Ping Pong Politics

     Today I’m surviving on 2 hours sleep,  like many others I stood up last night watching the election results.  My persistence at remaining awake was due to an enormous surge of anxiety coupled with the reality that this couldn’t be true. Donald Trump, (oh lord it kills me to write this) is the President of the United States.  NOOOOOOOO‼‼‼ Why America? Why? But then it hit me, Americans have been tired of the standard DC politics, the bureaucracy, the overall political bullshit. We vote you in and still get shitted on, so in the words of Donald Trump, “what do you have to lose” But for me I lost my sense of hope in this country.  Here I write to you as a Black Latina woman who has to self sanction what she says in public, and yet the man running for President has referred to African Americans as The Blacks, homosexuals as The Gays, and the Hispanics as criminals! To the dismay and shock of many he WINS‼‼! But did he really win because of his brashness or better yet was it because Americans had embraced his idiotic statements and internalized them to symbolize he was different, different from the standard  DC politics. Was it like, fuck it, we need somebody to say what they mean without sugar coating it, and hopefully things will get done.  As I thought about how Trump supporters felt, begrudgingly I had to admit, I get it!  I understand,  because I felt the same way when Barack Obama entered the 2008 presidential race.

      In 2008 Barack Obama was a Jr. Senator from Illinois with about a year and half experience. Prior to running for President his only claim to fame was electrifying voters as he delivered one of the most memorable DNC speeches for the Kerry/Edwards ticket.  Other than that and a few appearances on Oprah and some news shows I can’t recite what Obama had done as a Senator. But yet, with his lack of experience he beat Hilary Clinton out of the Democratic primaries. Coincidentally like this election she too had more experience than Obama, even to the point where she served as his informal mentor while in the Senate. And then the unthinkable happened, he beat John McCain, an established tenured Senator. We never asked how in the hell did this happen? A man with only a year and half political experience beat out two veteran politicians.  He was able to sail to the office because he promised what we all wanted to hear, we need CHANGE in Washington. The change from the Washington status quo, in particular the Bush presidency.  Fast forward to 2016 not much has changed. Washington is still stalled, bills for the middle class aren’t being passed.  The Affordable Care Act is not that affordable.  To note, Barack Obama has done a lot despite the clear opposition he faced from a Republican congress, but he still came up short from the CHANGE he promised.  So, 2016, here we go again and guess what we still need CHANGE. Just like we needed change from the Bush presidency, Americans felt a need to change from the lack of progress promised by the Obama administration.  Unfortunately, Hilary Clinton was part of that administration and like McCain fell prey to guilty by association.  Yes, there were the emails, Benghazi and the dishonesty of the DNC (Thank you, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Donna Brazile, smh…..), but let’s be honest that was in no way in comparison to Trump’s “grabbing the pussy”.  Yet he wins and she loses. 

      Hilary’s lost signifies the attention span of the American voter.  We live in a world of get it done or get out.  Since it doesn’t look like the Democrats got much done, then why come back right now, again quoting Trump “What do you have to lose”.  So let’s go back and switch to Republican.  America will Ping Pong the hell out of the parties till one gets it right.  For those non Trump supporters like myself. I take solace in knowing the scales will tip in 2024 back to Democrat as I’m sure Trump and his cabinet of crooks (Guiliani, Christie, etc.) will make it easy for us to make that decision.  As an American, my psyche, my emotions and my disdain for this process can’t take any more of this.  As citizens we need to truly understand the laws of our land, and legislate to re-write them if needed; understand the election process especially the importance of mid-elections, and research/understand how to “fire” our representatives who don’t represent us but look out for their own interest.  This level of Ping Pong politics is costing us far more than we can ever calculate.  If you’re still unsure of the ramifications, then just look no further than our newly elected President, the host of Celebrity Apprentice!


Peace Out,
Blacktina