a Little Revolution Solves a Great Many Things

Every four years we head to the polls to vote for a president with the aim in mind that whoever wins has the best interests of the country in mind. It seems that no matter who is elected, however, regardless of party affiliation, someone soon after cries foul or initiates some conspiracy theory. But whoever we elect is exactly who we deserve because we are the ones who elected him. After the new president takes over, no matter the outcome, people inevitably resort to denial and claim that they are not the ones responsible for the resulting morass of stupidity that comes out of Washington.

Donald Trump was elected by the same rules we used for the last president, as well as the presidents before him. The rules are clear and understood by anyone who wants to examine them. It has always been known that you can win the presidency through the Electoral College without a majority of the popular vote. The system was established the way it is to avoid mob rule by a majority, currently residing along both coasts, which could run roughshod over the balance of people living in the smaller interior states. We the People have never directly elected the President of the United States, and until the Constitution says otherwise that's the way it is.

Donald Trump is perfectly representative of the people, however, a perfect symbol of what America has become. He says what he thinks and changes his mind regularly, so some call him a liar. But we all do the same thing and might as well admit to being a part of a culture of liars, so why is it so repulsive that we have elected someone just like the rest of us? His predecessor was a liar, as was the president before him. If you are outraged at this behavior, you haven't been paying attention. Bad behavior should not make anyone outraged these days. We are overwhelmed by it daily with the endless flow of real and so-called "fake" news on the Internet. In a culture that has been losing its moral and ethical compass for quite some time, there is no longer any limit to what can be said or done. If we are troubled by this, it is because we have lost our own connection to an actual vision or overall meaning of what it means to be American.

So we should all take a moment and thank Donald Trump. He is no more than a reflection of who we are right now as Americans. His election should make us all begin to become more aware that we need to be more than a nation of political parties, more than just messengers of a short-term tweet, more than liars, more than cheats. We need to wake up and see ourselves for who we really are as a nation and for who we can be. We get the government that reflects who we are; we get the government that we deserve. The revolution must start within each of us. We cannot demand more of our leaders than we demand of ourselves. Go take a look in the mirror the next time you complain; that is where the revolution must begin.