They’re still counting now, but I think we’re looking at maybe 300+ EVs.
I’m exhausted. I stayed up all night watching the results roll in, but this’ll be one for the history books. No blow-for-blow for now. We’ll save that for the actual book, or for an actual piece where we’re going to illustrate the events of that night.
What was more remarkable perhaps is the fact that the Republicans kept both the House AND the Senate. What was even more remarkable was how wrong the pollsters have all been. Just go on a site like RealClearPolitics with aggregates and see for yourself. Or major, major news networks.
Or go to well-respected, highly accurate and critically acclaimed sources such as FiveThirtyEight and see the resultant meltdown.
Or stuff like this, where I watched the NYT ticker go from this to this and finally to > 95%.
I didn’t save a screenshot of that unfortunately, so maybe one of you autists or centipedes could send one to me, I’d be tremendously grateful –
Who am I kidding. I’ll go google it and get it myself in a bit. Here. That’s the thing I’m talking about.
I hope something could be learned from this matter. A very close friend of mine was telling me yesterday that this kind of thing happen whenever our intellectual elites become far removed from everyone else. Perhaps now they, or we, will finally do a bit of soul searching and figure out just what happened. But I’m honestly not holding my breath. Especially when the media is not only melting down, but actively scrubbing its content.
In the above example, if you thought he’s a sexist or a racist or _______, that’s not going to change just because he wins an election. So why not stick to your guns? What’s your excuse?
Look. Let’s face it. We’ve invented a reality for ourselves, and yesterday was the best example of that illusion being shattered in recent history. Some folks might have been far-sighted enough to see it. Others? Well, now you see things for what they are. If we were actually smarter, we would have noticed much sooner. The people that did not want to see this outcome have no one to blame but themselves.
Like I said back in the NJ piece, Mr. Trump offered us a deal. By now, the results are clear. We the American people took it, and we’ll expect him to make good on his promise as we’ll make good on ours. Yesterday he offered a simple but inspiring speech. Before then, he offered us a contract.
We’ll be holding him to his word. I believe Mr. Trump understands how to make deals, and more importantly, I do believe that he’ll be able to close them as well. Let’s wait and see. Let’s take responsibility, and let’s go out there and actually do something to Make America Great – again, now, or in the future.
Of course, thanks to that twelve hour time-zone difference, Sima was able to blitz one out immediately for the aftermath.
From left to right: Iowa, Pennsylvania (Pennsy), and Wisconsin (Wisky). Again, for curious folks, for the purpose of this mini-series, they represent US states that was flipped by the Trump campaign.
Where’s Florida and Ohio and Michigan you ask? Well, Michigan we never designed a character for. Ohio is currently being worked on for our next book so she’s not ready to show her face, and Florida, being Florida, is probably literally off getting drunk somewhere.
If you’re just coming into the action now, you can probably take a look at this post here, where I document my journey. For now, though? Here’s hoping that our faith isn’t misplaced. For better or for worse, we now live in a new era. 🙂
Our website came under heavy attack recently, and I am thankful that we were able to get it up in time for me to make one last post before the elections.
In less than twenty-four hours, this historic election will come to a close.
还有不到24小时，这一历史性的大选就将结束。
I want to end (for now) by giving a heartfelt thank you to all of you. Yes, you, especially you autists from /pol. Thanks for the laughs. Thank you for dropping by – our site’s died to traffic overload more times in these last few months than I care to count. Thank you for your messages, as I am truly, truly impressed by the size and variety and content behind it all. Thank you for spreading our works around and making a few more people grin. Without all of you we wouldn’t have had this much fun making our pieces, and I think we’ve all became a little better because of it. So thank you. Thank you!
You already know where I stand – just take a look at the site. So I won’t be talking any more politics in this post. Before I finish, though, I’ve got one more thing to show before the elections.
We make artbooks. It’s kind of a hobby of ours. Once we’ve gotten everything together, including the election results and maybe a couple more pieces of art, we’ll put everything together and put it online, right here. It goes without saying that the electronic version of 2016 will be released free of charge – just give us some time to compress the thing down from its gigabyte size.
Hey, look. That’s just how we do things. Zero and I believe in doing things the right way, so if you feel like supporting us, keep an eye out for the physical copies if you want, but we do prefer that you know exactly what you’re getting in the tin. If you want to get anything from us, ask to see it first. If I can be proud for a moment – we’ve got the track record to prove it, and we want to be as honest with you as we are with ourselves.
Remember, though, that at the end that this isn’t about us. It’s about this election and it’s about you. Know that each and every one of you played a role in the creation of this book, but more importantly, each one of you is shaping history in your own way. This book, in that sense, is a dedication to that. It’s a dedication to you.
Forgive me for being even less coherent than usual today. I write this with a bit of emotion, since this long election is finally coming to a close at last.
（注：心情有点复杂，所以我感觉我表达能力差了很多。因此还是请原谅了）
Let me start today by bringing out something from the Wall Street Journal.
Take a look at how different the two worlds are, and you will soon understand why this is important. In less than two weeks, one of these two will be president, and the world will change because of it.
As always, I am not trying to convince you to vote for one or the other. That is your right, and that is always your right. What I am trying to do here is just to articulate my own feelings and thoughts, and to document my journey.
Personally, this election has galvanized me in a way I didn’t think would be possible. It gave me impetus and drive to be better than who I am today, and it put to rest my own insecurities about the fate of this country. If I am wrong and America is great already, then it’s up to me to do my best to be worthy of it. If I am right and America is not great, or it has never been great, well, then, it’s never too late to start now, right?
Hey, listen. I vote not because I believe that victory or defeat is imminent. I vote because it is the right thing to do. I vote because whatever direction this country may head towards, I want to be a part of it. I want to take personal responsibility for the fate of this country, and should my candidate turn out to be a poor president, then that’s my fault too, and I’ll proudly bear the price of failure alongside the rest of us.
Look at this very series. I was on the other side. Then like many others I tried not to take sides. I gave the benefit of the doubt. I tried to look the other way. I did my best to willfully ignore all that has happened, and in the end, I can’t do it anymore.
I cannot and will not overlook the extent of which corruption of all forms has strangled this country. The media’s blackout and one-sided coverage, the complete betrayal of our own people by our intellectual class, the artificial creation of realities for only things that suits our own worldviews, and to say nothing of the illicit and immoral practices of Clinton and much of our government.
I can offer platitudes and hang-wringing about how flawed Trump is. Yet at this point, what difference does it make? To me, he’s the only one that wants to make America great for all Americans. His message resonates with me, and I see it as a call to action. Like my profession of choice, he doesn’t mince words. He sees problems like we doctors (okay, I’m not one yet, but I’ll get my letters soon!) would, and he offers a solution because it is necessary. It isn’t easy. It isn’t nice. It’s not even guaranteed to work.
我可以抱怨特朗普。我可以说他多么烂。但现在，What difference does it make? 他是唯一一个想让美国为所有人而更伟大起来。我对他的话语打动，而我个人认为这是一个启动的开始。如同我现实生活的职业一样，这家伙不会说瞎话。他可以如同医生一样看问题，给出答案，因为这些答案是必须的。这些答案不简单，也不顺耳。甚至可以说这些答案并不一定会成功。
But at this point, what have we got to lose?
但我们怕什么呢？我们有什么可输的？
Take a look at who’s opposing him. Party elites from both the left and the right, telling me that the support of this particular candidate is “unAmerican.” The “fact-checking” media that wants to do my thinking for me because they’re afraid I might reach the “wrong” conclusions. The professors and intellectual elites at my university who openly and contemptuously dismiss any opposing viewpoints, claiming it is all in the name of “furthering our education and protecting our intellectual atmosphere.”
They’re all wrong. No matter how heinous the idea might be, there is nothing wrong with other people holding different opinions than you. That is what intellectual diversity is. You change hearts and change minds by presenting a good alternative and answering their contentions vigorously, rather than trying to silencing or cowing the other side into silence.
There will be plenty of opportunities to talk shop and discuss issues, and I welcome your inquires as usual. But this is not the time nor the place for it.
Let me finish up by quoting Mark Twain. I thought it was from Captain America, but as it turned out? I was mistaken. 🙂
For in a republic, who is “the Country”? Is it the Government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the Government is merely a servant–merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. Who, then, is “the Country”? Is it the newspaper? is it the pulpit? is it the school superintendent? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the whole of it; they have not command, they have only their little share in the command. They are but one in the thousand; it is in the thousand that command is lodged; they must determine what is right and what is wrong; they must decide who is a patriot and who isn’t.
Who are the thousand–that is to say, who are “the Country”? In a monarchy, the king and his family are the country; in a republic it is the common voice of the people. Each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak. And it is a solemn and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the bullying of pulpit, press, government, or the empty catch-phrases of politicians. Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man.
To decide it against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may. If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to your convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by your country–hold up your head! You have nothing to be ashamed of.
I want to make a quick update – we’ve been busy here, but things have been well. 🙂
我想很快的说一下，我们这边这段时间特别忙，但总体来讲，一切都很好啦。:)
总书记网络大本营，SandersForPresident的网络数据。
”The world is grey, the mountains old,
The forge’s fire is ashen-cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls:
The darkness dwells in Durin’s halls;“
（托尔金作品指环王的诗词。找到的是网友solaris_a的翻译，被我稍微魔改了一下）
群山苍苍 岁月已过
熔炉冷寂 灰烬凄清
琴瑟喑哑 锤砧无声
暗影盘桓 杜林殿中
We’ve been trying this thing out basically as soon as Bernie actually decided to endorse Hillary for president. That girl is Mahan. She’s a character from our main line of work. As you can see from her profile in vol. 1, she’s a bit of a scholarly mind. Helping out with an archaeological dig sounds like something she’d do. x)
I will make no further comment on the matter, other than it is too soon to gauge any potential impacts from the event. I have plenty of opinions, but in an unusual show of restraint, I’m going to keep them to myself for now. 🙂
