I’ve just left #2016IFC, the International Fundraising Congress.
Wonderful seeing colleagues from around the world. Wonderful to get beyond North America and beyond western Europe. So many voices and perspectives and stories and dreams and comitments to caring for the world and its people.
Talking with people outside the U.S. And everyone asks me, “WTF is going on in the U.S.? Who is this Donald Trump? How could anyone support his hate and ignorance and ego and….
So here’s something my nephew Daniel the movie critic posted on Facebook right after the last debate. I’ve highlighted what I consider is the most wonderful statement from Daniel.
“This was by far the best debate of the three, at least in terms of substance. I have two major takeaways.
- While I’ve been an open Hillary supporter since it became apparent Bernie no longer had the math to win, tonight was the moment I decided (realized?) she really might be a great President. Between the three debates, we’ve seen Hillary stand up to five hours worth of a clinically insane man lying to her face, lying to the country, and insulting her in every way imaginable. Her poise in those five hours is truly an act of superhuman resolve and composure. And tonight, in a debate that dug much deeper into the issues than mere soundbites, she so clearly has ideas, passion, and optimism–at a time where almost no Americans have optimism–and she really knows what the fuck she’s talking about. My vote for Hillary Clinton switched tonight from an act of necessity to an act of pride and excitement.
- We’ve collectively been joking that 2016 might be the year of the apocalypse because of this election. We saw all the signs–Cleveland won a championship! The Cubs might win the World Series! David Bowie and Prince checked out at just the right time! Over the last 2-3 weeks, it’s become pretty obvious that Hillary Clinton will win this election, and it likely will be one of the larger landslides in history. Many of us put our apocalypse predictions on hold over these past weeks. But tonight emphatically proved that the apocalypse is probably still coming, and it’s not because Trump might win, or that “they’re both so bad we’re screwed either way.” No, the apocalypse might still come because Donald Trump will refuse to lose. It can’t be overstated how terrifying this idea is. I’ll turn it over to my boy, Bruce Springsteen, who weighed in on this earlier this week:
“…He’s such a flagrant, toxic narcissist that he wants to take down the entire democratic system with him if he goes. He’s such an unreflective person. He simply has no sense of decency, no sense of responsibility about him. The words that he’s been using over the past several weeks really are an attack on the entire democratic process… I think it’s very dangerous. He does have a lot of people’s ears, and I don’t think he’s going to go quietly, gently into the good night, I think he’s going to make as big a mess as he can, and I don’t know what that’s going to mean, but we’ll find out shortly.”
