A number of supporters of Donald Trump are noting that many
of his opponents, skewing young, have taken to the streets in major cities,
some apparently rioting. Such supporters are pooh-poohing the demonstrators,
complaining that they’re sore losers and can’t accept that he’s the
president-elect.
Why can’t they just grow up? seems to be the refrain.
Frankly, those folks don’t have the authority to tell anyone else
to grow up and accept the voters’ verdict. The last two Democratic
administrations — Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — faced unrelenting opposition from
those same folks. And I don’t mean just demonstrations, either.
During the 1992 campaign conservative activists filed suit in
Federal Court in Little Rock, Ark., to get Clinton off the ballot. Just after
he took office early the next year the bumper sticker “Don’t blame me — I voted
for [George H.W.] Bush” began appearing. Not long after that conservative media started running
smear campaigns, from “Troopergate” to Vince Foster, and he was finally
impeached on frivolous charges in 1999.
As for Obama, GOP congressmen and senators said even before the 2008 general election that they wouldn’t work with anyone who didn’t agree with them. Sen. Mitch McConnell said that they intended to make him into a “one-term president” (which had never been said before). Then you have the “birther” movement, which questioned whether he was even born in this country (and that essentially kicked off Trump’s campaign). Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin even suggested that Obama might or should be impeached.
As for Obama, GOP congressmen and senators said even before the 2008 general election that they wouldn’t work with anyone who didn’t agree with them. Sen. Mitch McConnell said that they intended to make him into a “one-term president” (which had never been said before). Then you have the “birther” movement, which questioned whether he was even born in this country (and that essentially kicked off Trump’s campaign). Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin even suggested that Obama might or should be impeached.
That being said, people are grieving not just because Hillary
Clinton lost — they are really scared, given Trump’s bullying tactics,
willingness to abuse women and open disdain for people of color and Muslims,
which was part of his appeal. Indeed, that’s part of the reason they voted for
Hillary in the first place, and dismissing that possible threat serves only to
divide further.
Bottom line, many of the people supporting Trump have been sore
losers in the past and are acting like sore winners today. As such, as far as I’m
concerned, they shouldn’t tell anyone else how to respond to defeat or victory,
as the case may be.
1 comment:
Agreed. They have no room to talk about being sore losers. But, they have the right to talk.
I don't know about the general demographic of protesters but I know that women and people of color, ethnicity, religion, etc. are scared. Maybe not all of them but those who have gotten semi-comfortable in the towns and cities of America are now suspicious of their neighbors who may have voted for Trump. These voters, the new emboldened demographic, have already begun their terror campaign against minorities in this country. Small minor incidents of intimidation are becoming a daily news item and being a white American male it makes me fear for my diverse friends. This is not the America I grew up in.
I believe the War on Christians is over and we have lost. Christians who can put their political desires over their Christian duties have lost their way. I pray that Christians find their way back.
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