The signs were there. They've been there since 2008.

[Renaissance Man]

I've probably posted about the results of the 2016 Presidential election about three times, primarily in Progressive online social media groups. What I've seen, Postmortem, is kind of typical, but the level of outright denial at what some Democratic voters fail to acknowledge is kind of interesting, especially viewing it from the premise of being a Democratic voter of color.

From 2008-2016, we had a President and First Lady that was the embodiment of the best of America. As a country, we thought, naively, that we were post-racial. We thought that we'd been introduced to our better selves. 2016 gave us a reminder that, as a nation, we could go from being a country led by a former constitutional law professor and an equally brilliant wife, to one that's being led by someone fundamentally ignorant about the Constitution and has a wife whose nude photographs can be accessed via Google.

Ask yourself these questions, tonight:

Could Barack Obama have been elected President having five children by three different women?

Could Barack Obama have been fundamentally ignorant about the Constitution or the responsibilities and duties of the office of the President and have been elected?

Could Michelle Obama have become First Lady with nude photos easily accessible via search engine?

I think you know where I'm going with this. America places an enormously different standard on women and people of color while simultaneously catering to white males, white supremacy, and white privilege. When we get to the point where we become honest about that elephant in the room, I don't honestly think we can move forward.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Line from "Being There":

[With other poor black seniors, watching Chance on TV]
Louise: It's for sure a white man's world in America. Look here: I raised that boy since he was the size of a piss-ant. And I'll say right now, he never learned to read and write. No, sir. Had no brains at all. Was stuffed with rice pudding between th' ears. Shortchanged by the Lord, and dumb as a jackass. Look at him now! Yes, sir, all you've gotta be is white in America, to get whatever you want. Gobbledy-gook!

[ailsagirl]

13. One of my favorite movie lines!!

One of my favorite films, period.

[3catwoman3]

2. "Could Michelle Obama have become First Lady with nude photos easily accessible via search engine?"

A very good question, and we certainly know the answer. No way in hell, right? Same answer for the other questios that you posed.

3W is my term for Mrs. Trump III. Her girl-on-girl nude photos, and the bare-assed-in-a-thong one on the airplane wing, brandshing a pistol no less, do not seem like art or "modeling" to me. They are examples of a woman selling her nude body for money. There are a couple of words for that, neither of which are "modeling."

[progressoid]

3. Big ass K/R!

[JI7]

4. VERY IMPORTANT POINT. remember the debates where Hillary did very well

But media kept going on about how trump did well the first 20 minutes. And it wasn't when that he did well but he was so bad the rest they had to give him credit for thise few minutes.

[sheshe2]

5. Trump supporters were sold a bill of goods

and they could not buy into it fast enough. Why? Just so they could hold onto their white privilege a little bit longer. You are correct, we can't move forward until that standard is addressed and don't see that happening anytime soon.

[Garrett78]

6. The white backlash has been building for years. The Tea Party engine was run on bigotry.

Throughout US history, there's been a white backlash in response to racial progress, including the election and re-election of Obama (and policies like DACA). Still, I had convinced myself that the electoral map was favorable enough that Clinton would win. In spite of the FBI's interference, in spite of voter suppression, in spite of millions of people subscribing to patently false beliefs, in spite of a pathetic media that promotes false equivalencies and only cares about ratings, in spite of it being rare for the same party to control the White House for more than 2 consecutive terms.

But I've never been under the illusion that the US is post-racial. And anyone who thought we were is ignorant beyond belief. The denial of racism (as well as sexism) and white privilege is a constant. As I pointed out in my essay, Tim Wise writes, "Indeed, as far back as 1963, before there was a Civil Rights Act to outlaw even the most blatant racial discrimination, sixty percent of whites said that blacks were treated equally in their communities. In 1962, only eight years after the Brown decision outlawed segregation in the nation’s schools (but well before schools had moved to integrate or equalize their classrooms), a stunning eighty-four percent of whites were convinced that blacks had equal educational opportunity. In other words, white denial of the racism problem is nothing new: it was entrenched even when this nation operated under a formal system of apartheid."

I encourage folks to get deeply involved in local racial justice organizations in your area. And educate yourself on oppression theory, structural inequality as opposed to individual attitudes, white privilege, etc. Where I live there's a branch of the NAACP, numerous immigrant rights organizations, a Racial Justice Organizing Committee, and so on.

[Dems to Win]

7. Do you think it's possible Kanye West could become Prez? I do

He'd be the equal of the donald in all those ways (well, i don't think he has ex-wives). He's talked about running.

I understand the heartbreaking contrast between Obama and trump's demeanor. How could America do this?

I'm not 100% sure it's all about race. Celebrity means A LOT in America. I live in the state that elected The Terminator as governor.

If Kanye runs and has a good program, I'll be tempted to vote for him in the Dem primary, because he's got the star status to allow us to WIN!

[JI7]

8. no. a black man who behaves that way would never be acceptable

[Garrett78]

9. Paris Hilton, though, might have a shot. She'd just need to be overt with the bigotry.

She's every bit as qualified as Trump. Or maybe one of those Duck Dynasty guys will run.

[JI7]

10. she is female so probably not. palin was held to a higher standard than trump

[NewJeffCT]

23. Palin was held to only modest standards

I mean, after embarrassing herself before journalistic titan Katie Couric, she decided to stop talking to the press outside of Fox News.

Trump was basically held to no standard at all. Heck, it was so bad, even Fox News commented about how Trump was held to much lower standards.

[TransitJohn]

12. With the added bonus of having easily accessible hardcore pornography of her out in the wild.

Great candidate!

[ancianita]

14. I'd vote for him wit Liz Warren or Kamala Harris on the ticket. Yeezy's a rich anti-globalist.

Trump will have outsourced governing such that anyone could take his place.

What the hell...

[3catwoman3]

17. But then we would have ...

...Kim Kardashian as First Trollop.

No thanks. We are close enough to that come January.

[ancianita]

20. After Melania set the standard? Hahahaha.... Yeah, you're right. Tabloids say they've split, though.

Photos of naked Kim are gross and numerous.

[forjusticethunders]

21. You know Kanye publicly supported Trump right?

[Dems to Win]

22. no I did not, thanks for the info. Oops

[Texin]

11. You're right... but the rethugs actually started this BS in 1992

This is how they realized they could logjam the entire wheels of government. Gingrich began this in '94, but the Clintons were targeted and the Washington insiders tried to de-legitimize them as well and dwindling numbers of Dems in the House began the process of solidifying the rethug stranglehold on America to this day. After the economic collapse of 2008, I would have thought that the rethugs and their destruction of the economy would have made them radioactive for several generations of voters, but I was wrong. McConnell and his cabal simply double-downed on the Gingrich tactic and cretins like DJtRump just began to hammer on President Obama being an "other", not legal, etc. You keep telling stupid people what they want to hear - or simply what they hear - long enough, people start believing the shit. They kept hammering every alleged wrongdoing by the Clintons for the past 25 years or more, and it did permanent damage to them. These rethugs are the simply trying to finally do what they've been promising their Plutocrat masters since The New Deal (and even before that to be honest): totally destroy the Federal government, and most specifically, any social program ever instituted to help the people and to broaden and solidify democracy for all its citizens. They've won. There won't be any going back from this now. Not ever.

[ailsagirl]

15. But change, especially when it's significant, is not linear

It's like the Dow-- it reaches highs and then it plummets-- but the trend is always upward.

Take President Obama.

That we nominated him and that he won was a huge leap forward-- and plus he succeeded as one of the best presidents ever. Now we're sliding backward. But that "glass ceiling" has been shattered forever.

Our country is going through growing pains-- so much change yet so many regressives who fight it tooth and nail.

Two steps forward, one step back...

Whether we're referring to gender or racial equality, I believe the trend is ever forward.

IMHO

[NewJeffCT]

24. unfortunately

for a lot of Americans, a right wing supreme court could set them back decades. So, while the country is becoming more open on social issues, it may take a long time for the actual laws to follow now.

[kentuck]

16. My wife was reading excerpts of a book to me last night...

It was a book of the diary notes of William Shirer when he was in Berlin and Nuremburg in 1934.

Hitler had been in power for a couple of years and he was making the rounds on his rallies.

It was sometime in August of 1934 and Hitler came into Nuremburg and the swastika flags covered all the nice architecture and soldiers goose-stepped in pride for their esteemed Fuhrer. Men in uniforms were asking for identifications, etc.

It did not take long for Hitler to consolidate his program.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

[StevieM]

18. You forgot one: Could Barack Obama have been elected if he fathered a child out of wedlock? (eom)

[StevieM]

19. And here's another: Could Hillary Clinton--or Elizabeth Warren--have been elected if they had

five children from three different fathers, one of whom was born out of wedlock?

[Tarheel_Dem]

26. Exactly. The revenge of the angry white working class won't know they've been had until Obama is...

long gone, and I don't much care what happens to them.