Many people like to refer to Tom Hanks as America’s Dad. When he tells us everything is going to be okay, we believe him because he has never let us down. *knocks on wood, crosses fingers while touching a screw and turning around thrice* Last week, Michael Moore suggested the Democrats should run Hanks for president in 2020. Although Hanks said he wanted ‘to strangle’ Moore for suggesting him for a position for which he is not qualified, he also understood that he could help in a way that few could: he could tuck us in and tell us the boogey man won’t get us. Hanks was honored with a tribute to his career at the Museum of Modern Art Film Benefit on Tuesday where he was celebrated by the likes of Steven Spielberg, Chesley Sullenberger, Ron Howard, Emma Watson, Steve Martin, Clint Eastwood and Rajendra Roy. Hanks used part of his acceptance speech to comfort this fellow Americans by telling them they were going to be fine in the wake of the election. You can read his entire speech here but below is the part where he said it’ll be okay:
We are going to be all right. America has been in worst places than we are at right now. In my own lifetime, our streets were in chaos, our generations were fighting each other tooth and nail, and every dinner table ended up being as close to a fist fight as our families would allow.
We have been in a place where we looked at our leaders and wondered what the hell were they thinking of? We’ve had moments with administrations and politicians and leaders and Senators and governors where we asked ourselves, Are they lying to us? Or do they really believe in this? That’s all right.
We have this magnificent thing that is in place, it’s a magnificent document, and it starts off with these phrases that if you’re smart enough, you memorized in school, or, just read it enough so you learned it by heart, or, you kind of watched those things on ABC where they taught you little songs, and the song goes like, [sings] “We the People … in Order to form a more perfect Union. establish Justice and insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare,” and it goes on and on. That. That document is going to protect us, over and over again, whether or not our neighbors preserve and protect and defend it themselves.
We are going to be all right, because we constantly get to tell the whole world who we are. We constantly get to define ourselves as Americans. We do have the greatest country in the world. We may move at a slow pace, but we do have the greatest country in the world, because we are always moving towards a more perfect Union.
That journey never ceases. It never stops. Sometimes, like in a Bruce Springsteen song, one step forward, two steps back. But we still, aggregately, move forward. We, who are a week into wondering what the hell just happened, will continue to move forward. We have to choose to do so. But we will move forward, because if we do not move forward, what is to be said about us?
I love any shout out to Schoolhouse Rock. Yes, his speech is just words but words are what we have right now. Like Oprah, I am currently looking for any excuse to breathe. Hanks isn’t telling us to get over it, he’s reminding us we’ve been down before. Once we take a minute to process what’s happened, we’ll figure a way to right this. Words can do wonders. President Roosevelt’s soothed us through the Depression and most of World War II with his Fireside Chats. Maybe we could enlist Hanks to start them up again to get us through Trumps presidency?
In the meantime, we need to continue to act on our discomfort to challenge Trump’s presidency. If you voted third party then challenge his government for whatever causes you felt your candidate advocated. If you voted for Trump and swear you are neither sexist nor racist, then challenge the racist or sexist aspects of his policy. If you voted for Trump because you feel America is better when we only cater to white men… well, you’ve probably stopped reading this by now.
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Getty Images
Well, no doubt he will.
Exactly. My biz partners and I met with our acccount this week. Trump is proposing to cut our corporate tax rate from 34% to 15%. Now how is he going to pay for that? Clearly, many people are going to suffer under Trump’s policies.
Right now my trigger words are “get over it”, “calm down”, and “we are going to be all right.”
I refuse to be in denial. Bad things, very bad things, are going to happen.
Yeah, I can’t stay in denial to make myself feel better either. Shit is about to go down and it isn’t going to be pretty.
Single parents, families with more than two children and single people are the ones paying for it.
I was just gong to say.
A wealthy white male celebrity will be fine.
The rest of us….
I like Hanks, but I find this irritating.
Completely agree with you, Minx. I just read an article about Japanese Internment Camps as a “precedent” to Muslim registries. No, Tom. Everything is not going to be alright for those of who are not White and wealthy.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_582d2f9fe4b099512f80f7b7
Right? HE will be just fine. He is also white, male, and rich.
The rest of us (especially those of us who happen to not fir the neat little mold of ‘american’ in Trump’s supporters minds) are fucked.
says the rich white guy…
Easy for him to say. He’s white and rich. No problem with people spitting on him because of skin color. No problem trying to survive on Social Security and Medicare and knowing the incoming administration wants to strip those from you.
It’s going to be a long 4 years I hope we can find common ground and what unites us rather than divides us
I know I’m not going to cheer you up with this, I apologise in advance.
But you don’t unite with the other side when it’s the other side who feels superior, you can only succumb.
My grandparents all fought in the resistance against Mussolini from 1925 to 1945, they saw many who decided to give up and united with the other side. They ended up being called unpatriotic and killed for treason.
After Brexit, my (British) husband has been called traitor several times because he hasn’t married a British woman. Past can come back, just in another shape.
Yes @Silver unicorn, the past can come back. Evil never sleeps.
That’s why good must continue to fight it. With all of the so-called “mushy” weapons that evil spits on. Tolerance. Respect (for those who think and act differently).
Did MLK (M Luther King Jr) hate those who opposed him? Call them names? No. He worked instead to defeat them. Without lowering or demeaning himself by crawling on their level.
If you think the level of discourse has lowered and coarsened, don’t add to it. Let’s listen to Michelle Obama. Organize. Take the high road. Pay attention and lobby your Congressional representative for policies in keeping with your beliefs.
Take the high road.
#TomHanks4Eva
Taking the high road seems to be working great for the Democrats so far.
There will be hundreds, thousands, if not millions who won’t have the privilege to ‘take the high road’.
It’s up to us fighting for those who can’t but I can tell you that one of my grandfathers (both survived the WWII, but one never spoke about it) used to say that putting flowers in cannons never worked a great deal.
I know I’m feeling depressed of late but I am witnessing a lot of movement of military forces of late and no, I don’t like it.
@Jackie Lynn I want to agree with your in principle – but the ‘high road’ is the road to hell for many of us. How do you suggest we take the ‘high road’ when our Muslim friends amd neighbors are told they need to register, when they are shoved in internment camps (which apparently is legal because there is precedent – fuck off Trump surrogate). What about when our Transgender friends and neighbors are told they can’t use the public toilets for the gender with which they identify. What about when our gay friends aren’t able to go into a restaurant with their partners? When abortions are criminalized? Where is this high road going to take us, exactly?
Also, MLK was all about resistance, peaceful and otherwise.
I implore every good American to learn about the appeasement of Hitler right now. A member of Trump’s cabinet yesterday talked about using one the darkest times in our nation’s history again- the internment camps that were used in WWII for the Japaneses but this time for Muslims. We can not stand quiet and find our common ground while they are preparing internment camps. Nope.
I hope we can fire Paul Ryan in November 2018, if not sooner.
Thanks for a positive comment giulia. I hope dems can find common ground and seriously recommit to the ideals that once made this party great and advocate to the working class.
Will the world be alright? Oh, ok, rich white dude don’t care about the world.
Oh please. We are not and have never been the greatest country in the world. We have always been a deeply racist, misogynistic place where the American dream has been possible only for certain people. And this kind of rhetoric just makes things worse. We have been in worse places and we learned nothing. Until we take a deep look at ourselves and admit who we are and what our mistakes are, we will never change for the better.
But rich white guys like Hanks don’t need us to change for the better.
Authentic inquiry….what country do you think IS the greatest in the world and why? In what country do all those horrible attributes not exist?
These really aren’t rhetorical questions, I’m genuinely interested in who holds the standard? I hear Canada mentioned a bit. Your thoughts?
No such thing as a greatest country.
ALL dominant countries have supremacy/exceptionalist national narratives during their period of ascendance.
They are silly narratives and never true. Countries all have virtues and vices. All countries do well on some things and badly on other things. The end.
Canada also has a terrible history, its just not often talked about.
like Sixer says, no country is great. you can make a great life in a lot of countries though.
Yes, Canada has some terrible history, and so not so great leaders in the past (though none come close to trump)
But we’re trying. We’re moving forward. This just happened, and it sends a very clear message: http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2016/11/15/prime-minister-announces-special-advisor-lgbtq2-issues
Agree with the above, No country is ‘great’ all countries have great people and all countries have total psycho’s because we are all just human in the end, occasionally brilliant, horribly flawed and often in desperate need of growing up.
I appreciate the responses. I find it sad and perplexing ….so much rhetoric from so many people that say the USA is the greatest country in the world …..HRC said it in her speech last pm to the Children’s Defense Fund.
Yet at the same time, a near equal amount of rhetoric that says otherwise in response,
Yet no such country exists apparently.
I guess the takeaway is the USA may or may not be the best of a sorry lot? Or does Canada hold that dubious honor?
OK……those last two questions ARE rhetorical. No responses required. 😗
You’ve just got to stop thinking of it as a league table or a competition, BonBons.
Instead, think of ways to make the shit things about the US less shit, and the great things more great, regardless of other countries.
It really is as simple as that.
What Sixer said. Always fun for the rest of the world (hello from europe) to hear america proclaim that it’s the best country in the world. Fun fact: you’re the only one on the battlefield. The rest of the world ain’t playing (well, north korea maybe?).
NOPE. Canada’s not bad in comparison to what’s happening now in the U.S. but:
The treatment of First Nations people
Racially motivated carding
Racially motivated immigration laws in the first 50 years of the 20th century
Racially motivated election laws because our first PM, Sir John A. MacDonald was a drunk and hated Asian people
The Head Tax
Turning away of Jews and Sikhs
Me last week walking past an old white dude who was muttering the n-word over and over again.
Ads for alt-right groups being posted in Toronto
THIS! I despise this brainwashed American rhetoric that the USA is factually the greatest country in the world. If you’re an American citizen, of course be proud of the positive aspects of your country and I know that your nationality is a big part of what defines us. To you personally, America is the greatest country for you. But on most economic and social issues; Canada, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea are far less backwards and make changes much quicker than Americans who seem to be in a constant cycle of arguing race, sexism, healthcare, education, work-life balance and gun control, with miniscule to zero progress on the latter four. Not that all the aforementioned countries don’t have deep flaws but there’s no illusion that they’re factually the greatest, even if they personally love their countries. Sorry for being harsh but that creepy, kneejerk patriotism really bothers me and I expected better from Tom Hanks.
The other that floors me is the thought that the potus is the “leader of the free world”.
I don’t even know where that started but it creeps me out. They can barely lead their own country, particularly in terms of basic human rights and dignities. 6 weeks for maternity leave! Boggles my mind.
THIS!
In my experience, and no offence to my American cousins (Australian here), the only one who thinks the USA is the best country in the world, is the USA – and their constant proclaimations of being just that, as well as insisting on calling the POTUS the “Leader of the Free World” (Seriously? Where do you get off deciding that!) is part of what makes the rest of the world roll their eyes, nor does it help repel the unfortunate “Americans are arrogant/obnoxious/ridiculous” stereotype that a lot of people unfairly buy into.
Agreed. My husband is American, and though he’s by no means a knee-jerk patriot, he absolutely was raised by the patriotism saturated U.S. school system and U.S. politics. It seems to be part of the United States, of being born a citizen here: schools start kids chanting the Pledge of Allegiance around kindergarten, before they have any idea what the “pledged” words even mean. While my husband admits, now, that he’s well aware that the U.S. is hardly the greatest country on the planet, he says it came as something of a painful shock to fully gauge and accept that. Maybe it was like the experience of a deeply devoted Christian who loses all faith in God: disturbing and disorienting, as old things, believed before to be familiar facts, now look like grave, incurable mysteries instead. It’s a part of growing up that is terribly hard: watching things that once were counted on as they become far and misshapen, with all the old routes and shapes now cryptic or mistaken.
Ok I’m not American but that line ‘we are the greatest country in the world’ was when I gave up on the speech. What even defines ‘greatness’ and why is everything a competition? And how does that rhetoric even help? That line of thinking is probably what caused this mess to begin with! And it is sooooo not okay for rich white man to be reassuring the underclasses that things will be alright. Damnit anyone with a platform should be saying WE ARE NOT ALRIGHT! WE MUST UNITE AND FIGHT! Elections are only one way to exercise citizenship, you don’t just roll over and accept the outcome. I do believe there will be, there HAS to be a revolution.
Exactly. My country is the greatest TO ME, and his might be to him, but the way he says it, like it’s an objective fact is irksome.
And all this “lets have hope” rhetoric feels like trying to gloss over the problem. What you need now is anger.
And I also can’t with Michale Moore.
Hummos, I agree with everything you said.
It’s also this line of thought that caused and continue to cause a mess everywhere!
Make America great again
Make Britain great again
Make France great again
Make Italy great again
See, same slogan, different countries, same imperialistic cr@p!
I’m a citizen of the world (sod you Theresa May) and in all the countries I’ve lived in there were plenty of issues. No country is perfect and no country should forget that there’s always room for improvement.
It’s a pity that nearly everyone in 2016 has decided to go backwards in the name of stupid nationalism.
Came here to say the exact same thing. As an American, do I think my country is the best? Nope. Not at all. Healthcare, maternity, our ass-backward gun laws, police brutality, privatized prisons, our brilliant war on drugs….is our country great? Sometimes. Definitely not always. It’s my country sure, but I feel about it like a marriage with no kids. I’m in it for the long haul but if it ever did something unforgivable I’d totally get divorced and not think twice. I was born here out of sheer luck and don’t feel that “ride or die” patriotism. My husband and I are actually contemplating moving out of the country at some point for better opportunities in both our fields. This election definitely pushed that agenda a lot faster.
May I ask what your fields are? I just feel like for most lucrative fields, America is usually the place of most opportunity. For non-lucrative fields, like teaching, places like Finland are obviously better, but then you have to have local education and mastery of the language, so it’s not like an American teacher can just effortlessly pick up and get a job there.
So, just wondering…
@timbuktu my husband is an engineer and thanks to some awesome commenters here actually pointed us in the direction of some great firms in canada, plus his current firm is thinking of opening up another location in Ontario, which is very close to where we live now. If he transferred with his firm the cost of living adjustment would definitely be worth our while. I’m a counselor in the harm reduction field – meaning, I work with active substance users not in a treatment setting. If we did end up in Canada I have some great contacts at some of the facilities there that recently have reached out to me – the one time being in an obscure field might be beneficial haha. I’d be more concerned about my husband finding work since he is the moneymaker, so we’ll see with his position.
Thank you! I guess the transition to Canada is the easiest. My husband has a European citizenship, so we’re looking that way, but unfortunately, he doesn’t really speak the language, so it’s a major set back and limiting factor, even though his is in a high-demand field.
I was about to post this, thanks for doing it for me. So tired of this BS. You’re welcome to call America “our great country”, I’m fairly sure politicians of all countries say that, as they should, to some degree. But “the greatest in the world” is just BS. I thought “Newsroom” put that to rest once and for all.
I’ve lived in the States & am British &, of the two, I know where I feel more comfortable (the latter – although rocked to my core by the referendum result). However I think the Scandanavian countries probably rank up there in terms of “best” – such a subjective definition though.
That is what I’d say, too, if I had to name “the best” country. However, I’m sure that some things are better in the US than in Sweden, for instance, a Swedish friend thought that America DOES provide more opportunities for really driven people.
I think “the best in…” is a better way to look at it, especially if we keep in mind that it evolves and changes and that we need to work to keep the title.
This thread is Excellent *tips hat to Vivivoom, Sixer et.al*
I’m not going to hate on him for this. Is he speaking from a place of privilege? Of course. But it’s okay to have hope, and I’m grateful to him for spreading a message of hope.
I, too, have hope. I have hope that every electoral college voter sees what a f*cked up mess this is already and realizes that they have the power to change it. Is it a long shot? Ohhhh yeah. But I have hope.
He’s speaking from a privilege point but I like that he isn’t saying get over it or give up. He’s saying that we’ve done this before. So I’m okay with the statement.
And I love tom hanks
Sometimes, like in a Bruce Springsteen song, one step forward, two steps back. But we still, aggregately, move forward.
Um no. That’s backwards.
Certainly he speaks from the place of ultimate privilege, but I don’t think he is unaware of that, and I think he’s just trying to put some good and optimism back in the world. Can’t fault him for that.
Right. That Springsteen song is about falling into a pit of despair. Odd choice.
What Springsteen song is it from? Because honestly, when I read that song quote, all I could think of was Opposites Attract by Paula Abdul. 😔
One Step Up, from Tunnel of Love. Honestly it’s a very depressing song.
Stop telling me it will be okay! Nobody knows that. Yes, we have this magnificent document, which our President-Elect has clearly never bothered to read and does not want to read. I suspect the Speaker of the House has never read it either. The leader of the Senate just spent a year doing absolutely nothing and collecting a salary and benefits for it – that’s called stealing – and he’s been reappointed to do the same thing for the next two years. They are threatening to take access to medically necessary health care away from cancer survivors like me and millions of others with serious health conditions. I call that murder. They are threatening to take access to health care away from millions of low income people and those who work for employers who don’t offer group plans. They are planning to destroy Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They are planning to block access to abortion, even for those whose lives are in danger. And that’s just health care. WE ARE NOT OKAY!
Disability benefits cuts in the UK are reckoned to have been instrumental in several thousand deaths. It really doesn’t matter if our future after a few more lousy years is wonderful and warm and entirely kumbaya. Those people will still have died.
Exactly. Funding to so many programs is about to be eliminated: sheltered workshops, programs that help frail elders remain in their homes, programs that help the severely disabled maintain independent lives all targeted for elimination. The US has a shortage of doctors in primary care and pediatrics. Obamacare had provisions to address that to encourage more to enter those specialties. Those will be gone and that will have ramifications for decades. The “regulations” Trump and Ryan want to eliminate: workplace safety, workers compensation, and unemployment. Nobody except the Tom Hanks of this world will be exempt from the harm.
The sad thing is that so much of this stuff saves a penny but spends a pound (dollar). Costs end up transferring to other budgets. Take $1 out of social care and it costs $2 in health. Take $1 out of early intervention programs and it costs $2 in future incarcerations, etc etc etc.
Not only are people harmed but in the end, no money is saved.
Right? My great-aunt gets transportation services, meals services, has housekeeping services, and a companion service, and goes to an adult day health program a few days a week. She is going to be 88 years old at New Year’s and she has some physical and memory problems but she is still active. She goes to sporting events, movies, theater, concerts, visits with friends. And it keeps her brain healthier. I can tell the difference when she goes a few days with nothing. Because she has these services. She doesn’t get them free; she pays based on a sliding scale but the programs are subsidized by the federal and state governments. They just had a state budget cut and are now facing federal cuts or outright elimination. People will lose jobs. Programs will shut down. And I’ll have to make some very hard decisions for my aunt. And I will find the most expensive nursing home program for her out there. She’ll pay herself for a few months and then, well, the government will have to pay for all of it. Stupid, stupid, penny wise, pound foolish.
I gather that Pence is against (amongst many other things): sex education, family planning & abortion rights. Well, duh, you idiot: you reduce the first two, more need for the third.
Our current cross to bear in the UK is Boris gallumphing around the world, making everything so much worse every time he opens his stupid mouth.
God honestly I am so out of patience with these (mainly) rich white middle-aged/old men who think they know best.
EXACTLY, Lilac.
And because our populations have become so individualist, you just can’t get this through thick heads. WE CAN’T AFFORD IT, they shout. It doesn’t matter how often I shout WE CAN’T AFFORD TO GO WITHOUT IT, nobody listens.
Your ‘speech’ is way more meaningful than Tom’s’, Lightpurple.
Thank you
@ Lightpurple
Applause. Thanks for expressing it so well.
And as Sixer said, in UK they cannot stop bickering (at the Parliament and elsewhere) whilst in secret they are entirely dismantling the national health service and cutting benefits to disabled and lower classes.
I don’t get why we should get over that…
@lightpurple,
can you deliver that speech somewhere?
At the very least, can I post it on my Facebook?
🙁
Sure. But please also call your congressional representative, your two Senators, the Speaker of the House, and Mitch McConnell and deliver it along with any personal anecdotes you want to add.
The harsh truth is: The USA have elected a fascist President at a critical juncture in history because large parts of the population seem to prefer living in a fantasy world to reality. And just as other cultures who have gone down in history, the USA will never recover their relevance. So sad.
I agree with those above who say he is a privileged white man. However, not all of those like him are putting themselves out there trying to encourage us. His wealth didn’t spare him his older child’s mother to cancer or Rita’s battle with cancer. While he doesn’t know the battle mid America faces financially, he knows who the president elect is and he is his president as well. I find no fault in him trying to comfort Americans who still feel as if they have been gutted by this election.
He’s not my dad he’s an actor. A rich white male who lives in an enclave. He has absolutely no right to tell me that everything is going to be Ok. He isn’t the person to run to for any kind of reason or calm at this moment .
As much as I like Hanks as a performer, and believe he’s certainly a decent guy, I wish this ‘dad’ thing would stop. In reality, the sons that were either raised by his ex or lived in boarding school seem fine, but the one nurtured at home has a history of being a f’d up mess..so maybe we should just call him Mr nice guy, and maybe celebs should stop insisting on a kumbaya moment.
The greatest country in the world? Ok then.
I don’t really get the Hanks adoration. He’s an interesting actor, certainly, but beyond that, not sure what it is about him that makes him so extra special. Anyone?
He feels like a very nice person, which is quite rare in Hollywood. He comes across as decent, caring, fun, warm, which, coupled with his serious acting jobs, makes him very likable. I always enjoy finding out that the people I love watching on screen are also good human beings, and it upsets me somewhat when something terrible comes out about them (being an arrogant jerk is par for the course for most Hollywood, as far as I’m concerned).
I get that, I really do, but if I were American and looking for a ‘Daddy’ to protect and reassure me in troubled times, it would be the gritty, engaged, beautiful, walk-the-walk Jeff Bridges whose arms I’d want around me, not someone as glibly removed from and blind to – based on the above speech – the reality of the damage Trump’s presidency can inflict.
@Guesto, completely by accident and due to my own negligence in not watching where I was walking, I did once have the arms of the beautiful Jeff Bridges around me. Such a delightful man. And now, back to our regularly scheduled political discussion
I have yet to be able to watch/read any news
starts with “President-elect Trump”- it is a tragedy beyond words. Yet I do get what Hanks is saying. To me, it’s a variation of “it’s always darkest before the dawn”. Admittedly, he is able to articulate more hope/optimism than I feel is warranted right now.
Re social programs- yes, they are at risk, but would be beyond shocked if they change much, if anything, for current Social Security/Medicare recipients. Tho would love to see the faces of his supporters if they did(evil cackle here). Folks younger than 40 should be paying very close attention.
Women’s reproductive rights tho-😱. Have seriously been telling anyone and everyone to start stockpiling contraceptives, bec w/o a doubt trying to ban them will be on the table.
Oh he’ll be just fine. He’s a white male. I’m not at all sure about the rest of us, though. Actually, if I was Muslim, I’d be scared shitless right about now.
Can we clarify that, please? He is a wealthy, healthy white male who can probably afford his own health care. Not all white males supported Trump and not all of them will benefit from losing access to health care, losing Social Security, breathing bad air and drinking bad water, and serving in any wars he starts. Yes, it will be harder on minorities and women, but the 60 year old white male neighbor who is mentally disabled and works in a sheltered workshop is not going to fare well through this.
We are the greatest except when we’re not, which is most of the time.
I get where he’s going, but I am not there.
+ 1000
I love this comment. Not many words but says a lot!
yes of course it will all be fine in the end, people will agree to disagree, Thanksgiving dinner will be had in peace, trump will turn out to be more of the comfortable same, the demonstrations will end and people will get back to their jobs or their business ideas or keeping up with the kardashians and all that. just like always.
meanwhile in Iraq…
Shut up, Tom Hanks.
These are different times. Our Democracy (Republic) is owned by a very rich few who have been gerrymandering and buying and selling our freedoms away. I don’t know how we’ll (Democrats) ever be able to take the House back.
That document does NOT protect every one of you, and it’s time for everyone to stop thinking it does. Frankly, I was shocked he even said that.
Maybe he needs to ask Sandra Bland how she feels about that oh-so-wonderful document. Or Freddie Gray. Would that he could.
Edited my long-winded comment after reading Suze’s perfect comment (#18) above.
I love you Tom Hanks but you do not know what you are talking about. It is probably never going to be alright from here on out. The most we can hope for is to mitigate the worst of the damage the Republicans do to this county over the next four years. I really hoped to be able to retire in three years. Now? Who knows.
So I read Tom Hank’s excerpts above and then asked myself, is he lying to us?
Here’s the rebuttal to Tom Hanks, by the brilliant Leonard Pitts:
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article114982043.html
Excellent article-thanks for the link.
I didn’t take it as him saying we’ll be `alright with Trump with President`….or `just sit around and let things be` but more so…that the American ppl will be alright because we’re tough. We’ll fight to make sure we are alright.
As for the greatest country…well that’s just relative….there’s a lot of countries worse off in so many ways than us. It’s meant as a morale booster.
I appreciate him telling us not to panic…because panic alone is not going to help us. We need to keep our heads clear to find ways to not let this situation worsen.
Triple Cardinal, thanks for sharing!! Loved the article, succint and exactly how I feel. Nope, not about supporting or coming together behind what this current regime stands for. I’m tired of seeing all of the attempts to normalize Drumpf, that’s how he got elected in the first place. Notmypresident!
You’re welcome, SMD! I find myself agreeing with Pitts a good 95% of the time; he’s a remarkable writer.
And I’m with you: Drumpf’s #notmypresident.
A bit off the subject, but I remember when Wikileaks, Assange, and Snowden were honored with the term “whistleblower” . That was BS. They were in Russia’s pay and probably the Republican Party’ s as well.
The dude gave context to his comments. And it wasn’t about being a rich white male. It was about the fact that this has ALWAYS been how America is. Maybe some of you haven’t noticed until now. But some of us have always been aware of America’s ugly, racist, sexist, xenophobic underbelly. And still we rise. Y’all gonna learn how to survive in tough times. Some of us have already been there, done that. We were born into it. We deal. We move forward in spite of the obstacles.
I don’t know about you, but Trump isn’t gonna break me the same way slavery, Jim Crow and institutionalized racism didn’t break my ancestors.
Well, Denial is a great state to live in. America right now ? Not so sure.
“because we constantly get to tell the whole world who we are. We constantly get to define ourselves as Americans.”
And unfortunately, you just did.
Of course we’re going to be fine!
In 10 or 15 or 20 years, you know, a good chunk of my life.
Oh wait, climate change! Rats!
More hubristic babbling from a white, male 1%er. Shyeah, that’s so inspiring for those living in terror for their lives. He doesn’t even have the humility or decency to shut the hell up. He has NO idea.
And what gets to me most is that this rich white guy who thinks his words have power to influence, spends them on platitudes instead of going after Drumpf and his ilk and calling out the racism, misogyny, white supremacism, violence, corruption, etc. Instead of reviling the monsters, he tries to pretty things up. Weakly. Hmmm, now what would he have to lose by actually making a stand?
I understand the need for comforting words.
But HE DOESN’T KNOW THIS. He certainly doesn’t know this is true for everyone in the country.
And I think if we engage in too many comforting words, we don’t stay alert, and the slippery slope begins (it might have already if he puts the Muslim registry in place).
Just today, a teacher in my district was fired for expressing anti-Trump views in class. No review, no appeal, no paid leave, no unpaid leave, FIRED. It’s an at-will state, and teachers have no unions here, per state law. She’s shit out of luck. It’s crazy. Apparently a student told on her and the principal is a huge Trump supporter and is best friends with the head of HR, who is also a huge Trump supporter.
It’s scary. He’s not even in office yet. Not everyone is going to be ok, Tom Hanks.
I’ve lost a lot of respect for people who make these generalizations simply because they aren’t personally at risk of being a victim under the Trump regime.
Tom, you’re adorable, but this is a really tone deaf clueless thing to say. You are white, male, wealthy, and powerful.
It is a given: your demographic will probably be just fine. You always are. All you have to do is ignore the pain of others who will most definitely NOT be fine. Easy peasy, I guess.
If you are rich, you will be “okay” but if you are a woman and anything other than Caucasian you may feel scared and basically jilted by our election process and the future. I like Tom Hanks’ work and I am happy he was honored by MOMA, but that had nothing to do with democracy. It is just art and he is not a father figure to me. He is just an actor and a producer of fine art and documentaries.
I would like to remind the charming Mr Hanks that the veep-elect has declared that he does not “believe ” in the Constitution and that his country is not run by law but by “God.”
So much for leaning on that piece of paper.
No rule of law, no democracy.
Not a problem for the Republican thugs who have been passing unconstitutional laws for several years now, disenfranchising voters and depriving poor women of health care.
It’s not going to be okay. Fascism has come to America and I wake up terrified every day.
Shut up, Tom. You don’t have a crystal ball. Unless you put your money where your mouth is and actually fight against & help the people that the Trump/Pence admin are going to disenfranchise, then you really need to cool it.
If he IS going to help when shit rains down, then awesome. We just have to wait & see, don’t we? I hate waiting! And the thought that these blockheads are going to undo (possibly) all that President Obama accomplished breaks my heart.
ostrich.
I love Tom Hanks, but this is the kind if shit that pisses me off. Yes, YOU will be alright because you are a rich, successful white man. OTHERS may not be alright. So let me have my 4-8 years of anger towards Trump and the people who voted for him.