(2016) President Trump!

From the NYT this morning:

(2016) President Trump!

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. 🙂


< American Duty ◇ TIME LINEA New Era Dawns! >

(2016) the Pacific Team Presents: Twenty Sixteen! (美舰本团队出品:二〇一六!)

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.

我们的网站最近遭受了猛烈的黑客攻击,但我很感激的表示,我们及时让它重新上线,我也得以在大选前最后再发表一篇文章。

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!

现在,我想对你们所有人致以诚挚的谢意。对,就是你,读者。尤其是特别是从/pol 来的自闭症患者们。感谢你们的笑声(以及你们的梗);感谢你们的到访。鄙站最近几个月因巨大流量而崩溃的次数我数都数不过了;感谢你们的来信,那些内容丰富、五花八门的信真的,真的让我记忆犹新;感谢你们到处张贴我们的作品,让更多的人会心一笑。没有你们,我们的创作过程不会这么开心。而且,我想我们都因此有了些许进步。所以,谢谢你们,谢谢!

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.

当然,你们已经知道我的立场了,在本站稍微逛逛你就懂了。所以这次我不会再谈政治。搁笔前,我这儿还有点想在大选前展示的东西。

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.

做画册是我们的一个爱好。当我们把包括大选结果和可能出现的另外几幅画在内的一切汇总好之后,我们会把所有东西合起来放在网上,放在这个网站。不用说,电子版《2016》是免费的,但请给我们点时间把成GB的素材压缩整理一下。

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.

怎么说呢,我们就这样。我和零火向来都是以正确的方式做事。如果你想支持我们,请关注并购买纸质版,但你考虑掏钱包前,我们更希望你先知道买的是什么。购买前欢迎试读。如果我有什么值得自豪的事的话,那就是我们一直都是这么做的。我们愿诚实待人,正如我们诚实待己。我们不挂羊头卖狗肉。

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.

然而,最后别忘了,无论你是否关心我们,其实这都不重要。更重要的是大选,以及你。要知道你们每个人都为这本书的创造过程出了力。更重要的,是你们每个人都在以自己的方式塑造历史。所以这本书是献给你们的所作所为的。可以说也是献给你的。

Whatever happens on Tuesday, be assured that we’ll be watching. Of course, we’ll be playing our part too. God Bless America.

无论周二发生什么,我们也会跟你们一起围观,并且我们也自然会走入这场大戏里,成为历史的一部分。天佑美国。

Good night, and good luck!

晚安,好运!

(2016) American Duty (美国的义务)

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.

今天我想给大家看看华尔街时报的一个东西。

Red feed, blue feed.

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.

左派社会媒体,右派社会媒体。看看吧。看看这已经分裂成了两个世界的美国,你也许会明白,这为什么重要了。两星期内,这其中一位会成为美国总统,而世界也会因此而改变。

Those of you who are long-term readers of our work should know more than well about where I stand on things. After all, this 2016 series started out as a one-time joke, but quickly blossomed into something much more. In these posts and in this little space I’ve documented my journey, and yes, as you know, I’ve made up my mind long ago. I will vote. You can see my choice here, how I’ve came to it, and this hasn’t changed one bit.

我们的老读者们,你知道我的看法吧?毕竟最开始我们搞这2016系列只是为了好玩而已。然而你们自己也能看到,她变了。变成了更重要的东西。我在这些帖子里记录了我的途以及我的故事,而你也知道早就好决定了。我的选择是这里。你可以理解我为什么要这么选。并且,你应该知道,我丝毫没有改变自己的念头

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.

我的目的并不是要说服你来投他或者她。那是你的权利,并且这一直是你的权利。然而我只是想说自己的感受,以及记录自己的路途而已。

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?

从个人角度来讲,这次大选给了我大大的鼓励。给了我让我做的更好的动力,并且很好的给我对国家未来的担心做了安慰。如果我错了,美国已经伟大了,那我应该尽力而行,因为这样才配得上这个国家。但如果我是对的,美国不伟大了,或者曾经都没有伟大过,那这样的话,咱现在开始,难道不好吗?

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.

嘿,你知道吗?我投票并不因为我认为我会赢或者输,而是因为这是对的。我投票是因为我想为这国家负责。我想为这个国家的未来尽力。如果我投的那家伙是个垃圾的话,那,这也是我愿意承担的责任,因为我也有一份。

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.

看看这套系列吧。我曾经是在另外那边的。然后我试图逃避过。我考虑过。我冷理…(S1各位抱歉中文还没学好。我记得有个三个字的词,冷,理智,什么的,啊啊啊中文好难)。我甚至曾经试图过无视这些所有事情。然而到现在?我不能无视了。

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.

我不会,也不想无视我们国家目前的腐败。媒体的黑手以及一边倒,我们知识分子对人民的背叛,我们为了精神麻醉而自己创造的”安全地带”,以及克林顿和我们政府的非法,无道德的行为。这些东西我再也不能无视了。

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.”

看看反对他的人是什么吧。两党的精锐人士,告诉我,支持他就是反美国。那些“揭秘”或者“核实”的媒体告诉我,不用思想,我怕你想错了所以我们来替你想吧。那些我大学内的教授们脸上挂着一副不屑的表情告诉任何人,你们别多想了,也不用表达了。我们大学为了保护我们的精英智者环境,根本不需要讨论这些。

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.

他们都错了。不管一个观点多么糟糕,别人有不同的观点没什么不好的。这才是所谓的多元化啊。你如果想说服别人的话,你应当去证明给他们你的观点,而不是直接吓唬他们或者让他们闭嘴。

Do you understand where I’m coming from?

你能理解我的意思吗?

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.

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< Relics ◇ TIME LINEPresident Trump! >

On 9/11: Fifteen Years Later

This post represents solely the thoughts of Morgane and does not represent the rest of her team. To our Asian readers, my apologies. Treat this as an exercise in English comprehension? 😉

At first, I thought I might have done a piece on it. Then I thought seriously and decided against it. 9/11 has yet to happen in Pacific’s world. With any luck, it might not occur at all.

But it is wishful thinking to butterfly something like this away or put it away in the real world. To say that 9/11 is the Pearl Harbor of our day is an understatement. I was a very tiny little girl when it happened, and the memories of those events would last for a long time.

No, I am not as crass as to say I remember the (adjective) (adjective) (negative emotions), nor would I say I understand – as I entered high school – what the changes in my country was at the time. What I will tell you is one thing. I felt unnerved, as if something was wrong.

More specifically, I felt a very weird sense of unease – mostly because the grown-ups around me was reacting in a way that I never ever saw them. My great uncle can stare bears down the face and haul bombs and torpedoes and load ’em onto fighter-bombers (yes, that same one I keep on talking about) and he was shaken. Not afraid. Not fearful. More like angry.

Then as I grew up, I realized bit by bit that something I thought we’ve always had, is gone. Confidence.

People aren’t confident of America and what she stands for anymore. That’s part of the decline and the malaise I was talking about in the 2016 miniseries. It’s as if we’ve lost our way and lost our ability to focus on things that matter. Rather than facing the truth and getting to the bottom of the matter, we’ve let self-interest and partisanship get in the way. Our unity was a thing that was laughably transient – within a few months we were right back at where we started, but worse, because now we’re pitting minority interest against minority interest. Under the guise of utilitarianism and noble pursuit we’ve done just the opposite.

Take a look at around you now. Life might be good for you, but I can assure you, just based on some simple numbers, I can bet you that half of the tens of thousands of American readers on this website isn’t. Wages have stagnated. A few has gotten richer, but most people I know are struggling to just get by. Roughly two thirds of my classmates who graduated from college are back at home now, barely squeezing out a living.

What does all of this have to with 9/11? Because 9/11, were I to pin down to one event that begun our slow and current decline, would be it. 9/11 is one of the most heinous (and I remember lightly mocking W over his way of pronouncing that term) events that has happened in our history. It is not only a terror attack, but now – thanks to some recently unveiled information – I see it as a terror attack and a betrayal and a confirmation all at the same time.

The House just passed a law called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. If Obama doesn’t veto it in ten days (which I have serious doubts based on what the White House has said), this will give the victims of 9/11 a route to pursue legal justice – by bringing Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, into court. For years and years we’ve laughed and dismissed the possibility of this as a mere conspiracy – how could you even think like that? It’s 20XX.

Now? No one’s laughing.

American power is declining. Like it or not, we’re experiencing now one of the most turbulent years of our time. I am not old to say that it has colored my perception just yet – I fall squarely under that 20-29 demographic – but looking back, I think it is important to frame just how important that event was in the scheme of the last fifteen years.

To me, 9/11 was the last time where our country displayed – for a fraction of a second – genuine unity. Whether people were exploiting the event for their own gain or genuinely trying to help is irrelevant. The appearance was there, and the United States of America (emphasis on United) was well, exactly what it said on the tin.

To me, 9/11 contributed so much to our national identity that it deserve to be remembered. In essence, it provided the foundation to two things that will shape this country for years to come: a simmering resentment that we could, should, and perhaps would eventually do something about our problems, and a (often corrupted) desire to maximize good by taking a moral high ground and assuming that our values are superior to everything else.

The first got us into a lot of war and created a lot of hare-brained policies, and the second is directly tied to the rise of political correctness in our country today. If asked, I honestly can’t tell you which one’s worse. We never follow through with any of the things we want to do, and nowadays you can’t even discuss Islam in anything less than a positive light without having the label of Islamophobic slapped onto your face. We are lucky in this regard – at least we aren’t England or France or Germany, and the First Amendment is still drawing haggard breath.

Mourning will do nothing to bring those people we lost, our national unity, or our confidence, back. Anger offers an emotional outlet and perhaps a few convenient boogeymen, but I fail to see how it will bring us solutions to the issues that we face today. And so, I spend today neither in mourning nor in anger, but largely in quiet contemplation.

For fifteen long years many have asked why it happened and what we can do to make it not happen again, but on something like this, I deal neither with the unalterable past nor the unpredictable future. What I am focused on is what I can do in the present day. America will not fix itself on its own, and I don’t expect other people to come fix it for us. So who’s left? Us, of course. Whatever you end up contributing, be it money, time, or effort, the job’s ours.

I’m going to conclude by citing – thanks to an avid reader’s reminder – someone else in my stead. The source of the quote is typically attributed to Teddy Roosevelt.

It is but an idle waste of time to celebrate the memory of the dead unless we, the living, in our lives strive to show ourselves not unworthy of them.

Here’s to 9/11.