Silver lining for West County despite the disastrous national election

[Peacetown Jonathan]

Early results from Sonoma County are VERY GOOD!

First, congratulations to Neysa and Michael for the late results, which indicate they hold substantial leads and will be Sebastopol's next City Council members .

Then, as our democracy spins out of control nationally, California results and sonoma county results look GREAT. Here's the good news for the three local campaigns that i cared about more than my own:

1) Hospital Board: Gail Thomas is headed to victory securing a three vote majority to keep the hospital open and work for a long term solution to help it thrive and remain with us through our lives.

2) RESTORE LIBRARY HOURS AT LAST! The ballot measure to find the restoration of hours seems to be heading for passage, with 69.7% of the vote and 66,67% needed. This is a BIG VICTORY!

3) Measure M to BAN GMO FARMING looks headed to pass!

Statewide, marijuana will be legal, ending prohibition and granting adults their civil right to choose a less harmful recreational drug for the first time in a century, while ending the racist, poverty-creating, cruel war on people who choose marijuana.

As for the Clinton Trump race: Clinton has 70% to Trump's 22.8%; THREE TIMES as many votes as Trump locally! If only we voted for the whole country we would live in a utopia.

[Shepherd]

Thanks, Jonathan, for these important details and this perspective.

[farmerdan]

Jonathan,

I don't think we would live in utopia but possibly we could avoid total insanity.
It appears we are headed for another period of darkness in national politics.
It won't be our first nor our last. Most, but not all of us will survive.
I worry for the young women with unwanted pregnancies, the undocumented, the working poor who won't have health care, those with pre-conditions who will once again be frozen out of healthcare. Our hospital will treat them with no reimbursement and we are all the ultimate losers. We should work toward single payer in California. (It is important to remember that the Canadian system started in one province.)

The rich will get big tax cuts, the corporations more loopholes, the oil companies more drilling.
It is beyond belief that we elected a p*$$y grabber who has done nothing worthy of being the leader of our nation.

We need to build a wall of caring that runs from the canadian border to Mexico (and includes Nevada.)
Act local!

Dan

Early results from Sonoma County are VERY GOOD! ....

[farmerdan]

Jonathan,

What is surprising is that Trump did well with union voters. It would seem that SEIU would have been much better off spending their money on union voters in swing states instead of trying to elect a friendly to the 5th district. (Of course we all have 20/20 hindsight. I never believed that Trump could be elected after his p#$$y grabbing and other outrageous behaviors so SEIU believed they could get Noreen elected.)

If there is any message that we get here is that the left's talk about 'the middle class' doesn't get to the people who are no longer part of it. Trump was able to appeal to the unemployed, underemployed, and disenfranchised of the rust belt with 'I'm going to bring your jobs back' even though he is the epitome of capitalism at its worst and Hillary had no real counter to this (even though it is a ridiculous claim). It is hard to fathom how this works but not the first time people voted against their own interests.

I guess the saying should be that you can't fool all of the people all of the time but you can fool enough of the people enough of the time to get elected president.