Letters: ‘Donald Trump is as shocked as we are’

Sore winners, sore losers

I think Donald Trump is as shocked as we are that he got elected (“The rise of Donald Trump,” Election 2016, Nov. 21). I also think that he actually didn’t want the job. He thrived on being an obnoxious critic, but it backfired: now he’s the one that will have to endure a lot of criticism. He can no longer abuse the system as a parasitic con man: he has become the system. And he’s going to make his earlier predecessor, George W. Bush, look like a scholar.

Ben Adamowicz, London, Ont.

I am identified with one of the most reviled groups in society. I am a straight white male. I have caused all the problems in the world. I am uneducated, ignorant, misogynistic, racist and homophobic? I am none of those things. If you are subjected to sexism, racism or homophobia, I will be the first one to defend you. However, if you make assumptions about me based on my colour or gender, that’s on you. If you choose to be a victim, I will not help you. If you are full of loathing for me and spew that hatred through the media, I will turn you off. The media reporting on the election put the blame on straight white males as if we are a homogeneous group. If I were American, I would have probably swallowed hard and voted for Trump, just to show my frustration with being the convenient whipping boy for everyone’s problems. Nobody in the political elite in the States, particularly the Democratic Party, cared. That’s on them. That is one reason why Donald Trump is president-elect. Revenge is sweet.

Jeff Magee, Victoria

You have to give Donald Trump credit. He proved it is possible to lie and deceive your way to the White House. Chances are he will not build a border wall that Mexico will pay for, his health care plan will not be cheaper and better than Obamacare, he will not deport millions of illegal immigrants and his tax plan will only benefit the rich and raise the deficit like most Republican presidents have. President-elect Trump is due for a big reality check and so is the American public.

David Hoffard, New Westminster, B.C.

Your writers spent half an entire issue, page after page, tearing Donald Trump apart again. We all have come to our own conclusion and need not get hammered with a literary mallet telling us of the apocalypse Donald Trump will bring upon us all. Are we now going to read every week about all the wrongs Trump will be doing, how he is incapable of doing anything right? Nobody, even Donald Trump can be as bad, mischievous and stupid as you make him out to be and get elected president.

Mark W. Bormann, Renfrew, Ont.

Do the working-class citizens of the U.S. really think Trump will be their champion for tax reform, health care, fairness? He’s a billionaire who’s made his billions off the backs of other people. He’s hidden his taxes. To build his buildings, he bought his steel from China. Isn’t that a glaring contradiction? Do the American disenfranchised men without jobs really believe he’ll bring back the auto industry? It’s a desperate hope from the hopeless. It was the American business elite who sent the manufacturing to China and Mexico. Why? Cheap labour. Do the Americans remember the slogan “greed is good”? The 2008 financial meltdown was on the Republican watch. Let’s not kid ourselves that an incipient, underlying bias of misogyny and racism did not have a major impact in this election. We all better hope Trump was “just kidding” with all his rhetoric. If he wasn’t, God help America. Good luck, you’re going to need it. The world is watching. Guaranteed entertainment for the next four years.

Diana T. Groves, Winnipeg

After reading the last several issues of Maclean’s, I only have this bit of advice: GET OVER IT. The U.S. election is over, the campaign is dead and the people have spoken. The voters of the U.S.A. have soundly and democratically elected a new president, whether we like it or not. How about burying your barbs, spears and hatchets, and looking to the future, and giving the new administration a chance to see what really develops.

Simon R. Guillet, Sudbury, Ont.

I am intrigued by so many reflections on how Trump is going to behave as president. It reminds me of the old adage: if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck, you’ve got a duck! If he looks like Trump, talks like Trump and behaves like Trump, you’ve got Donald Trump!

Gordon Schottlander, Burlington, Ont.

When advance polls were open in the U.S., news reports were saying that the turnout was heavily Democratic. Publicizing these results ahead of Election Day could have assured Democrats that if they did not have time to vote, the election would turn out the way they wanted. And it could have inspired Republicans to make sure that they made it to the election booth. Advance polls are needed, but any results should be kept under wraps until all Election Day voting is completed across the country.

Eileen Herbert, Barrie, Ont.

How could a person of Donald Trump’s character be chosen to lead the most progressive and powerful country in the world? He spoke to Christians. The “progressives” in the U.S., just as in Canada, want freedom of religion for everyone—except Christians! “Thou shalt not kill” is part of our Bible, which is every bit as important to us Christians as the Quran or Talmud are to other faiths. Abortion is murder. On immigration he said the most important people in a country are the citizens that are already there, not the new ones that want to come. If you want to come here because you like what we have, don’t try to change it to reflect that which you left. Integration of immigrants created the country we enjoy. Creating many little countries within a big one will destroy us. Obviously, Trump pushed many of the right buttons. “Sunny ways, my friends”? I think there is a storm brewing.

Gerry Gross, Outlook, Sask.

Watching the U.S. election results, I kept waiting for Rod Serling to appear.

Joseph Paluch, Hamilton

Allen Abel knew all along

Allen Abel capped his excellent series of postcards from behind the lines in the U.S. election with an enlightening piece on why America elected Trump, and it was written well before Election Day (“There’s only one president Clinton,” International, Nov. 14). Now that all the pundits are wallowing in rationalization, I suggest a second and third read of the Mr. Abel’s able narrative.

Mark Jamison, Seeleys Bay, Ont.

Bad for business

Anyone inclined to wax lyrical at the prospect of president-elect Donald Trump running America as a business (“Trump talk,” Letters, Nov. 21) should take a closer look at Trump’s track record when running his own businesses. Time and again he ran them into the ground and had to be bailed out—and this despite his well-documented practice of stiffing his own workers and suppliers. Is that really who you want running the North American economy?

Henry Hess, Burlington, Ont.

I appreciate the letters complaining about your criticism of Donald Trump and his attitude toward women and minorities. It’s nice too know I am not the only racist male chauvinist pig in Canada.

Bert Tipton, Victoria

The atrocity of Adam Capay

The treatment of Adam Capay is unacceptable and so shocking that it is difficult to process (“1,560 days,” National, Nov. 14). I have lost faith in the Canadian justice system. Excuses won’t do. Whomever has overall responsibility for this atrocity must immediately end it, and all the other human rights violations of a similar nature, and never allow anything like this to happen again.

Dave Ross, Maple Ridge, B.C.

We are besieged hourly with news, often disturbing, from around the world. Few of these events have the impact of the distressing story about Adam Capay’s incarceration in solitary confinement for four years without a trial in a Canadian prison. We are outraged when Canadians are jailed for no rational reason in countries that do not respect basic human rights. But Canada? The individuals responsible need to be brought to account and procedures changed to prevent this from ever happening again. Shame on us!

Ron Lowry, Calgary

Funeral for a friend

Thank you for publishing the tribute to Yaaka Markusie Yaaka (The End, Nov. 14). Yaaka was truly a great Canadian. I developed a close friendship with him starting in 2011 as I conducted my Ph.D. research in Kangiqsujuaq, Que. I experienced some of the greatest moments of my life—such as mussel picking under the sea ice and goose hunting in the interior of Nunavik—because of him. Yaaka was a member of a generation of Inuit that grew up in the “old ways” but also had to learn how to navigate the world of qallunaat—white people. Of course, as your article mentioned, negotiating this cultural divide wasn’t always easy. Yaaka’s experiences led him to be profoundly concerned for the future, particularly about the environment and the well-being of Inuit youth. He was fully devoted to these causes, particularly to Inuit cultural education. But however resilient and dedicated they may be, people like Yaaka cannot solve these problems on their own, nor should they have to. As Canadians, we all have a responsibility to help mend the grievous economic, environmental, and health disparities that afflict the Indigenous peoples of our country.

Elspeth Ready, postdoctoral scholar, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.