What the American public has experienced over the past year of “Electioneering” was one of the most astounding periods in all of American history, as it brought out the true identity of the American public in subjects that divide us all. As a seventeen-year-old white male living in an upper-class environment, one would think I was part of the “silent majority” that was in favor of a Trump presidency. On the polar opposite, as someone in favour of acknowledging that all men, women and anyone in between are created equal, identifying that gender exists on a spectrum, accepting that we must give a little freedom to get a little security and protection, and as a gender neutral boy, one would think I was in favour of Bernie Sanders, even being considered a “Bernie Bro” from the beginning of the campaign. I can fairly say that I was neither, and nor did I support anyone else. I decided to take a middle ground that seems to be rather rare with the blind support each candidate had this year.
I would not identify a “Bernie Bro” as a communist, and nor would I consider all Trump supporters racists, misogynists, sexists, islamophobes, homophobes or even McCarthyists. I searched through the darkest of the right-winged Breitbart news and scavenged through the despicable Twitter feeds of left-winged labellers. I identified who I was in between, and settled for a middle ground. I am not in favor of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump. I do not believe that any of them would be perfect for the job, as there is no possible way that a Republican-dominated House and Senate would cooperate with a Sanders presidency, nor is there any good in identifying Climate Change as a hoax through a Trump presidency. There truly was no “ideal” candidate this time around. I do not favor any political party, as that would be untrue to many of my ideas and concepts that I genuinely believe in. If there is no other thing that I could do to make one hear me out through this entire article, then I apologize, as I would like to come clear on many of these topics that seem so clouded in political talk and mudslinging. Even to you who take a shotgun to every opposition presented, I would like to assist in creating a new opinion that separates one from the “sheeple.”
Presidential Powers
I believe it would be a good preface to identify the powers of a president by referring to the Constitution. It would be wrong to jump into talking about the President-elect without understanding the Constitution of the United States of America. This will be a very shortened version of the presidential powers, as it would be too long to just copy and paste the Second Article, and no one would even want to read that.
First, the president has executive powers. The main power on this topic is issuing executive orders that do not require congressional approval. They are rules, regulations, and instructions that have a force of law but are subject to judicial review and interpretation. They cannot be inflicting on something that is already issued, such as preventing the freedom of speech or denying people their vote. The Budget and Accounting Act makes the president responsible for the budget of the country, which in turn created the Congressional Budget Office as a legislative counter. The president, on behalf of the role as Commander in Chief, can call upon the National Guard in times of war or emergency, and is offered even more powers in those situations through the War Powers Act. This also limits the president to take part in any warfare without the support of Congress.
To sum up Legislation powers, the president can veto whole bills or veto certain lines of legislation in a bill if it inflicts with spending federal funds.
Congress can override a veto but is not very common. In terms of appointment, the president appoints more than six thousand new federal positions, ranging from top officials to diplomatic corps, but many are appointed with advice and consent of the Senate. The appointment also includes the Supreme Court and officials for all of the federal agencies, including the CIA and NASA. Pardons and commutations can also be issued by the president. Other powers include being involved in foreign affairs such as summit conferences, using emergency powers and executive privilege, withholding information from the public.
There are, however, constraints on presidential power. Separation of powers provides checks and balances to make sure no one side of government has too much power. Other such powers can be constrained and limited, but otherwise, there are points of power that are undefined for the purpose to do things that don’t exactly follow the guide given by the second Article.
Ramifications of the Trump Campaign
There is no doubt I have that everyone has seen the catchphrase “Make America Great Again” in the past year. On hats and shirts, banners and TV screens everywhere, this phrase has been ingrained in our culture for Donald Trump’s campaign.
While it may come as a surprise to many, most will not be shocked that this phrase was coined originally by Ronald Reagan in 1980 and again in 1992 by Bill Clinton. The idea behind this slogan is, as a reactionary would back, the idea of bringing America to its former self, “cutting the crap” about international trade, bringing back the oil industry while neglecting climate change, and, in a rather broad way, neglect any sort of change to the country. This is by no means a criticism of the campaign, as many would immediately write off these points as being “derogatory” and “incorrect,” while it is just stating the ideas that the campaign is fully behind.
Taking a look at the Trump-Pence website and exploring the entirety of the policies, this is indeed true. For instance, checking each of the policies only provide a dozen sentences that explain a “vision,” rather than a plan. It is possible to search a little further into each of the subjects with short proposals and some information on actual plans. For instance, the proposal “Fact Sheet” for his new child care plan states one proposal as “The Trump plan will rewrite the tax code to allow working parents to deduct from their income taxes child care expenses for up to four children and elderly dependents” with the plan being “[The] plan will ensure stay-at-home parents will receive the same tax deduction as working parents, offering compensation for the job they’re already doing, and allowing them to choose the child care scenario that’s in their best interest.” By no means do all of the issues/policies on the policy page provide the public with a concrete plan; the policies page only offers a “slice” of what is really going to happen. It’s evident that there is a lot of “fluff” on these subjects and there is very little detail in these “plans.” I put quotes around them as they are truly only visions implemented by his political stance.
It’s difficult for anyone to say that they’re all for everything that one candidate believes, but it’s even more difficult for anyone informed enough to be for a candidate that has impacted many different groups in negative ways.
It’s one thing for a candidate to be against immigration and illegal aliens, but it is a whole new ballpark for one to discriminate against every single minority group.
First, one must point out the obvious part of the Trump campaign: he is not the candidate that the American public believes he is. Whether it be that one thinks he wants to murder an entire minority group or that he absolutely loves LGBT people, there are many points of miscommunication. Labels from both sides of the conflict of Trump’s racism, misogyny, sexism, islamophobia and homophobia identify “all Trump supporters” as these and people not in favor of him as angels. So, let this help debunk part of the issue.
Donald Trump is a Racist.
With the help of the subreddit /r/EnoughTrumpSpam (ideally created as being “fed up” with Trump spam and focusing on getting down to the real issues), many users of the subreddit helped compile a “Final Response” thread, by which I owe all of this information to. Let the following cases just be a doorway to seeing this issue for what it is. This thread was created by user TomatoHere.
1. While first stating, in 1973, “We never have discriminated, and we never would,” upon the subject of Trump being accused of “Antiblack Bias” in the business of renting, while the problem persisted with Trump Management continuing to discriminate against blacks by telling them that apartments were not available. This continued for three years after the Justice Department ruling.
2. From Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino President quotes Trump as saying “I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day…I think the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It’s not anything they can control.”
3. The KKK endorses Trump and refused to disavow their support.
4. Trump chose a famed white supremacist leader as a delegate for California.
5. Trump refuses to condemn violence against minorities committed by his supporters, and notes “I give him credit for having spirit.”
6. Trump defends the men who brutally beat and urinated on a Hispanic homeless man all the while yelling Pro-Trump Slogans, notes them as “passionate.”
7. Trump notes all Mexicans coming in from Mexico as “bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
8. Trump believes in racially profiling people to “prevent criminality,” while many recent shootings are done by “white terrorists.”
9. Trump has a full page ad promoting the execution of a group of Latino and Black children, who are actually innocent.
10. Trump was fined $200,000 in 1992 for not allowing blacks or women onto his casino floor while a racist Mafia leader was gambling.
While there are more on this topic, it would be cherry picking certain events and times he spoke in racist tones and manners, so it’s unnecessary at the moment. While on this subject, I shall bring up the labeling of all Trump supporters being racist, sexist, etc.
1. 60% Support banning Muslims from entering the US.
2. 50% Support the Confederate flag hanging on capitol grounds (as a sign of racism).
3. 30% Wish to shut down all mosques in the US.
4. 30% Wish the South won the Civil War (as a way to continue slavery).
5. 25% Believe the practice of Islam should be illegal.
6. 25% Support Japanese Internment.
7. 20% Support banning homosexuals from entering the US.
8. 10% Say whites are a superior race (11% aren’t sure one way or another).
9. 15% disapprove of slavery being abolished (20% aren’t sure one way or another).
10. 50% support the use of torture on foreign enemy combatants (25% aren’t sure one way or another).
11. 80% don’t have a problem with racist comments.
12. 20% believe freeing the slaves was a bad idea.
13. 64% believe Muslims should be “subject to more scrutiny.”
14. Trump supporters are more likely to have negative feelings towards feminists, Muslims, Latinos, Gays and Lesbians and Transgender people. They also have far warmer feelings towards whites.
On this idea, not all Trump supporters should be labeled as racists, though there is a significant number of people that are in favor of such acts of racism. This should not be passed off as a light subject. Racism has many parts of the world divided by race because of this simple idea that others don’t deserve to be treated as equals.
But, in addition to this, I believe that it wouldn’t be fair to let the rhetoric of Trump’s off the case. With each of the policies he backs, the most popular go-to statement is something along the lines of “everyone knows x about me.” It should not be let off the hook, and in this article, there will be a section on how one should believe this sentiment by the support of others.
1. Trump kept books of Hitler Speeches by his bed.
2. The KKK endorses Trump (I put this twice to assure that this is important).
3. Trump retweets a message from Pro-Hitler white genocide conspiracy Twitter account.
4. 62% of the people Trump retweeted on the week of January 19th, 2016 were white supremacist accounts.
5. Six former contestants of The Apprentice blast Trump as a racist and sexist.
6. Trump’s spokesman, Katrina Pierson, criticized Obama for being a “negro” and not “pure-bred.”
7. Anne Frank’s relatives think that Trump is “acting like Hitler.”
Donald Trump is Sexist.
As the evidence for more than just being racist came so did the “megathreads” of final responses. The next one, done by user marisam7, focuses on the subject of sexism.
1. Journalist claims Trump sexually harassed her after an interview.
2. Trump claims all women are bimbos and gold diggers.
3. “I would never buy Ivana any decent jewels or pictures. Why give her negotiable assets?”
4. From Trump 101: “Beauty and elegance, whether in a woman, a building or a work of art, is not just superficial or something pretty to see.”
5. “26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together,” asks Trump on Twitter, assuming he believes sexual assault in the military is expected.
6. “Victories by the women on ‘The Apprentice’ were, to a very large extent, dependent on their sex appeal.”
7. “You know, it doesn’t really matter what [the media] write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
8. Trump refuses to hire mothers because “She’s not giving me 100%. She’s giving me 84% and 16% is going towards taking care of children.”
9. Trump argues rapist should pay victim rather than face jail time.
10. Woman claims Trump tried to rape her and told her he wanted to “make her his sex slave.” Afterward, he goes on to ruin her and her husband financially.
11. Trump defends CEO of Fox News after multiple accusations of sexual harassment.
12. Trump makes sexist comments about Hillary Clinton, Megyn Kelly and Rosia O’Donnell.
13. Trump tweets for people to check out the sex tape of a former Miss 14. Universe contestant that he was previously accused of making racist comments against.
15. “Grab them by the p*ssy, you can do anything.”
In addition to this, there are many cases against Trump for sexual harassment.
1. Former Trump employee describes Trump committing workplace sexual misconduct.
2. A female employee frequently mentioned in speeches by Trump as proof of him not being a sexist blasts him as being a sexist.
3. Over 50 Trump models describe his mistrust of women, his numerous affairs and habit of forcing himself onto women half his age.
4. Women on the Trump campaign file complaints against Trump for sexual harassment or sexual discrimination.
5. Pageant Contestants claims Trump sexually assaulted her.
6. Ex-wife accuses Trump of rape.
7. Dozens of women who worked under Trump claim sexual harassment.
It would be wrong to pass any of these acts of harassment off as just “something he does” or “something that just happens,” as many of these are illegal and can be used for impeaching him as president. While there were no statistics on supporters on this topic, the topic above provides some insight on the support of sexism.
Donald Trump is a Homophobe.
On the last topic of easy discrimination, there is much less evidence of this case, but the facts are still there and still very serious for people belonging to any part of the LGBTQ label. Thanks to user iamdigidude for the “megathread.”
1. Pence signed a bill letting business owners openly discriminate against LGBTQ people.
2. Trump dodges the question about whether he believes that LGBTQ people should be fired from their jobs because of who they are every time it comes up.
3. Pence also has an extensive history of opposing gay rights.
4. “America is going to hell” because the NFL defended an openly gay player.
While it may not be as extensive as the other topics, it is still important to recognize the opposition held by Trump on the subject.
Donald Trump is a Fascist.
It may seem new to some people that the President-elect has said some very, very serious things that can be identified as fascist because of the nature of the statements and the ability to do them being blindly supported by people across the nation. Thanks to user marisam7 once again for the “megathread” on how Trump is a fascist.
1. Trump openly calls for the US to commit war crimes and advocates for the murder of innocent women and children, and states “They’re not going to refuse me. If I say do it, they’re going to do it” after veterans speak out against not doing so even when ordered to.
2. Trump openly supports torture.
3. Trump threatens to shoot down Russian planes starting a war with Russia and says he would shoot Iranian ships out of the water starting a war with Iran.
4. Trump calls for a global nuclear rearmament and “won’t rule out” using nuclear weapons in Europe.
5. Trump says he would declare a World War as President.
6. Trump’s solution for high gas prices is to violate The Geneva Convention by invading several of America’s allies in the Middle East and Africa unprovoked to forcibly seize the oil fields for himself. He later states “We’re not stealing anything. We’re taking.” In addition, he runs a TV ad promising to seize foreign oil fields.
7. Trump wants to invade Syria with 30,000 soldiers.
8. Trump would like an alternative to lethal injection, as he believes it’s too comfortable.
9. Again, Anne Frank’s sister says Trump reminds her of Hitler.
10. North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Un, Imam of Islamic Terrorist group Omar Mateen, Convicted Neo-Nazi Terrorist Don Black, The Chinese Communist Party, Serbian War Criminal Vojislav Seselj, Greek Neo-Nazi leader Ilias Panagiotaros, White supremacist cult leader August Kreis III, Russian Fascist Aleksander Dugin and Russian Leader Vladimir Putin all endorse Trump.
11. Trump gives press credentials to Holocaust-denying radio show.
12. Legal Experts find dozens of Trump policy propositions that would violate the constitution. In order for Trump to fully follow through with all his plans, he would need to violate the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment, the entire Bill of Rights, due process, equal protection and the doctrine of enumerated and limited executive powers.
13. Trump pledges to open up Libel Laws on Newspapers in order to curb Freedom of the Press.
14. Trump promises to violate freedom of religion and speech to force retail workers to say Merry Christmas again.
15. Trump argues for the repeal of the Fourteenth Amendment, ultimately allowing for the creation of a government similar to a totalitarian police state.
16. Top Trump ally threatens GOP delegates who won’t vote for Trump to be executed for treason.
17. The subreddit /r/The_Donald calls for an armed march on Washington if Trump is not elected.
18. Senior Trump Campaign staffer calls for police to make black community leader and political opponent “disappear,” similar to the disappearance of the press against Stalin and Mussolini, historical fascists.
19. Trump refuses to condemn violence committed by his supporters.
20. Trump files DMCA notices to get “micropenis” painting taken off the internet.
21. Trump encourages his supporters to use violence on many different occasions.
22. Trump tells a crowd he would love to punch protesters.
23. Trump may pay legal fees for supporters arrested for assault.
24. Trump claims pictures of woman savagely beaten was a Trump supporter assaulted by democrats until image revealed to have been a hoax showing actress Samara Weaving on the set of a Television show.
25. Trump bodyguard throws veteran White House photographer to the ground and chokes him.
26. Trump security refuses to allow black Muslim woman into event despite her having bought a ticket and being a Trump supporter. Yet let white anti-Trump protesters into said event. When confronted by the racism security guard says “If I’m told by Trump’s campaign that some people can’t come in, they can’t come in.”
27. Trump brags he could murder someone and still not lose support.
28. Trump holds an event and kicks only black Republican official out of the even with no explanation.
29. Trump has dozens of black supporters ejected from his rally for no apparent reason.
30. Trump calls for the execution of children.
31. Trump considers a plan to replace all Muslim TSA agents.
32. Trump wants to appoint his sister as the next Supreme Court Justice and brings in almost entire family to support in the cabinet.
33. Trump dodged the draft five different times.
34. Trump campaign blindly supports false “send in your vote through phone” for Hillary as a case of voter fraud.
To also add onto what is already listed, supporters have been at fault as well for partaking in such behaviors.
1. Trump supporter arrested building pipe bombs to target Muslims.
2. Trump supporting ex-cop calls for “lone-wolf patriots” to murder blacks at The GOP convention.
3. Trump supporter yells pro-Trump slogan before open firing and murdering six people.
4. Trump supporters chant at a rally for Hillary to be lynched.
5. Trump supporters shout racist, sexist and homophobic chants at rallies, and supporters try to ruin the life of the journalist reporting the story.
6. Trump supporters send sexist and anti-semitic death threats to a journalist.
7. Trump supporter physically attacks minorities at a gas station.
8. Trump supporters send death threats to “micropenis” artist, and others track down previously mentioned artist through home address and brutally assault her.
9. Trump supporters shout N-word while they beat African American man so badly he’s hospitalized for a concussion.
10. Trump supporter mob brutally attacks a meditating man for having a sign saying “America is already great.”
11. Trump supporters call for black man to be lynched and set on fire while shouting “Sieg Heil!” at Trump rally.
12. Trump supporter laughs while attacking peaceful protesters and reporters with pepper spray.
13. Trump supporters start physical altercations and spits on Latino after being “revved up” during a rally.
14. Trump supporter beat and kicked protester charged with assault.
15. Trump supporter pepper sprays a 15-year-old girl point-blank in the face after she was sexually assaulted by another Trump supporter, shouting “n***** lover” as she attempted to run away.
16. Trump supporters attempt to provoke violence telling Jews to “go back to f*cking Auschwitz” and accosting black woman screaming in her face “go back to Africa.”
17. Trump supporter who sucker punched protester states “Next time, we might have to kill them.”
To any normal human being, reading both of the above lists can be rather terrifying. To any human being period, the above lists should be enough to bring upset to the public. This is exactly what the Trump campaign has been: altogether racist, sexist, homophobic, islamophobic and fascist. With that out of the way, let’s discuss the election results.
Election Results
To the surprise of the actual majority, it’s a shocker that America will be appointing another “thief” on the basis of losing the majority vote but winning the electoral vote (his previous opposition to the Electoral College makes it even more interesting). With the immediate news of this, a petition was made to get the attention of the Electors of the Electoral College, and push for them to rethink their vote. It is possible for this to occur, as they can with little to oppose besides a small fine, to which “Clinton supporters will be glad to pay.” This petition easily reached almost 4.5 million supporters in the matter of just a week. This can be able to switch the vote back into a Clinton majority or choose another candidate with the idea of “Unfaithful Electors” behind it. While the goal may seem unrealistic, it is a very real possibility that an elector may change their vote, if enough attention is brought to the petition.
What does not come as a surprise is the sudden uprising of peaceful protests, emergency campaigns to save the planet from disastrous climate change, and other such statements from Sanders and other political figures.
It would come as a surprise to none that a nation such as Germany would state “Go ahead, vote for the guy with the loud voice who hates minorities, threatens to imprison his opponents, doesn’t give a fuck about democracy, and claims he alone can fix everything. What could possibly go wrong?”
It surprised little to see such posts at the top of social media that says “Trump is the baby boomers last ‘fuck you’ to society on their way out.” From the beginning of the campaign, we decided to run with a person that says “politicians are all talk, no action” and he lives up to the challenge not even a week after, saying that such policies he has boasted about may not happen or will probably not be passed because of the current state of who is in favour of such acts. The entire campaign reeked with hypocrisy from talking about how he “loves black people” with a history of discriminating against them, saying how much he respects women with over a dozen charges of sexual harassment filed by women, from talking about how much Obama’s federal funding plans were so overboard when his will be ten times worse than the accused president. There haven’t been many issues that have had such hypocritical opposites from when it occurs to when he’s confronted, even including calling for an armed protest of the election of Obama and complaining that it’s unfair that people treat his election badly.
As Clinton’s opposition, Sanders came out on the ninth to say to the country “Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, politics, and media…To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him. To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him.” The country can now only hope that the presidency will offer only good to the American public and will protect every person in the country.
Too Many Promises to Keep
As many Trump supporters sit at home and bask in this glorious victory to “Make America Great Again,” there are many points that must be made about a Trump presidency that will disrupt many of these people. Whether or not one voted for Trump as a means to be “anti-establishment” or against people already appointed to such positions, those voters have already been “conned” as he appoints corporate consultants and lobbyists to his transition team. To the people that voted for him to repeal Obamacare and the abomination they believe it is, he states “Either Obamacare will be amended, or repealed and replaced. I told [Obama] I will look at his suggestions, and out of respect, I will do that” after the meeting with President Obama.
To the people that voted for him in spite of Hillary and her email scandal, Mike Pence is now fighting to keep his emails away from public view. To the people that supported him because they didn’t want a “puppet” of another country running for office, it came out on the tenth that Russian government officials conferred with members of his campaign team. To the people that voted for him in favor of destroying the legalization of gay marriage, he states that it is “irrelevant because it was already settled.” To the people that voted for him because they wanted someone that has read the constitution, headlines such as Business Insider’s “Trump was unfamiliar with the scope of the president’s job” pop up after his meeting with Obama. To the voters that wanted a clean presidency, we elected someone that is delaying a trial until after swearing-in. To the voters that genuinely don’t believe in climate change and want to continue gas guzzling and fracking, children just sued the Federal Government for climate action. And won. To the voters that just said “well, we don’t have anyone better to vote for,” Donald Trump’s victory could mean disaster for the planet in terms of climate change and markets plummeted instantly. To the voters that oppose any sort of free trade with other countries, Britain may soon join as a member of the North American Free Trade area. To the voters that wanted to get rid of all the immigrants, LA Police Department came out and stated they won’t help deport immigrants.
It seems as if almost every demographic is being conned out of their vote in this election. That’s because every demographic is indeed being conned out of their vote in this election.
It is important to acknowledge that we have just elected Donald J Trump. While you can try to deny it with the petition mentioned earlier and continue to protest, it would be rather difficult to get the cooperation of the Electors on this topic. No such movements like Black Lives Matter, the fight for LGBTQ rights and others should be suddenly halted because of the fear brought from this election. If anything, this result should feed into more grassroots and national movements, spark new ideas for protecting minorities and their rights as human beings created equally. There are so many people fearing for their lives just because of their religion, race, and sexuality. There are so many people being harassed for being themselves. As a teen that grew up with the idea of diversity being celebrated, it’s hard to live in a country that has now endorsed a talking head that has separated more people than ever in the history of this country. Let this election be the start of a new found respect for all human beings. Let this election be the start of a new environment that does not have to have people fear for their lives of harassment and assault. Let this be a new start of bringing respect to being considered an American.
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