Yes, it’s that bad. No, it’s not our fault.

As America stocks up on Dramamine and prepares to embark upon the SS Trump, #NeverTrump Conservatives find ourselves overwhelmed by messages from both sides of the aisle. The rest of this week will be filled to the brim with emotional posts encouraging us to move forward, to embrace unity, and forgive those who ushered in Trump and motivated a depraved subset of society. Additionally, many on the Left have begun blaming the abstainers or third party voters for not jumping on board with team Hillary.

So, in an attempt to address the grievances that I know individuals like myself are receiving, I’ve compiled them all in this post.

“You guys were wrong about the power of us Trumpsters!” 

Nailed it.

Yes, we were wrong. It’s because we had too much faith in the polls, too much faith in common sense, too much faith in the human species, but also because we didn’t have enough Pepto Bismol on hand to accommodate mulling over the idea that Bill Mitchell might be right about the ground game being in their hearts.

We fully admit to being wrong, but that doesn’t change our opinions. You elected a nationalist who stands antithetical to everything Conservatism once stood for. A man who got you to abandon your support of the free market, religious freedom, and small government ideals. The fact that he won doesn’t change that.

Congratulations, we were wrong, you were right… and you still did something horrible that could severely damage our economy, relationships with allies, our reputation to the world, the safety of millions, etc.

But you won, so who cares, right?

“I can’t believe you didn’t vote for Hillary!” 

So many of my Hillary supporting friends have been kind and gracious, and haven’t attacked people like myself for voting third party… Nevertheless, to those who have: There are various reasons why many of us couldn’t morally support Hillary, and I won’t go down that rabbit hole on this post. However, to say that we were courageous for standing by our principles as we abandoned our own party, only to turn around and blame us for Hillary’s loss, is low.  Democrats knew that Conservatives would refuse to vote for Hillary, and they could have put forth any other candidate. But, just like how the Republicans made their bed, the Democrats made their bed too. You stood by us against Trump’s supporters when it seemed like our principled stance would help Hillary more than Trump, don’t embrace their tactics just because you now think the opposite. Most of us told people exactly what we were going to do from day one, and that’s what we did. We didn’t vote for either candidate because we found them both unfit and refused to choose the least evil, which – let me reiterate – we said we’d do over, and over, and over again while both parties were picking their nominees.

“Now we must all come together.” 

No. The reality is that we’re the rebellion now, because we’re the factionless. Embrace it. This changed nothing for me, but encouraged me to fight harder, and to stand up for the innocent people Trump steamrolled and threatened on his way to the White House. I’m more determined than I was on Tuesday morning to stand against the individuals who supported his rise. “Unity” is the furthest thing from my mind. It’s not because I’m bitter, and it’s not because his supporters have exposed themselves as the personification of dyspepsia, it’s because I’m a conservative and stand against everything they represent.

“I blame ——!” 

There’s enough blame to go around, guys.

Conservative media has been peddling irrational fear and rage because it gains clicks and sells books. They founded the wholly unnecessary victims of the “establishment” support groups, and blatantly lied about various issues – like the chances of repealing Obamacare without a veto-proof majority, or the horrors of bipartisanship. They realized long ago that keeping us scared and angry added padding to their bank accounts, and they’re a big reason why so many people were open to a man who promised to address irrational fears in exchange for their dignity.

Then there’s the Democrats, who’ve spent years pushing women like Lena Dunham to the front of their movement, while disregarding the fact that she’s a horrific spokeswoman for female empowerment. They’ve painted compassionate and informed women like me as traitors to my own sex for being prolife, while flaunting women in “I love abortion” dresses like trophies. Instead of dedicating their time to defending the religious freedom of Muslims (which is desperately needed now), they arrogantly touted the suing of a small town bakery. They’ve marched out celebrities to speak on behalf of gun control, used false data, and belittled women who rely upon ourselves for protection, and treated us as though we’re disposable when compared to the advancement of their narrative. They’ve been polarized and unwelcoming to those of us in the middle. When sadly, if they would have brought forward a woman or man who met us half-way on many of the beliefs we hold, I would have proudly supported them. But they refused.

Listen, Trump didn’t get an overwhelming number of votes, Hillary got an underwhelming number of votes. For months we’ve been saying that anybody else would beat Hillary, and we begged our party to do some serious self-evaluation. The Democrats should’ve been doing the same thing. I get along with people on both sides of the aisle rather well, and we talk things over and agree on some issues, and disagree on others. However, when it comes to the vast majority of my Democrat friends, their party is far to the left of them, just like my previous party was far to the right of me. Fix it, friends.

Republican…. Where do I start? Republicans in general were spineless. They pandered to racists and sexists, abandoned our Muslim citizens when their religious freedom was threatened, threw veterans under the bus with Trump’s empty promises and baseless attacks, and – most importantly – they stood for nothing so that they could gain everything. The fact that they succeeded is disgusting and shameful, and if there is any piece of them that ever truly embodied the men and women I thought they were, they’ve got to realize deep down that they betrayed women and minorities out of unmitigated selfishness. On Tuesday morning it hurt knowing that, today it hurts knowing that it worked.

“If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” 

I’ve frequently warned about the squishy faction of #NeverTrump; the people who kept one foot on the fence, or flip-flopped between hating Trump and legitimizing his big-government – hey, let’s flirt with the alt-right – message in an attempt to keep his followers clicking on their links. These people are the worst. Right now they’re crawling back up on the fence hoping that nobody noticed their moment of bravery, and they’re inviting the rest of us to join them. They can pack sand.

“People should stop acting like they’re scared.”

If you paid attention to Trump’s entire campaign, it’s beyond ignorant to suggest that minorities shouldn’t feel threatened. They have every right to be scared, end of story. And women have every right to feel disrespected when a man who brags about sexually assaulting women, and treats them like dogs in general, is elected as President. It’s not okay, and I’m going to continue saying that it’s not okay until someone else is in the White House.

Minorities deserve our support and reassurance, because individuals who treat them like lesser beings were given a huge platform on Tuesday.

“Hillary lost because of sexism!” 

No she didn’t. While I openly admit that I have been made acutely aware of the fact that a – larger than previously assumed – swath of the United States has a serious disregard for women (one I’m going to passionately fight in the coming years), Hillary did not lose because of sexism. In fact, as a believer in Classical Feminism, I’m incredibly exited to have a female President, but always found it sad that the first female President was going to be Hillary. I wanted the first female President to be a woman of upstanding character, to be a uniting force, and to represent at least some of my ideals. Those feelings are not misplaced, and were it Carly Fiorina going up against Biden, those to the left of me would be expressing similar feelings. And Carly has a much cleaner history than Hillary – it’s just the facts, guys.

I have some tough love for my Liberal friends: Stop trying to make President Hillary happen. It’s not going to happen.

So there you have it, I think I answered a lot of the comments and questions thrown at me last night.

In the end, yesterday was mind blowing. It’s rare for me to be as shocked and disappointed as I was last night. I wasn’t going to be truly happy with any election results, but in the end, Trump being elected represents the end of a tumultuous year. A year in which my respect for so many people was lost – albeit friendships were gained – and I was so brutally awakened to a hatefulness in the hearts of so many.

It never feels good to see bad men win, and while I find myself hopeful that my country will survive 48 months of a Trump presidency, my heart hurts for those who are scared right now. And my promise to them is that even in my factionless state, I will be here to fight for them.

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