2016- Lessons Learned from the Election

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That Donald Trump has shocked the world, and masterfully won the presidential election of 2016 is no longer in dispute, despite the rioting malcontents paid to express intolerance and lawlessly act out, purportedly on behalf of a party that preaches tolerance (well, their own, anyway). Furthermore, all of their ill-behavior changes nothing about who will take the oath of office on January 20^th, 2017. Our guess is that they were merely a riot in search of a cause, that Donald Trump’s election filled the bill, and that they’ll act out again against something else when George Soros gives them a financial incentive to do so. In a word, pathetic are the losers who can face neither certainty nor reality.

Looking back on all that has transpired during the last year and a half, which culminated in the election of Donald Trump in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, November 9^th, 2016, there are several and certain lessons that beg to be stated and, more importantly, must be remembered for the next presidential election, and the one after that:

First, the mainstream media is not to be trusted in any way, shape or form, to report on presidential campaigns to any degree of accuracy, nor without the bias attendant to acting as a propaganda wing for the Democratic nominee. Such overt bias, having continually worsened since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, it was this year’s election that proved, once and for all, that any Republican seeking the presidency does so in the face of an unfair, overtly biased and at times libelous press who seeks their defeat with every word they write. Therefore it is up to the voter to seek out information from other sources because the mainstream media warrants no such trust;
Second, presidential polls are worth about as much as screened portholes on a submarine, and are no more indicative of an electorate’s mood than wisdom coming from the wrong end of a bull, and should therefore be regarded in the same manner. Most, if not all, of the “scientific” forecasts had Hillary Clinton certain to win north of 300 electoral votes, and the complete opposite happened. (Brexit, anyone?) There’s a very simple way to know who is winning the presidential election…it’s the candidate who is not screaming nor coming across in an angry demeanor, as Hillary so profoundly displayed in her recent rallies;
Third, the voters who cast ballots for Donald Trump are neither ignorant, nor racist, nor sexist, nor xenophobic, nor Islamophobic, nor anti-LGBT, nor any other pejorative with which they have been accused, unless one is willing to accept that a plurality (yes, it will be shown that Donald Trump won the popular vote, too) of voters are ignorant, racist, sexist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, anti-LGBT, and all of those horrible things. Anyone who seriously believes that about the American people, should come to the conclusion that the United States is too intolerant to deserve their citizenship and should soon make arrangements to expatriate to another country, more to their liking;
Fourth, there is nothing wrong with the electoral college that cannot be fixed with a requirement that voters substantiate their right to vote with a picture identification card, which most states offer and all states should offer at no charge to anyone asking for it, provided that the person can substantiate their citizenship. Other countries require this and one must produce such identification to bank, board an airplane, drive a car, purchase a firearm, or secure gainful employment in this country, so there is nothing racist about requiring a state-issued voter ID card, either;
Fifth, the politics of incumbency and the powerful influence of money in the halls of Congress must, at long last, be put to an end. On a rotating basis, beginning with those who have served longest, term limits of three two-year terms for a representative, two six-year terms of a Senator, and twenty years for a Supreme Court justice must become the law of the land, by constitutional amendment. If the legislature refuses to act on this, then a convention of the states must bring this about. In addition, all forms of lobbying through an exchange of money must be declared illegal and, again if the legislature refuses to act on this, then a convention of the states must bring this about, as well;
Sixth, the illegitimate use of federal agencies and departments, including State, Treasury (including the IRS), and Justice (including the FBI), as a means to wage partisan political warfare must come to an end if the country is ever going to restore its trust in government. Any breach of this covenant must be dealt with severely and automatically become grounds for immediate termination of employment. If criminal violations occur in such scenarios, legal ramifications, including loss of pension and imprisonment must be in the offing for such offenses;
Seventh, the Presidential Commission on the Debates has shown to be incapable of impartially and judiciously selecting moderators for any presidential debate, and therefore should be completely done away with. Each party should select their own moderators for the debates during the nominating seasons, and then each party should select one moderator for each of the debates leading up to the election. The debates themselves need to return to the television studio so as to eliminate the possibility of audience involvement, and the format of the debate should resemble that of a high school forensic debate, as opposed to what we have witnessed in the last several elections;
Eighth, President Barack Obama has shown that an elected president can rule by executive order, but has also exposed the need that doing so must remain within Constitutional constraints, which has not been the case throughout his presidency. His insistence on doing so largely contributed to the election of a candidate who ran in opposition to his policies, and one who can undo all of these executive orders with a stroke of a pen on the afternoon following his inauguration, as we hope Mr. Trump will do;
Ninth, the myth that the candidate who has the most money to spend, or has the most organized ground game to utilize, or has the greatest backing of partisan power-players, is going to be the likely winner is pure bunk. Hillary Clinton had all these advantages and yet Donald Trump won the election handily. He did this through hard work, as evidenced by the number of campaign events he held on any given day, and by sheer determination to stand up against the forces allayed against him;
Tenth, nothing, NOTHING is ever a lock- not in sporting events, and certainly not in politics. Anyone who says otherwise is nothing more than the south end of a northbound horse, and gambles their credibility by doing so. Fortunes were lost in the waging rooms of Brexit, and fortunes were lost in the wagers on the results of this year’s presidential election. It’s easy to determine when a pundit has no idea what they are talking about…it’s the one who starts with “There’s no way…,” because, in the end, there is always a way.