9/11 changed my life, 11/9 destroyed every institution I believed in. The media, the government and the experts I listened to, the papers I had been reading and the TV I had been watching like most of my fellow Americans.
I can't stop thinking how much time I wasted to help promote Trump, by watching the people I so trusted, the experts that were so smart and the TV personalities that I so loved and listened to.
Udi Behr, Founder and Designer of LoveandPride.com
I ask myself how Rachel, Chris, Mika and Laurence can truly look at themselves in the mirror and not feel guilty for believing and preaching false information. How can you profit from this media disaster? I trusted you, I followed you every night.
You were misled and used (to say the least) and you projected it onto me and millions of others! You joined this scam. No, I don't hold you totally responsible, you are a link. But as the saying goes: "A chain is as strong as its weakest link". This time, all links were equal -- Fox News, CNN, MSNBC -- None talked on issues, none talked on substance BUT all gave us Trump 24/7 for 18 months, all gave us stolen property stolen by our adversary Russia via WikiLeaks... not even fact checking, just using it, knowing this material can be so toxic! But who cares, Burger King, Coca Cola and Toyota, are happy with the rating!
Global warming or pussy -- what sells better? What's really important and will affect all of us and generations to come? Do you report that 2016 has been the warmest year ever? What this truly means to each and every one of us? How it will affect our children well after Trump is out of the White House?
Since election night I turned my TV off, did not read anything on and offline and went into myself in search of what was my part in this moment, what could I have done differently and what to do next. Step one, stop watching Cable TV, so goodbye Chris, Joy, Rachel, Laurence and Chuck, I am taking a break from you till you come clean, give back the extra money you made during this circus (in light of your high rating and bonuses), grow some balls and talk about what is really important. Our world, our water, our air, our food our medical and economic situation. I will focus on my loved ones, keeping the noise out, spend my time doing good things for others by helping my community and expanding my horizons. I will not waste Sunday on "Meet the Press" and do simple things like walk, read and just sit on a bench in the park enjoying the world around me. I will use 11/9 to redefine my thoughts and life, and make the changes I need too.
Yes, my team lost this election, but I do hope the winning team will do what's right, and we can find a way to deal with the truths, no matter how painful they are. We are divided, no question, we need to find ways to unite again and to be one -- Free people in a free country where we are all equal -- this is the America we all should believe and want to live in. We are No longer only LGBTQ, now we need to be one LGBTQSP -- S-straight and P-progressive -- we should all join together to make sure we stand strong in keeping the progress we achieved in the last 10 years -- protect it, and grow it.
I live in NYC and lived through 9/11 -- it was personal on many levels, it was my city my neighborhood, my daughter Sapier was in the middle of it in her elementary school PS 234, located beneath the Twin Towers, and she wrote a beautiful poem "My world shut down" that was published in the NYT (yes I do claim bragging rights). After describing the moments of the attack, and the fear she and her classmates experienced, she concluded in her last 2 lines: "Good things will blossom out of it, I know it..." and I believe that her writing and spirit should guide me and us now. We must learn and grow from our 11/9 results, we must believe good things will happen from it... one day.
I was always accused of being too optimistic, and if so, yes I am guilty -- guilty in believing in people, believing good will overcome bad, believing that we can learn and grow, and I want to believe our new president, a New Yorker, will do the right thing for all Americans and will not turn all we achieved backwards.
So let's make sure we take the right steps, spend time on positive things, delve into philanthropy, volunteer, study, read and learn, do not waste time watching countless hours of TV, listening to the noise and nonsense and reading pointless commentaries we were subjected to in the last year and a half. Learn, change and grow, love the ones you are with, help the ones that are in need.
I, for one, already turned off my TV. I'm in search for what is next, how to do my part and make this world a better place for me and my children.