Wow. Whoa. That is some group of people. Thousands. - US Election Day 2016

x-post: It was a response to Adam saying that people only wanted to vote for Sanders.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Cuyahoga County, OH -3% in turnout from 2012 to yesterday (70.09% vs. 67.02%)

Here's 2016:

UNITED STATES PRESIDENT/VICE PRESIDENT
          (VOTE FOR)  1
           Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine (DEM).  .   383,974   65.16
           Richard Duncan and Ricky Johnson.  .  .     1,810     .31
           Gary Johnson and William Weld.  .  .  .    12,526    2.13
           Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka (GRE)  .  .     5,026     .85
           Donald J. Trump and Michael R. Pen (REP)  179,894   30.53
           WRITE-IN.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     6,091    1.03
              Over Votes .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     1,603
             Under Votes .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     6,561

Here's 2012:

          UNITED STATES PRESIDENT/VICE PRESIDENT
          Vote for not more than  1
              (WITH 1077 OF 1077 PRECINCTS COUNTED)
           Stewart Alexander/Alex Mendoza (SOC)  .       220     .03
           Richard Duncan/Ricky Johnson .  .  .  .       621     .10
           Virgil Goode/Jim Clymer (CON).  .  .  .       534     .08
           Gary Johnson/James P. Gray (LIB).  .  .     3,448     .53
           Barack Obama/Joe Biden (DEM) .  .  .  .   447,273   69.32
           Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan (REP)  .  .  .  .   190,660   29.55
           Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala (GRE)  .  .  .     1,564     .24
           WRITE IN.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .       942     .15
              Over Votes .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     1,772
             Under Votes .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     3,403

Clinton/Kaine received nearly 67,000 fewer votes. Twice as many people either didn't know how to fill out the ballot or didn't GAF enough to vote for president.

dems should have gone w Sanders, a candidate people actively wanted for vote for

I'll say here what I said on FB: Sanders wouldn't have made it to Election Day alive. Trump brought a whole lot of very scary voters out of the darkness, and if you think those folks were gonna let a Jew get anywhere near the White House, you're a fucking idiot.

I barely slept last night, and what little sleep I did get was burdened with nightmares. Burned out ruins of buildings, no life in sight. Deep dread and despair, and I half sincerely wished that I wouldn't wake up this morning.

But I woke up, and life seems (temporarily, at least) to be going on as usual. I didn't see any crestfallen faces on the way to work, but my workplace has been fairly abuzz with people who have no idea how this happened or what happens next.

I hit some kind of wall in the midst my despair this morning, after feeling steadily pummeled by the certainty that things will only get worse from here and that nothing has any point anymore. It's a familiar wall, similar to one I hit a number of years ago while in the midst of the most severe bout of depression I've ever experienced. I was fixated on the idea that nothing had any point or purpose and ultimately pulled myself back from the abyss by deciding that points and purposes are subjective and intentional and entirely dictated by me.

The point (and purpose) of what I'm saying is that I now fully realize what I sorta knew all along. Voting and trying to stay informed and shooting my mouth off about things I half understand just isn't enough. I need to get involved, and I'm going to get involved. What form that will take, I don't yet know. Maybe I'll go to the local Democratic headquarters and see what they need from me. Maybe I'll go back to school and get a teaching degree, or start volunteering in my community on the regular. All I know is that, for better or worse, life is going to go on until it doesn't, and wallowing in despair for the next 4-? years is untenable and unacceptable. I'm deeply ashamed of being a white American right now, and I have to do something to shore things up and feel like I'm making some sort of measurable positive impact in lieu of lapsing into self-loathing.

Above all else, I'm trying to appreciate all of my fellow non-lunatics, because we're all in this together and we need to stand together to make it through. Feeling very thankful for the community here right now.

xpost I'm kind of sick of all this "so-and-so would be assassinated" stuff

But Sanders would not have pulled in any of these missing white voters--they are allergic to the word socialism if not to socialistic programs. He also had even less support from voters of color than Hillary did.

x=post

i echo all your feelings. i didn't do enough. i must do more.

It's interesting that the losing candidate winning the popular vote is something that is fretted about before an election, but is not cared about after it happens.

But I woke up, and life seems (temporarily, at least) to be going on as usual. I didn't see any crestfallen faces on the way to work, but my workplace has been fairly abuzz with people who have no idea how this happened or what happens next.

The people I've encountered out in the world (cashiers, bus drivers, colleagues outside of my department) have all kept smiling faces and kind words, even though I haven't been able to muster anything past "eeyore".

damn guys just damn

Klonopin is the greatest

I want to spend today at home in tears but we have 720 students, overwhelmingly from New American/immigrant families, who need to be educated and fed and counseled, and whose parents want to learn English and get better jobs and raise their children for greatness. So it looks like I'll be crying in my office instead.

Klonopin is the greatest

― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown),

ask Stevie Nicks

I'm not sure any professional politician, Democrat or otherwise, would have beaten Trump. This thing just has a life of its own. Leaving aside the obvious racism, paranoia and misogyny, the big reason he won was because he wasn't one. Appeal of Farage is exactly the same.

That would be an easier argument to make had Trump received more votes than Romney.

Xpost i sincerely wish I had a Klonopin I have no idea how I'm going to survive the near future from a mental health standpoint

I have no fucking idea who the Dems will put up against Trump in four years. Or how anyone will ever trust a poll again.

I took off work today. Saw some half-filled beers laying around after the "party". Unashamedly put a few down.

I can't process it. How can we make it through and come back from this? Four years...

This whole thing also shows what is so draining about the fights against racism and misogyny. Because it does work. When Trump attacked Curiel, he fell in the polls, when he attacked the Khans, he fell in the polls, when the access tapes came forth, he fell in the polls. When absolute, uncontested proof of his hatred was in the news, people turned his back to him. A week later they returned. It's fucking everyday and every hour and every minute, and everytime any other story comes up - yeah, but Clinton sent emails! - you have to start all over again.

This was sexism and white supremacy. And it needs to be repeated over and over and over and motherfucking over for the next four years, for every minute it's not repeated, someone will say 'disenfranchised working class', and all the people who were convinced by the stats showing that to be a lie will nod their head in approval. This is a fucking fight, a fucking worldwide fight, and we will win, in the end we have both demographics, truth and reality on our side, but holy fuck is it exhausting.

xpost Focus on 2018. We need to fucking mobilize.

And I'm a white man, so what the fuck do I have to complain about...

He might make the Republican brand toxic within those four years.

The most I am hoping for is that he just turns out to be a massive embarrassment and not an actual menace... and he's in prison before the next election... or possibly an asylum.

I'm not sure I understand what a toxic brand in politics is these days.

In search of good news to cheer me up, I thought I'd look at the NC gubernatorial results.

SHITFUCK McCrory is only down by less than 5k votes statewide. For people in NC who might know, does that trigger a recount? Or is his Dem opponent the winner and in the clear?

And I'm a white man, so what the fuck do I have to complain about...

It’s certainly an advantage, but I woke up today wondering whether the United States will withdraw from NATO (!!!).

Xpost I'm hoping that Trump realises in the next two months what a job he's got coming up and decides that he wants an easy life instead.

― Jill, Wednesday, November 9, 2016 12:45 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

part of me is clinging to this, but I think it's probably just the next stage of denial after "OK, he's polling ahead of the other republican candidates, but there's no way that will last when we get to the primaries", "OK he's winning primaries, but there's no way the republicans will let him be the nominee", "OK, he's the nominee but there's no way he'll win the election" etc

Klonopin is the greatest
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown),
ask Stevie Nicks
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, November 9, 2016 8:13 AM (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Honestly, I know there are dangers but my doc is very conservative in dose and also will not do refills more than every 3 months. I was kind of kidding but it has really helped me.

I have a feeling that as far as legislation goes, Trump will just stamp his cloven hoof on whatever the congressional GOP sends him, but when it comes to big events that the media finds important he will be out making clown moves.

The NATO thing is definitely the one that hits closest to home, my baltic friends could conceivably see their countries lose the freedom they gained just 25 years ago. But Russia won't threaten Denmark. I could quite honestly just curl up on a couch, never ever look into politics again, stop caring about populism in Denmark or abroad, sexism, racism, any of the things that has pretty much only brought me cyber-harassment and former friends yelling in my face. Even though I despair right now, I could just stop. Can't imagine what other people feel right now.

trying to bury myself in work right now but it's not so easy

I do think Trump tapped into the rich vein of Americans not giving a fuck about the Baltics

People crying at my place of work today.

my boss told everyone to take the day off

Klonopin is the greatest

― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

I was trying to work out which righteous liberal commentator this was lol

When Trump attacked Curiel, he fell in the polls, when he attacked the Khans, he fell in the polls, when the access tapes came forth, he fell in the polls. When absolute, uncontested proof of his hatred was in the news, people turned his back to him. A week later they returned. It's fucking everyday and every hour and every minute, and everytime any other story comes up - yeah, but Clinton sent emails! - you have to start all over again.

polls don't mean anything

And disapproval doesn't mean much unless you're prepared to go out and vote for the other person.

when i woke up this morning at like 4am, like barely awake, and reached for my phone, i couldn't sleep for an hour or so after, heart racing etc like people here described. i remember actually thinking, like as a genuine form of desire "i wish i was my parents' age, then i wouldn't have to live through this"...

cold light of day i obviously don't feel that way, but it did feel like some type of rationalising that wasn't so outlandish.

i was woken up by the sound of my nextdoor neighbor crying

A coworker was on the bus with me and when we got off to walk into the building I couldn't front just started crying openly. She gave me a Kleenex.

i barely slept last night. maybe got a half-hour or an hour

WHAT THE FUCK

What is with the heart pounding thing everyone is describing? I honestly thought I was going to have some sort of cardiac event last night because mine was pounding so hard and fast literally all night. I've never experienced anything like that before. Like sheer animal terror.

The polls weren't that inaccurate. Again, Clinton won the popular vote, the miss in the general election is just a few points. If she hadn't lost three points since Comey intervened, she would have won. Late breaking undecideds decided in a mediascape that was already forgetting the Trump tapes, and instead playing 'both sides' and talking bullshit Clinton scandals. White people are willfully blind, unless the evidence is right there in front of them, at the time they make up their mind, they will rationalize it away.

I think I'm going to focus my energies on some sort of critical thinking educational initiative, particularly wrt the media. I have no idea what form that's going to take but the time has fucking come and I'll do whatever is within my individual power to do in that regard.

The heart pounding thing only happened as I scrolled down this thread upon waking. Since then it's been Pynchonian despair

There were repeated polls forecasting her winning several states she failed to win. In the UK election, the US election and the Brexit referendum have all significantly underestimated the strength of the right-wing vote.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate that both Russia and the FBI meddled semi-openly in a presidential election and got their way? I need to channel my inner Shostakovich pronto.

I figured it was meaningless, and perhaps it was, but what was stressing me out last week was the here in Philly I barely saw any Clinton signs, as opposed to the thousands of Obama ones seen in the last two elections--and in the burbs I saw about ten times the number of Trump signs as I saw Romney ones four years ago. I guess PA shouldn't have been a surprise.

I had that heart pounding thing too, though not to that degree.

I am not sure how to proceed-I don't know what to do.

I feel guilty.