I really don’t think Donald Trump is a bad guy. He is actually not the worst businessman in the country. He raised five children and starred in a reality show. All in all, he is OK. Yet the results of the 2016 presidential race sadly proved that a patriarchal system is alive and well in America.
For an unqualified man with no political experience to beat a woman with over 30 years of political experience infuriates me. Hillary Clinton’s dedication to equal rights, her willingness to work across party lines and to help women and children in a way a man can’t would have made this country great again.
We live in political system that is unfair to women. Donald Trump may have won the battle but he has just lost the war. All of us need to take action to make sure this never happens again.
Valerie Parauka South Royalton
Like many Americans, I am honored to have participated in the election of our political leaders on Tuesday. However, I am dismayed that in 2016, our culture is such that my daughter woke up on Wednesday morning and asked why we elected a sexist president.
Why, in 2016, are my daughters still seeing the news feed showing the NFL leadership dismissing the seriousness of domestic violence, the elite men of Harvard cited for vulgarly rating the women’s soccer team, and the elected leader of the free world regularly insulting women based on their gender and looks.
Why, in 2016, must I explain to my daughters’ generation that the work their mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers did to advance women to equal members of society has ground to a screeching halt, and that these young women will continue to be judged on their bodies and not their minds. I am heartbroken.
Catherine Shubkin Hanover
A letter to my granddaughter:
Dear J, I have been sitting here watching Hillary Clinton’s speech with tears in my eyes — stunned, my head throbbing, my body dizzy, my ears ringing. It is so difficult to find words.
Today my hope is broken. Today we grieve, we mourn. Yet next week, next month, next year will come and I will renew my hope and faith in the human family. I will continue believing in our better angels — dreaming big dreams, as Barack Obama would say, always going high as Michelle Obama would advise.
As you face this time, know that there are millions of people around the world who share our grief and fears. My friends and colleagues send notes of condolence and solidarity.
This shared political reality of demagoguery across the world in a perverse way brings us all closer. We are joined more than ever in a common struggle against racism, misogyny and the raw greed that leads to environmental ruin and inequality.
One thing I have learned over the years is that the human struggle for dignity and justice is a never-ending quest, filled with moments of pain and moments of joy. In this time of loss, we face the challenge of grappling with what has happened and of understanding how power can operate both to dominate and liberate. May we build on the wisdom of our hearts, minds and bodies to make our world a better, ever more big-hearted place — to create and nurture the love, inspiration and human connections that give this life purpose. As Hillary Clinton said, “never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.”
Valerie Miller Thetford Center
Shocked and Appalled
I am shocked and appalled at the outcome of this election. As I love my country, I respect the process. However, let’s keep in mind that while Donald Trump won the Electoral College, Hillary Clinton received the popular vote majority.
This country remains deeply divided. Perhaps this was like the Brexit vote — an unexpectedly powerful nostalgia for the good old days, an unwillingness to face the increasing complexities of a global civilization, anger at feeling dismissed and left out of the American dream.
Is our educational system serving us well? Do our citizens really learn and understand how our democracy works? How it depends on a free press, and on people in government, elected by us, who are willing to negotiate and compromise with the goal of serving the common good?
The bright spot in all this for me has been Bernie Sanders — his inspiring message and mobilization of young people. I am so proud of him, and what he accomplished. Had our process been more open, he might have been our president today. Whatever the future brings, I’m hoping and praying that our younger generation will keep on daring to be idealists, working for a better tomorrow. That they, and the rest of us, will have the courage to stand up against bigotry, racism, bullying, intolerance.
Meanwhile, all we can do is do our best to understand one another better, to try to love our neighbors as ourselves despite the deep divides, and try to do the right thing, whatever we imagine that to be.
Margaret Anne Brightman Quechee
I think that the good citizens of this country should start a fund for a plane ticket for Whoopi Goldberg. Maybe she would be happier in a Third World country now that Donald Trump won the election.
As I understand it, she said she would move out of the country if Donald Trump won. I’m willing to throw $5 in for a start.
Louis RussoEnfield