This is mostly for my friends in Germany: Some of you have sent me texts, emails and WhatsApp messages last night and this morning. “The only good thing about this is, that you’re coming back, now, right?”, “This is terrible!”, “Let me know when I should start looking for houses.”, “We are speechless.”, “Germany is in shock.” Thank you for that! It made me feel a bit better. You are all as shocked as we are here and it makes me sick that so many people voted for the TV reality star who represents bigotry, racism, intolerance and insanity.
No first female president was elected. The pantsuit nation didn’t succeed.
I can tell you that I (hopefully) don’t know anyone here in California who is pleased with the president elect. Well, at least not that I know of! Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and if only Millenials would have voted, she would have won in a landslide. But Brexit should have warned us. It was never sure that Hillary would win and now all us of have to deal with the outcome. How did this happen though? I don’t have an answer for you. As a German living here in the States I can only tell you about what I have heard and seen during these last, very painful 12 hours.
Americans voted against the establishment. Americans voted for the Republican candidate, even though they don’t like Trump. They voted against Hillary. They voted against a woman. Women voted for Trump. They voted for the third-party candidate Johnson to make a point. (I wonder what these people think today looking in the mirror?) They voted for a this naricisstic guy who they think represents power, but who in reality is and will keep being weak and unreliable in his actions and words.
I feel that this country has lost its decency last night. This outcome does not make the rest of the world believe that the US is an inclusive, big hearted and progressive country. It tells them that the guy who wants to built a wall and who so obviously does not respect women, has won. Germany is shocked. And now this country has to heal, has to start over and try to get back together again.
Hillary’s concession speech was strong, honest and dignified. Someone called it the best concession speech in a very long time. She said that America has to look in the future and that it owes Donald Trump an open mind and the chance to lead. I agree. She also said that people have to defend their values and keep doing their part to build that better, stronger and fairer America. Again, I agree. Everyone has to do their share and it starts in your own home. If you want kind leaders, be kind people. Don’t let the hate win, don’t be cynical, stay true to your beliefs and promote them. I really hope that this one person won’t be able to change the world drastically if we won’t let him.
I appreciate the positivity that Clinton and Obama have tried to provide in their speeches this morning. And I know that cynicism won’t help us, but I have to agree again with what Hillary said this morning: “This is painful and it will be for a long time.” And today I’m the German who really just wants to scream loud: “America, what is wrong with you? This is so fucked up!”
This post is a part of a series called NaBloPoMo 2016 hosted by BlogHer. NaBloPoMo is short for National Blog Posting Month and it challenges writers and creatives to post on their blogs once a day (at least) for the month of November. You can find all my posts on my blogher page, too. Stay tuned!
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