By Josh Moon
Alabama Political Reporter
I’m sorry.
That’s what I’m supposed to say here, it seems. A bunch of other media outlets and columnists have apologized after last Tuesday’s election results, after they were so wrong and after they so misjudged the country and its anger.
I guess I should offer an apology too.
So, I’m sorry … I’m sorry that so many people in America are so easily fooled.
I’m sorry that facts no longer matter.
I’m sorry that a portion of the country believes that all racial problems are now President Obama’s fault, because he had the nerve to just keep being black even after elected.
I’m sorry that those same people believe they are in imminent danger when they are instead safer than ever in this country.
I’m sorry that during this wretched presidential campaign, the qualified candidate was treated like previous presidential candidates, while the inexperienced, intolerable orange man-child was judged on a curve so large it would make a star football player in Alabama blush.
I’m sorry that so many in this country have so little regard for religious freedom, and so little respect for the peace and happiness that brilliant law has ensured us.
I’m sorry that Alabamians, the people I know better than any others, are still so comfortable and accepting of racism, bigotry and the belittling of anyone who happens to be a little different.
I’m sorry that conservatives are so scared of any differences that they will disregard laws and ethics and morals because they foolishly believe they can make this country better by denying others equal rights.
I’m sorry that religious leaders succumbed to their love of money and tossed their support – and encouraged the support of their congregations – behind a truly awful human being.
I’m sorry that the media, on every level, didn’t recognize sooner that some Americans were actually taking this gerbil-haired buffoon seriously, and that we covered Trump less like a serious presidential candidate and more like a carnival sideshow.
I’m sorry that we can’t just tell people who voted for Trump the straight truth: That their anger is misplaced, and instead of blaming everyone else – the Mexicans, blacks, women and Muslims – for the failures of this country, maybe they should take a look in the mirror and consider those times they thumbed their noses at, more taxes for better schools or when they cut the funding for cops’ pension programs or when they stupidly believed allowing 40 million people to show up to ERs for health care was sound health policy.
I’m sorry that the same group of voters who elected a human-Nigerian email scam as president because they’re “tired of a rigged system,” also voted incumbents back into Congress at a 90-percent clip.
I’m sorry that some middle-class families, particularly single-parent households, will now face an increased tax burden (of as much as $2,400 per year for a single parent earning $75,000) in order to offset the average 14-percent boost the top .1 percent of earners will receive.
I’m sorry that despite it failing consistently every single time it has been attempted in this nation’s history, so many who benefit so little still believe in “trickle-down” economics.
I’m sorry that greed has so overtaken the country that people think running a business and running a country require comparable skill sets.
I’m sorry that the kindness, compassion and intelligence which President Obama has displayed over the last eight years will now give way to a man who is utterly devoid of those attributes.
I’m sorry that hate groups and generally hateful people are now so emboldened, and that some of these people will again have a much larger voice in important policy decisions.
I’m sorry that we’re now supposed to pretend that this is OK, that the people spouting these views should be seriously considered, that the rest of us – those who embrace equality, who recognize the value and importance of immigrants, who seek to lift from the bottom instead of pouring more on the top, who value freedoms and rights for everyone – should pipe down.
I’m sorry that an entire generation of children could grow up believing that bullying and belittling and buying your way out of trouble and skirting responsibility and assaulting women are acceptable behaviors for the leader of the free world, or anyone else.
So, yeah, I’m sorry.
Really, really sorry.
