just a week ago, the chicago cubs ended their 108 year drought by winning the world series with a thrilling (exciting), nerve-racking (tense) game 7 victory. this week’s “it will never happen” moment, donald trump winning the u.s. presidential election, was not as much fun.
on election day i sent an email to subscribers admitting that though i tried, it wasn’t possible to avoid (not do it) talking about donald trump these past 16 months here on richyrocks.com or in class. the heading of the mail was
the last time we fucking talk about trump
i definitely got it wrong. i wasn’t alone, but i was wrong.
it’s strange that trump won the election despite getting less votes than hillary. the president of the united states is actually (in fact) not elected by the popular vote, (one person= one vote) but by the electoral vote. every state has a number of electoral votes assigned to it based on population. there are 538 electoral votes up for grabs (available, competed for), and 270 are required to be elected president.
the electoral map for 2016. the blue states were for hillary, the red states were for trump. the intensity of the color reflects the margin of victory. the unofficial total: trump 306 clinton 232.(wikipedia)
yesterday somebody here in mexico identifying me as a gringo jokingly (as a joke) asked me if i’m happy about the result. jesus, no. i was hoping this election was going to be a repudiation (rejection) of the xenophobic, impractical and unsustainable ideas trump’s campaign promoted. we’ll have to wait a few more years for these ugly ideas to die.
i was also asked how the american people could elect an asshole like trump. the obvious answer is a lot of americans identify with an asshole. in addition, it’s a shock to see that 53% of white women and 20-30% of latinos voted for trump, assuming we can trust any of the exit polls (surveys of people who just finished voting). the polls that predicted the winner of the election were not so reliable (dependable, trustworthy).
get used to it.
another post-election query i got this week was, how do americans perceive mexicans? with the broad (general, wide), negative anger and resentment of a donald trump speech? there is clearly a significant percentage of americans who don’t try any harder than that. at the same time, protestors in the u.s. are now marching in the streets, carrying pictures of trump and shouting NOT MY PRESIDENT.
i’m one step ahead of my paisanos (fellow americans) who vowed (promised) to leave the u.s. if trump won. i already live in ol mexico. your move, miley cyrus.
don’t worry: miley cyrus ain’t going nowhere. the party in the u.s.a. will continue.
it’s hard not to get emotional about politics. there was emotion behind my merry (happy) proclamation on election day. i accept i was on the wrong side of this election. we will definitely continue to fucking talk about trump.
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