The media, US citizens and the world have all been Trumped – US election opinion
![[Image: David Rowe, Political Cartoon Gallery.]](https://voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/161109-Trump-cartoon-David-Rowe-political-cartoon-gallery.jpg)
[Image: David Rowe, Political Cartoon Gallery.]
It is a victory for a very rich businessman who certainly doesn’t have the interests of the poor at heart.
The majority of people earning less than $50,000 a year voted Clinton – although, as a candidate, she was almost as bad as him.
Was this a victory for misogyny? That’s debatable.
Certainly it seems likely some people will have voted against Hillary Clinton because she is female. That would reflect very poorly on the American people.
But the same American people also knew that her selection as the Democrat candidate was based on who she knew within the party, and not on what she could do for the people of the United States.
She was seen as someone who had played the system, whereas the common perception of Mr Trump was of a man who had fought the system and won. In the face of that, allegations about him grabbing women inappropriately were ignored – and America will have to face up to the uncomfortable meaning of that at some point in the future.
Was it a victory for racism? That’s debatable too. I’ve seen the word “isolationism” bandied about this morning and that seems to fit the bill more appropriately.
What about the media? Well, the Trump campaign faced a huge amount of opposition from a mass media that wanted more of the current (failed) political consensus. We were told he couldn’t win the Republican nomination, but he did. Polls were carried out to show he couldn’t win, but he has.
If this election has achieved anything, perhaps it is that people will not trust the established news sources as much as may have previously been the case.
In This Writer’s opinion, that’s a step forward. You shouldn’t trust anybody who has a vested interest in any issue while saying they report it impartially. Conversely, I could earn more money as a babysitter than I do working on Vox Political – so you know the opinions here are my own, and I based them on the best facts I can get.
As for the future: Everybody is keen to write off Donald Trump’s presidency before it starts, but let’s not forget he’ll have a huge administrative machine behind him, and it is to be hoped that they will be able to guide him away from some of the more obvious disasters that we all fear.
That doesn’t mean America – and the world – isn’t in for a bumpy ride. But it is better to live in hope than in fear.
Taking a wider view, people seem to be realising that if Trump’s election is a disaster for democracy, it is one that was decades in the making – and a symptom of a failed political system.
If it shakes people out of their complacency – not just in the States but across the world – that will be a good thing, in the long run.
That’s just about the best that can be said.
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A friend once said to me that, most Americans are stupid!!!
This confirms that notion!!!
It appears to be a victory for intolerance and bigotry. It beats me how working class people can actually believe that Trump will actually improve their lot.
They didn’t. Exit poll information shows that.
Mike why do my comments keep disappearing please?
For a start – as I have told you before – complaints about comments not appearing will ensure that they don’t, even if they’re in a moderation queue.
I have told you time and time again not to clog up the comment feed with queries like this, Joanna.
As far as I know, none of your comments have disappeared.
Good and fair summary and captured my feelings about the whole show which I have followed with fascination. Neither of the candidates reflected the very best of what the US had to offer and thankfully we did not have to make a similar decision. Unfortunately as we have found in the UK what folk will do to get your vote do not always come to pass and the true intentions start slithering out as soon as they have the finger on the power button. .
I for one have no interest in the US the only thing that bothers my is there control over the UK
Meanwhile the British economy tanks due to Brexit, the possibility of trade deals with US is out Trump doesn’t like trade deals. But I bet TTIP stays on the agenda as it is a net benefit to US business and Trump in particular. Trump will try to make a deal with Putin and maybe get some movement of policy on Syria while throwing massive support behind Netanyahu; that is until either Trump or Putin takes offence at some imagined sleight then all bets are off.
Meanwhile the Latino population of US will be subject to racist attacks just like here after Brexit. Mexico is already in economic meltdown as it anticipates thousands (millions) of unregistered Mexicans being kicked out while US owned jobs are repatriated across the border providing a double hit for unemployment.
On the plus side CIA involvement in foreign countries, destabilising left wing governments etc may reduce, though I don’t really think so.
In US women will find that their reproductive rights will be diminished while there is likely to be an element that think that if it’s alright for the President to assault women then it’s ok for them too.
Minority rights of all kinds will be set back except for those of the multi millionaire minority. And police killings of unarmed people will increase. More guns will be in circulation as the rednecks exercise their right to own guns, meaning more gun related deaths.
Health care will be removed for millions of the poorest.
What are the rules re presidents owning and controlling businesses while in office? Conflict of interest issues must surely be covered under the constitution. With both a Republican run House and Senate and the ability to appoint to the Supreme Court there will be NO checks on Trumps administration and he will be virtually untouchable.
Still on the bright side some more states have voted to legalise marijuana so that’s alright.
With a Republican Congress behind him it appears there will be none of the legislative checks and balances one mght have hoped for. ‘America first’ and striving to ‘make America Great again’ I fear for the future of the planet from the deter!ination to increase fossil fuel consumption. However CO2 sequestration is attempted there will inevitably be an atmospheric rise plus the risk it will escape capture, quite apart from leakage of methane from fracking and decomposing methane hydrates. Apart from the threat to coastal populations I wonder how many species will be lost in tye next 20 years from the probable widespread expansion of so-called ‘sustainability’.
As a frequent visitor to the US (one of my sons and DIL, sister and family live there) they are all of the opinion, and have been all along, that Hillary was the wrong choice by the Democrats. Could have been a different story with Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Wasted opportunity they now have to live with.