The Dead Hedgehog

Donald Trump is a Nazi. He has assembled a cabinet of Nazis to run his fascist regime. He doesn’t call himself a Nazi, because Nazis never do. From the start “Nazi” was an insult. We all now face a choice in how to respond to this. We can either resist or collaborate. There are no other options. This is a decision we all face, but it is a particularly pertinent choice for the American people, and, crucially, the political establishment in America. Both Republican and Democrat politicians need to choose, are they going to resist or collaborate?

It’s the man on the bus touching me, thinking he had a right to my body.

It’s the man who called me a fat cow for telling him to watch where he was going because he almost ran me over.

It’s the saleswoman yelling “WHY DONT YOU SPEAK MY LANGUAGE” to a Muslim man.

It’s my mom telling my sister being gay is a phase.

It’s my classmates saying women wearing revealing clothes are “asking for it”.

The electoral college does not vote until December 19th. We have 40 days.

What does this mean?

Right now, the presidential election results are only a PROJECTION of the election outcome. They are PRELIMINARY RESULTS. A candidate still needs to earn 270 electoral votes to win. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, which means that more than 50% of the voters wanted her for president. The electoral college shouldn’t guarantee an override of the public’s opinion– and it doesn’t have to.

There are 21 states that do NOT restrict which candidate the electors vote for. Out of these 21, Hillary lost the following:

As you can see, these states are worth 166 electoral votes. As it currently stands, Hillary Clinton is projected to receive 232 votes. Trump is projected to win 306. This means that 37 votes need to be taken away from Trump to bring him down to 269. Hillary Clinton needs 38 votes ADDED to win 270. These electoral voters can also abstain, which means that they can refuse to vote for either candidate. If 37 of the voters within these states abstain then no candidate will have reached the required 270. In this case, the vote would be taken to the House.

Trump won Pennsylvania, a state that typically votes blue, by less than 100,000 votes. While it is highly unlikely to get all 20 electoral voters to cross party lines and vote democrat, it also isn’t impossible to convince a few of them to be “faithless electors.” We only need to convince 38 out of the 166. That is 23%. There are SIXTEEN states we need to focus our attention on.

A move like this would be unprecedented. However, as we all saw on November 8th, odds don’t guarantee reality. Trump had a less than 20% chance of winning, yet given the circumstances, enough people came together and made it happen. We can make this happen. 

Ask yourself this: What do we have left to lose? We can stay complacent and accept that this country will be run by a racist, sexist, islamophobic, homophobic, ablest bigot, or we can at least try. 

How?

SPREAD THE WORD. Trend #NotMyPresident to let people know that we do not accept being led by a man who does not care about our wellbeing. Email your professors, email the dean of your colleges. The last thing a university wants is negative press. Millenials can take a stand, but that doesn’t mean we have to be the only ones. Church-led events helped bring a lot of disillusioned voters to the polls. Spread the word in any way possible, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or even in person. Stage a peaceful protest. Hand out flyers. Let the people around you know that you don’t accept this man as your leader when he won’t even accept you as a citizen with your designated rights.

These 166 people need to face the consequences of electing this man. 

when our economy tanks and no one can get a job i hope u remember how u feel right now 

when a large part of the country is hit with something terrible and there is no response from our government i hope u remember how u feel right now

when they start arresting journalists and censoring the internet i hope u remember how u feel right now 

if u didnt vote 

or voted third party

or sat around saying “theyre both the same theyre both the same”

i hope u remember how u feel right now 

because u just put me and millions of woman, people of color, and immigrants in danger

I’m upset for the hispanics whose families could be deported.

I’m upset for the muslims who could be blocked from entering the us or segregated like Jews were during the holocaust.

I’m upset for the LGBT+ community whose marriages could be voided, and whose young people might have to endure conversion therapy.

I’m upset for the women who could possibly be legally fired/turned down for a job, and who will have to deal with the sexism that the leader, the FACE, of our country obviously has.