I'm really, really happy that Hillary Clinton is #Notmypresident
— Matt Vespa (@mVespa1) November 9, 2016
There is a lot of grief; lots of sadness, and most of all shock over President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding win over Hillary Clinton. Right now, Trump has 290 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232. Michigan is the only holdout this cycle, with Trump on the verge of clinching its 16 electoral votes. The state is pretty much accounted for regarding voting precincts, and Trump is still a little over 12,000 votes ahead of Clinton. Should he win, his total would blow past 300 (306 to be exact) in the Electoral College count.
The shock has triggered the progressives in the usual areas to hold protests and in some cases, setting American flags on fire. It launched a trending hashtag on Twitter--#NotMyPresident—which served as yet another areas for liberals to mourn the loss of Clinton. Oh, and by usual places, I mean, California (via LA Times):
PHOTOS: Anti-Trump protests erupt in the East Bay: https://t.co/x7O3ntBTHf pic.twitter.com/h106dD6Wkz
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) November 9, 2016
Protests of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election took place across California on Wednesday, with students at several Bay Area high schools walking out in the middle of class and a throng of young demonstrators taking to the steps of Los Angeles’ City Hall.The demonstrations — which mirrored protests from Seattle to Pittsburgh — followed protests in the pre-dawn hours in which crowds openly disavowed the president-elect, with a few protesters resorting to vandalism.
At Berkeley High School, about 1,500 students — half the entire student body — walked out of class after first period began at 8 a.m., Berkeley Unified School District officials said.
Students tweeted “#NotMyPresident” and pledged to unify. Others chanted, “Si, se puede,” Spanish for “Yes, we can,” and waved Mexican flags, according to posts on social media.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had a walkout. We know what to expect, we know what we need to do,” said Berkeley Unified spokesman Charles Burress.
School and district administrators and faculty accompanied the students as they marched from the school through downtown and onto the UC Berkeley campus.
Did that feel better? It doesn’t negate the results of the election. Trump won, Clinton lost. Period. Nevertheless, some people in the Oakland area set things on fire. It’s pretty much a massive temper tantrum. Kids, sometimes your guy, or gal, loses. Get over it. Donald Trump isn’t the end of the world. The same as Barack Obama wasn’t the end of the world, and neither was George Bush. The country will survive. And if you really want to make sure people never empathize with you, burn an American flag, which was captured on the campus of American University (via Fox 5):
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Students are burning American flags at American University in D.C. in protest of GOP nominee Donald Trump's presidential win.The university says they are giving students a place to demonstrate freedom of speech.
[…]
Some students, including American University senior Arielle Thomas, say the protest went too far, “I understand that most students at AU are upset about the election results but that doesn't mean it's okay to completely disrespect our country by burning the American flag. We need to unify the country, not further divide it.” Another student said, "we don't know what to do. Is racism really what this county is all about? Everyone is just walking around stunned."
Flag burning at American University. Wow. pic.twitter.com/V0NZsfNMyz
— Maddy (@madelineele) November 9, 2016
Yes, it’s free speech, but don’t be shocked when folks simply turn their back on you. As a person who voted for Romney and was deeply disappointed in 2012, I can tell fellow progressives that life goes on. Also, conservatives and Republicans never burned American flags; we didn’t have protests, or stage walkouts. We decided to retake Congress in 2014—and now we have the presidency. If you really don’t want to lose, how about nominating someone who isn’t under federal investigation. Yes, Trump is very flawed, but Clinton was just the worst the political class had to offer.