I am shocked, depressed and, yes, horrified at the specter of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Some people are calling for “healing” and for a recognition that those who voted him into office did so from a deep feeling of being left behind, ignored, and desperate. Perhaps they had lost jobs or failed to find decent employment. Overwhelmingly they wanted change — change from the gridlock in Washington. They do not have my sympathy. Here’s why. Eight years ago, a Republican president dubbed “W” left office with a needless war raging in the Middle East and with the economy tanking horrendously. A Democratic president was left to wrestle with bringing that war to an end and rescuing an entire financial system as well as thousands of jobs in the auto industry. On the day Obama was inaugurated, Mitch McConnell convened Republican lawmakers to make a pact that would essentially block every healing proposal put forward by Obama, including one for a massive infrastructure effort that would have created millions of new jobs across the country. What change has this election brought us? A government that is now totally in the hands of those very same Republicans, a president-elect with absolutely no experience with governance and absolutely no moral compass, who is likely to appoint old Republican walruses like Newt Gingrich and Rudy Guiliani to key cabinet posts. AND THIS IS CHANGE? Give me a break.
Carol Angus
Shelburne Falls