It's over and that is good. The choice was not the best
and either Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders might have done better than Hillary. She
carried self-inflicted wounds and the weight of being the first serious woman candidate in
a country where lots of white men are still challenged by that. (Now
watch for Elizabeth.)
However, it is also clear that yesterday the global
reaction against globalization – which has benefited the rich more than
the bottom – came to the US with the election of Trump as President. Not just white men felt left behind by what seems an elite project to enrich themselves at the expense of the rest. But if the Republican conservative fundamentalists fill Trump's Administration and have their way, our country and the world
will continue coming apart and there will be many losers. Watch for encouragement of foreign extremists (and Putin) as well as chaos in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan if the US hand is removed or rejected. Watch for Republicans ruining the economy again with more trickle-down. Watch for those people feeling empowered now to do nasty things to others not like them (including some who may get cabinet jobs.) Things
all around could get dangerous. But being an optimist, one can hope that Trump will surprise in some good ways. Perhaps centrist
Congressional Republicans, Democrats in the Senate and the former Democrat version of
Trump (he was one a few years back) will save us from the excesses of the
campaign Trump. Trump's victory comments were at least more
presidential.
Boy, do we ever need Thanksgiving and Christmas.
