The Silver Linings of a Selfish America

Many years ago, I was supposed to spend time with this one woman after I got out of work. We had agreed that after she finished her shift, I would wait for her in the parking lot for some dinner and maybe some drinks. She didn’t have a phone at the time, so there was no way to actually communicate. I arrived a little early before her scheduled out time. Half an hour passed. Nothing. An hour passed. Nothing. I asked other co-workers leaving the building if they had seen her, but nobody really had a concrete answer. I should have left, but I’m a person of my word and didn’t want to stand her up. 90 minutes passed. Nearly 2 hours, way after she should have left, a bit after pretty much every co-worker had already gone home, I finally left the parking lot.

Turns out, she had the option to leave earlier and took it. She left about 20 minutes before I had arrived. Fully knowing I would be waiting, she went home. Fully knowing I would be waiting, she didn’t wait for me at the parking lot. It was an ugly moment, and it was an ugly realization about how selfish people can be. Now, the reason for this story is simple: she took the opportunity to improve her evening by leaving the job, but sacrificed me in the process. It was a selfish move. This election is a grandiose version of that night: half the country knew who they would sacrifice when they voted him in, and decided to go through with it anyway.

The bigotry wasn’t rumor, it wasn’t from questionable sources, it was undeniable the things he had proposed and the things he had said. He even said them during the debates. It was undeniable the type of following he was receiving. That being said, half of America decided to go through regardless, leaving Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, and women in the parking lot, pondering the options throughout the evening. There was even a radio show in which a caller was talking about Election Day. He said his Guatemalan immigrant wife voted for Hillary, while he voted for Trump. So even though Trump has a brutal history with Hispanics in the past several decades and has also stereotyped them into the same category and claims they are the problem, he stuck with Trump.

You would think the husband of a woman whose country of origin went through a staggering 36-year civil war a generation ago (with an American-supported genocide that gets swept under the historical rug) would be more willing to listen to her and heed the warnings of a government that is being run on hate. I'm wondering if he still be okay with his decision after his wife gets harassed at a grocery store for speaking Spanish. There is no other way to describe supporting Trump besides it being a very selfish move. I don’t care if his words and claims appealed to you---there were still walls of racism, sexism, and xenophobia attached.



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Side Note: Americans, I advise you to listen to your Hispanics. Most of us came over to the United States to flee governments that became unruly because of people with characteristics similar to Trump. I suggest checking the history of Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Cuba, Argentina, Chile, among others. Like I’ve always said, every Hispanic nation has four things in common: beautiful people, beautiful scenery, wonderful food, ridiculous government.

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It hasn’t really felt real yet. It still feels like a bit of a nightmare. But here we are, facing a 2017 with a Donald Trump as our president. Minorities all over are pretty much gearing up for a fight from the White House to the streets. Hate crimes have already gone up exponentially since Trump was declared the next president, and don’t even get me started about the influx of swastikas we are seeing scattered around the nation like shit all over a farm.

All of this seems like hopeless, and I’ve even heard fears we are witnessing a repeat of when Germany rose under Hitler, and it scares the living hell out of the abandoned minorities. Most of us left terrible warfare and conflict founded on hate and separating everyone. This has been the advantage of the United States, despite our political differences for the most part we don’t get leaders that stir hate with a spoon of false statements and ridiculous rhetoric. Obama tried uniting everybody and fought heavily for equality. Bush, despite his poor decisions, was the biggest influence to shining a healthy new light on the military---one that had gotten dimmed after the Vietnam War. But Trump however, his rise to the top was through a different technique: false facts about Blacks and Hispanics and sheer appeal to whites sick of seeing a progress that hasn’t benefited them as much. Unemployment went down 5% during Obama’s run, but the focus was seeing  to whom the jobs went to.



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Side-Note: You really think we would be protesting this heavily if the victor had been Bush, or Rubio, or Kirsch? I can guarantee you the victory would have been accepted without much yelling. And do you think Trump fans weren’t going to protest Clinton’s win? You are only fooling yourself. This election is basically an entire country upset that we wound up with two subpar choices from a field of candidates that had better options like Kirsch and especially Bernie Sanders. If you believe this issue is simply liberals vs. conservatives, then you are missing the entire point.

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But guess what America, we do have silver linings in the midst of the chaos that has emerged. Hillary Clinton still technically won the popular vote, which makes her the more popular candidate that lost in a rather flawed political system. So my Hispanics and Muslims don’t feel like the entire nation or even the majority of the nation is after you, it’s just about half. Yes half is still bad but that is the difference between Civil War and Holocaust. And it improves chances of 2020 shifting back into the right place.

If the election consisted of millennials and youngsters, then Trump would have only won a couple states, making the map overwhelmingly blue. Nearly half the country didn’t vote, and I assure you if people had indeed come out like they should, then we would have seen Hillary Clinton winning by a landslide. Not saying she is the best candidate out there, but she was definitely much more qualified than Trump. The youngsters for the most part are not drifting towards a hateful rhetoric.

You know who else didn’t vote for hate? Hispanics (I personally am positive the turnout of Hispanic Trump supporters is a lot smaller than what the results claim), Asians, Blacks, Muslims, Jewish, and the educated. The only group Clinton couldn’t win was the white male vote, which was extremely skewered towards Trump---whether it be the elderly, the religious (makes you question our true relationship with Jesus, doesn’t it?), the non-collegegoers (uneducated has a negative taint, I'm technically on that list for not finishing college) or the lower/middle class. So the silver lining here is that the entire nation hasn’t turned on itself, it’s just a couple groups which make up the majority that shifted towards Trump. Perhaps some education into the reign of Rafael Trujillo is needed…

Next silver lining is that most of the larger cities that have become the backbone of America remained away from the hate and stuck with Clinton. So guess what, if you aren’t feeling too safe in your rural turf, there’s always Miami, Orlando, Tampa, New York City, Boston (wait..), Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, and hey let’s not forget Hawaii. And they all have one thing in common: they are successful progressive cities. Miami, New York, and San Francisco however, I would recommend saving a ton of money first…

The biggest silver lining is the protesting we are witnessing. Yes they are misguided, yes some have pushed a bit too far, but the protest is basically America’s way of telling the world that not all of us are on board with the new presidency. And this is important because tourism is essential to the economy, as is the relationships we have with other countries and the image we portray. For those claiming the protests won’t do anything, that’s because they want to see America united towards an unqualified candidate as opposed to seeing what has become a separated nation. Personally, I’d rather take the half/half outlook as opposed to everyone giving up and joining in on the KKK party (which….still is happening….and still hasn’t been dismissed as bad for the nation). So protest away, just don’t become lower than the hate we’ve been combating for the last year.

Sorting through all the nonsense you can find promise for the future. The election has awakened the Hispanic population, so if you think we will be walked on, well, have fun. Between the always-neglected Puerto Ricans, the tough-as-nails Mexicans, the crafty Dominicans, and the hard-working Central Americans you are dealing with an entire population of individuals with a strong culture, strong values, and enough chest-bumping energy to battle back against any nonsense.

The election has awakened the millennial crowd, as arguably the most polarizing candidate between youngsters and oldsters put up a huge fight under a very controversial platform that 10, 15, 20 years ago would have been dead and buried from the very beginning. Bernie Sanders back in 2015 jump-started a political revolution that stagnated after he lost the primaries, but has restarted upon rumors of a 2020 run and upon him publicly vowing to take over the shattered Democratic Party or at the very least declaring political war against Trump. Even though he has some ground to make up for siding with Hillary as opposed to a risky third-party run (and should probably speak out to his supporters about following the revolution the correct way), Sanders has the ability to gain the love back and continue a push towards a very different America and a very different political system. I’m sure he wants those super delegates to be eradicated from the face of this Earth.

The outlook seems quite gloomy, especially if you are a minority. We might be facing the most divided America since Vietnam. We might be facing the worst president since Nixon. We might be seeing the most hate crimes since the 1960s. But at the same time the opposition, our revolutionary numbers are stronger, and the backlash towards anything even remotely unappealing or potentially racist will be excruciatingly strong. Expect Post-Republican America (Mostly White) to be forced to defend themselves and defend the leader that they elected loudly and proudly. Expect White America to have to respond to Trump not exactly draining the swamp with his selection of a White Nationalist becoming his chief policy advisor…





The wall of bigotry is about to go up against a hurricane of opposition. And this storm will last from 2017 to 2020.



Category 5.

Electoral Whiplash

I can’t quite wrap my head around what has been going on. I can’t quite pinpoint what part of the election made me angriest. Was it the arrogant foolish approach from the DNC assuming this was all a lock? Was it the pisspoor turnout from the Hillary supporters that resulted in a whopping 10 million fewer votes than Obama back in 2008? Was it the sheer avoidance of Trump’s sketchy history as women, Christians, and even a slew of minorities voted him in?

Was it the fact that a man with literally no political experience managed to crawl into the top through word-of-mouth instead of immense advertisement spending from the Clinton campaign? Or is it the fact that this incredible shift has occurred because of the previous 8 years of supposed inactivity---which was caused by the same party that just took over the White House?

None of that. What makes me angriest is that the man who could have won, who should have won, and who was without a doubt the top candidate this election season struck out before engaging in a Primary Election debate---and I shall add completely unfairly. Bernie Sanders would have beat Donald Trump, and I state this as a strong opinion without enough knowledge of the political system or much evidence to back this up.

Nonetheless, I will stand by this: Bernie Sanders had the young vote, Bernie caused voter turnout in BOTH primaries to skyrocket (never forget, the rise of Trump and Sanders was simultaneous). Bernie was collecting more money than Trump, spent less than Hillary, and could outperform them both in debates, and in public appearance attendance. Bernie Sanders, and NOT any other third-party candidate was willing to tear down the political system without hate, and unite all parties as he would attempt to mold the government into a service that would allow for Americans to receive more benefits that they deserve while living within the borders.

Bernie Sanders is not a war-monger, doesn’t have any ridiculous ties to questionable leaders, yet is totally unafraid to go up against the presidents and leaders of the White House. He fought against Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and even Obama. He has the energy of Trump, the experience of Hillary, and the ability to appeal to both fanbases. He can draw the attention of the angriest of Trump supporters and the most passionate of the Black Lives Matter protesters. And I firmly believe that with the obvious momentum he was riding if he had gotten the nomination instead of Hillary through those controversial Super Delegates, he would have crushed Trump and it would have far less poisonous material to sift through on the way to Election Day.

He definitely wasn’t perfect in his strategizing to try to become president, but his message was clear and it was a very refreshing thing. It felt like Obama circa 2008. But the DNC was having none of it, as they were grooming Hillary Clinton since seemingly 2012 for the win.

And what happened? Well, an ugly concoction was brewing. It was the backlash from 8 years of Obama, one of the most daring and unique presidents we’ll ever see. It was a backlash against the LGBT and feminism movement occurring within the last decade. It was the arsenal of drastic changes happening to America that the Bible Belt, the Midwest, and most of the South was not enjoying. It was a backlash against immigration, against Black Lives Matter, against Islam. Trump wasn’t the better candidate at any given point, but he was the answer that half of America was silently-then-vocally seeking.




Hillary Clinton and the DNC overplayed their hand. They assumed they could keep the Obama momentum, which turned out to be a farce. They thought they could claim the young vote in a landslide, which although 53% average from ages of 18-39 isn’t shabby, not getting many millennials to vote really hurt her. They thought the racism coming from the Trump camp would be enough to convince voters that he is unfit. Well, that was wrong too. The DNC picked the wrong candidate to go up against rock star not-a-politician Trump and never ever truly went for the kill, settling for a close race.

They completely fumbled the entire campaign---from the emails to the obviously biased support of Hillary right down to shady voting results in an already-rigged primary system. And with all the ugliness happening voter turnout overall decreased, leaving us with an America that handed more votes to Hillary, but gave more Electoral College votes to Trump. The Senate and the House belongs to the Republicans as well, an extra prize for surviving the storm and sticking to Trump despite having every reason not to.

Giving you every reason to discuss why Trump isn’t the right pick to continue leading the country is absolutely pointless, because it’s already happened. It’s done, there is no do-over here. Basically hang tight, because it’s going to be a ride. It is already revealed that Trump will eliminate the work visas that allowed international students to work for Disney, and we already know that we will be witnessing setbacks to gay rights. He hasn’t been in the White House for a minute and we’ve already seen a couple strikes.

The next four years are going to be ugly. The DNC screwed up representing the dangers of voting such a man into office, so it might be up to the minority crowd to step up to the plate and yell. Obnoxiously. Relentlessly. Endlessly. And with enough firepower to undo the disaster caused by White America on both ends---the Republicans sticking to their man despite a billion warning signs and the Democrats who downplayed the dangers and obviously picked the wrong candidate to represent all of us, especially the people most in need of continuous support.

If you want silver linings from this election, here they are: only half the country is actually ignorant, Hispanic turnout in Florida was fantastic and was nearly enough to eradicate the Confederacy from the Electoral College. The young vote recognized the dangers of Trump, even if they didn’t pop out in Obama 2008/2012 and what would have been Bernie 2016 numbers. Hillary winning over Bernie pretty much sucked the air out of millennial interest in the election. Do remember 50,000 people wound up voting for a dead gorilla.

Today, Hispanics are going to have to rise up and be louder, and loud enough to combat the rise of anti-Hispanic bigotry. From the cultural melting pot of Miami all the way to Los Angeles, we need to step up to the plate. I’m going to have to step up too, for these next four years will be celebrated by the KKK, Nazis, the ignorant, and those that just don’t care about us enough. They want us to be quiet and accept what's coming. They want us to attempt to work together. Nah, not anymore. Time to hit them where it hurts: their pockets and their image. Time to carry that mantle once held by Bernie before it got ripped from his hands because he wasn't part of the election plan of the Democrats. 




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Time for movement. Time for protest. Time to fix the political system that time and time again has ruined us. Time for organized rebuttal of an America that has rejected us. Time to fight even more for equality. Time to fight for what we deserve: affordable health care for everyone, higher taxes for the wealthiest so they can contribute more to a society that has greatly rewarded them, less protection of massive businesses that have stunted growth for the lower and middle class, less emphasis on capitalism and more emphasis on helping fellow neighbors, free college education, affordable education, complete freakin' overhaul of the education system (If I see one more time that the Civil War wasn't about slavery..........), total elimination of profitable prisons, more diversity in Washington, a better system for immigrants and refugees merely seeking a better life in the United States, a greater understanding of the Hispanic community and the culture, less greedy money entering the political system, more money to battle climate change (or at least prevent it from occurring, for those that still don’t believe), and overall a better American culture that has been severely tainted by events happening this millennium----peaking with half of America believing that a man with a terrible track record with Hispanics and Blacks and Middle America in general is still good enough to be president.
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Do I have a plan? Not really, because the screaming hasn't stopped. But if I'm going to remain in an America ruled by Trump, it won't be done calmly.


Alright White America, your voices were heard, and you single-handedly controlled the results of the election in the midst of requesting a great big change at the White House. You won fair and square, that's not a lie. You wanted Trump, and you (miraculously) got Trump.





Now, be ready for the backlash. And it won’t be quiet.