"Strong Leader"

In 1953 generals and diplomats left a room with a deal in hand. It wouldn't end the war, but would end the shooting.  Both sides agreed that neither would cross the 38th parallel.  We had agreed to a cease fire effectively ending action in the Korean war. The North Koreans with the aid of the Chinese and war materials from the Soviet Union were responsible for the deaths of 33,686 Americans. That number doesn't include South Korean, Greek, British or Australian soldiers who died in that conflict.
          
        In 1975 a helicopter leaves the rooftop of the U.S. embassy in Saigon. South Korean Marines and the Australian army had left two years earlier along with most of the U.S.army The North Vietnamese with aid from the Soviet Union  had killed 47,424 American servicemen and women in some of the ugliest fighting this country had ever seen. The casualties we suffered in those wars were a result of the cold war which we fought against the Soviet Union. Generations of Americans lived in fear of Russian nuclear strikes and the late President Ronald Reagan went so far as to call the Soviets an "Evil Empire" bent on imposing it's will upon the world.
    
      In the year 2000 the Russian people in an election many poll watchers thought to be rigged elected former head of the KGB Vladamir Putin their President.  He had seen the Soviet union dissolve and made no secret of the fact that he wished to see every satellite which had gained independence returned to mother Russia.
      In response to dissent in the Ukraine his assassins poisoned Ukrainian president Vicktor Yushenko and later were responsible for the non fatal poisoning of Ukrainian presidential candidate Alexander Litvinenko. In 2014 Russia invaded Ukraine and assumed that because they weren't in uniform, that the world would believe that it was merely an uprising by the Ukrainians themselves who wished to be part of Russia again.
       Putin has spent the last 16 years hacking American government computers and spying on the governments of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, but Donald Trump when running for president called this vile thug and assassin a "strong leader."
         Russia makes no secret about the fact that they desire to rebuild their empire and our newest president elect wants to not only abandon our allies in the North Atlantic Treaty organization, but also wants to "Normalize" relations with Russia. I harbor no animosity towards the Russian people. I know and have known Russians and regard them as a fine people. My issue is NOT with the Russian people, but with the  dictator who currently runs their country. Becoming chummy with a nation whom Reagan called the "Evil Empire" will be to our detriment.

You're Fcuked...

It's 11:00pm on a Tuesday in November and a sociopath who ran a campaign eerily similar to one a demented Austrian ran in 1932 to become chancellor of Germany has just come to an end with with the exact same conclusion. The health insurance my employer was forced to make affordable to me by law is about to vanish by an act of a congress which ignored infrastructure improvements for eight years.
       A man who feels the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should simply sit back and allow Russia to annex any country smaller than itself has just been elected president. What does this mean?

         If his campaign rhetoric is to be believed, IF you are a Republican who publicly spoke out against him, you're FUCKED. During the primaries he swore revenge against defeated opponents who refused to endorsed him. IF you're a Republican who didn't fall in line he has said he would exact revenge.

        IF you are black...you're FUCKED! Any grievance you have against ANY authority figure will result in your having to prove your innocence rather than someone else having to prove your guilt. The terrorist organization which IS the Ku Klux Klan OPENLY embraced the candidate in question and he quietly pretended not to know who they were. If you're not a professional athlete or entertainer prepare to have the words "Yas suh!" introduced into your vocabulary. You are now a thug and a stereotype despite your level of education. Deal with it.

       If you're Latino YOU'RE FUCKED even harder than anyone black.  The President elect started his campaign by stating that Mexico sent its murderers and rapists and drug mules here and that he "assumed" that some were good people. You're a Latino who is NOT Mexican? Guess what...you're Mexican NOW. if you have dark hair eyes and skin and speak Spanish congratulations you're NOW Mexican. Here's what that entails, YOU are now an illegal alien. No, you're NOT an "Undocumented Immigrant", you're an illegal alien and will be treated like you're here to steal jobs, break into homes and sell drugs.
     
      If you are woman. You will not receive maltreatment, but you will be marginalized. You attempts to assert yourself will be treated with patronizing tones from a boys club the likes of which you've never seen. Your intellect will be largely ignored. Welcome back to the 1950s.

The group to whom I offer the biggest condolences? IF you are an American Muslim OR a person of middle eastern dissent,  YOU'RE PRISON RAPED! If you are a law abiding citizen and an upstanding member of your community consider that your past. You are NOW a defacto terrorist or terror suspect. Your mosque is now being watched. Do NOT be surprised if someone attempts to burn it to the ground or inscribe hurtful epithets on your place of worship. From this point on whenever ANY act of evil occurs ANYWHERE on earth and the perpetrator is a Muslim you will be treated with a rancor which you've NEVER seen and from which your non Muslim friends will NOT be able to protect you without fear of persecution. Hopefully the President elect will not live up to his campaign pledge to require you to wear crescent moons on your clothing to make you easier to identify.

IF you belong to one of the groups I've mentioned and you DIDN'T vote in this election, you fucked yourself.