Commentary

COMMENTARY: Sympathy for our devastated brethren

Presidential election winners should show compassion for the losers

If you reside in The People’s Republic of California, only a few things are certain; Los Angeles is going to have the largest number of homeless living on the street of any city in the nation and the state will vote for the Democratic candidate for president as it has done seven times running since 1992. 

Sure enough, Los Angeles was bottom dog again, a national census identified 13,000 homeless in LA, 95 percent of whom were living on the street, and Hillary Clinton took 61.5 percent of California’s popular vote. There may, or may not, be a relationship.

Still, Trump took 33 percent; therefore, in a diverse (popular word) crowd of Californians, one-third are likely to have been Trump voters. Nationally, slightly more than 47 of every 100 votes cast went for Trump and almost 49 went to Clinton.

Obviously, those with opposing views are likely to run into each other and I want to ask Trump voters to be careful of what they say. An extraordinarily large number the nation’s disillusioned Clinton supporters are still in a fragile psychological condition and one wrong word could throw them over the edge into deep depression — if they are not already there.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal and Cornell Daily Sun, faculty and students at Cornell University were so devastated over the election results that more than 50 Cornellians gathered on Ho Plaza for a "cry-in" to “mourn” in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s shocking presidential victory and there was even Play-Doh, crayons and coloring books on hand to comfort the distraught. 

One conservative commentator noted that Americans of the same age were losing life and limb in far-off lands and doing it with neither cry-ins nor Play-Doh; my response is that not everyone has the same priorities or capabilities of dealing with the reality.

The most significant difference between Trump and Clinton voters are expectations. Trump supporters are cynical; they want things from the government, but most have the realistic view that it’s unlikely government, with its current M.O., will actually fix anything. They base this belief on the experience of expansive promises, never-ending lists of programs and, most of all, decades of non-performance.

Many Clinton supporters are the opposite; they have no faith in themselves or the people they claim to represent. Therefore, they fall into a total psychological dependency on government. They have many difficulties handling the disappointments the world dishes out. The result is the constant search for a savior, someone who will soothe the pain – a bunch of human Play-Doh they can squeeze during their perpetual cry-ins.

When fellow citizens are that vulnerable, one has to treat them with kid gloves. If you supported Trump, whatever you do, don’t say “I won. Deal with it” as President Obama did in 2013, unless support systems and Teddy bears are immediately available. And remember, they did say "we're all in it together" for a full three minutes after the election before spewing swimming pools of hatred and assassination threats all over the Internet.

Marty Richman

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Marty (Martin G.) spent his teen years in northern New Jersey. He served more than 22 years on active military duty, mostly in Europe, and is a retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 4, Nuclear Weapons Technical Officer. Marty then worked 25 years in various engineering and management positions in the electronics and energetic materials industries supporting the communications, computer, aerospace, defense and automotive sectors. He is a graduate, summa cum laude, from The College of Hard Knocks, among his numerous awards and accomplishments. He was a regular weekly Op/Ed columnist and feature writer for The Hollister Free Lance for seven years and a member of its editorial board for five years. Marty is a frequent commentator and contributor to BenitoLink on a wide variety of local, state, national and international subjects.   Marty was elected to represent the City of Hollister District 4 on the City Council in November, 2018. Marty and his wife, Joyce, have been residents of Hollister since 1996.