Thanksgiving and Mass Media

The media is all abuzz that Trump is working on Thanksgiving Day.  What should seem like a good thing is still being spun as a bad thing.  When will the media move on and embrace trump?  Maybe never.  It seems that social media has provided more opportunities for people who were unhappy with Trump winning the electoral college to band together and organize protests most easily. While many people are unhappy about the protests, and I totally understand why, I think it's the essence of thriving Democracy here in our great nation.  The fact that peaceful protests are allowed and that people can complain and organize petitions means that our freedoms still exist and we must claim them if we want to keep them.  The freedom to gather peacefully, to protest, our freedoms of speech and religion... all of these are fundamental to democracy.  Really, even being able to sit during the national anthem when you are on television is a great expression of those freedoms.  Again, not my favorite expression, but I'm glad to see that it is an option.

I recently read an article about what democracy in America looks like today by USA Today.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/11/24/eb-white-colin-kaepernick-what-does-democracy-mean-today/94344960/

The article discusses what democracy looked like 70 years ago, centuries ago, and now.  How do you justify a president winning the electoral college and losing the popular vote by about 2 million votes? To be honest, I think people just don't understand how the electoral college works and why it was necessary centuries ago - and why it still is!  

All I know for sure is that this great nation still has thriving democracy and I am proud to be a part of it.

Trump wins!

Clearly the election was rigged...

The media that hates Trump has had an awful week. I immensely enjoyed the looks on their faces as it became evident that he had a fighting chance...as they transitioned to shocked realization that he would likely win...and best of all, when he won!

At the end of it all, I feel sure that Trump was right all along.  The media wanted Hillary to win.  The media did not try to filter their bias or remain impartial.  But as soon as the results were finalized, I feel that they have all been very mature about accepting that Hillary Lost and Trump won.

President Obama's leadership in accepting Trump as the winner certainly has paved the way for a smoother transition than we expected.  Hopefully now that he has won, hopefully Trump will rise with dignity to the office and make us all proud.

Division in America

There's nothing like a presidential election right before
Thanksgiving to bring families together...

After three very entertaining presidential debates, sides have been taken and people are now sure of who they will vote for.  From my own circle of friends and family, it seems that since most people are not really happy with either candidate, the majority of people I know are strictly voting along party lines.

I find this simultaneously frustrating and smart.  Although it's true that your party's candidate will likely make decisions that you will agree with, both of this candidates have serious flaws.



And although people keep asking themselves how these two candidates won their party's nomination and if that can't still be changed, it is a moot point now.  They are the nominees and we must choose between them.  I think that Gary Johnson will probably receive more votes than any other independent candidate ever has, but I doubt he will win even one state.  I feel confident that the electoral vote will never go to him.

The media has really short-changed Johnson.  Feeding into the bi-partisan system, they excluded him from every presidential debate, which I feel was wrong.  If he had been able to get into a debate or two, he may have pulled more votes away from the other two candidates and it would have been interesting to see that play out.

Trump also feels the media is unfair to him, but I can't talk about his incessant whining any more.

Hillary seems to love the media and I believe that feeling is mutual.  It does seem rather suspicious to me that even when Hillary's email scandals and other such things are being released, the television media glances over it as if it were a minor thing.  Social media, on  the other hand, seems to be willing to crucify her for it.  And as social media becomes more and more powerful in the world of campaigning, I can't wait to see how things play out in this election.