It’s now eleven days post-election and I am still stewing about the result. I remember when Al Gore was robbed of the election in 2000 and I don’t remember feeling anywhere near this mad. My stomach is churning quite as much but it is still churning. Part of me is so glad I am not there but I think if I were there I might feel more equipped to take an active part in things.

Fortunately there’s not nearly as much garbage being posted as there was. But there are still jabs at Obama, which aren’t in the least bit warranted. I don’t get the hatred. I like Obama and always have. He has been somewhat disappointing in some areas but as presidents go he’s been decent and he’s a class act.

An interesting point is that I didn’t really care for Hilary Clinton all that much in the early days of campaigning. I leant towards Bernie Sanders back then although I wasn’t sure he was capable of winning against anyone from the Republican party. It’s hard to know how he really would have done but I honestly doubt he’d have beaten Trump either. After all, he’s a socialist and many of those same people voting for Trump hate socialism at all levels. Later on in the campaign I started considering Clinton more seriously. I think she had the experience and power to get things done in ways that Sanders possibly wouldn’t have. Towards the end of the election season, my feelings towards her were more positive than ever. I think what got to me was the way she held herself against all that on-going antagonism. It reminded me of when Julia Gillard was prime minister and receiving similar treatment although not on anywhere the same scale as has been levelled at Clinton. Hillary stood head and shoulders above the opponent right to the end. My respect for her has grown considerably.

It would have been really cool for there to be a female president. That doesn’t mean I was ever going to vote for her just to have a woman in office though. In the end there just was no competition to beat her.

Meanwhile, I look at my Facebook feed and I see the hatred is alive and well towards Obama. I had to look beyond my filters to see that but it was there. My cousin (who isn’t gullible like so many in my family) posted a story about Trump claiming Ford jobs stayed in the US because of him. Or something along those lines. The comments on that article proved to me that people are happy to believe anything that agrees with their view, regardless of facts. Also that two people can read a news story and come away with totally different information. I don’t get how that can be so different.

Although I don’t want to continue having the churning stomach I don’t want that anger to go away because I want to have that motivation to fight back in any way I can. Even though I live in Australia, the United States is my home and I am worried that it will turn into a place I can’t return.