The Demonstrations, a National Cry of Anguish.

November 13, 2016

Here we are five days after an election where the candidate with the most votes lost –
again.  And demonstrations have erupted throughout the country.  Not a surprise.

Reactions to this latest set of events has been mixed.  Seems to me, we have four reaction groups:

1. The Republican winners and Democratic wimps reciting the “Come Together” doctrine.
2. The alt-right screaming “Hypocrite!”  Demanding that Hillary supporters accept the results of the election.
3. The protesters, supporters and free speech advocates.
4. The large fraction of the population who didn’t vote and, frankly, don’t care.

Let’s drill down into some detail regarding these groups

The Come Together Group

Basically, these are the people who will benefit most from a smooth, pain free, transition.  The winners, of course, want to quietly move on from the ugly things
that were said and done during the election.

The wimpy Democrats see the system as sacred.  They, likely, feel that one day they could benefit from this doctrine; so, they support it.

I understand the winners.  They want everyone to get behind them because they won.

I don’t get the wimps.  After watching their opponents use obstruction, name calling and yellow journalism to try to force the failure of the last legally elected president they should know better.  I can only assume that this sub-group is too dull or, perhaps, spineless to care about.

The alt-right

The group never misses an opportunity to belittle and attack anyone who doesn’t agree with them.  They are not capable of understanding that the demonstrations are a direct result of the protesters accepting the results of the election.  Accepting that reality has caused a national cry of anguish.  The alt-right doesn’t care about that pain since they don’t feel it.

The protesters, supporters and free speech advocates

Well, the free speech bunch just believes in free speech under any circumstance.  As a blogger, I am very supportive of this sub-group.

The protesters and supporters have the right to publicly express themselves – regardless of how inconvenient their opinion may be to those in power.  The first amendment is meant to protect those of us with unpopular opinions.  (Though, it’s ironic that in this case the unpopular opinion is the majority opinion.)

The I Don’t Care Group

This bunch of social free loaders only count because there are so many of them.  Perhaps, the most disingenuous sentence I have heard is – Thanks for your service.  Some people thank vets for their service by accepting all our democracy offers, but  cannot be bothered to minimally participate themselves.

A Quick Wrapup

How do we move forward rather than just moving on?  Perhaps these groups can provide some clues or guidance.

Regarding the first group, the winners and appeasers, I think we need toss them to the wind.  As relics of a lost time, they cannot and will not ever be agents of change.  They either have too much at stake in keep things the same or lack the backbone to be useful.  This bunch weighs us down.

The second group, the alt-right, must be engaged as the enemy.  I know, they’re Americans, but so was the guy who mugged me back in San Francisco.  Our tactics have been too gentle.  We need to learn how to shout as loud as they shout, pivot their tactics, be more creative with our tactics.  Sadly, we need to fight a dirty as they fight.

The third group, the protesters, supporters and free speech people should be encouraged to speak – even the people we don’t agree with. They are where change comes from.

Finally, The I Don’t Care Group – sigh.  We need to find some way to make them care.  Engage them as possible allies.  Coax them out of their bubble.  It’s either that or carry them.  And there are way too many to carry.

Take care of yourselves and one another,

osv