I tried to sympathize with the "mourning Romney" pics. And failed.
Gloating is not an appropriate reaction for the party and people who regard themselves as the sane, rational, adults in the political room.
So, when I went to the "White People Mourning Romney" aggregations and looked at the pictures, and saw older women in tears, children seemingly crushed, families embracing each other, I couldn't laugh at their pain. They weren't faking anything. They believed, as they believed four years ago, that something terrible and incomprehensible had happened to their country.
But as I continued to scroll down and saw the tweets from the likes of Victoria Jackson, saw the store closed in protest, the utterly disingenuous threats to leave the country for "Australia," sympathy segued into confusion.
What, exactly, ARE these people feeling? Or more accurately, what are they THINKING? Obama has been in office for four years. Satan has not appeared. We have not been herded into Stalinist camps. "Sharia law" has not been imposed. And yet they went right back to apparent visions of apocalypse under whatever kind of crypto-villain Obama supposedly is this week as though nothing had happened since 2008.
None of them -- not one -- expressed a single genuine critique of an Obama policy, or articulated how Romney or any Republican, would have done something better. How could they, when Romney himself relied on attacking healthcare reform modeled on one he enacted as Governor of Massachusetts, and promised spending increases and tax cuts AND deficit reduction, while refusing to say how that is possible?
None of them defended the insane Republican platform on women's rights. Or the war-mongering toward Iran. Or the bloody 4% in additional taxes the rich may someday have to pay if the Bush cuts are actually allowed to expire as they were intended to do.
Instead it was same, willfully idiotic blather. "Socialism and Marxism," from people who wouldn't know either if it bit them on the liver. Cries about God and freedom and the Constitution in the vaguest possible terms.
NOTHING. They have literally nothing to point to, except their own willful ignorance, painfully transparent racial panic, and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of entitled dismay that simply yelling and jumping up and down did not bring victory.
So I landed at last at anger and, sorry to say, contempt. This election did not happen because of the media. Or Hurricane Sandy. Or even because of America's changing demographics and the Republican Party's determination to alienate every non "wealthy white male" in the country.
It happened because Republicans made a stand on being irrational. On relying on identity politics most politely described as tribalism. On social and ecomonic absolutism flying directly in the face of every known fact.
They chose to believe they were entitled to win based on monolithic opposition and bulletproof resistance to any fact-based discussion, compromise, or generosity of spirit. They would simply stand in the corner and shout insults until they got their way. And they did not.
Good. Cry, Republicans, cry. Get it out of your system. The world is not, in fact, what you wish it to be or what you claim it is. It is instead, what it IS. You cannot shout and threaten and pout your way into control.
We'll still be here when and if you want to work on our problems from the premise that a moderate, Hawaiian-born Harvard graduate who doesn't look exactly like you is not the anti-Christ, that tax cuts don't pay for themselves, wars are not our national sport, the climate is changing, and that women and their wombs are not your personal property.
Buck up, Republicans. The world is still here, just like it was four years ago. Hop on board. It's not as bad as you think. In fact, it's a little bit better than it was just a while ago.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Just as the handful of FB friends I have that took the time to type out their hate and bigotry and let me know the world was about to end. Not one could support or clarify beyond the talking points. I wish I could get through to them and say that it's going to be OK and they don't need to be afraid. It's really just fear driving this wedge. Sadly, everything I said was met with a change of subject to the next horrific thing on their list that BO has done. 
so we didn't grow up together, but we always had fun during family visits. We really haven't really kept in touch over the years, but he "friended" me last year. He's career Navy and as FB friends we chatted about our love mutual of Battle Star Galactica when were were kids, a show that inspired him to become a pilot. His mom is my favorite Aunt, and we've always had good relations between families over time, but we just don't always keep in touch as much as "we should". We both have much older siblings and he was the surprise of his family like I was in mine. 
Fast forward to election night.
I'm political on DU, this is my outlet, but I keep my FB page as place for silly LOL cats, music videos and archaeology/astronomy articles. It's clear that I'm a liberal, but I'm not overtly political in my postings. On election night, the only things I posted were congratulations to Tammy Baldwin on her historic victory and a joke about all the newly elected women found a way to "shut that whole thing down".
I'm surprised by his thinned skinned actions. It's sad that he's willing to write off family because I support human rights, etc, but I guess this is the new reality of FOX news battle lines. 
but will certainly wear the SUCK IT tshirt with Allen West's sorryass mug.
Very nicely stated.
the base of the stupidity and ignorance pointed out here is the FACT that 48% of american voters wasted their vote on a loser like mittshit only because in most cases of their rational, he was white and our President is mixed race, brown as it were. I think our country will remain hopelessly divided when it comes to the sickness of racial hate in america. All this talk of buying farmland and guns, call for open revolution and anarchy. "Christians" calling Obama the anti-christ. This is madness and hatred of the most virulent and ignorant kind and ONLY because of his race. Yeah he won with a coalition of races and cultures, but that rabid dog called the 48% percent is still large enough to cause problems. Good luck america in the next four years. 
There have been a lot of superb posts celebrating our victory--and by that I mean the victory of progress and Good.
This definitely ranks among the very best ! 
Like I said, they get the Joe Biden smile and that's it. I'll laugh in their faces. They can wise up, or shut up. Period.
sad for us, and this nation, not for them. Holy crap, look what we have to work through! How are we going to do it?
