I'm Proud To Be An American

This election cycle has been a crazy one for everyone. The two major political parties nominated two of the most hated candidates we have ever had. Voters felt as if they had to choose between the lesser of two evils. A minority of people actually voted for a candidate. Rather, voters were voting against a candidate. Trump has said horrible things about specific groups of individuals. Clinton is a threat to our national security and the only reason the FBI cleared her is because she is Hillary Clinton. Both candidates are unqualified to be our President, but we knew as a nation that we would be stuck with one of these two choices running our country for at least four years.

The problem with this election is that the arguments seemed to be fiscal versus social issues. I agreed with Clinton on her social issues. The problem with Clinton, in my opinion, is that she is a threat to our national security. Many people believe they were “just emails,” but to me, our nation would be in danger. This was a crime. Hillary Clinton committed a crime. Yes, the FBI may have cleared her, but that is because of her name, her power, and her status. Foreign policy is a more important issue to me at this point in history. When you have friends or family who join the military, you, too, will realize how important foreign policy can become to somebody. It would be nice to have a female President one day, but Hillary Clinton is not that woman and I refused to vote for somebody just because she is the same gender as me. That is not feminism.

Trump was not my favorite candidate. To be honest, I voted third-party. I know I’m the stupid one in this election, right? I let Trump win! If I did not have the opportunity to vote third-party, which thankfully I did because America offers me that opportunity, my vote would have gone to Trump. Hillary supporters are saying hurtful things towards third-party voters assuming that our votes would have gone to Hillary, but mine would not have. I know plenty of other people who voted for Johnson and if they were truly forced to pick between the Republican and Democratic candidates, they would have chosen Donald Trump.

I did not like the way Trump spoke about minorities and women. I am a woman and I would like to have a say about what happens to my own body. I am an avid fan of Planned Parenthood and I am pro-choice. In the past eight years, as much as I disliked Obama’s plans, we made many advances regarding social issues in today’s society. I think legal immigration is what our country needs. America was founded on immigrants. But when I think about what is important to me at this point in time, it is our foreign policy and our economy. I would like to have a job when I leave college. Now, Putin wants to restore U.S. and Russian ties. I’m not saying this is necessarily a good thing, but at least they do not want to start a war with us.

My problem with this election is the outcome. Yes, Clinton may have won the popular vote by a very small margin, but the system allowed Trump to win and I am not disappointed with this. If the situation was the other way around and Trump had won the popular vote but Clinton won the electoral votes, liberals would say we were crazy for trying to abolish the Electoral College system because we didn’t get our way. The Electoral College is outdated and needs to be revised, but it needs to exist in our country. The Founding Fathers put this system in place because they were scared of who the people would choose and they have every right to be, just like we have every right to be. Stupid people are allowed to vote. In a country where eleven-thousand wrote in “Harambe” as a candidate, we need the Electoral College. Everyone has the right to be upset. You have the right to protest. It is your right. America has given you this right. You do NOT have the right to riot. A peaceful protest is your right but you do not have the right to riot and destroy our country.

Trump has not even stepped into office yet. Nobody has given him a chance to prove himself as our President. Everyone who has been preaching “Love Trumps Hate” has been destroying our country and dividing us even more. Because I supported Trump in the end, I am a racist and homophobic bigot who hates women (even though I am one). People want to judge me based on who I didn’t even vote for, but supported in the end. I have lost friends because apparently the person I had been for so many years has automatically changed because of the election. My personality has not changed. What I want to fight for has not changed. I was forced to choose between the lesser of two evils.

We should be coming together as a nation at this time and trying to work together to solve our problems. That is what Trump wants. And yes, I know the House and the Senate is majority Republicans right now as well, but I do not think they will ruin our country. A lot of Republicans, like myself and my family, did not agree with what Trump said. We are more moderate. I do think some Republicans will try and fight Trump on issues if they are way too extreme.

I am disgusted with the way our country is acting right now. You have the right to protest, but you have not even given this man a chance yet. Everyone is saying, “He is not my President,” but if I had said that when Obama was elected into office for the first time eight years ago then I would be a horrible person, right? I disagreed with a lot of policies Obama wanted to and has put into action, but I wouldn’t be allowed to say, “He’s not my President.”

In the end, I think everyone needs to give this man a chance. I would have given Hillary a chance. You have the right to be upset and scared because in some ways, I am too. But I believe that everything happens for a reason, so I am staying optimistic. I would have woken up proud to be an American on Wednesday morning no matter what the outcome of the election happened to be. I appreciate our democracy and I love my country. Please give this man a chance because I would have given your woman a chance.