I had the recent fortune of reading an opinion piece on CNN by Timothy Stanley, entitled, “Liberals, chill out about Trump victory” — and I have quite a few thoughts on it.
Mr. Stanley brings up some valid points. Donald Trump will not be the only form of government America will have, but he will be the figurehead of our country.
When people think of the United States, their first thought is not, “Oh, Congress!” or “Wow, what an amazing Supreme Court!”
Our president is at the forefront of our country, and Donald Trump isn’t what I would consider a role model.
In a country where consent is just beginning to be taught in schools, Trump has clearly voiced lewd, sexist comments on grabbing women. He is also someone who speaks with flagrant disregard to human decency, claiming women should be punished for having abortions and not to mention the time he mocked a disabled reporter on national news.
Having Trump as the figurehead for our country rightly freaks me out because I don’t want the rest of the world thinking I share the same opinions as him. More than anything this victory affirms the promotion of hatred and infringes on the rights of others.
In his article, Mr. Stanley goes on to say that a Trump presidency is nothing to mourn because “He is moderate on many areas of policy, such as gay rights and flexible on others, such as the economy.” Sure, if you want to call holding a rainbow flag up at a rally or two being moderate, go right ahead.
More than anything, what riled me is how Stanley concludes the article: “Next time the Democrats should go with their gut and nominate a real fighter.”
Interesting — is Hillary Clinton not a “real fighter?” The woman who fought her way into every office she could, the one who faced blatant sexism every day and had to push through it, the one who strove to become the perfect role model for young women everywhere so that one day they could aspire to be president as well?
There’s no question that Hillary Clinton is a fighter. With the amount of adversity that she encountered to be considered as a democratic nominee, it’s really no question.
So go ahead, Mr. Stanley. Please tell me why liberals shouldn’t be freaking out over a Trump presidency. I would love to hear why the fear my LGBT friends have is so misguided. I would love to hear why Trump could possibly be an apt figurehead for this country. I would love to hear why having a competent woman for our president is a worse option than a narcissistic man who preaches hate — because honestly, I’m still not convinced.
