We’re getting a lot of that “look what you made me do” rationale from Trump voters (and frankly quite a few Democrats as well.) If only liberals (aka “vermin”, “scum”, garbage” “low IQ”) didn’t look down on the Real Americans none of this wouldn’t have happened. In fact, I think it’s clear that if only Democrats would just agree with everything Republicans say and do, none of this would have happened.
This is entirely predictable. It’s happened after every Republican win in my lifetime. Interestingly, no navel gazing ever occurs after Democratic victories. Even when they try, as they did after 2012, nobody paid any attention and the press shrugged.
I find that it’s best to just let this work itself out. There are always lessons to be learned but we generally end up more or less back in the same place because the divisions in our country exist regardless, even if we aren’t always as divided (and hostile) as we have been lately. It’s a fight over values, morals, philosophy and ideology and telling people not to make judgments about each other when we seeriously disagree is useless.
Having said that, it’s long been my observation that the right side of the dial really hates the left and the left mostly just doesn’t care much that they are hated. And that’s really the problem. The right consistently tries to be provocative in order to gain attention and it works sometimes but in the end the left just isn’t that interested in their bs. They probably should be but that does not translate to becoming more like them.
I’ve never understood why that’s such a common assumption. Understanding doesn’t mean capitulation. It certainly doesn’t mean agreeing with them. But for too many, that seems to be the first thought.
And then there are those who automatically think that because the country moved right, the obvious response is to go further left. But that’s a story for another post.