Last night, I read President Donald Trump’s plan for his first 100 days. If you have not read it, you should. You REALLY should. Do you live in a sanctuary city? I bet you do, most of you. Get ready to feel the pain, both moral and economic. Plus a million other devastating issues.
To those who supported Clinton:
I’m hereby burying the hatchet I’ve had out for you. I was and am a major Bernie supporter. I shut my mouth for the entire general election trying not to contribute to this outcome. Over the last few days, the pressure that built for months of keeping quiet blew out, and I have argued angrily that her nomination was a bad strategic decision. I’ve offended quite a number of good people who were on the other side. I still feel justified in my conclusions, but I am forced to recognize that the ship has sailed. I also must recognize that you are my allies. You hold the same values I do: equality, inclusion, fairness. You made a different strategic choice months ago, but it was out of the goodness of your hearts.
I also must see that the pain you are feeling is worse than mine right now. I was not invested emotionally in Clinton. My heart was broken way back when Sanders conceded. I’ve had months to recover already. I prayed for Clinton’s victory on Tuesday, but only for policy reasons. Losing all those policies has been enough to crush me. I can only try to empathize for those of you who also truly love Hillary, which is a perfectly fine thing to do. I can’t even begin to really comprehend the pain of those who are in the cross hairs of this devolution: for I am a white male, shielded from the very worst by random fortune of birth.
So, to those I have fought too hard since Tuesday, I apologize. I’m burying the hatchet, and moving on to the battle ahead. I still hope the lessons I’m seeing are internalized by all my allies, but that acceptance will not be won with angry words between us today. Time and perspective are needed, both for you and I.
As I contemplate the worst possible positions we’ll be in 2 years from now, those lessons I’ve been trying to teach may not even matter. I want to reform the DNC! Great, will there even be a functioning DNC to reform in two years? Not if we spend the next 2 years arguing.
I’m not sure what else to say, other than I’d like to start by rallying around what values we are fighting for. As I said above: equality, inclusion, fairness. Feel free to add your own. We’ve spent a lot of time screaming about what to fight against. Keeping an eye on what we fight for may help us bind our wounds and bridge differences.