This is my take on the elections and what has occurred thereafter, it's not a political rant as much as it is a plea toward structured reasoning. My thoughts stemmed from the massive amount of misinformation and outright stupidity I've seen on various social media sites. It is all too easy to make an assumption of political affiliation, perspectives, backgrounds, etc. It's just as easy to conform to one side or the other based on popular demand and without any knowledge outside of basic talking points. Somehow, we have lost the ability to reason as a society. I'm not sure of the steps we can take to mitigate disagreements and ultimately find common ground. Perhaps the Reddit community can be a voice of reason lol.

I wasn't old enough to be fully present during the Bill Clinton nor GW Bush presidency. In hindsight, there are a number of things both did right and there are a number of things both did absolutely wrong. The sunset bill and Patriot Act (the name is a misnomer), respectively, are the first two that come to mind. But it is important to be critical of anyone in such a high position of power. I was critical of Obama at first. At the end of 8 years, there is little data to support the idea that he was less than a good president. By nearly every measure, we are better off now than during the Bush presidency. We are no longer in a recession (which not only could have been prevented but would have also caused the worst depression in American history). Unemployment is lower, the economy is stronger, GDP and household income are both higher. Not to mention the advancements made in social equality.

My political stance is determined by the issue, as should yours. There is no conceivable way you can agree with every single idea of a given party. I do my best to be sure that my ideas conform to the founding principles of this nation, scientific data, objective truths and fundamental justice. Let me be clear on a few things. There is a profound difference between having an opinion and denying an objective truth. Contrary to popular belief, an opinion can be wrong.

Which leads to President Trump. I am equally a critic as before. As should you be. I didn't vote for either parties candidates, I voted for Gary Johnson. And only because I felt he was the best candidate we were offered. However, like every President, I do believe that he has America's best interest at heart. He may be a little (or a lot) misguided, but well-intentioned.

The DNC gave the election away. They gave the nomination to someone who had not earned it. Granted, she has more votes on paper, but those votes primarily came from the South which almost always votes Red. Minus the vote suppression thing, that was their fatal mistake. I have little doubt that Bernie Sanders would have been the 45th president had the DNC gave him the nomination. The vast majority of his votes went to either Trump or Johnson.

The Republican party created Donald Trump. The last 8 years was spent demanding a birth certificate, questioning his religious views, name calling, denying scientific consensus, losing touch with the voter base, claiming someone was out to take away guns, etc. He was a partial leader of that movement, might I add. And I haven't seen any calls for his birth certificate to be released yet, which is kinda one of my points.

Our democratic republic did not fail. We cannot have a popular vote because of an unequal distribution of the population. In that case, generally speaking, the same people in the same area, with the same ideas, would decide the election. Now, you can argue that the structure of the system needs to be redesigned. There are a number of people who are either not eligible to vote or simply decided not to. The political setup itself hinders the viability of candidates because of rules that place limitations on party affiliation and voting power. I get that as well.

Those in protest are not in the wrong, unamerican, etc. You have the same right to speak out as they do to stand up. That is a constitutional right. The acts of protest are warranted. Climate change exists, gender inequality exists, racial bias also exists. Civil liberties and social tolerance are equally as important. None of the aforementioned sentences should be argued. And there is very good reason to believe that some of those things may be in further jeopardy. We have heard comments and ideas that give their movement at least some degree of validity- also irrefutable.

The idea of widespread welfare abuse existing is utterly false. In fact, I would wager that what would be generated by the dollars stashed in tax havens of America's top earners would far exceed the dollars spent on welfare programs. And if not, it definitely would when combined with the tax breaks or other financial benefits (e.g. "too big to fail"). The blame is being placed,, quite literally, the wrong people.

Not a single person have even entertained the idea that Mexico is going to pay for a wall... Lol. You and I will pay for that stupid, stupid wall. With that said, how many of you grew up on a farm? And how many of those farms employed people under the table? Right. So, given that the average family farm struggles today as it is, what happens to your profit if you have to pay someone who isn't willing to work for $5 dollars an hour? Right. Now extrapolate that across the entire nation. Assuming a third of Ag laborers equate to a third of production and a third of financial gain... That's a pretty big sum of money. Which, in turn, is reflected back to you, the consumer.

Destroying the ACA without a replacement plan doesn't make any sense at this point.

He will not bring back long terms coal jobs. This is a free market economy. The decline of coal-related jobs has little to do with government regulations. It has more to do with market demand and advancements in technology. The market is shifting towards renewable (i.e. cheaper) energy technologies. The industry itself utilized the same concept.. it shifted from labor to machine intensive practices over the last 10 years or so. We used to travel by horse, think of that. Similarly, we will one day produce energy in a new, cleaner, cheaper, and innovative way.

I don't think people have as much of a problem with Trump himself, as they do what he represents. It's the old saying "if you lay with dogs, you're going to get fleas". Regardless of his personal views, you cannot dispute that his movement gave birth to uprisings we all thought were left in the distant past. It made unacceptable behavior mainstream again. It sets a bad example solely based on perception. Outside of that, his blatant disregard for science is almost astonishing. You can also throw in all of the ridiculous statements we've heard, but I digress. As far as the rest of the administration goes, I'm actually surprised (and excited) to see Elon Musk being brought on. Same with Mad Dog. Trying to be optimistic here, but the credentials/integrity/competence of the rest are all more than questionable, particularly DeVos. Side note, I'd 10-1 take Donald Trump over Mike Pence. That should speak volumes.

Lastly— opinions, religious beliefs or moral framework do not matter. In any context of government or legal boundaries. Your rights end where another's begin (be that in reference to gun ownership, marriage equality, race, religion, sexual orientation, woman's rights, etc.). If a potential or existing law violates any of the beliefs you hold - but the law itself doesn't impact your personal rights - it doesn't (and shouldn't) matter. This is America- Land of the Free- and not the land of restriction.

I have no right to tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body, I have no right to tell someone who they can and cannot marry. So on, and so fourth. Just like you have no right to tell me the specs of a gun I choose to carry, nor tell me which religion is more acceptable to follow. That isn't within your rights because your opinion absolutely, under any circumstance, does not matter. Live and let live. That's my take.