Honoring Obama

Let's take a break from Trump. Keep him in the back of you mind, though, because he's real. But now that there are only 8 days (at the time I'm posting this) in his term, let's take a minute to honor Obama. He was one of our best presidents and in only eight years, he totally flipped the fate of this country. Despite having to clean up the huge mess left by Bush (who wasn't bad, just stupid), Obama was able to advance the country in a way that was unimaginable at the time he took office. He ended the war in Iraq, killed Osama Bin Laden, and and repealed "Don't ask, don't tell". He made the country more accepting to outsiders and suddenly, he made it okay to be different. Watching his farewell speech was heartbreaking. It was watching the end of all of his hard work, determination, and progress. From day one, he worked night and day to make this very country better for us citizens and made sure that no matter what our financial situation, that we could get healthcare and live a reasonable life. Despite the haters who weren't able to fully comprehend his actions, he built a true wonder of a country. And unfortunately, he is now leaving. Just for old time's sake, I'd like to bring back his first time being sworn in (click here).

It wasn't just Barack though, it's also Michelle. Unlike some, she did her job as a First Lady very well. She started many movements to keep the youth, and the future of America, happy, healthy, and successful. Her "Let's Move!", "Reach Higher", "Joining Forces", and "Let Girls Learn" initiatives encouraged young people to get up and do something, anything, with their lives. Her words and actions affected kids in an actually effective way, and her words mattered. She made just as much of a difference, if not more, as Barack.

Together, the Obamas ensured the security and happiness of American Citizens big and small. No matter who's our president now, it's going to be very difficult for these impacts to be undone. It's sad to see them go and be replaced by their exact opposites. Still, no matter what happens next, they will always be remembered.

Russia

What? People outside of the U.S. have a say in our democracy? Yes. Yes they do. Not legally, they don't, but when it comes to allowing besties Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to share dinner in the White House, there are no laws. It's a well known fact by now that there was involvement of Russian Hackers in the Presidential Election, but the issues resulting from this go well beyond just a minor private infringement. Maybe Donald Trump wasn't supposed to be president. Maybe it was supposed to be Hillary. Maybe. Not likely, but maybe. But this issue goes well beyond just the fact that the results of the election may have been "rigged". This is a matter of the security of our democracy. The message that was sent by the Russians when they hacked the results was that voting doesn't matter. My changing the results of one of the most important polls in history and the determining factor of the success of the human race, the Russians disrupted our democracy. Our government is based on the idea that the people of the country are able to decide their own future. When there is a foreign source interfering with that structure, it becomes useless because now, it is not the people of the country that are deciding how they want their future to go but it is rather the upper class of another country. This is only one problem though. By helping Donald Trump win the election (regardless of whether he helped a lot or not), Vladimir Putin did something of which Trump has to repay him for. So now, in the future, when Russia wants to hurt the U.S. and take advantage of us, all he has to do is bring up the time when he helped our president win the election. Putin has Trump "under his belt". Now, is Obama wrong for expelling Russian diplomats that may have taken part in the hacks? No, he is merely defending the democracy. Is Putin wrong for not "retaliating"? No, he needs to deal with the consequences. The issue is when you look deeper: Putin is trying to keep his interactions with the U.S. after the election until Trump is president to a minimum, because everything will be easier then. Still, the worst part is that Trump is falling for it, calling him "very smart" and accepting his motions.

The U.S. democracy is not something to mess with and once again, despite the huge mess that we have gotten ourselves into, I'm sure that we will be able to recover form it. 

It's been a couple of months and it's practically a new country

I never though I would say this... Trump is our president. He is. Donald Trump. President Donald. I'm speechless. This win-what does it mean for our future? What does it mean for the entire democratic style of our government as a whole? It is doubtful that the values this country prides itself on as are really going to exist anymore. Just look at it: Donald Trump in office. Making a record as quite possibly the most divisive presidential candidate in the history of elections. Now, I've heard reactions from "In your face, we're gonna make America great again!" to "Let's move to Canada". Both, however, are inappropriate for the situation. While the first one only demonstrates the stand-offish and egotistical personality of the Trump Supporters, the second one only gives in to the fearful environment that the Trump Supporters are trying to create. There is no doubt that this election has brought out the worst in people, but it is not longer just the election. The mentality of "I'm superior to all different than me" encouraged by Donald Trump is not going to stop; it's only going to get worse until the end of his four year term. Already, the portion of the country that supports the president-elect has began to repress the opinions of all others, marking them off as "stupid", "unreasonable", "too opinion-based", or "influenced by biased media". Despite the fact that there is no way to get "non opinionated" facts other than to sift through the words of a variety of media sources, 46% of the country believes this. Still, moving out of the country due to fear only encourages Trump's message. The only real way to repair the state of the country is to stay and fight for our diminishing values and to not stop.  Even though this election has told us otherwise, each and every one of our votes matter. In addition, especially after election night, we need to have more faith in each other. It's not that a majority of the country believes in Trump's xenophobic ideas, but it is rather that those who do are spread across the states (which is rendering the electoral college system useless). This election was only a hurdle in the long history in the United States, but it can easily be crossed if the country can unite over dealing with our new president rather than splitting on whether he is right or wrong.