I’m just going to cut and paste John Stewart’s remarks here, first because I try not to use language like this, e—n with silly bl—ks! And second is that I would really like Democrats to pay attention to it. And that’s more likely to happen if I’m not writing it.
There may be a few Democrats (even some of the most vociferous – if not vicious – voices) who are exhibiting a scrap of objectivity and, dare I say, fairness. Not many and not much, mind you, but I was interested to read the following in the New York Post.
Jon Stewart admitted Friday that liberals are shocked that President-elect Donald Trump so easily won re-election fair and square, saying bluntly, “F—k us, f—k me — I was wrong.”
On his podcast “The Weekly Show,” the seasoned political comic said the most shocking thing about Trump’s spectacular comeback victory is that he achieved it through a legal democratic process.
“I feel like we were prepared for all scenarios and in each one of those scenarios it was, how is Donald Trump going to finagle his way back into the [White House]? How is he going to use undemocratic principles?” Stewart said in the episode, which aired Friday.
“What measure of intimidation and underhanded [shenanigans] will this man use to worm his way back into the Oval Office?” he asked of conspiracies soon proven wildly unfounded.
“And it turned out, he used our electoral system as it is designed. And in that moment, I thought, well, f—k. I’m not sure we have a team of lawyers for that,” he quipped with a glum inflection.
So, if John Stewart (altho’ he does enjoy about twice the IQ as the typical talking head) can bring himself to make a non-hysterical, cogent observation about a pretty standard American election, I’m hopeful other Democrats may be sitting back and doing the same. It was an election, not a military coup, for God’s sake!
Honestly, I’ve seen only small glimpses of big-name Democrat introspection since Tuesday. Stewart, Philippe Reines and Van Jones are about it. And I am loathe to say that the old saw about women being prone to hysterics sure looks more accurate than not right now. I’ve seen women refuse to acknowledge the obvious; chop their hair off; threaten to shoot any man they run into; swear they’re leaving the country.
When either side doesn’t win an election, that side needs to take an honest look at why, or they may never win an election again! I have had to do that way too many times in my life . . . the year 2020 comes to mind. It isn’t fun, but it’s not only what moves things forward, it’s the only thing that might keep mistakes from being repeated.
Americans take choosing our leaders very seriously, as we should. But in recent years, we have also taken it personally. It isn’t. We don’t have to wage war on the neighbor that votes differently than we do. They aren’t doing that to punish you. They aren’t evil. They aren’t Nazis. They just have a different political philosophy. That’s it!
And if I’m your Republican neighbor, you’re still invited to the bar-be-cue. I’m afraid I may have to hit my knees to be invited to my Democrat neighbor’s backyard!
The 2024 election isn’t different than our first election in 1788. Well, that’s not exactly true; George Washington was elected unanimously. But all of our elections are alike in that Americans raise their hands and vote for someone! Some elections are more hard-fought than others. But they all end the same. Someone wins and someone loses.
And in America, everyone lives to fight another day.
