#metroshifter

As I look back on these last couple of days after what I can honestly say was the worst election that went on way too long and somehow divided this country even more than these last 16 years ever could have, the first person who came to mind was, of all people, former Sunspring/Metroshifter frontman and Louisville post-rock mainstay Scott Ritcher. Back around 2008, he unsuccessfully tried to get himself on the ballot as an independent candidate for Kentucky state senate and unexpectedly faced a lawsuit brought on by Democrat Denise Harper Angel who charged that the signatures petitioned to get him in the race were from outside of their elected districted. To make a long story short, a Democratic candidate went out of her way to make sure that a two party system was forcefully kept intact so it wouldn't take votes away from her, once again shutting out out the opinions for those who again felt left behind. The sleazy, underhanded ways come out in full force when you threaten to take away their votes and that’s why less and less people roll their eyes when someone says, “There’s no difference between the Democrats and Republicans.”

Anyway, Harper eventually won the local election while a dejected Ritcher gave up all American politics for good and moved to Sweden. Last I heard, he's been feeling a lot of love lately from people who suddenly want to visit him.

During the primaries a few months back, I couldn't help but feel how Unamerican it was that we only had two options on the ballot: Democrat or Republican. Hell, there wasn't even a bracket to write in a third party. As much as I find Libertarianism stupid and backwards, you should at least have the option to strip away all government regulations, I mean if you really think that's a good idea. I couldn't in good conscious vote Democrat all across the board as I didn't recognize anyone running besides Hillary and Debbie Dingle (who I'm also not all that fond of as a corporate stooge in Democrat clothing). In the judge's section, I wrote in each bracket, "Don't" "Know" "Who" "They" "Are" and walked out of the polling station slightly discouraged, but confident that the Democrats would win by a margin slight enough that it would teach them not to shove a candidate down our collective throats; that we wouldn't blindly elect whoever they placed in front of us. If their main man (or woman) shouted liberal values and supposedly spoke to the angry poor white working class, then we'd forget about their speaking engagements at Goldman Sachs and their astronomical paydays that came with it. Campaigning LGBT rights and a woman's right to choose is important, but is it as important to the an unemployed mill worker who saw their job go overseas? And let's face it: Does a candidate who represents an outdated, regressive status quo, whose fucking husband gave the go ahead for free trade agreements honestly expect unilateral support from a UAW voter who lost their job to a sweatshop in Vietnam? Not all voters are stupid, but there's a reason why there's so much mistrust when a politician tries really hard to talk to you about last weeks football game.

There have been a number of articles that are trying to explain how and why Trump won since last Tuesday; who voted for him, how our president-elect touched a nerve with this specific demographic or that group of angry loud voices, what do they expect in return and why was everyone else so wrong and out of touch. When it comes down to it, what matters most to me right now is how minorities, immigrants and the LGBT heard a giant call that said, "You're not welcomed here." That's not true and that's not the country I grew up in.

I'd like to believe that a Trump presidency will light a positive spark for change. Cynicism does not make you smart, it makes you apathetic and then it leads to shitty things like possibly getting your health care taken away or having creepy white power sympathetic assholes like Steve Bannon get nominated as White House strategist. Ugh. It hasn't even been seven days and I already almost miss the George W. years. Almost.

Ink & Dagger • Metroshifter • The Enkindels • April 17th @ The Church - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania