Was It Hate Or Stupidity That Elected Donald Trump ?

Donald Trump is now the president-elect of the United States,
and next January he will be sworn in as the 45th president.

I'll be honest. He scares the hell out of me. I think he will divide the country, appoint a reactionary to the Supreme Court, and aid the Republican Congress in their effort to give more to the rich and trash our economy. In short, we are in for a terrible few years.

Democratic leaders are saying we now owe Trump the opportunity to have a successful presidency. I can't agree. I think we owe him no more of an opportunity than he gave to President Obama (with his incessant and disingenuous birtherism).

Today, I am left wondering how this dangerous liar, xenophobe, misogynist, racist, bigot got elected. We can't blame minorities. They saw him for the person that he is, and they voted overwhelmingly against him. No, the blame rests entirely on whites, who voted for him in a large majority.

Did they like the racism and bigotry they saw in his campaign? That was what appealed to his supporters in the primaries, and got him the GOP nomination. Or was it that whites are still stupidly believing in the failed GOP "trickle-down" theory of economics (which Trump ascribes to) -- the belief that if we just keep giving more to the rich and the corporations they will eventually share it with the rest of America.

"Trickle-down" has been an abysmal failure, and caused both the Great Depression and the Great Recession (i.e., the Bush recession). Pundits are saying that white workers are unhappy that they have not been included in the recovery from the Great Recession. That is true, but it is stupid to believe that more of what caused their problems will cure those problems.

So, was it the love of Trump's hate, or the stupidity of believing in his failed economic policy that caused so many whites to vote for him? I believe it was a mixture of the two. Those who loved his divisive hate decided that they can accept his ridiculous economic policy, and those stupid enough to believe in the economic policy decided they could go along with the bigotry.

Right now, I see only one ray of hope in this whole dismal outcome -- that whites will be a minority in the U.S. in a few more decades, and will no longer be able to impose this kind of bigotry and stupid economic policy on the rest of the country.

(The image above left is from onsizzle.com, and the image above right is from donkeydrops.com.)