What To Make of This Election?

A Facebook post by fishing buddy, a current member of the Armed Forces in a postion of responsibility, and a very smart man:

What to make of this election?

My perspective follows.

In 2008, the economy was literally slaughtered in certain areas of this country. This was on top of a seemingly designed effort to de-industrialize our country that began in the 1970s. I was stationed in eastern Kansas, northwest of Kansas City. The recession destroyed many aspects of the economy. I saw malls go under, forget about individual stores. I saw GMC almost go under, in fact, we bought a SUV from them at a large discount.

The recession never ended for large parts of this country. Whether it was going to visit my wife's relatives in western Pennsylvania, or going to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, or talking with friends and family in Vermont, Ohio, Michigan or Florida, the story was the same. Good jobs are gone, and if we are lucky enough to find a job, the benefits are non-existent and we are paid far less.

When we moved back to southern Maryland, I saw families around me struggle with the costs of gas, the cost of food, the cost of everything. I saw two parents working long hours just to get food on the table. This is 40 miles outside DC, one of the few places to stay afloat during this time.

The political parties were vapid and distant. They talked about foreign policies which were disastrous, costing the country trillions when we had millions in need. I saw the rise of political correctness to levels not ever imagined in this country. I kept seeing people around me become more and more detached from their own country.

One friend with lots of experience on Capitol Hill told me during this time that everyone sees the decay except those residing in the capitals. Truer words were never spoken.

I saw politicians driving pet projects for questionable causes, like solar power, or fracking, or whatever.

In my neighborhood, I saw my children be directly affected. In Anne Arundel county, a new high school was just built in Severna Park, costing $150 Million dollars. My kids school was built in 1970 and didn't even have interior walls between classrooms. It took until this year for the county and state to scrape up a few hundred thousand to get walls built, and that's going to take until 2018.

I saw the effects of Common Core on the teachers. My daughters first grade teacher was fired because she complained too loudly about the program being mismanaged and the kids suffering from the teachers inability to plan lessons due to a lack of time. I have seen my wife and other parents tear their hair out over the way foundational math and English was taught. And I saw the state of Maryland take $250 Million from the Department of Education as a bribe to implement this garbage.

I saw my in-laws health insurance go up in cost, with less coverage. And when the ACA was passed, every option was worse and more expensive than what they currently had.

And I thought to myself, people can't make ends meet, they are getting jammed by rising costs across the board, and never ending wars that sucked huge amounts of money out of our Treasury. I was lucky, I had a stable job in the military, had survived two deployments to Afghanistan.

So when you add all of this up, I saw anger. It wasn't directed at the Democrats or the Republicans, it was at ALL of the politicians who didn't do shit for DECADES to help out the common man.

When Trump was running in the primaries, I thought he was going to win, especially after the first debate. No one else captured the anger and the concerns of the forgotten classes.

He won, and it wasn't close. He had the correct orientation and the rest of the crew were operating within a mental frame that was nowhere near reality for most people.

It was worse on the Democrat side. Sanders had captured the same angst and anger, but as we have found out, his own party rigged the game against him. He had no chance.

We saw the destruction of the Democrats, with every Wikileaks post showing a completely corrupt ideology, and a chosen few who were anointed to be the next leaders of our country. As we now know, the press was implicitly taking directions from them, skewing debates, and running a first rate propaganda campaign against our President elect.

He is not the kind of man to easily forget. Remember this.

I am not a fan of Trump. And I despise Hillary Clinton.

Both sides of the political aisle were tainted. Only Trump understood how badly off the middle class had been wrecked, and why it had been wrecked. I have no great hopes that he will be able to change, but he has the advantage of not being a professional politician and of having the Congress to pass legislation with minimal interference.

My family is from the deplorable class. My wife's family is from the deplorable class. Most of the friends I have made in the military are from the deplorable class.

I have some hope that maybe we can actually open our eyes as a nation now, and start rebuilding our country for EVERYONE. Perhaps I am naive. So be it.

Caveat emptor.

Linked by Wombat-socho at The Other McCain in "In The Mailbox: 11.14.16."