring a special prosecutor to look into the Clinton email scandal and hopes to build his infamous wall along the border of Mexico.
What I can’t wrap my head around is the fact that this hatemonger will run the nation for the next four years.
There have already been numerous reports of hate crimes after the results of Election Day. At Pennsylvania State University, a group of students used the GroupMe chat app to abuse and torment African American students.
There are also reports of a Muslim woman driving through Columbus, Ohio with her parents and children in the car. A man slammed on her window and told her she doesn’t “belong in this country.”
This is the kind of rhetoric that Trump stands behind. The worst part is that Trump doesn’t regret a single thing and maintains that he had a “tremendous campaign.”
I don’t fear for myself. I fear for my Hispanic friends who will be accused of being illegal immigrants. I fear for my Muslim friends who will be accused of being terrorists. I fear for any of my female friends who might want to have an abortion some day.
I, along with countless other Americans, placed so much hope in pollsters that we failed to realize that Trump’s campaign philosophy resonated with so many Americans.
For those of us who aren’t consumed by hate, standing strong together has never been more important.
Until then, I’ll be counting the days until November 2020, when someone finally lets Trump know that he’s been fired.
Democracy fails when a majority is deceived, humanity fails when there are too many selfish and ignorant citizens. Germany elected Hitler, America elected Trump.
Bias a bit heavy
He’s not even in office, but I still want a divorce. Maybe a legal separation?
You are correct that the election did reflect a deeper problem. That is why America chose an different direction. 96 million american’s out of work is a deeper problem the 12.6 million American’s that are now on food stamps in the last 8 years is a deeper problem. The national debt increasing in 8 years the same amount of debt that every other administration in our nation’s history combined is a problem. The fact aborting a human child is less enraging than animal rights is a deeper problem. You see Ryan I have owned a small business for 10 years and the failing economy and corruption in our government has finally started to effect me, my family and millions of others in this country. People aren’t working because they do not have too. If you want health insurance you simply….get a job. If you are illegally in this country you have broken the law and should not be here. It hurts our economy and takes away from so many people that do want to work earn a fair wage and provide for their family, not live off big government. We live in a free country one that I served proudly in the Army, one that allows you to have your opinion and me to have mine. Our country was not built on free health care and government hand outs, it was built by persecuted Christian’s who fled a country where they not allowed to openly seek God’s will without fear of imprisonment or execution. It is built on a foundation of God’s word that tells us to love one another, work hard and support our families and community. I have struggled and needed help but I never once sat home and felt entitled for someone else to provide for me or my family. Our country is in deep trouble and President Elect Trump is far from perfect but he is not a part of the corrupt system that got us here. If he doesn’t do what he says in 4 years we can again exercise our freedom to make a different choice.