It was close to midnight of Election Day when she looked at me fearfully and said, “He can’t win… Is he going to win?”

Even though Trump’s win was not quite confirmed, my wife cried before bed. And then she woke up at 3 a.m., hoping the past half night was a nightmare, looking at her phone to see some positive updates, but seeing none. She cried again.

I heard her, but didn’t move. I lay there, numb. In disbelief.

We both woke up again at 6:30 a.m. when reality struck again: Donald Trump will be our next President.

Though my own life and my wife’s will not change in the foreseeable future, we were hurt that a nation could elect such an outwardly aggressive and negative human being. But rather than dread the following four years and cry foul about the second illegitimate election of my lifetime, I took a step back to consiuder: Are we really that screwed with Trump in office if it only lasts four years? Is there something we learned from the past two years? Is there a silver lining here? 

Let me preface my feelings about Trump and Americans (specifically Republicans) by saying that it would have been tolerable for the Republicans to win this election if they:

a. Had won the popular vote, and

b. Had an open-minded, well-mannered candidate, like Mitt Romney.

Hillary Won The Popular Vote

That says a lot to me. It speaks that this country is cognizant of the reality of Hillary’s career, rather than pinpointing two fumbles (Benghazi and emails).

Shame on the media for over-publicizing those two issues, while ignoring the social and economic consequences of this election. And shame on Red nation for overlooking the scores of blunders by Trump.

Educated voters were aware that over the course of a historic 30-year career in politics, mistakes are inescapable. And to have as few mistakes as Hillary did in her career–which since 1992 has been on full display–is exemplary. Counter that with the dozens of mistakes Donald Trump made in his TWO YEARS in the political arena.

Contrary To My Belief, It Wasn’t Rigged

The right person, Hillary Clinton, won the popular vote. And our electoral college system has, again, failed us. When just a couple weeks ago I thought this was rigged for Hillary–and was fine with that given the alternative–turns out the system failed us.

However, at least we know the election wasn’t rigged. Having been through a rigged election already (Bush 2000), I have been a skeptic. So, in a way, this was a silver lining.

Still, our voting system can’t truly represent a democracy until we have a popular vote, or at least expand or rethink this two-party system.

Donald Trump Exposed Social Problems in America

Three serious issues presented themselves in the past two years: Our education system, racism, and sexism.

Donald Trump did the following:

• Proposed a temporary ban on Muslims
• Proposed to deport all illegal immigrants
• Teased a handicapped person
• Acted sexist
• Vowed to fight for the second amendment
• Denied sexual assault on certain women by saying they weren’t hot enough.

Out of all those things, I don’t necessarily feel he actually believes in what he said. I believe he has no filter, and doesn’t think before he speaks, which is an enormous problem when you have the most important job in the world.

For issues like banning Muslims, deporting Mexicans, and defending the second amdendment, in my opinion he says those things to gain popularity among the uninformed, the misguided fearful, and those that lack diversity in their communities and hence have no sympathy for minorities.

However, regardless of his true beliefs, for approximately 49% of the country to vote for someone who publicly defied the first amendment (with a proposed Muslim ban) speaks volumes of our cultural divide. That’s not what America stands for. This is a country that opens doors for cultures. It doesn’t block them off.

I have to be honest, aside watching from police brutality on TV, I was never exposed to the amount of bigotry, sexism, and lack of education in this country before this election run. I knew there were still groups of KKK members out there, and pockets of racist Bible belters scattered around the country, but it took the outcome of this election for the abundance of it all to become exposed. We are more than 50 years removed from the Civil Rights Era, yet nearly 50% of the country voted Trump.

So if nothing else, people like myself were exposed to the bigotry. Our eyes were opened. Racism and sexism are well too vibrant. Our goal now has to be diversifying communities, or at the very least educating primarily White neighborhoods in the Red states.

This is not to say that everyone who voted for Trump is a bigot or sexist. That would be preposterous. But many of them fall in the category of:

a. White Moderate (as in, impartial to the bigotry in Trump’s policies) or
b. Blindly Supporting Republican.

Trump is an Outsider

Finally a good trait about Trump.

Internally in Washington D.C., Trump may be feared because he wasn’t groomed by years of Washington politics. He didn’t serve multiple terms in the Senate or House of Representatives, so he doesn’t abide by the ear marks in bills and the lobbying in The White House.

Trump proposed term limits for representatives. Now THAT is a wall that needs to be built.

The problem with his alleged allegiance to the common people is that he is an elite. He is a billionaire. He outsources, and underpays his employees. The trail of lawsuits following him is so long it could stretch across the Mexican border.

He was also closely connected to the Clintons for years. So while he tells his supporters during the day that he’s tired of the same, old people in Washington, he’s literally dining with them that same night.

You Can’t Destroy America in 8 Years, Let Alone 4 

Bush #2 wasted our lives for 8 years, from 2000 to 2008. But then with President Obama we overcame the worst financial crisis since The Depression. And though we are still feeling the ramifications of an unnecessary war in Iraq, and arguably Afghanistan, we learned from our mistakes and refused to have a major interference in Syria.

This election and this candidate feels worse than 2000, when Al Gore won the popular vote, because George W. Bush did not defy the foundations of this country. He did not spit in the faces of the minorities that helped build, educate, and progress our country.

More than likely Trump will only last four years. But more than likely Hillary was supposed to be President, so what the crap do I know? But what I do know is that there isn’t anything drastic a President can do to the constitution, or amendments to it, within four to eight years.

At worst, the progress we made with the LGBT community and affordable healthcare will stall. Progress for equal pay will stall. International relations with Ukraine, China, and Britain may stall. But in the span of 4 to 8 years it’s impossible to erase 240 years of progress. There are too many minorities and open-minded people in this country to allow that to happen. Together their peaceful nature, their voices, and their actions, are much more effective and long-lasting than Trump’s diatribes.

The Chihuahua President

Ultimately Donald Trump will be a chihuahua President. All bark, no bite. He babbled for months about banning Muslims (unconstitutional), deporting Mexicans, banning Gay marriage, suggesting more guns would solve mass-shootings… but he can’t act on any of those things.

Unfortunately for Trump (fortunately for America), Congress and the House are involved in every one of his disastrous proposals. And you only need to look at Obama’s stalled second term to realize that even a smart, moral President has a hard time talking sense into the thick, nasty web that is our government.

Personally I would have been fine with building a wall between us and Mexico–or maybe adding other security measures–but it was the added bigotry of Trump’s message–“They’re raping us, killing us, drugging us”– that sent myself and other cultured, educated people off the deep end. He made it okay for people to be angry at minorities. It wasn’t exactly hate speech, but it invigorated hate in ignorant Whitemerica.

My issue is not that the Republicans won, it’s who they won with, and that so many of them blindly voted red. We went from a progressive, multi-culturally accepting Obama to a racist, sexist blowhard.

I’m going to take a deep, four-year breath right now, and when I breathe out in the year 2020, I want to see Michelle Obama and/or Elizabeth Warren on the Democratic ticket.

Good luck, President Chihuahua.