After the election of November 8, 2016

         I’m closing my participation in this long, critical, often painful, (sometimes, just sometimes, touching or funny) election with a bow to Hillary Clinton, and some thoughts about going forward.
         I honor her efforts, her perseverance, her ambition, her many strengths (intelligence and doggedness, to name two), her commitment to women and children, her pragmatism, her consistency AND her willingness to change. I honor her imperfection.
         This will be an election we and our children will remember for the rest of our lives. We will remember Bernie Sanders opening up the left for Clinton and hopefully leaving behind a movement, the DNC’s decision to back one of their own, her many (many!) plans, her email server and #thosedamnemails, Wikileaks and the Russians, her pantsuits, the Comey effect, “whitelash,” the urban “elites” disconnection with the white working class and rural America, the return of sexual language about and with women, Obamacare premiums going up, the rising power of the Latinx vote, appalling media coverage, the continuing distrust of Hillary Clinton, the shocking losses in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. I hope I don’t remember Anthony Weiner. Donald Trump will be in my face for four years, so there’ll be layers of memories about him, escaping the leaden capsule in my mind I’ve tried to relegate them to.
         So now the election is over. If Clinton had won, there was a real chance of violence. I am both proud (and a little irritated) that Trump supporters can take for granted the kind of gracious concession Clinton offered, and nonviolence on the part of Clinton supporters and the left in general.
         So now the election is over minorities, especially Muslims, are under threat. Muslims are a small minority and there is, unfortunately, a very broad population of Americans who would be comfortable suspecting and restricting Muslims. Non-white Americans, the poor, the incarcerated, LGBTQ, and women are also likely to face threats to their rights, safety, and wellbeing. The environment is under threat. Trump has already indicated that he is committed to unravelling clean energy policies. Criminal justice and incarceration conditions are likely to get worse. In the stock market today, the private prison industry was a big winner. Healthcare will become less available AND more expensive. Big pharma will be restricted less, and so on.
         Now, what are we going to do? The midterm elections come up in two years. Meanwhile we need to focus on protecting the rights of minorities (I am particularly worried about the scapegoating of Muslims), LGBTQ, the incarcerated, women, and other groups that are likely to be vulnerable under Trump; on increasing equitable access to education, healthcare, healthy food, and housing; on protecting the environment. Let’s support local and state initiatives And work to turn the legislature in the midterm elections.
         Tim Kaine said (quoting Faulkner): “They killed us, but they ain’t whupped us yet.” YES!
        Clinton said: “Our campaign was never about one person or even one election.... Make sure your voices are heard.... There are more seasons to come.” YES!
         So, thank you Hillary Clinton!
         And now the work of citizenship in a democracy continues.

Hillary Clinton FULL Concession Speech | Election 2016
Hillary Clinton formally and publicly conceded to Donald Trump this morning after an upset defeat in the presidential election. "Last night I congratulated…
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