The armies separated; and, it is said that when congratulated on winning, Pyrrhus mournfully replied, “One other such victory would utterly undo me.”
The above is a quote credited to a Greek king who had just defeated the Roman army at the battle of Heraclea in 280 BC. To be clear, the King did in fact win the battle. But once it was done, Pyrrhus knew he’d lost the war due to the incredible price he’d paid in men lost and resources squandered. In so realizing this, I count King Pyrrhus as a smarter man than Trump.
The Donald claims that he won the 2016 election in “a landslide” of 306 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232, asserting this as the biggest Republican win since Ronald Regan. He can look forward to a GOP (now standing for Grab Out Pussy) majority in both houses of congress and is poised to appoint the swing justice on the Supreme Court. Lastly, he can try to claim millions of frothing Americans who supported him as a mandate from the people for his new agenda.
So…he won, right?
Hold on there Pyrrhus, not so fast! The Donald is in deep crap, and he is probably just too dumb to know it. He lost the popular vote by over two million Americans. That means at about 64.2 million (and counting) Hillary Clinton has won more votes than any white man in American history. That severally crimps any legitimate claim of an American “mandate” for Trump’s agenda. Also, and this is something new, those who didn’t vote for him do not actually dislike him. No, sir, they actually HATE HIS STINKING GUTS!
Upon the news of The Donald’s win, virtually every American city staged spontaneous anti-Trump protests. Over 100,000 marched in New York City alone. Riots broke out in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. Highways were blocked nationwide, and police officers logged enough overtime to pay for this Christmas and the next three! I am 48 years old and have never in my life heard of such a response to a presidential election. In fact, after every other election I’ve known, most Americans simply yawn and go back to sleep for four years. But such is the hate that our new president-elect has inspired during the course of his campaign, that I don’t see the American people giving him a pass just because Pyrrhus has won the office.
Also, The Donald may soon be fighting a battle good King Pyrrhus didn’t have to worry about, the coming fight with a fifth column. Not only do average American citizens hate him by the millions, the old guard of the GOP doesn’t like him much either (they much preferred Grand Old Party, but that’s gone now). Trump waged a scorched earth campaign that lashed out at establishment Republicans as well as liberal Democrats. This is the man who called Senator Rubio “Little Marco” and mocked Ted Cruz’s wife’s appearance. And I seriously doubt that a war hero like John McCain will forget the blatant disrespect The Donald dished out concerning the three years the Arizona senator spent as a POW in Vietnam!
And then there’s the mob. Even the mighty Roman emperors of antiquity feared the mob. That great mass of unwashed people that Trump made grandiose promises to are going to expect results. When the jobs don’t come back to their small towns and their sick little sisters lose Obamacare, common folks just might turn downright nasty.
So, I hope he enjoys his victory because he’s about to reap his own whirlwind. It took a person with the intelligence and experience of Barack Obama to keep this divided country together for the last eight years. And Donald Trump did his best to destroy that unity in order to win the election. Pyrrhus is said to have taken his beating with dignity. I look forward to reading on Twitter how very unfair things are for the poor old Donald.
By Clayton J. Callahan
America, We Are Better Than This! 