Connections: Requiem for a Dream

As we awoke to Donald J. Trump as president-elect of the United States yesterday morning, my best hope was that we would be able to count on his penchant for changing his mind. He is nothing if not fickle.

I find it hard to believe that so many Americans voted for him because they actually want, or actually expect, him to follow through on his endless incantation of wanton threats. The list is appalling: to see Hillary Clinton indicted and imprisoned, Muslims banned from immigrating here, “deportation forces” in our streets, punishments for women who have abortions, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a withdrawal from the Paris Accord, the defunding of public schools, health insurance denied to 16.4 million people, nuclear weapons spread around to more countries. . . . If these things are really what half of America supports, we may be forced to recognize that our belief in ourselves as compassionate, idealistic people has been a giant mistake. 

What is clear is that the electorate no longer holds the leaders of this nation to standards of exemplary behavior, that it doesn’t care that the next president of the United States doesn’t pay income taxes, stiffs creditors, laughs at bankrupting small businesses, mocks the obese and the disabled, and dupes would-be university students. 

Many of us woke up yesterday feeling like outsiders. Call me a bleeding-heart liberal if you like, but “where have all the flowers gone?” 

It has been said that Americans no longer pay attention to both sides of national debates, but instead “curate” the news by choosing only those sources with which they agree, that they no longer bother to educate themselves about the facts and science behind issues, much less about what dissenting voices might have to say. After all, a demogogue has no need of a government-controlled media — a Pravda — when we the people are only too happy to censor our own news intake, when we no longer seem capable of distinguishing between reported news and mere opinion.

Here at home, I am proud that through its letters pages The East Hampton Star continues to be a vibrant public forum.

I am someone who waivers between optimism and denial when faced with adversity. This is probably the greatest adversity we have faced. Given the Republican sweep of both Houses of Congress, I fear for what lies ahead.