Election Carnage: These “United” States

I sat down at my keyboard last week after the election to write a different piece.  I’d had empathy for the broken-hearted liberals who felt betrayed by the half (or little more than half) of the country who’d voted to turn the Whitehouse red.  I’d wanted to assure them that the red voters were not bad people…not like they seemed to think. 

But now I realize they weren’t thinking at all…they were only feeling.  I think I know how that works…I wrote about it a couple years ago… On the Bias…Why Your Opinion Does Not Matter.  It’s emotional…and there’s no logical argument to counter it. So why bother?

It’ll happen following every presidential election.  Winners will rejoice, losers will cry.  Except it gets a little bigger every four years.  It seems people are getting more emotional than before…bordering on psychopathic. Disregarding my very limited psychology education, I do spend a fair amount of time trying to figure out what makes people tick…and when the ticking leads to explosion.

The advantage of my middle-of-the-road stance on politics is I can see the carnage on either side.  I’ve seen the tears, the stunned disbelief, the lamentations, the feelings of betrayal from the liberals over the past week.  I knew it would happen.  I told my wife before going to bed on election night, “I kinda hope Trump wins just to see the liberal heads explode.”  Then the next morning I told her, “I was just kidding about hoping Trump would win.”  Those exploding liberal heads have me worried.

Sure, we had our lunatics of the past…John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckly, Jr., and they certainly had much better aim than this year’s lunatic….at least so far this year. 

Remember the “Pussy Hat” protests of 2016?  MAGA took it a step further with their protest/riot/insurrection of Jan-6.  Or maybe that was several steps further.  What will happen this time?

I keep expecting Civil War II to break out.  But I guess this one will be nowhere near as “civil” as the first.  Our enemies live next door.  I imagine it’ll start with a lot of keyed cars and backyard arsons.  This one will have no battle lines other than Red-state vs. Blue-state, Bluesky vs. X (and I have to add the obligatory “formerly Twitter” here), Kramer vs. Kramer.

Maybe social media will finally help slow the spread of “Political Hysteria” (The Continental Divide: Political Hysteria) by keeping it minimized to a war of words.  After all, one side has bullets, the other has non-gendered pronouns.  On the other hand, I see a lot of “unfollowing” going on.  People suspected of supporting Trump are getting blacklisted in certain groups.  So-called friendships are being dissolved.  It’s kind of silly the lives we lead on social media.  We promote kindness and diversity, yet we remain monsters at heart.

So, what am I suggesting?  What’s the solution that’ll bring everyone together despite our differences?  Well, for starters…

Liberals: 

• Get over it.  Stop acting like the world has ended.  We all have to take the L once in a while (I take an L every time, and gladly). Politics in America is just a swinging kitchen door…it swings both ways and it swings wide.  Just wait.
• Don’t be so quick to judge your fellow Americans by their vote.  Trump supporters are not evil any more than you are.  Your shit also stinks…you just can’t smell it while you’re on the crapper.
• Take a long look in the mirror.  There’s a reason you lost so many votes over the span of four years.  What are you going to do different?  What will bring those swing voters back to your side?
• Talk to your “enemies” instead of shunning them, insulting them, and overall hating them.  You’ve got to understand them and help them understand you.  Otherwise, you can only hope to win over new voters.  Kids? Never count on kids to do what they’re told.

Conservatives:

• Don’t be sore winners.  Take your Whitehouse and your Senate, put them on the mantle next to your Supreme Court and your House of Representatives, and shut your yapper.  The more you gloat, the more swing voters you’ll drive away.
• Keep your new regime out of people’s lives.  That’s the conservative goal, remember?  This whole abortion ban you’re so proud of…nearly cost you this election.  You better tone that down or it’ll lose the next go-round.
• Remember fiscal conservatism?  Where did that go?  FFS, when was the last time a Republican talked about reducing the deficit?  The national debt recently ticked over $36 fucking trillion!  That wasn’t all Obama and Biden.  I remember being pissed off when it hit $14 trillion.  We’re spending just under a trillion a year just on interest…more than we’re spending on defense!  Goddammit, now’s your chance!  While you own the government and while the economy is in good shape, this is the time to reduce spending.  Don’t miss it!  By the way, check this out… US Debt Clock.org.
• Speaking of dollars, tariffs will only raise prices.  They’re great for protecting American jobs, but unemployment is at an all-time low right now.  Trump’s all for deregulation…but tariffs are a huge regulation.  Don’t do it.  Try Economics-101 instead.

Or, you know, just in general try to keep your heads down when the violence starts.  Maybe keep watch on the front porch with a shotgun across your knees.  Install a panic room.  Some basic security measures.  2020 is gonna be minor league.

-Big Steve