This election has been terrifying. It's the equivalent of what it would look like if SNL did a skit about SNL, it's that ridiculous. It feels like we are watching a bad reality show that if someone pitched you the concept you would immediately say "no one would ever watch that," and yet here we are absorbing all of the insanity like we are starving rats eating an empty cheese doodle bag that was left on the subway tracks. I am guilty as well. I usually find myself talking about the election at dinner, on twitter, and in every possible case scenario there is. That old mantra about "not talking about politics" is off the table for me. This isn't politics, this isn't about what side you are on politically, this isn't like any other election in history, this is a circus. So while I have stayed away from formally writing about the election, I feel so overwhelmed with the insanity that has occurred, I have to express myself. Here are some things I have learned over the past few months as things have unraveled.
1.Donald Trump is a facial for America. Ok, so what do I mean, because would you really EVER want a facial to act like Donald Trump? When you have a cyst under your skin, you have to wait until it rises to the surface to properly deal with it, i.e. you can't actually heal a cyst until it becomes a pimple. America has had quite a few cysts. These cysts essentially are racism; misogyny, sexism, white supremacy and these cysts were brought right to the surface because of Donald Trump. This always existed, don't get me wrong and none of it is even remotely OK, but at least now Americans can't say "we are super tolerant" after they proudly tote a "Make America Great Again" sticker supporting a candidate who has openly insulted practically every single diverse group of humans in America.
2.Immigrants, "we get the job done". If you have ever heard of the play Hamilton, you will know this line. We all love to talk about millennials, so let's chat about this 80 million person demographic for a minute being that 44.2% of us are a part of a minority race or ethnic group. America is great because we are this uniquely created melting pot of immigrants. All of us are immigrants. America is built on immigrants. If you are not Native American, you are an immigrant of America. Remember that your grandparents or their grandparents were immigrants, if a wall was built when your relatives were coming over to America, no one would be here.
3.We need a president who has had at least one day of previous experience that has absolutely anything to do with the job. If you have ever have had a job, or have interviewed for a job or have hired for a job, you know that most jobs require some remote form of experience in any capacity. The fact that any single human is thinking that having a person that literally has zero experience for one of the most "important" jobs on the planet needs to reevaluate their hiring skills and by hiring I mean voting.
4.When I was in second grade, we learned all about the election and talked about the candidates and had a mock election in our classroom, because that's what school should be about; learning about the foundation of what makes our government work and the differences in opinions from individuals who eloquently speak about the issues at hand. I have friends who will not let their children watch the debates in case there are lewd words or mockery that can negatively impact them for life. These are the presidential debates, and they are rated R?! Let's only have people represent our nation that we feel comfortable speaking in front of our children.
5.To go back to Hamilton for a minute, there is a song in the play called "in the room where it happens" which is a song about how decisions about our nation are made in closed doors that if you aren't in that room, you will never understand. I know that's frustrating, I know when people don't know, they make up their own assumptions, but you know what they say about when you assume, you make an ASS out of "u and me" and so when someone is in the world of being privy to information 99.9% of you will never be privy to, how do you actually know what you would do in those situations? Have you ever been in the war room at the pentagon dealing with crimes that are a threat to millions of people? Ok cool, me neither.
6.As I have mentioned Hamilton a few times, I think that everyone should learn about this play as it helps us understand a lot of about history, and ironically the present. Lin-Manuel Miranda should be president or at least he should run. It seems as if the election cycle has had such an irreversible impact, that at this point even if the most qualified person wins there is tremendous damage that have be a ripple effect on our nation. If I have to watch hours of debates and fights in four to eight years from now, I would much rather watch a "cabinet rap battle" from a previous teacher who represents America than I would another privileged, inexperienced, prejudice human terrorize our country.
7.Go Vote. If you don't get my nuances in this article, then go vote on November 28th.