I was SERIOUSLY hoping to type a blog saying that my cautious optimism was proven correct, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz would win just for being so darn likeable, and I would never infect my blog posts here with my political anxieties again and just keep it fun and light from now on!
...Well, it pains me to say this (especially to those of you from less-fortunate countries or East European countries who will undoubtedly be most affected by our foreign policy and climate change-related decisions), but the absolute worst-case scenario is almost certainly going to happen at this point: Donald Trump will be gifted a second Presidency (and through the popular vote this time, too, can't blame the Electoral College this time, and my sympathy for the less-fortunate in my country was sorely misplaced if they rejected my apparent "white guilt" in favor of voting for Donald Trump). His fellow Republicans will likely also sweep the House and Senate, so it's not even like he will have to moderate his positions in any way just to get laws passed, and the most immediate and likely way he'll affect my life personally is adding punishing foreign tariffs that will drastically raise the price of electronics like my next 3D rendering laptop or game consoles--if you think the PS5 Pro is over-priced NOW...
I am not like the crazed people that attacked the Capitol on January 6th--I will accept that an overwhelming majority of Americans simply are less afraid of Donald Trump than me and work to deal with the cards I've been dealt. Kamala Harris ran the absolute most perfect campaign I've ever seen, possibly even better than Barack Obama's back in 2008, and is objectively doing better than Joe Biden ever would have done if he had decided to stay in the race, but it seems like even women and Latinos and other so-called minorities actually wanted Donald Trump and the more 1950's-esque way of life he represents, who am I to judge? While Donald Trump will almost certainly make these problems worse, in retrospect we liberals have been underestimating how disappointed the vast majority of the country felt about our still-high gas and grocery prices; the undeniably preachy, patronizing and, dare I say, "woke" writing that has pervaded Hollywood movies, shows, and triple-A video games due to our entertainment industry being located almost solely in Southern California; and how frustrated young men in particular felt about a social culture that seemed to make it harder than ever to even date, let alone get married and start a family like our parents. Again, especially after literally going through a Donald Trump Presidency the first time (and that was when he at least had advisors moderating his worst impulses), I have zero faith he will even keep our economy on the mend, let alone avoid bringing back inflation and the truly high-prices of 2022, but no use crying over spilled milk, I have to deal with it.
As unfair as it sounds, besides essentially having to limit myself to cheap older games like @miamidesantos has long had to deal with in Brazil, and possibly deal with censorship I've never had to put up with before as someone who will continue to disagree with my government as long as I can, my life PROBABLY won't change that much--it's my sister I have to worry about for a while, and who is already trying to get us to leave this country the same way our grandparents on our Mom's side left Cuba when Fidel Castro took over, since Project 2025 clearly has it out against unmarried young women in particular. I will also continue my original plan of cooling it with the political talk that no one on Newgrounds wants to hear after this (although I'm probably no longer joining BlueSky or other social media sites where I'll likely have to hear about Trump's shenanigans for another 4+ years, just to make my art reach a more "mainstream" audience I'm frankly disappointed with). At least the election is basically over, and I learned from this to just tune out the news and polls that clearly doesn't know what it's talking about for the sake of my sanity, even on future election years (if we still have elections).
I'm extremely sorry things had to turn out this way, and I am especially sorry in advance that the US, a country that has the second-highest carbon emissions behind China (and the highest emissions per capita) has chosen once again to actively get in the way of the world's attempts at saving the planet yet again, possibly for good this time, and our actions from here on out will certainly affect your country, too, to some capacity. I don't know what else to say...
wolfatthedoor
i'm honestly tinfoil hatting but there was ABSOLUTELY interference. theres no way more minority groups voted for that dumb fuck.
jthrash
That is for the courts to decide, and Kamala Harris has like a billion dollars from small donors (including me) and saner billionaires if she believes that's the case. Frankly, it would be more comforting to know that this was the will of the people and not the result of Russian interference finally getting through. By that same logic, some straight, single, (half) white guy like me would never so enthusiastically support Mrs. Harris, but never underestimate the power of propaganda on the majority of us that haven't learned to distrust everything we read on the Internet (our billionaire-owned corporate news making inflation seem like the ONLY thing that matters and it's TOTALLY not the fault of companies simply gouging their customers; YouTube constantly promoting anti-woke, Gamergate 2.0 and incel content in our Video Suggestions).
It IS a shock, though, considering even now there seems to be no real enthusiasm for Trump, and the media that otherwise frankly propped up his campaign questions whether he could even make it past 2025 since he's old, obese, and looks and acts constantly like he's on the verge of a fatal heart attack. There were far less signs in public support for Trump compared to 2020 (when he still lost), nobody was harassing or making fun of me for my Harris-Walz support like they did when I supported Clinton and especially Biden, his rallies simply weren't attended nearly as much as they were in 2016, and the diehards that were in attendance were visibly disappointed in what their leader had become. Several family members of mine that used to vote Republican all the time even voted for Harris this time. Again though, that is for Harris's legal team and the courts to decide, if they decide to pursue legal action at all.