Yeah, this is another Editor’s Note about my kid. Well, kind of. You know how I love him and I’m amazed that he’s doing well despite his parents, especially his mother.

It’s because of his parents, however, that he’s a teenager who happens to know a lot about politics and the world and probably more about the weird corners of Tucson goings-on than most 15-year-olds should.

Driving to school after Election Day, I realized I hadn’t told him what it feels like to lose, so we finally had that talk. It went something like there’s this pendulum in politics, especially the presidency, and goes back and forth between these two parties for different reasons. Sometimes one party gets to have the seat for two terms and then other gets it for two terms, and yada yada.

He was with his father at the Democratic Party event the night Obama won his second term. He was taken by the festivities and what it felt like to see the person he supported win. He loved it. Not so much Election Night this year.

I told him about how I was at the Republican Party event that night for work, as I have been for almost every major election event the past nine years I’ve been with the Weekly. I watched as a jubilant crowd happily cheered as the numbers rolled in proclaiming Trump had won. Clinton lost.

The pendulum, I thought then, thinking about the last two presidential elections I watched at the Republican event and a despondent crowd walking out the door. Obviously the talk with the kid ended up being about more than just the mighty pendulum of democracy. It also reflected the same conversation I had with my boyfriend when I got home late that evening.

There is a sadness, but a sadness that goes beyond being disappointed a candidate I wanted lost. It’s more than that because in this election we saw someone win who ran a campaign charged with racism, misogyny, and brushing away sexual assault charges. We saw some of his supporters threaten and injure those who disagreed with him at campaign rallies across the country. We saw an electorate who didn’t care that his businesses fail, that he was facing dozens of lawsuits, or hadn’t paid taxes in years and didn’t seem to care about sharing those forms or facts with the public.

Trump didn’t win the popular vote. Yes, I get that. The Electoral College and all that. Yep. I get that people didn’t feel that the Democratic Party was addressing the shrinking middle class and loss of income and jobs that many felt they were/are still experiencing. I get that, being a Bernie supporter, I got that from the start.

But now, as I explain to my kid, that friends of ours are scared at what’s to come, seeing Trump supporters act out in violence post election. Our friends are scared, especially those who are undocumented and our LGBT friends and family. People are scared as Trump announces the people he’s recruited to help bring his administration together. This isn’t just a loss. Hell, I’d bring Bush Jr. back in a heartbeat if we could. This isn’t a normal loss to a normal Republican Party candidate. Yes, let’s see what he does and let’s see if “stop it,” is enough to keep some of his emboldened followers in line. But let’s be real, which means being vigilant and every once in a while praying that the Democratic Party finally gets it in the midterm elections and that organizers are getting ready. The pendulum swung, I tell the kid, but this time it went too far and we have to speak out for our friends. Correcting it takes work.

— Mari Herreras, mherreras@tucsonweekly.com

28 replies on “Editor’s Note”

  1. “Our friends are scared, especially those who are undocumented…”

    They invaded our country illegally. Some have raped our daughters, killed our family members. Most don’t want to be citizens, have no desire to assimilate, they just want the gringo’s money to send home, a home they won’t defend or work to improve.

    Illegal Alien Crime Accounts for over 30% of Murders in Many States

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/08/08/illegal-alien-crime-accounts-for-over-30-of-murders-in-some-states/

  2. Whatever faults you have in your thinking make sure that you show him the protesters in cities across the country and tell him its ok for them to attack people and destroy property because they didnt get their way.

    Dont forget your friends made Bush out be Hitler and called for him to be charged with war crimes.

    You are teaching him a lot about judging people and how to establish hate. You might mention to him that we are going back to being a nation of laws, and that maybe you helped elect Donald Trump by pushing the country too far. Millions of law abiding immigrants wait for their opportunity to become Americans, but we have been over run by people that lie and break our laws, only to have other Americans encourage their lawlessness. What will you tell him about those that honestly wait? We reward those that break our laws?

    That will not serve him or our society well.

  3. Maybe doing more for illegal aliens than their constituents wasn’t such a good strategy for the Democratic party. I’m all for helping out LGBQT, but they’re maybe 1% of the vote so the Democrats might think about doing a little bit for somebody else this election cycle. Maybe they could even think a bit about working Americans (even the ones who are straight and white or, gasp, Christian).

  4. ac-dc – tell Maria Saucedo’s daughter that if only she would have had sex at 13 with this illegal then her mother would still be alive today.

    25 Year Old Illegal Immigrant Murders Mom Who Wouldnt Let Him Date Her 13 Year Old Daughter

    Jose Zarate, who is 25-years-old, wanted to date Saucedos 13-year-old daughter. When Saucedo objected, Zarate pulled out a rifle and shot Saucedo in the chest, killing her.

    https://www.mrconservative.com/2013/04/10515-25-year-old-illegal-immigrant-murders-mom-who-wouldnt-let-him-date-her-13-year-old-daughter/

  5. Mari, you are confused about the violence during this Presidential campaign.
    MoveOn.org paid for and bussed most of the violent protestors to Trump rallies – not Trump.
    Self-described, Messiah and past NAZI Collaborator is forcing Radical chaos on the US.
    Anti-Trump riots and Black Lives Matter anti-police mobs are organized by Move On. Org and all are being funded by billions from Deus Ex Machina Leftist, Globalist, George Soros.

    Now Soros is meeting with Leftist leaders including Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren and Keith Ellison to discuss opposing President Trumps plan for his first 100 days in office. Soros newest organization for wrecking America is called Democracy Alliance,

    Remember, Soros Open Society Institute gives Billions to Leftist Planned Parenthood, ACORN, La Raza, Huffington Post, Southern Poverty Law Center, People for the American Way, National Organization for Women, MoveOn.org and now Democracy Alliance.

    Soros MoveOn.org, compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler and paid for the infamous General Betray Us ad in the NY Times, mocking the loyalty of our General David Petraeus. Soros said removing President Bush from office in 2004 was the central focus of my life, Soros hates all American power: He wants America subservient to World Bank, IMF and UN. In 1998 he wrote: Insofar as there are collective interests that transcend state boundaries, the sovereignty of states must be subordinated to international law and international institutions.

    Last weekend Soros, key Democrats and mega donors to his Democracy Alliance met at the Washington DC Mandarin Oriental hotel an Investment Conference designed to prepare a post-Clinton Democratic Party to oppose President-Elect Donald Trump. They already have funneled upwards of $500 million toward liberal activist groups/candidates and require more than 100 members to donate at least $200,000 a year to approved activist groups.

    Read (look up) Soros on Soros; he actually sees himself as a Messiah. Soros also wrote, I admit that I have always harbored an exaggerated view of my self-importanceto put it bluntly, I fancied myself as some kind of god. His autobiography, “Soros on Soros,” describes how as a teen he helped a Nazi Official named Baumbach seize possessions of Hungarian Jews in Budapest who fled or were in concentration camps. Soros wrote that this, never bothered him even though he is Jewish. Soros says he has no regrets for helping NAZIs. “Somebody would have done it,” he wrote.
    George Soros, Messiah and one-time NAZI Collaborator, is forcing Chaos on America.

    http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/printgr…
    http://humanevents.com/2011/04/02/top-10-r…
    http://yournewswire.com/george-soros-i-am-…
    http://dailycaller.com/2016/11/14/soros-pr…

  6. It might help the results challenged group to take the blanket off their heads and try to get some balance to their news. Here are just a few of the headlines:

    Trump hires black woman as assistant
    Trump discusses cabinet positions with multiple African Americans
    Trump recommends gay man for ambassador position
    115th Congress will be most racially diverse in history…
    AMERICA GREAT AGAIN: Housing starts soar 25.5% to 9-year high…
    Thanksgiving meal much cheaper; Turkey prices drop…
    Jobless claims sink to 43 year low…
    UNIVISION Layoffs…
    AOLHUFFPO staff face chop…
    FACEBOOK Fatigue…
    Anti-Defamation League Backs Down: We Are Not Aware of Any Anti-Semitic Statements from Bannon
    Business Insider: Bannons 2014 Vatican Speech Strikes Fear on Wall Street
    Hillary Clintons Campaign Crippled by Arrogance and Bias, Says Huffington Post

    and what may be the most important for each of you-

    Pessimism Bad for Heart…

    Find something positive in any of the list above and don’t give in to all the negativity and pessimism the articles here today support.

    It’s just breakfast in America.

  7. I agree with the fascist liberals of Tucson and like thousands of other US citizens have, will be leaving Tucson taking all my income and property taxes with me. Leaving the bill for all the illegals, occupiers and other defecators on our streets to you. Enjoy. You’ve made sixth poorest city in the country, not far to be number one!

    Viva Aztlan, Viva Baja Arizona, Viva Meheeeecoooo!

  8. Great post eh ac-dc! And I did agree with the fascist liberals on that one. Thanks for reposting.

    6th poorest in the country thanks to total liberal rule.

  9. I’m just here to show off my racism, greed and hate.

    I’ll prove it again, and again. Just you wait.

    I rule the ignorant and useless sides of all you know.

    Only dollar signs in my eyes, nothing else to show.

    I hope you can drink oil, because I support poisoning the well.

    As long as I make small amounts of money, what the hell?

    Although there is a replacement for fossil fuels, there isn’t one for fresh water.

    But then again, what the fuck does that matter?

    Myself, my only real concern.

    All of you diseased liberals can burn.

    Yet, if you’re diseased, what does that make me?

    The ultimate plague, as you can see.

  10. A cabinet of old white male, racist lunatics. What’s to be pessimistic about? I wonder if the Country will survive two years let alone four. And all those fools in those poor, white, population dropping, rural counties around America, whether farming, coal mining, or tree cutting areas, if who think Trump gives two rats’ rears about you? Laugh out loud forever!

  11. A cabinet of old white male, racist lunatics. What’s to be pessimistic about? I wonder if the Country will survive two years let alone four. And all those fools in those poor, white, population dropping, rural counties around America, whether farming, coal mining, or tree cutting areas, if who think Trump gives two rats’ rears about you? Laugh out loud forever!

  12. As I’ve followed national and world events this year it dawned on me that what is at the center of so much human suffering and political strife this year is pure selfishness.

    Whether it is a minority of United Kingdom politicians using scare tactics, outright lies and prejudice to tear apart the European Union, Hillary Clinton expecting people — especially women — to forget and forgive all her past and present machinations and vote for the “first woman president”, or Donald Trump’s grab for the ultimate brass ring and bragging rights for capturing the United States presidency by saying and doing anything to secure a position that he is uniquely unqualified to fulfill.

    Not so long ago this unbridled greed was reserved to the world of business and making money at the expense of other people’s lives, but crashing the world’s economy to widen the already obscene wealth gap wasn’t enough for some.

    Now with so many people around the world fleeing from wars and terrorism — which have also proved to be very good for business and some politicians — I am left wondering when it is going to be enough for the rich and powerful.

    I saw a bumper sticker the other day that kind of sums it up — “Somedays you just hope for the asteroid.”

  13. Wow, posting a link to Breitbart as a source? That says it all right there, @WHAT. You’ve been fooled by your altright propaganda.

    Oh, and the three female friends of mine that were raped? All three by WHITE, upper class college men. Who probably voted for the same WHITE, upper class rapist you did.

    BTW, I’m a white male.

  14. Tucson is the 6th poorest city in the country thanks to the liberals with all their white guilt and the illegals sucking all of us dry.

    Donald J. Trump is going to fix all that because he is a great businessman who knows more than military generals do, plus he has a lot of respect for women and those with disabilities. And he never, EVER thinks only about himself or puts himself first.

    Not only that, he has his pictures on food products. Check out this link!

    https://bramanswanderings.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/hostess-2.jpg

    I love Donald Trump! I just wish he was attracted to lonely, lowly, useless basement dwelling trolls such as myself and not those vapid, phony, self-centered supermodel types. I don’t hesitate to admit, I am extremely jealous. Why can’t you love me like I love you Donnie Baby?

    Well, I’ve got to go. My mom’s yelling at me again because I haven’t bothered to bathe for several weeks and I passed up a job offer from Jack in the Box yesterday. They wanted me to work 20 hours a week. 20 HOURS! That’s too hard, plus it cuts into my quality trolling time. I know all of you liberal commies and those of you with common sense and intelligence love reading my solid, fact based advice.

    If it wasn’t for me, who would be here to teach you right from wrong?

  15. @SUPERTRAMP – Your headlines are clearly from some altright prop shop. Is that and FOX really the only places you guys get your (false) info?

    Bannon is on the record, in his writing and in court documents as an antisemite, as CONFIRMED by the Anti-Defamation League and SPLC. AS IS Trump.

    Try casting a wider, SMARTER net when gathering info, all of you self-serving false-positive alt-right sycophants. You will all see your mistakes in the next few years. NO wall will be built, Musliims will STILL be allowed in, Trump WILL become the most corrupt prez in the history of the job. I just hope you all stop drinking the kool aid long enough to apologize for your votes.

    I am a white male.

  16. Hey, guess what?

    I just discovered that the first link I posted did work.

    I never know what I’m doing when I post links. I’m sure everyone here is more than familiar with that.

  17. The ADL has apologized for accusing Bannon of being anti semetic. Its obvious that you dont pay attention to news. Uou could have googled my headline and see the source. You folks have become so jaded and bitter. I expect Muslims to be allowed into the country. You may not have understood what Trump said.

  18. “Our friends are scared, especially those who are undocumented …”
    Well of course they are it’s the natural consequence of breaking the law… You know… Just like being scared the traffic cops will pull you over when you don’t have a valid drivers license or like being scared when the border patrol pulls up in front of your work place and you forgot your fake ID at home. I hope your undocumented “friends” are up to date on their immunizations and don’t test positive for TB any time soon.

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