The long-awaited election day has passed. Donald Trump has been elected president. It was one of the most contentious elections ever, and the outcome was truly unexpected by many people. It is clear that there is a huge divide in America right now, and I understand why. There may never have been two more different candidates. But now, the time has come to focus on resolving our differences as a country, and I am worried that won't happen.
It is no secret that I am a Republican and a Trump supporter. If you'd like to read more about why, you can read one of my previous blog entries here. Despite the fact that the candidate I voted for won, the election was completely exhausting to me. I have spent the last year or so being degraded by a lot of people I've spoken to about politics because of my views. What's more, I've seen this kind of degradation happening everywhere, both to Republicans and to Democrats. And now, I'm saying that it needs to stop for the good of this country.
Democrats of all walks of life have taken to the Internet to express their disapproval of the results. I get it, major changes in life require some processing, especially if one considers those changes negative. But some of the specific examples I've seen, particularly from news outlets, have been downright shocking.
This election season was really focused on Trump's character, saying that he was rude and offensive. I agree that he said some things that he probably shouldn't have. I agree that being polite is important. But somehow, I've seen so many anti-Trump writers say things post-election that are just plain rude and hurtful.
Probably the worst article I've seen is from The Washington Post. The article blatantly called those who voted for Trump white trash, saying that those people only want to "jump in the RV with a couple of six-packs and go out and shoot some spotted owls." Seriously? This is what our nation's journalists are doing right now? Especially coming from someone who claims that he belongs to the group of Americans who are "librarians, children's authors, yoga practitioners, Unitarians, bird-watchers, people who make their own pasta, opera-goers, the grammar police, people who keep books on their shelves, the bunch," this article is appalling.
Not to even get into the hypocrisy and closed-mindedness of this article, about which I could write an entire separate blog, there is a different issue with it that I want to address. Trump won. There is no changing that. And no, all Democrats can't move to Canada. So we need to stop all of this hate and resolve our differences so we can move on as a nation.
I am ready to stop fighting. I'm tired of the divide in this country. I am a politics major and a journalism major, and for the most part what I am seeing is absolutely astounding. We need to get it together. First of all, Americans voted Republican in this election, not only for president but for Congress. The whole point of democracy is for people to choose the leaders who will benefit the majority of citizens. So now that the people have spoken, Democrats can't continue to say that the election didn't speak for real Americans. It did; real Americans are the ones who made it happen.
Second of all, the media needs to stop deepening the divide. Journalists need to either express their feelings without name-calling and condescending language, or to remain objective with their stories. I understand that it is their right to say whatever they want, and of course I can't stop anybody from writing anything. But I do want to make the point that if we want to live in a peaceful nation, the hate speech has got to stop.
America is far from a perfect nation. The election was far from perfect in a lot of ways. But the results don't lie: Americans chose Donald Trump to be president. Now the important thing for people of all political views, races, religions, genders, and socioeconomic statuses is to come together and work through our differences like civilized people. We will have to compromise, like we always have, on some things. But the truth is that we can find a way to unite as a country and make the most of the next four years, come what may. And I believe that what will come will be far less devastating than everyone predicts right now.
