Love Your Neighbor! Or Not!

Well. November 8th, 2016 came and went. Some voted. Some didn’t. And the guy who may be the most hated man in America, the man who says he’s gonna “Make America Great Again,” yes, he won. I don’t care who you voted for. That’s your business. Just like my vote is my business. But we have some folks in this country who are making it clear for whom they voted. Let’s talk about celebrities.

“If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are.” -Alice Cooper

Celebrities exist to entertain. To provide enjoyment. Fun. Laughter. Maybe fear. Music. Movies. For the most part, they live in a “make believe” world. First, they portray characters that aren’t real. That don’t exist. They bring them to life. You turn on the television, push “play” on Netflix or Hulu, or pay your money at the theater. They can be turned on, and they can be turned off. Yet, somehow they believe that they should have undue influence on the rest of us. This from a group of folks who use their “paid for” entourage of “Yes” men to boost their egos. Dad would say “They’ve grown too big for their britches!” Here’s a list who literally said, “If you don’t vote for my candidate of choice, I’m leaving the country!”

Barbra Streisand, Bryan Cranston, Miley Cyrus, Lena Dunham, Amy Schumer, Jon Stewart, Cher, 

Chelsea Handler, Neve Campbell, Spike Lee, Samuel L.. Jackson, George Lopez, Raven-Symone,
Whoopi Goldberg. All promised to leave. To pack their bags and move! Some already had a place to go! 

World stop turning. What would we do if they left? Who cares! The election is over. Good or bad, Trump won! So…LEAVE ALREADY! We won't miss you! Your not solving any problems here!

You'll notice none of them are leaving or packing, and most are reneging.

We have protests going on. Some, not exactly peaceful. College students are circulating petitions to suspend their classes because they are so upset. The Yale instructor for Econ 115 made the class mid-term optional. Students called for cancellations of classes and other exams. Wait. Aren’t colleges supposed to teach? Instruct? Build leaders? Build character? This will build, well, something President-elect Trump would grab hold of...GROW UP. BE ADULTS. Your great grandparents were fighting a war at your age. As were your grandparents. And maybe your parents. THEY should have been upset!

Portland, Oregon students prepare to protest President-elect Donald Trump. Does their sign promote anarchy?

The Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks will no longer stay at Trump Hotels. NBA player LeBron James says he won’t visit the White House (as he has recently done) if he wins another NBA title. Jalen Rose says the same thing. They’ve got the cart before the horse. First, they have to win. Then they can worry about where to visit.

Barbra Streisand has set up a petition to get the electoral college vote tossed out. Or allow electors to just vote the way they want to. Here’s another example of a “celebrity” trying to get her way. Acting like she has a “phone and a pen.” Trying to use her own “Executive Privilege.” Babs, it don’t work that way. There are laws. And thankfully, these laws protect society from people who want to complain and use their celebrity to get their way. BTW, do a little research and actually understand the electoral college. Having one of the greatest voices ever does not excuse ignorance. And this isn't the first election where you've been found whining.

Now we have Sophie Theallet trying to grab fame and time in the spotlight. She’s been providing First Lady Michelle Obama with clothes for the past 8 years. She’s become the first designer to step up and say she WON’T provide anything for upcoming First Lady Melania Trump. Lucky Melania. And she’s getting high praise. But for some reason, I see a double standard here. Let me explain.

Theallet says, “The rhetoric of racism, sexism, and xenophobia unleashed by her husband’s presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by.” So she is refusing to make a dress or provide wardrobe for Melania Trump. Stuff that hasn't even been requested. Remember when Memories Pizza in Indiana was attacked for saying “no” when asked if they would sell pizzas IF requested by a gay couple for their wedding? And Sweet Cakes bakery in Oregon was sued and fined $135,000 for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a same sex couple.

What am I missing? It's okay to say "no" if you disagree with someone over "moral" values, but not okay to say "no" if you claim it's because of "Christian" values? Seems to me that Sophie Theallet is saying no because "I don't like or agree with you." Sounds like "You can't use my water fountain" or "You can't eat in my restaurant!" Wasn't that the argument with Sweet Cakes? Refusing to bake the cake was akin to racism? Why do we have two sets of rules in our "free" country? I get the split issues here. Somewhere a line has to be drawn. We can "hypothetical" this to death and get nowhere. Maybe we need to remember some of our instructions from early on. "Love one another!"

We really didn’t have any great choices to select from during this Presidential election. Two candidates with checkered pasts. And probably checkered futures. But that’s okay. They are “politicians.” We expect that. But why should we accept that?

With all of the hate we had before the election, it hasn't gotten any better since. Maybe it's worse. I thought that "Love Trumps Hate" was supposed to mean something. Turns out, it's just a great play on words. Appears all of those "Lovers" have mighty "Haters." And maybe that’s why Trump won. He’s not a politician. He’s a gamer who beat a politician at her own game. He strategized. He planned better. And regardless of his “shoot from the hip” style of speaking, he just drew more and more supporters.

Why is it that the woman who was supposed to be a "shoe-in" lost this election? She paid attention to the wrong "media influenced" polls? Maybe. Or maybe the DNC didn't pay attention to the crowds that Trump was drawing at his rallies. He was playing to sold out stadiums and she was hosting intimate fund raising crowds. Inspect what you expect. Or you won't know what to expect. And clearly, the DNC and Hillary didn't see this coming. 

I’m not saying the best man won, or the best woman lost. There is no doubt that we could have had better choices on both sides. You have your own beliefs for that. Regardless, it’s time that we all pull together. Work together. We have too many folks driving wedges between us. One wedge for racism. One wedge for income inequality. There are others. How can we as a country allow our only two real choices (be realistic, the other parties are doing nothing to make themselves real, viable options and the country as a whole won't choose to take a chance on them) one a millionaire and one a  billionaire, and believe that either one has anything in common with the everyday working man? Beyond the Presidential ballot, what ballot did you cast for others? Incumbents? Folks who have made politics their career? Did you vote to make a change or did you vote for the status quo?

Hillary lost for a number of reasons. You can't win a contest "knowing" you are going to win. You can't win a contest "expecting" that you are going to win. Many a Trump supporter said to me, "It'd be nice if we had a real chance..." And Hillary never came up with a campaign slogan. Nothing promoting our country. Nothing exciting. Nothing memorable. “I’m With Her” is not a slogan, it’s something you say at a restaurant when “she” is buying. But Trump? He had a slogan. Many said it was wrong, but it got the point across of how many Americans feel today. “Make America Great Again!” Make America great again is a great slogan. Why? Simple. Because this election has shown us America at it’s worst. 

I keep hearing about "less educated" voters, "uneducated" voters and "non college graduate" voters. Is something wrong with them? Those terms define a majority of the "Greatest Generation" that fought for and helped "Make America Great" in the first place. Going to college and getting a degree to does make you smarter or better than anyone else. And based on what I see today, apparently it makes you a whiny, spoiled brat who is looking for entitlements and hand outs.

One final thought about Trump's slogan. Many said "America's already great!" Well, yes. It is. Better than most. Maybe better than all. I don't know. I'm a white male who's never left the Continental 48. So, I guess that makes ME one of the "less educated." I just have one comparison. "Then" vs "Now". And that time when neighbors knew neighbors. someone pumped your gas (okay, I'm in Oregon so we still have that!!!), people held the door for women and their elders, "Yes, Sir" and "Yes, Ma'am" were common speak...maybe those times were better. Greater. Everybody is running around blaming our problems on hate and racism and sexism and, well, you pick your "ism". 

Maybe we can "Make America Great Again" by using one word. Focusing on one word. Treating each other with that one word. R-E-S-P-E-C-PT. That's what we need. Respect. 

Let's not forget how we got here.