The Day After

I know this isn't the most well-crafted piece I've ever written. I just need to get the thoughts out there. Thank you for reading.

Trying to come up with a response to the election of Donald Trump as prez. It's not just about Trump, you see. It's about the backlash and the hate and the IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD and all the other negative feedback. I understand fully that people who voted for Hillary are in mourning. They feel that rights will be taken away from segments of our population, that healthcare will be decimated, that war will be inevitable. (I voted for neither of them, for my conscience would not allow it, and I live in a solidly Blue state anyway.)

Trump's campaign was an ugly one. I'm no political scientist, nor do I play one on TV, but even a lay person like myself can see that people in this country have been unhappy and hurting for a very long time, and Trump keyed right into that. His inflammatory speeches and bold proclamations whipped up the anger, the hurt and in some cases, the violence of those people. 

What I expect is that he will back pedal on much of what he threatened/promised to do, because in Real Life, the Presidency isn't about building walls and hurtling thousands of people back across the border. In Real Life, there are those who will counter the things he may want to do that will be bad for this country.

On the other hand, there is also this. Regardless of how unpalatable he, himself, may be, he may also do some good things for the country. Being pro-life, I am hoping he cements the Hyde Amendment and ratchets back the free-wheeling abortion industry.*

I am hopeful that he will calm the rhetoric, allow himself to be guided by wise and informed people, not start any wars, and appoint reasonable and moderate Supreme Court Justices who value ALL LIFE. I pray that if he (or the Republican Congress) mess with healthcare, he has a really solid alternative READY TO GO so that millions (including myself) aren't suddenly without medical insurance. 

I pray that he will do right by our Native American brothers and sisters, that he will somehow see past the dollar signs of the oil industry (I know, I'm being unrealistic, but I also believe in miracles!). I hope he will Stand with Standing Rock and LISTEN to them.

People are shouting the sky is falling, the end of civilization. I honestly think that is unwarranted. That it, too has been fomented by the media's portrayal of Trump and SOME of his supporters. I am not defending any of his deplorable (yes I said it) behavior and language, but I also know that people don't think what they think in a vacuum. They are fed information and tone, and are emotionally manipulated by media conglomerates and their masters. This goes on for both sides of our fractured political landscape. 

I am wiped out from a day of hearing and feeling people's ranting and raging. I'm empathic, so I absorb a lot of it unconsciously. Let's not let the negativity feed on itself. The hysteria and drama of it all may actually be soothing on the inside (as Stephen Colbert pointed out last night), but it also serves to further divide us and make it difficult to move forward. We all saw post after post on Twitter and Facebook this morning hurling obscenities at third party voters, decrying those "uneducated white men" who voted Trump in and threatening to send them to college. Talk about condescending! Way to further alienate people who are clearly hurting - people like veterans, factory workers, farmers, grocery store stockers, drug store clerks, plant workers, small business owners, migrant workers, the list goes on. Will Trump help them? We'll see. But we cannot - we should not - throw them into a basket and piss on them because they tried to make a change for the better.  

Instead of measuring which segment of society hurts the most, how about we ALL work to HEAL ALL OUR WOUNDS TOGETHER. 

Ever the optimist, or rather, ever the believer in the Love of God on Earth, I am hopeful that WE are the United States of America, that WE will be change we want to see in the world, in our communities and in our civic duties. I think we will weather this storm, as we have every other storm. I pray that we can actually make something better for ourselves. But it will only happen if people stop shouting at each other and just look at how beautiful all of us humans really are, in the sight of God, and in each other's sight.

Last thing. If you're the praying kind (and I hope you are), please join me in praying for President Trump, for all elected leaders, that they will be guided by the principles of love, justice, and liberty for all.

*An aside, I am a pro-life Catholic, from natural birth to natural death. That means I am against the death penalty and assisted suicide. It means I am against abortion - HOWEVER (take a breath) - I also recognize that with 40+ years of Roe v Wade behind us, there is no way that a complete prohibition will ever work here. If we were to strike it completely and return to a total prohibition on all abortion, we would be putting thousands of women at great risk, because black market abortion would flourish. 

That said, I am in favor of restrictions on abortion because the issue is not a woman's right to control her body; the issue is the unborn human's right to live. I think in extreme cases where the mother's health is in jeopardy, the mother, father (if there is one in the picture), and health providers need to be able to make that call. But unfettered access, federally funded abortions, partial-birth and late term abortions - No. 

Being pro-life, I am pro-education and anti-standardized testing. Creativity, expression, wonder, hands-on learning, cooperative learning, etc. all these are needed and are being stifled with current models in place. 

I would like to see thousands more clinics, educational and other service centers for women, children, and families across the nation that aren't necessarily funded by the government but which ARE given freedom to operate without restrictions regarding their pro-life stance.

There is so much more to say about these issues... another post.