It’s finally over! After a year and a half of some of the worst invective I’ve ever encountered in my 30+ years living in the US. By the end it had really worn me down.

I struggled to come up with a photograph to illustrate this post and then one day while walking along the lake I came across this combination of Trump/Pence campaign paraphernalia, a US flag and a couple of other somewhat tattered flags. I think it’s the only example still up around the lake. I don’t know the owner of the house, but since one of the signs reads “Veterans for Trump” and one of the worn flags is a US Marine Corps flag, I’m guessing that he’s a veteran.

I think that many felt the need for change. The system hasn’t been working for them and inequality in the US has been getting worse and worse. I knew it was bad, but until recently I hadn’t realized just how much wealth was concentrated in the hands of such a small group of people. Also the political game-playing in Washington had lead to an almost a complete paralysis in government. Democrats missed this entirely. We were only to willing to type Trump supporters as under-educated, racist, mysoginistic, rednecks. Maybe a small number of them are, but not the 60+ million who voted for him. Many who voted for him didn’t seem to like him that much, but they liked Hillary Clinton less. To them Trump represented change and Clinton represented status quo and the status quo was not longer acceptable to them.

So now we will have President Trump. Things are what they are. At the moment the Presidency, the House, the Senate, and soon I imagine the Supreme Court are all Republican dominated. This represents an incredible opportunity for Trump to achieve some tangible results. We now have to give him a chance to do so.

Many said that he would never be the nominee of a major political party. He was. Many said that he’d never be elected President. He was. Many said women would not vote for him. They did. Many said minorities would never vote for him. They did. Many are now saying that he’ll be the worst President in history. Maybe he’ll surprise us again?