# Now is not the time to come together as Americans **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 11, 2016, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476 "2016-11-11T07:31:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/81 "2016-11-12T04:27:38Z")
Maybe some kind of “work to rule” thing. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/82 "2016-11-12T04:37:37Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I’m staying put. I spent a short time in the Army (only 4 years), I worked in the Defense biz both as private and government, and I won’t let a bunch of sheet wearing scumbags or their bloated orange stooge run me off. Plus, I earned my pension, it’s mine when I decide to pull the plug, and “Mister Bizniz Man” won’t fuck me out of MY pay like he did all his employees and contractors. good luck with that! I mean that seriously. I’m not afraid of dying, but recognizing when you are beat is a virtue. I’m not dead. The US is darwinist. OK? That’s not changing in my lifetime. I’m 50. Don’t pretend the US cares. The US doesn’t care. That’s the way the US voted. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/83 "2016-11-12T04:42:05Z")
> [@fervour](#): > > I can not explain what if feels like to love a flawed human. I expect that most people can’t understand what it’s like to love something bent, and broken. I don’t think most people understand that beauty. I’m sorry. My ex-wife was a drug addict. We were married for 5 years. Over the course of that relationship, she stayed out all night more than I can count. She attempted suicide twice. She went through about $40k - my life savings - in about 14 months. I didn’t know it because she controlled the checkbook. I found out when the bank called me about a check that bounced. Because of the addictions, she had a problem staying faithful. She’d get abusive if I tried to discuss things. And I wanted to leave. But I didn’t. Because I saw my parents get divorced when I was a kid, and I swore that that would never happen to me. I stayed because I’d told myself that things were going to get better. Luckily, the only child we had was miscarried. She called me once when I was at work. When I didn’t answer, she called back. And back. And back. Finally, I answered, just to tell her that I was busy. The tone in her voice stopped me. She had went with her brother-in-law to get some crack. When they got to the guy’s apartment, her BiL looked at her,said, “oh, I didn’t tell you…you’re the payment. I’ll be back for you in a few hours.” And left. She barricaded herself in the bathroom, bit the bullet, and called me to come get her. Which I did. Partly because I couldn’t leave anyone in a situation like that, and partly because, as imperfect and flawed as she was, she was still my wife, and I loved her. While I was on my way, I called my brother. I told him where I was going and what I was doing, just in case no one ever heard from me again. He relayed the info to his girlfriend, and met me at the apartment. He’s worked in the prison system for years, and arranged for a friend of his - an off-duty cop - to just kinda hang out in the apartment complex, just in case. When she got in the car, I dropped her at the hospital, and said I didn’t want to hear from her until the staff determined that she was ready to leave. I picked her up at the hospital, but instead of driving her home, I took her to her mother’s house, and she stayed there while she was doing her rehab. Her mom’s a retired nurse, and a former Marine. I work sometimes 24 hour shifts. There was less chance of anything going wrong there. And, for all that I went through, she filed divorce papers while she was there. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/84 "2016-11-12T04:47:03Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > My ex-wife was a drug addict. We were married for 5 years. Over the course of that relationship, she stayed out all night more than I can count. She attempted suicide twice. . . . You aren’t me. My husband isn’t like that. We’ve been together for 20 years and are stronger then ever. I’m sorry your experience was so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/85 "2016-11-12T04:50:04Z")
I wasn’t trying to imply that our situations were identical. Just that you said that most people couldn’t understand loving someone flawed and broken. That is something I am familiar with. Again, not identical. But I can empathize with you. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/86 "2016-11-12T04:51:05Z")
> [@Lydia\_Phalfav](#): > > Take your generalizations of racism & bigotry & shove them up your ass - all the way up. [Shove this up your ass,](https://twitter.com/ShaunKing) idiot. > [@](#): > > White Trump supporting children just got suspended for telling Black children to “go back to Africa.” > [@](#): > > PRIDE Flags are being set on fire while in Rochester…while they are still attached to people’s homes. > [@](#): > > “All Muslims are Terrorists.” > “Deport them All” > “I Hate Muslims” > > This truck is riding around Brooksville, FL scaring people to death. > [@](#): > > Colored and Whites Only signs were put on the water fountains at this Florida High School. > [@](#): > > Went running earlier & a guy yelled “build the wall” at me from his car. Guessing he saw a brown woman at a distance & assumed I was Latina. > [@](#): > > Today at Plano East Senior High a group of boys took off a girl’s hijab. > [@](#): > > White Students in DeWitt, Michigan formed a physical wall of students to block Latino kids from entering the school. > [@](#): > > The USPS worker, a bearded white male, yelled at another male (who looked of hispanic descent): Go back to your country. This is Trump land. You ain’t getting your check no more. > [@](#): > > One of my student’s aunt had to pick her daughter up from school today because a boy grabbed her vagina… he said that if a president can do it, I can too. > [@](#): > > A hateful note saying “Bye Bye Latinos Hasta La Vista” was found in Kivette Hall Room 100 this morning at @elonuniversity. > [@](#): > > MSNBC just showed video of a white woman throwing gas onto a woman in a hijab. > [@](#): > > At an event near Cincinnati, two men threatened to “Donald Trump” (a verb) a female security guard when she would not let them through. > [@](#): > > Parents at Shasta High School in Redding California just wrote me and said white kids brought “deportation letters” for Latino students. > [@](#): > > White students @ Southern Illinois University (@SIUC) decided to put on blackface and pose in front of a Confederate Flag to celebrate Trump > [@](#): > > Yesterday during lunch at Royal Oak Middle School in Royal Oak Michigan, white students loudly chanted BUILD THE WALL, BUILD THE WALL. > [@](#): > > “Trump!” spray painted on the door to the prayer room of Muslim students at NYU. > [@](#): > > “Can’t wait until your ‘marriage’ is overturned by a real president. Gay families = burn in hell. Trump 2016” > [@](#): > > This just happened in Indiana. “Fuck you nigger bitch. Trump is going to deport you back to Africa.” > [@](#): > > “This is white America now. Take your retarded self and go somewhere else now,” towards American Sign Language (ASL) user > [@](#): > > “Hey Nigger. Pick that up. Keep my streets clean,” said the emboldened white Trump supporter to this Black woman in Indiana. > [@](#): > > A Latina mom dropped her son off at school. Then, she saw a group of 5th graders proudly chanting “BUILD THE WALL, BUILD THE WALL.” Just a small fraction of the reports by day 3 post election. The danger of what Trump has done isn’t limited to what policy changes the government makes, healthcare, supreme court appointments, etc. which are all terribly dangerous. The danger is that he gives a voice to the worst, most racist, despicable elements of our society. The “good ones” who just voted for him for shits and grins are imbeciles. Time to come together as Americans my ass. There will be people recording and remembering every racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, white supremist move these fucktards make over the next four years. In 2020 when the pendulum swings the other way it’s going to be a lot harder for so called conservatives to make a case that their entire agenda of american conservatism isn’t just a thin veneer covering the very worst facets of human nature. We can thank Trump for exposing it, giving it a voice and shining a light on it. His moment will pass, but future voters will remember this. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/87 "2016-11-12T04:55:22Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I wasn’t trying to imply that our situations were identical. Just that you said that most people couldn’t understand loving someone flawed and broken. That is something I am familiar with. > > Again, not identical. But I can empathize with you. Thank you. Sincerely. Thank you. It does me good to know that there are genuinely good people. If I died tonight, I can honestly say, “That was beautiful!” What more can someone want from life? It was really beautiful!----I’m not dying tonight! OK? I want you to enjoy life. Peace. Joy. Happiness to you------I know those are just words. They are all I have. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/88 "2016-11-12T05:00:22Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > but future voters will remember this. I sincerely hope so, but I have my doubts. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/89 "2016-11-12T05:19:51Z")
Coming together with Trump voters means normalizing racism. It means abandoning all the people who don’t have a place in Trump’s America for the sake of getting along with racists. We cannot let Klan rallies and hate crimes become the new normal, just background noise in America. If you had to struggle to decide you couldn’t vote for Trump, you moral compass is profoundly defective. If you voted for Trump, you should be marching with your Klan brothers. You own it, it’s no secret that Trump was pandering to white supremacists. He ran an openly racist campaign. If you voted for him you are a bigot or so apathetic to the wellbeing of people of other races and creeds that the distinction is meaningless. What exactly not coming together is going to look like is unclear. It,will manifest itself in a thousand small ways over the next four years as the realization dawns on us that we are no longer countrymen. It’s scary and it’s ugly and it would have been better had it not come to this. But when you voted for Trump, you explicitly stated that your America is not for everyone, don’t act so surprised when we agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/90 "2016-11-12T06:08:18Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Coming together with Trump voters means normalizing racism. Only if you’re an ideologue that sees everything as a binary struggle of good vs. evil and assumes that every single Trump supporter (including the non-white ones) is a white supremacist. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/91 "2016-11-12T06:25:15Z")
You know **Smapti** the one characteristic you’ve demonstrated again and again is a pathological servility. imthink your going to do,just fine in Trump’s America. ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/92 "2016-11-12T06:35:02Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > You know **Smapti** the one characteristic you’ve demonstrated again and again is a pathological servility. imthink your going to do,just fine in Trump’s America. The idea of a liberal calling anybody out for servility is precious. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/93 "2016-11-12T06:38:55Z")
> [@Waymore](#): > > The idea of a liberal calling anybody out for servility is precious. Odd viewpoint; isn’t it \*conservatives \*who traditionally bow down to icons and authorities, be they governmental, military, patriotic, religious…etc? ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/94 "2016-11-12T06:47:51Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Odd viewpoint; isn’t it \*conservatives \*who traditionally bow down to icons and authorities, be they governmental, military, patriotic, religious…etc? No more so than liberals, they just disagree who to bow down to. To insult liberalism isn’t the same as praising conservatism. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/95 "2016-11-12T06:53:42Z")
> [@Waymore](#): > > No more so than liberals, they just disagree who to bow down to. Then your comment loses all power. You may as well have said “The idea of a \*person \*calling anybody out for servility is precious.” ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/96 "2016-11-12T07:06:05Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Then your comment loses all power. You may as well have said “The idea of a \*person \*calling anybody out for servility is precious.” Nonsense. Liberals are servile, hence them calling people out for that vice is precious. It doesn’t follow that all people are servile. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/97 "2016-11-12T07:30:33Z")
> [@Waymore](#): > > Nonsense. Liberals are servile, hence them calling people out for that vice is precious. It doesn’t follow that all people are servile. Okay, just people who are liberal and people who are conservative are servile. I guess those who are moderate are okay. And I guess there are some people whose views don’t conform to such a one-dimensional spectrum, so maybe they don’t count. I’m not sure how precious an observation this is, though. Seems kind of generalized. ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/98 "2016-11-12T07:46:15Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Okay, just people who are liberal and people who are conservative are servile. I guess those who are moderate are okay. And I guess there are some people whose views don’t conform to such a one-dimensional spectrum, so maybe they don’t count. > > I’m not sure how precious an observation this is, though. Seems kind of generalized. Must be a cultural thing. Because trust me, the liberal mindset is obviously servile to those of us who aren’t in the same bubble. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/99 "2016-11-12T07:54:43Z")
> [@Waymore](#): > > Must be a cultural thing. Because trust me, the liberal mindset is obviously servile to those of us who aren’t in the same bubble. Sorry, I’m a liberal (well, by American standards) who doesn’t blindly trust anything. Got any evidence? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476/100 "2016-11-12T09:06:15Z")
Fox News told him we were servile. Proving your point. Amber Ruffin had a good piece on the Late Show. The whole video is worth watching, but I thought this quote was great: > [@](#): > > The thought of someone thinking you deserve fewer rights because of who you are is depressing. But then you realize that by doing what you do every day, you prove to them that you are unstoppable. They can spend their time trying to pass laws to take away your rights and silence your voice, but all you have to do is live your lives right in their faces and it proves that we simply cannot be stopped. > **[Late Night’s Amber Ruffin Tells White People Feeling Disenchanted With White...](https://www.vulture.com/2016/11/late-nights-amber-on-disappointed-white-people.html)** > > Join. The. Fun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-come-together-as-americans/771476.md?page=6)