My Two Cents, Now On Sale

Anyone who would give me a “penny for my thoughts” is about to be overcharged

On November 9^th of 2016, half of our nation awoke shocked and saddened and the other half rolled out of bed to surprise and happiness.  Hillary Clinton had been defeated and Donald Trump was now the president elect.  Facebook, Twitter, CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS, and NBC were alive with the postmortem of our election process for 2016.  You still can’t approach any information source without hearing something about the election aftermath, analysis of why everyone was wrong, predictions of doom and gloom, and reactions to every move taken by the new power structure.

It surprised many that Mr. Trump could successfully tap into an oft-ignored demographic, many of whom live in the so-called “fly-over” states, and pull off a stunning upset of the presumed heir to the throne.  While I won’t pretend to have had the vision to ignore the press with their predictions of a Hillary win, but I will say I was not very surprised at the eventual outcome.  It was always a possibility. With the lethargy of our Congress for the last couple of decades, public outrage was inevitable.  People were angry and the “establishment” was to blame for all their ills.

For the purposes of this writing, the “establishment” consists of our elected officials on both sides of the aisle.  If the Trump presidency turns into a debacle, there will be plenty of blame to go around for Republicans and Democrats alike.  This election process should be a wake-up call for all concerned.  Priorities for both parties need to be thoroughly analyzed and shuffled.

For those taking to the streets with “Not My President” signs I would suggest a reality check.  You certainly have a right to protest but the facts are that President-elect Trump is just that, our future president.  As a pragmatist, I have resigned myself to that fact.  I respect the will of the majority (don’t bring up the electoral college vs. the popular vote here, we all played by the same rules).

This is a wonderful resilient country.  We need to understand that, while many of us enjoyed the benefits of a rising stock market and a drop in the unemployment rate, people living in towns with shuttered factories and without stock portfolios, probably didn’t find much solace in those positive statistics.  These are not bad people because they want a better life.

I have traveled to all 50 states in my lifetime.  I won’t quote Will Rogers here and say, “I never met a man I didn’t like,” but I have to say the overwhelming majority are decent honest folks.  The nation was presented with a rich outside-the-beltway guy and a woman who was a qualified politician.  I think the nation was certainly ready for a woman president, just not the one they were offered.  Donald Trump was that “any port in a storm” solution and his foibles were ignored.  He certainly carried enough people in enough key states to handily win the office.  The outrage was palpable.

Democrats need to start construction of a new platform.  It should be one that is all-inclusive.  It needs to address rural and small town America and not just the nation's large metropolitan constituency.  You can’t put all of your efforts into the disadvantaged and minority populations of the country without losing the ability to provide any help at all.  Look where you are now.  The old Democratic platform needs to be completely overhauled.  It needs a brand new solid foundation.  If you hit the reset button now, you might have a chance to make a difference in 2020.  You could use some 20/20 vision right now.

Republicans need to take the results of this election with the proverbial “grain of salt.”  This wasn’t a ringing endorsement of your agenda.  The man elected was an outsider who held out a straw of hope and the nation grabbed it.  What you do now, with full control, is not mess up.  You need to build and repair the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.  Roads, bridges, dams, dikes, reservoirs, and electrical grids are all in disrepair.  Public works projects such as these create jobs, stimulate the economy, and add to our nation’s security.  You’ve given these things a lot of lip service in the past, now is the time for action.  You too need to address the needs of ALL Americans.  Immigration reform needs to be thoughtful.  Building a wall is not a panacea.  Our military is already strong, how about diverting some of that cash to pay for the wars already fought.  The treatment of our veterans is deplorable, to use a campaign word.  You have a lot on your plate and you were left, by the previous administration, in a position to bring about positive change. 

In summary, I wish president-elect Trump success.  If he succeeds, we succeed as a nation.  I don’t want him to fail.  The world and our nation are watching.