First up, let me direct those of you who are inclined to post comments that are best described as “trollish” to this post of several weeks back. While I intend this blog to be an open dialogue, if you’re just submitting deliberately inflammatory stuff to get my goat, so to speak, I’m under no obligation to post it. By the same token, you’re under no obligation to keep reading my blog if you don’t agree with the things I’m posting. See how easy that is? Off you go, then.
More to the point, though, the fallout from the recent election is such that normal rules don’t really apply any more, or at least not at the moment. Where I might have been more tolerant in the past of needlessly provocative and/or derisive comments (I have a few select readers in mind who routinely post such things), I’m no longer interested in maintaining a dialogue with anyone who genuinely espouses the words, beliefs and conduct of Donald Trump, his representatives and/or his supporters. You and I might see eye to eye on every other topic under the sun, but I’ll give no ground on this front.
Like most people I know and care about, I’ve been in quite a state for the past week, either seething with contempt or just struck by a sense of incredulousness. For all this nation’s deep divisions, I still cannot fathom -– given all I thought that we collectively know, all that we’ve collectively seen and all that we’ve collectively heard -– that this is the outcome. While I was not the most zealous Hillary Clinton supporter, I was of the mindset that the positions that came to define Trump’s campaign were ultimately universally objectionable. I thought it was obvious that he’s just a consummate conman, bilking the support of the electorate by appealing to the ugliest aspects of the lowest common denominator.
I expressed as much on a mailing list I’m a member of last week, and was taken aback by some of the reaction, most of them keen to downplay Trump’s words and deeds as simply cartoony, while deriding his opponent as – I’m quoting here -- "pernicious liar," "duplicitous megalomaniac," "elitist multi-millionaire," "influence peddler," "political coattail rider" or "sexual predator enabler." The exclamation point on that exchange was that both candidates were unfit for office, thus the author of this retort abstained from voting altogether …. patronizingly tut-tutting me for my precious little concerns, while another cited my blind adherence to the agendas of the dreaded “MSM” (mainstream media).
Again, while I was not entirely in Hillary’s camp, when the race boiled down to two (and no, Gary Johnson and Jill Stein were never viably realistic contenders), Trump was never an option. Now that it’s all over, I’m shaken to the core over the ramifications … and I’m a friggin’ straight white male! As has been pointed out, not everyone enjoys that privilege.
I count myself lucky to have friends and colleagues of all creeds, colors and sexual orientations, but even here in arguably super-Liberal New York City, there is a palpable uptick in hate crimes. Think what you want about Hillary Clinton, but that bullshit isn’t her doing.
Anyway, who knows what’s coming next? Will Trump find a way to wiggle out of his responsibilities now that he’s no longer engaged by the thrill of the game? Will his transition be compromised by myriad lawsuits and scandals that he’s rendered moot before he can even be sworn in? Will the protests and violence escalate? We will see.
In any case, while I’ve felt compelled to write something here over the last few days, I’m pretty of the opinion that the usual bullshit that I put up here is entirely too trivial to discuss right now. Moreover, I’m not feeling especially inspired to write anything, given that my overriding feelings at the moment aren’t positive ones. That will change, of course, but at the moment, I’m not feeling great about the world.
That all said, one semi-regular commenter to my blog –- presumably in an attempt to jokingly put salt on the wound in the wake of Election Day -– left the following comment on this post. Originally, in keeping with the sentiments expressed in the paragraphs above, I wasn’t going to publish the remarks, but then I felt they provided a platform for me to expound a little bit, so here’s that comment (“courtesy” of one Was Proxy):
Looking down from heaven, Johnny Ramone does not approve. Saw the Ramones exhibit at the Queens Museum over the summer, loved Johnny's pics that had the sign in his kitchen that said "REAGAN COUNTRY"
Alright, now what Mr. (?) Proxy is touching on here –- again, presumably attempting to goad me for being a big ol’ leftie when the mainstay of one of my favorite-ever bands was a long-standing, GOP-supporting, flag-waving Republican -– is the notorious worldview of the late Johnny Ramone. It’s a well-worn, divisive allusion that is frequently dusted off when anyone tries to make blanket assertions about the political sensibilities of Punk Rock. It’s also true –- Johnny was indeed a Republican.
I’ve talked about this very point before (notably here and, more recently, here), but I have to wonder –- while, yes, Johnny probably loathed the Clintons and invariably would have considered Bernie Sanders “a Commie,” would the fabled guitarist have really bought Trump’s wafer-thin allegiance to the GOP (a party that all-but renounced the alleged billionaire at several points prior to Election Day)? I mean, neither George H.W. Bush nor his son George W. (who Johnny famously called on God to bless during the Ramones’ induction into the flaccid and meaningless Rock & Roll Hall of Fame) gave Trump an endorsement. By and large, Donald Trump’s positions are rarely in genuine lockstep with the core ideals of the Republican Party (such as it remains), and he spent much of his adult life as a Democrat (going on record several times to praise the very people he demonized during his run).
Trump is no favorite of the Bushes, nor is he a bona fide “Reagan Republican."
As such, I don’t think it’s a given that Johnny would have given Trump a thumbs-up. By the same token, Johnny was also an avowed acolyte of Charles Manson and the Manson Family, so … who knows?
More importantly, who cares?
Be Safe. Be Active. Be vigilant. Be Angry.
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