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And Sweet Philemon, you'll need it with America gone mad.
Cannot exactly do more, sorry. PPC is the only web community where I'm remotely active.

Tammy Duckworth won and will be the first thai-american senator! She is also disablied with both her legs missing so ... yeah!

Kamala Harris won and is going to be the first black female senator since 1999 and became the first Indian-American and second African American female to serve in the United States Senate.

Oregon elected Kate Brown and she will be the first ever openly lgbtqa governor in us history!

Catherine Cortez Masto won and will be the first ever latina us senator!

Also this happened a while ago but Louisiana,a mostly red state,got a democratic Governor!

Not all is lost. The Popular vote was all for Hillary too. We are not a lost cause and we are not irredeemable.

We've decided to be xenophobic ourselves, so I'm sure we'll be starting on that coastal wall any day now.

On the other side, you're not brown talks funny believes crazy things dresses differently _{dangit, what's the word} the wrong sort of person, so maybe you'll get in after all.

hS

Sure, they're still United Kingdom for now, but you can hope they secede and remain inside the UE. Or maybe Ireland...

Kaitlyn said this morning that they're far more widely spaced over there than they are here. Here, you can usually find multiple per town; they're always in walking distance, and there's so many that I've never had to wait in any sort of line.

I didn't really believe her, not properly. That just sounds like an utterly appalling setup for the planet's flagship democracy. But I guess it's true.

Yuck.

hS

Now that Trump's won I'm half-reconsidering, but I've waited too long for this to happen and I'll be getting the procedure done around the time he's inaugurated, so hopefully before he can start doing damage.

*hugs*

What a time to be alive...

I'm just saying don't lump everyone who couldn't with everyone who just plan didn't.

I voted later in the day. The turnout was remarkable. According to poll workers this was the largest turn out ever in our precinct. I stayed up all night watching the election and saying "holy crap" every few minutes. I still feel like this election is unreal.

Even disregarding efforts such as in, I think, North Carolina to actively suppress the vote you !@#$ing !@#$ks...

Ahem. Not all states support early voting. In those places, if you are, say, working three jobs to support your family and can't afford to miss work to stand in line for hours, you might not have voted.

Also, if you are disabled, elderly, or otherwise unable to travel easily to your polling place, you may not have voted. Especially if you also don't have access to or just don't know about the services designed to overcome travel difficulties.

And, well, if you're underage. I imagine there are some conscientious under-eighteens who are seriously pissed about it right now.

There are reasons.

But yeah, anyone who stayed home because they were complacent, or didn't think it would matter, or just didn't give a shit? I hope you've learned your lesson, and I'll expect to see you in two years for the midterms.

~Neshomeh

Some of those are legit; some of them are frankly horrifying. But I take your point.

However, mine also still stands: I am frankly furious at the people who had every chance of voting, but just couldn't be bothered.

hS

I just... I feel kind of numb right now, actually.

Hasn't really sunk in yet.

England, I hope you've got room for one more, because I'm getting out of here as soon as I can.

No transportation,illness and injury,felony charges remove someone's right to vote(Which is bs),forced to be at work or else they would of been fired,unable to register,had their resignation voided for some reason,there are many legit reasons.

I almost couldn't thanks to a panic attack. I was lucky that they let me re enter the line.

And yeah, you need the changes. This system was thought for a country too vast for knowing quickly the results, and that stopped to be a problem a long time ago.

Direct universal suffrage is sorely needed. And several turns of election to make sure nobody goes in this Oval Office without the majority of the country behind them.

Way back in the golden age of 2010, we in Britain had a moment of balance. The Labour and Conservative parties both failed to win a majority in the general election, which meant the Liberal Democrats - the only functioning left-wing we had - held the power to shape the next four years. Should they form a coalition with the larger, but right-wing Conservatives, or should they stick to their principles and form one with Labour?

They chose the Conservatives. And then they did absolutely nothing to moderate the Conservative government that followed. They demonstrated conclusively that even the most idealistic politicians want nothing more than to get into power and stay there.

So no, I don't believe the Republican Congress will let Obama appoint a new justice to spite Trump. I don't believe they'll do a single blessed thing to stop Trump once he's in. And I don't believe for a single instant that they will alter an electoral system that just handed their party the win - except to try and bias it further in their favour while they have a solid grip on the reins.

hS

First, he's burned a lot of bridges in his own party. That's gonna make it hard to get anything done. I'm still holding out hope Obama can fineigle a Supreme Court justice in the next two months. And much - though certainly not all - of Obama's reforms and policies will be tough to overturn. At least quickly. I mean, anyone remember how the republican filibuster stopped him from getting anything substantive done for years?

Second, the military doesn't like or trust him. Yes, we need a peaceful transfer of power. But I know they have ways of handling presidents who are clearly not mentally competent to hold power - best example being late-stage Nixon. Regardless of what Trump believes his power is, they won't commit war crimes for him.

And, third- this will hopefully lead to some serious reforms of both the primary and electoral systems that we have badly needed for a long, long time.

Lastly… it was close. Very close. And even now I'm fairly sure Hillary got the popular vote (see above, on our useless, outdated, error-ridden electoral system). I'm very, very angry at the republicans who swallowed their conscience and voted for a man whose only policy was hate, at the Bernie or Bust crowd who even now are blaming Hillary supporters for Trump, at the media who pushed Trump into the spotlight because his antics made for better ratings, and at the Democrats who didn't turn out because somehow they didn't feel happy enough about Hillary.

It took us eight years to learn that mistake with Bush. Let's hope we learn it a little quicker this time.

(And, also, though I briefly hoped for impeachment too, please bear in mind that, Republican house and senate aside, Pence's policies are fairly well reflected in A Handmaid's Tale. We're stuck with this now. Strategies have to be riding it out and blocking the damage on a state, local, and federal level, and getting the $@£¥ VOTE OUT next election. And I don't just mean four years, I mean midterms in two years. VOTE, people.)

I'm sure there must be a word for it - a specific word for the American political system, where it must(?) have happened before.

Believe me, if I wanted to make jibes about 'one-party state' and the like, I could come up with them all by myself.

hS

To be quite honest do not get upset at everyone who didn't vote. Quite frankly some of them couldn't.
It sucks but it's the truth.

Though ... THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED THE ...ING DEAD APE THEY HAD NO EXCUSE!

Both of these decisions were a moment of monumental stupidity, that no sane person having done a minimum of research would have taken.

We can only hope these idiots don't drag down the world with them, and that with each new failure of them, their position in public opinion will be utterly destroyed.

I wish you all health and luck, Ix, and stand with you in solidarity. I went to bed wondering if I should opt for a mad dash to the closet in one direction or another - and which direction would be safer. I think in the end, we're going to have a long four years, but I hope we can all face them head on.

And but so, reading your post has given me a shot of courage. I'm glad you were able to stand up and shout, and I'll share this around to try and help you.

Luck, health, and happiness,
VM

... 'at least Brexit looks marginally less stupid by comparison'.

Actually I can't which is worse: deliberately exiling yourself from the international community, or voting in someone who doesn't seem to think anyone who's not exactly like him (rich, American, right-wing, orange white, male, and old) is a real person.

And both results spring from a growing distrust of 'the establishment' - which translates into voting for the most obnoxious people because they're more 'real' than the politicians. During the Brexit referendum campaigns, we had Michael Gove's apparently-correct claim that 'Britain has had enough of experts'.

I don't think America properly understood that - that every horrifying comment coming out of Trump and getting lavished all over the media just made a vast group of people 'respect him for his honesty' all the more.

hS

I seriously cannot believe this has happened. o.o I mean... seriously. This is completely, totally unbelievable. Have we 100% ruled out the possibility of Russia interfering...?

Okay. Well. Discounting the incredible, this is what we have to deal with. We'll have to be extra-vigilant from now on, guys. If it's our generation's time to risk our own personal safety for the rights and dignity of others, for the very principles on which this bloody stupid country was founded, I for one hope that I will be strong enough to get out there when the time comes and make my forebears and those yet to come proud.

This is the only way I can cope.

~Neshomeh

*hugs*
Best of luck.

Authoritarianism or Despotism. And I am deeply concerned about what happens next. If Mr. Trump follows through on even half of his promises, this deeply disturbing. I mean lets look at it, prosecuting his political opponents, categorically banning an entire religious group, mass deportations, splintering of families, and the like. I hope he moderates his position, but he has moderated as of yet, and I see no reason why he will with all branches of government under his party's control.