In the week since the Presidential election, tensions and division have been high. As FEMSHEP aims to cultivate peace and understanding in any way possible, this series will feature first-person narratives written by guest writers explaining why they voted how they voted.
Dear readers, please read these unedited* stories from fellow Americans. Please understand the humanity behind the monumental decision we all were presented with on Election Day. Please allow these stories to open a window to peaceful, respectful discussions between you and your friends and neighbors.
*Text is completely the author's words; FEMSHEP may have edited formatting and links ONLY. Sources and data are original to the author of each piece and will be verified, if needed, in subsequent posts.
Voice of the Electorate: Part Three, a Clinton voter
author has asked to remain anonymous
"I didn't vote for Clinton in the primaries. I believed from the onset that, despite whatever accomplishments she's made in her life, she was too controversial a candidate to be selected for the Democratic party. I believed that she created too sharp a reaction in the average American voter's mind, and that reaction was more often than not a negative one. I seethed with what I saw the Democratic National Party's preference of her over Bernie Sanders, who seemed far and wide to be the people's candidate. I loathed Debbie Wasserman Schultz's actions so much that I donated to her rival for her Congressional seat, Tim Canova. Attention was being poured into Secretary Clinton, and I felt powerless to stop the decision that seemed to have already been made, long before delegates had been counted.
When Clinton was selected as the Democrat's candidate for President, I accepted the defeat, mourned the loss of the country I thought we would get under Bernie. I loved the idea of our country having our first Jewish President, and I soured at the thought of a future under Clinton. Although she had been investigated and absolved countless times, I figured, "where there's smoke, there's fire."
I do not consider myself extreme left or extremely liberal. I support the lawful ownership of guns, and every owner of a firearm I know is extremely responsible and proud of their right, and would never do anything to jeopardize the lives of other humans.
I am in support of cannabis legalization, because I believe that legalization results in tax revenue for local governments, and I believe that giving Americans the legal right to grow their own marijuana would reduce the flow of illegal smuggling of the lower-quality (so I'm told) Mexican marijuana, helping to protect the lives of Border Patrol agents tasked with stopping them.
I believe those same Border Patrol agents should have more legal rights to detain illegals, but going farther than that, I believe the United States should make investments to improve the governments and quality of lives of the citizens of the countries from which a majority of illegal aliens are coming from - namely, Guatemala. I believe we can build all the walls we want but if people have a desperate enough situation in their home country, they will still find a way under and around.
I believe in investing in the educational system in the United States. An educated population contributes more to innovation and success of the country and, in turn, helps our economy thrive.
I believe in investing in the health of the American population. A healthy populace can also contribute more to the success of the country and drains less resources from American taxpayers. What's that saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I believe in equal rights and civil liberties for all who find themselves in the borders of this great country. I believe that "live and let live" should prevail; if you are opposed to, say, gay marriage, then don't marry someone of your same gender. I don't believe anyone has the right to legislate a religious belief or an opinion.
I am pro-choice for many reasons. Making abortion illegal does not, as many would hope, reduce the volume of unwanted pregnancies, it simply makes the women in this position resort to unsafe, unsterile, and undignified procedures in which their lives would be placed in jeopardy. As with many of my positions, I believe that keeping it legal allows for regulation and standards that protect the lives of American women. I think there is so much misinformation about abortion out there, namely that women use it as a form of birth control. I have personally spoken to more families that had to make this awful choice as a result of an "incompatible with life" diagnosis for their much-wanted child, and I have seen the heartbreak and devastation these families have faced. I can't begin to fathom how much worse these situations would have been if these women were legally forced to carry either a dead fetus or a baby with severe genetic abnormalities to term - imagine spending nine months with a growing belly, strangers touching it and congratulating you - knowing your child was doomed. Knowing there would be no cigars in the delivery room, no little knit booties, no nursery, no cooing, no firsts. I wish the segment of the American population who object to abortion on religious grounds would try to empathize with these families.
I believe the United States should implement mandatory conscription for all citizens, male and female. I believe the discipline and exposure to people of all backgrounds that comes from military service would give people a new appreciation for this country and a renewed sense of responsibility for the fate of the United States.
Lastly, I support the American Constitution. I support the First Amendment which gives Americans the freedom to worship however they want, the freedom to say what they'd like (with "reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on speech"), the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. I believe each of these components is absolutely critical to ensuring the freedom of our beautiful republic, even when it's hard to stomach views and opinions that conflict with my own. We may disagree, but I will forever defend our right to do so.
I support our Second Amendment, and these days more than ever I support that right, as our country is at a precipice which may well end in an eventual civil war. Our government is becoming more and more divided; cooperation is declining in favor of party loyalties above the needs of the American people. As ever, I believe a safeguard against tyranny is the right of each American to lawfully and responsibly own a firearm. I believe to this day that the Assault Weapons Ban was nonsense created by people who may never have fired a gun in their lives. Yes, I am a Democrat who believes this.
I support our Fourth Amendment, the safeguard against unreasonable searches and seizures. I believe the Patriot Act, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and National Security Agency (NSA) all violate this Amendment and impose unnecessary and unconstitutional impositions on the American people. No, this does not make me a terrorist sympathizer. This makes me a proud and pragmatic American. If information needs to be obtained, then I believe in the legal process of obtaining a justified warrant to obtain it.
I wholeheartedly support a reform of the American prison system, for both human rights reasons and for economic reasons. I believe rehabilitation should be the priority as opposed to simple incarceration, which results in a high rate of recidivism. Again, my wish is to maximize the volume of productive, healthy Americans in the population.
The stereotype of Democrats is either rich, educated snobs, or minorities. I am not rich, I am not a minority (though my DNA results show that I'm 6.9% Middle Eastern, 0.4% Sub-Saharan African, and 0.2% East Asian). I am educated, which has only furthered my belief that all Americans should have access to secondary education, for the sole reason that it has taught me how to think critically - the most important skill a person could possibly learn, I believe.
So, why did I vote for Hillary? For a few reasons.
First, Donald Trump disqualified himself in my eyes the second he started talking about disregarding my beloved Constitution. His comments on establishing a Muslim registry and shutting down mosques is in direct violation of the First Amendment's protections of freedom of religion. His comments on the press is, again, in direct violation of our First Amendment protections of freedom of the press - the Amendment that was designed to provide the Americans with news that reflected a reality rather than party propaganda. His comments on torture are in direct violation of the Eighth Amendment, the amendment that protects Americans against "cruel and unusual punishment." I have heard people say, "well the people being tortured deserve it." I'm not one to dish out a ruling on who deserves what, but I believe that precedents are a dangerous thing when it comes to torture, knowing what many of my fellow brothers-in-arms have been subjected throughout history at the hands of foreign militaries. Once you condone torture on anyone, anyone can condone torture on you. He has repeatedly made comments that suggest support violating the Fourteenth Amendment, the amendment that grants Americans equal protection under the law. For these reasons, I could not justify casting a vote for someone who couldn't in good conscience take the Oath of Office which requires the President-elect to swear an Oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America."
Secondly, I knew she was, at the very least, qualified to do the job. Her tenure as Secretary of State provided her with, what I believe, to be an understanding of the growing need for interdependence between countries. Her knowledge of diplomacy would perhaps have resulted in diplomatic solutions for conflicts that could easily have escalated to military intervention.
Third, referencing my above comment "where there's smoke, there's fire," I decided to look into Secretary Clinton's involvement with Benghazi and this whole email fiasco. Multiple Republican-led investigations into both absolved Clinton of criminal wrongdoing. Had it been a Democrat-led coalition doing the absolution, I would have taken the news with a grain of salt, but knowing how obstructionist the Republicans in Washington have been, I knew that if there was even the tiniest reason to bring up criminal charges against her, they would have pounced. They didn't.
I was not happy at all with the pool of candidates this election cycle, and I feel that the RNC and DNC leadership demonstrated their complete disconnect from the American people. The increase in radicalization and decrease in cooperation between the two parties does not represent the America I have come to know so well, in which most people have something in common rather than being diametrically opposed to each other.
I am fearful of the next four years under President-elect Trump because I value my Constitution as much as I do, and because I took my own oath many years ago to support and defend that Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. I believe we are, again, at a precipice, and that things can get very, very bad (the connections being made to post-WW2 Germany are not as absurd as the media would have you believe), or things can get very, very good, in which Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, Liberals, Moderates, all come together and implement the change that this country desperately needs."
In the week since the Presidential election, tensions and division have been high. As FEMSHEP aims to cultivate peace and understanding in any way possible, this series will feature first-person narratives written by guest writers explaining why they voted how they voted.
Dear readers, please read these unedited* stories from fellow Americans. Please understand the humanity behind the monumental decision we all were presented with on Election Day. Please allow these stories to open a window to peaceful, respectful discussions between you and your friends and neighbors.
*Text and emphases are completely the author's; FEMSHEP may have edited formatting and links ONLY. Sources and data are original to the author of each piece and will be verified, if needed, in subsequent posts.
Voice of the Electorate: Part Two, a Donald Trump Voter
author requests to be known only as "An Old Soldier"
"I’ve been around longer than most of you who will read this. I am the son of a father whose father was a share cropper in east Texas. My father grew up in a dirt floored shack with no electricity or running water. He was the 4th of 5 boys and when he had shoes to wear, they were always well worn since one or two others wore them before him. My grandmother cooked on a wood stove and did wash with a tin tub and a washboard with water drawn from a well. As we say in Texas, my father “got his size early” and ran away from home when he was 14. First to Dallas where he worked as an orderly in a hospital basically emptying bed pans full time. Rode freight trains and lived in hobo camps to St Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville and Little Rock where he learned to weld, drive trucks, operate mobile cranes, drive dozers before he returned home after his 16 th birthday. He lied about his age and joined the Army at the end of WWII to escape the life that he grew up in. Served with the occupation forces in Germany immediately after the war.
My mother was from Poland, married to a German pilot who was killed months before the war ended. She became a displaced person because the German family wanted nothing to do with her. I have a half-brother from that marriage. My father met that beautiful young woman on a street not far from Stuttgart and they fell in love. I still have the ridiculous amount of paperwork they had to wade through from his chain of command to get married. In late May 1948, they boarded a troop ship to return to the States with my Mom 7.5 months pregnant with me. Her first sighting of the statue of Liberty was something she talked about until she died in 2005. Her name is inscribed on the donors’ stainless steel plaques that my Dad did to honor her during the centennial celebration of the Statue. They boarded an unairconditioned Greyhound bus for the 10-day journey to Dallas. When the bus crossed the Red River that divides Texas from Oklahoma, my Dad turned to a very pregnant, hot Maria and said “You can have my son anytime now because he will be a Texan.”
Growing up as an Army brat with my Dad fighting in two wars, I saw a lot of the world. I attended racially integrated Department of Defense schools in Alaska, Guam, and Germany. Every school I attended in the United States was totally segregated. I went to high school in Louisiana where there was a white high school and a black high school. Integration didn’t happen until after my graduation in 1966. I returned to my 50 th high school reunion in Oct…. over 50% of the school is minority and they even have athletic teams for the women, we had none.
I’ll begin here as to why I’m a Republican. I love history, particularly that of my Country. The President who fought a Civil War to free black slaves was our first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln. The Ku Klux Klan was founded and perpetuated by members of the Democratic party for over 100 years. Fast forward almost 100 years, one of our greatest legislative achievements was the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 under President Johnson. Most Democrats were vehemently opposed to that. Almost all Republicans supported it and Johnson was able to pass the legislation into law with great Republican support. Most of this stuff is not taught in our public schools any more, much less the truth behind our Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
Why are so many of our younger folks so upset with the results of this election? After all, Clinton appears to have won the “popular” vote. The founders built the Constitution with the Electoral College for one reason, so the big cities and population centers would not dominate elections and the rural parts of America would have no say and would in fact be ignored by politicians. That still applies today, otherwise NYC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, LA, Seattle, etc. would be the only votes that counted. The young folks rioting and destroying our towns right now are in liberal, Democratic cities. They don’t understand that the Electoral College represents the people. Since 2008, we have seen a significant change in our Congress, upon which the number of electoral votes are based. Gone from majority Democratic to majority Republican. If those who are protesting want to make a difference, let them get involved and turn their state district representatives and senators back into a majority. It’s as simple as that. Enough of a civics lesson.
My Dad fought in Vietnam and Korea. I spent almost 38 active duty years in the Army. Fought in Vietnam as a rifle platoon leader and deployed to some other rather unsavory places. I have seen and experienced true poverty, deprivation and oppressive, dictatorial governments in the 109 countries I’ve been in. So few here truly realize how blessed we are as United States citizens and how those blessings run deep because we are a nation generally ruled by law and have always had young folks who are willing to sign that blank check to Uncle Sam that implies “…up to and including my life.”
Please note I didn’t say Americans above, but United States citizens. North and South America are huge continents…. within those we are all Americans. The United States of America is unique in the world, a first not ruled by kings, emperors, queens or dictators. In the spring of 1956 we drove my Mom to the Federal District Courthouse in Lake Charles, LA. I had the honor and privilege of watching her take the oath of allegiance to our United States as tears streamed down her cheeks. This was the proudest moment in her life. She had to study hard to pass that test. She had to learn English because that test wasn’t offered in Polish, German or French, languages that she was fluent in before she arrived here. I was 8 years old and that day burned into my mind why becoming a citizen legally was so important.
That brings me to the current day and the gross lawlessness employed by the current administration in allowing millions of illegal aliens to live and work here with no enforcement of our immigration laws. Back to my point of the US being a nation of laws, when the man who is supposed to protect us, ignores our laws and makes no attempt to compromise with our duly elected members of Congress we have the results of the last three elections. This started with the Affordable Care Act. His inability to work with the opposition gives him a legacy of a House of Representatives that is safely in the hands of the Republicans and a Senate that is also in the hands of the Republicans. Remember in the coming years that it was the Democrats who changed the rules in the Senate requiring 60 votes for legislation to be approved. Also, remember their liberal use of the budget reconciliation process, so that they could pass items they wanted with 51 votes and the hundreds of bills from the House that never saw the light of day courtesy of Harry Reid. Several of these could have repaired the flaws in the ACA and we wouldn’t be in the position we are in now. They will probably come to regret that. President Obama is being replaced by a man who is almost diametrically opposed to everything he stands for. Someone who will replace Justice Scalia and probably two more in this term.
The only way people can be surprised by the results of the election is because they are totally out of touch with the workers in this country no matter their race, sex or religion. This election was about the assault on their economic future and the continuous assault on what they believe is good about America.... rewarded for hard work, being safe in your neighborhoods, being able to defend yourself and family until the police arrive, and being able to BELIEVE and TRUST the person who is elected. Trump has some issues in those areas but Clinton has a 30-year record of corruption, lying, financially bettering herself and being very abusive to those around her. I had a good friend working in the Clinton White House on a fellowship and the abuse he and other staffers put up with from her was unbelievable. And she was just a first lady then. What concrete things have she accomplished? Trump may be a total novice politically, but one doesn't become as successful as he is unless you can build teams that get the job done. My wife (name has been removed at the author's request) and I travel a lot by car between here and NY, WI, FL, and TX. For those who were surprised, especially east and west coast politicians, the main stream media, and those who read these threads, I challenge you to get out to county fairs, working class diners, Walmart, Veterans Day parades in small towns, VA hospitals, real truck stops and gasp, even gun shows. While at these places talk to local folks. Really listen to them. We have 200 families in our middle to upper middle class subdivision in a very rural County. All races, a rich mix of many, many religions, all sexual orientations and parental educational levels. Most families with school age children move here because of our superb schools, low taxes and low crime rate. We are 18 miles from downtown Nashville. There was not a single sign for Trump or Clinton on any lawns during the entire campaign. One neighbor had a Clinton sticker on her car. She moved here from IL two years ago. The Affordable Care Act has done great damage to many of these families. Having said that I would lay money that this subdivision probably voted close to our county results, 80% Trump, 15% Clinton, other 5%.
After the election, there was an article about a KY county that has voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since 1869 until 2016. Democrats far outnumber Republicans. It’s flyover country for the Democrats that cost them throughout the country in this election. Per some of those interviewed, it was the economy and watching neighbors get free government handouts without doing any work while they were working hard to scrape by that caused them to abandon the Democratic party this time. Those who would honestly assess the health of our electorate should pay close attention to local governments to get a real pulse, only four states have Democratic governors with Democratic majorities in their legislatures after this week, CA, OR, RI, and HI. CT has a Democratic governor, a majority Democratic lower house and a tied upper chamber. Why are 34 of our states now governed by Republican governors with supportive legislatures? My speculation is the citizens of those states believe in the rule of law, fair tax policies and a state’s right to basically govern themselves internally. Bottom line is the mainstream media, the Democratic party and Ms. Clinton in particular, lost the confidence of the people.
I voted for Mr. Trump after a lot of soul searching. The other minor parties didn’t stand a chance so a vote for them was a wasted vote. There was no way I would vote for Ms. Clinton with her record over the last 30 years. What did she accomplish as Secretary of State? A Middle East worse off than it was before; a “junior varsity” ISIS running rampant; soured relations with Russia; etc. I have three sons and a son in law who fought in eight combat tours in Iraq and/or Afghanistan as junior Infantry officers. I have a daughter who spent a tour in Afghanistan as a flight surgeon for the 101 st Airborne Division. My hope was that my grandchildren would not have to fight this war but Ms. Clinton’s wrong guesses along with President Obama knowing better than his military advisers, have made this a true generational war, perhaps two. There is no doubt in my mind what kind of president Ms. Clinton would have been when she abandoned 4 Americans in Libya and later said "What difference does it make now" and believes in late term abortion of a fully developed child.
Finally, I held several positions where I had to be cleared for the highest security clearance we have. Had I compromised one secret, my life would have been ruined. There is no doubt about that. It appears that we have two legal systems, one for the common folk and one for high ranking politicians. That hypocrisy was another reason why I supported Trump.
I am not an uneducated redneck, racist, white power, women pregnant in the kitchen, my Country right or wrong kind of guy. I believe in the value of every individual; Duty, Honor, Country; the tenets and values of the Boy Scout Oath and Law that I still repeat with my Scouts every Monday night at our church; and most of all I believe in my Catholic faith, that conception = life and the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. I have voted in every election since 1970. Most by absentee ballot from Texas until I retired here in Tennessee. I study all the candidates from both major parties before I cast my votes. I have personally experienced the loss of brothers and sisters who have died to give me the privilege. I take it very personally and seriously. I am willing to give President Elect Trump the benefit of the doubt."
