American nightmare: The aftermath of Election 2024

Did I wake up from a nightmare, or is it really true?  Sadly, it wasn't a bad dream.  It really did happen, and I am truly devastated.  I am still in shock.  The United States of America has elected a vulgar, racist criminal as its president.  America has chosen a misogynist who thinks of women as playthings, a man who has been found liable to sexual abuse, a man who has told women that he will protect them, whether they like it or not.  Yep, you've come a long way, baby!

To be honest, I am heartbroken.  Donald Trump and his MAGA movement are the embodiment of everything I oppose, everything I find repugnant.  Trump supporters say that they vote for him because he's similar to them.  They claim that he speaks to them in the same way they speak to their friends.  Is this true?  Are Americans really so crude and hateful?  Do they lack empathy?  Some do.  However, a great many have been deceived and misinformed.  The American economy is strong.  It is humming along right, thanks to President Joe Biden.  Biden has never received the credit he deserves for that.  He took the mess Trump left him and turned it around.  Yet, many Americans falsely believe that Trump was good for the economy.  They falsely blame Biden for high inflation, which he did not cause, and for which he did everything possible to bring down.  

Thanks to Fox News and right-wing extremists s such as Tucker Carlson, many Americans are convinced that January 6th was just a walk in the park in which no lives were threatened or lost.  They don't see it as a violent attempt to overthrow the 2020 election.  They do not believe that Trump and his followers threatened to hang Vice President Mike Pence.  When asked about Pence, Trump replied, "So what!."  The life of his vice-president, a fellow human being, meant nothing to him.

Donald Trump inherited a good economy from Barack Obama and took credit for it.  Now he will inherit a good economy from Biden and will happily accept responsibility for that, too.  Trump will then impose his ill-advised tariffs, and tax breaks for billionaires such as Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch and Jeff Bezos.  He will eventually ruin the economy.  Sadly, corporate media are controlled by a cabal of billionaires.  They held Kamala Harris to a much higher standard than Donald Trump.  Trump's bizarre behaviour was dismissed as just Trump being Trump, but Americans were told that they didn't know enough about Kamala Harris.  This, despite her many speeches about her family background and her qualifications for the job of president.  She has been a prosecutor, a district attorney for San Francisco, Attorney General of California, a United States senator and vice president of the United States.  

When Donald Trump became president in 2017, he had held no political office.  He was a shady businessman with six bankruptcies under his belt, and a realty show host on NBC.  Trump has always presented himself as a tough guy and he is a quintessential bully.  Underneath his tough guy veneer, he is full of jelly and as soft as a pillow.  Many males support him because they like his macho attitude and his Alpha Male personality.  They are unaware of his insecurity and his incessant need for his ego to be stroked.  Real men are courageous and empathetic.  They are confident and self-assured.  They don't need to put others down in order to raise themselves up.  They are comfortable in their own skin.

Lower income Americans do not realize that in voting for Trump, they have voted against their own interests.  Big Oil, Big Pharma and Big Insurance are thrilled with the return of Trump.  They will make billions of dollars by spewing greenhouse gases, keeping the price of prescription drugs high, and destroying Obamacare.  Americans with pre-existing conditions will lose their health care coverage.  Trump intends to replace Obamacare with a "concept of a plan."

Non-white immigrants and migrants have no place in Trump's America. even if they are legakl citizens  Undocumented immigrants are less than human in Trump's America.  All that ails America is caused by immigrants.  They are "illegal aliens," no better than vermin.  He and JD Vance promise mass deportations.  Doesn't that sound horrifying?  In Trump's America, non-white immigrants are the great scapegoats.  If they work hard, they are taking jobs from "real Americans" (i.e. white), even if they are citizens of the United States.  If they are unemployed, they are lazy.  They are living off welfare.

Make no mistake, the United States will never be the same again.  With Trump at the helm, it will sink into authoritarianism.  He has no guardrails now.  He will only listen to those who tell him what he wants to hear.  This is a profoundly sad day.  I am Canadian, but the effects of this elections will reverberate in my country and throughout the world.  I can't sugarcoat what has happened.  Donald Trump is unstable and he has fascist tendencies.  He is obviously in cognitive decline. 

Until now, I believed that the American electorate would always chose hope and optimism. Americans voted for Franklin Roosevelt over Herbert Hoover in the depths of the Great Depression.  FDR's message was that "Happy Days Are Here Again."  In 2024, the stage seemed set for the election of the first female president of the United States.  Kamala Harris ran a great campaign.  She exuded energy.  She had momentum.  She had  a message of hope for the future.  Yet, her vision was rejected for some 1950s vision of the past, when women never worked, white men were in control, and Blacks, Latinos, Asians and Muslims were marginalized.

Now, Americans and people around the world must face the dire consequences of Trump's return to the White House.  He will help his buddy Vladimir Putin take over Ukraine.  Somewhere in the Kremlin, Putin is sipping vodka in celebration, setting the groundwork for invading another country.  As for climate change, which is arguably the most important issue facing humanity, it was hardly mentioned during the 2024 U.S. election campaign.  Trump thinks it's a hoax.  He thinks wind turbines cause cancer.  Meanwhile, Florida has just been ravaged by Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene has caused widespread destruction and many fatalities across the Southeastern United States.  Spain has just been hit by devastating floods.  This past summer, beautiful Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada was severely damaged by wildfire.

Kamala Harris will graciously accept the results of this election. On January 20th, there will be a peaceful transfer of power.  Biden and Harris will not claim that this election was rigged.  Today is a dark day, but I will continue to search for reasons to hope.  I still believe that the world can never give up on democracy and freedom.  We can never give up on humanity.  America, it's time for some soul searching and deep reflection.  What kind of a society have you become?

- Joanne

it's Decision Day in the USA

November 5th has finally here.  Election day has finally arrived in America.  It seems as if this campaign has lasted for an eternity.  For me, this day is bittersweet.  As I write this, I truly believe that Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States.  Her campaign has been full of hope and optimism, as compared to the dark, dystopian vision of Donald Trump.  After suffering through a terrible pandemic, Americans are in search of a brighter tomorrow.  They do not need to hear a prospective president insulting women and Puerto Ricans.

What saddens me is that so many Americans, especially men, will cast their vote for a racist, misogynistic wanna be dictator.  The United States would never be the same if  Donald were to end up in the Oval Office.  Trump is a very sick man, physically and mentally.  He should not be running in this election in the first place.  It has become more and more apparent that he has some form of dementia or cognitive decline.  It has already been documented that he slurs his words and can't speak coherently.  

Most Americans are sick and tired of all the chaos, hate, division and rancour surrounding Trump and his supporters.  It's time to move on.  Kamala represents the future.  Donald Trump represents an oppressive past dominated by white males.  As Kamala says, it's time to turn the page.

By the way. I am certain that Kamala will win the popular boat.  The only chance for Trump is the unfair, out-of-date Electoral College system.  The majority of Americans prefer Kamala.  They would like to move forward, not backward to the 1950s.

I  live in Canada.  As a Canadian citizen, I am unable to vote in this election.  However, the whole world has a stake in this election.  If democracy is lost in America, it will be a tragedy.

-- Joanne

The Washington Post and Jeff Bezos should be ashamed

Jeff Bezos

 
"I really disagree. The Post thought, it has a news side and an editorial side. It's one institution. During Watergate — can I go back 50-plus years to talk about? When Carl Bernstein and I wrote stories that were denied, the Washington Post editorial department stood squarely behind us all of the way."

- Bob Woodward on ABC's The View

The Washington Post, the newspaper that uncovered the Watergate scandal, should be ashamed of itself.  It has refused to stand up for democracy.  It has refused to endorse a candidate in the 2024 election.  How disgraceful!  There is a clear choice in this election between a man who will not recognize the peaceful transfer of power, who is a misogynist and racist, and a woman who want to lift everyone up.  Kamala Harris does not consider her political opponents to be enemies.  

The Washington Post has traditionally backed candidates since the 1980s.  However, owner Jeff Bezos declared that the tradition had ended, despite the fact that a written endorsement for Harris had been in the works.  It is estimated that about 200,000 subscribers cancelled their subscription to The Post after Bezos announcement.  Furthermore, three members of the editorial board resigned from their posts in protest.

Frankly, I'm not surprised at Bezos' decision.  He's a billionaire, the founder of Amazon.  Trump is known to be favoured by billionaires.  When he was president, he gifted them with tax breaks.  He will do it again if he should return to the White House.  Let me be clear.  I don't believe that billionaires should be soaked.  I strongly believe, however, that they should pay their fair share.  They control too much of the wealth of America.  Some, like Elon Musk, are greedy Trump supporters.  They want to Medicare and repeal the Affordable Care Act.  They know that Trump will do their bidding.  Trump and his friends do not care about ordinary people who have suffered through a pandemic and are trying to support their families  

The Los Angeles Times and USA Today have also opted not to support Vice President Harris or former President Donald Trump.  Are these publications too cowardly to take a stand?  Are they afraid that if they do not support Trump, he will regard them as "enemies of the people" should he win the election?

- Joanne

Save Etobicoke's Queensway Cineplex Cinemas

As a film fan, I am very distuurbed about the potential closing of the Queensway Cinemas.in south Etobicoke area in the west end of Toronto.  There is a proposal to demolish the Queensway for yet another multi-tower condo complex.  There is no indication that it will be replaced by another movie theatre or entertainment option.  If the Queensway is destroyed by a wrecking ball, Etobicoke will lose another community hangout, a sense of neighbourhood.  If we lose the Queensway, all that will be left is the Kingsway Theatre - one movie theatre to serve all of Etobicoke.  The Kingsway is not large enough to serve this area.  It only has only one theatre and a screening room.  

Without the Queensway, many residents of Etobicoke will stay home and watch films on Netflix, abandoning  a source of contact with others.  Enough is enough!  It's about time that people won a victory over unbridled development.  It's time that a more value was placed on sense of community, rather than profit and greed.  I am sick and tired of the rubber stamping of development over the needs of the community.  People should come first.  We should have some say in what happens to our neighbourhood.

Please sign a petition to save the Queensway Cinemas.  Even if you do not attend films at the Queensway Cinemas,, your name on the petition will help those who do.  You will be making a statement on behalf of those who oppose uncontrolled development.  Click on the link below.  We must stop this before it's too late.

SIGN THE PETITION BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW.

Petition · Save Cineplex Cinemas Queensway ( Etobicoke ) from being demolished! - Toronto, Canada · Change.org

- Joanne