LOL, no problem. And thank you for such kind words.
I'm still trying to figure this out. I think as a country some of us got very complacent about so many things, mostly the assumption that there were enough people who would not let this man get elected just because of his outrageous character and his views/treatment of women. There are sadly so many women who don't have the confidence to stand up for themselves, who've been assaulted by men and fear speaking out, who believe the patriarchal narrative that women are weaker/not equal and need men to protect them. And some women just don't like to rock the boat out of fear. I can't tell you how many times other women have suggested that I "tone it down," "be more ladylike," "don't be so outspoken because it hurts you" "Dress more feminine, "Wear some makeup." If I were male, all of these "issues" would be considered attributes. Aggressiveness in women is viewed so differently from aggressiveness in men. For men, they are go-getters, tough, confident, brash. For women, it's being a "*****" a "complainer" "pushy." And these views are shared by some women about other women. That's what bothers me so much. I am not some piece of property to be paraded around by a man. I'm not an appendage or a sex toy, existing only to serve men. Don't get me wrong, I love men, but I am an individual with my own mind and desires. But I think there are many women in my country who would view me with disdain, that I should "know my place" and be thankful if some man were to "complete me."
There is also a huge economic factor that I think a lot of people overlooked. There are indeed regions of the country where jobs and communities have disappeared because of technological evolution such as automation. I've seen it in my own field. Newspapers, the print model anyway, are dying left and right because it's simply cheaper to produce news without the cost of newsprint, delivery, machinery to print, etc. These regions and industries haven't recovered economically and they haven't found a way to bounce back. The Orange Menace tapped into this disenfranchised groups. His slogan of make America great again spoke to them. I've been listening to interviews of people from these regions who voted for the OM, and they all cite jobs as the main reason. I can't understand how they think their coal jobs or manufacturing jobs will rebound. That horse is out of the barn. Those jobs aren't coming back for so many reasons. Globalization is a huge factor. Businesses will do whatever they can to keep costs down, even if that means putting tons of people out of work. If they can get their goods and services produced more cheaply, they will, regardless of where those jobs go. It's all about the Benjamins, sadly.
I also think that slogan spoke to people who fear anyone who is different from them. They want a return to Rockwellian America, sometimes perceived as pretty much white America of the 1950s. Conformity and oppression was king and men ruled and women stayed home to raise the children and keep house. I remember my (biological) father deriding my mother for wanting to read the newspaper, questioning why she needs to know what's going on because she had plenty do around the house, what with cooking, cleaning and taking care of us kids. The inherent patriarchal narrative is so entrenched. It's almost like the animal food industry. It's so ingrained that it's not questioned. Her own mother wouldn't pay for her to go to college for teaching because "why would you need to do that? Just get married and have kids; that's what you're supposed to do."
All of this also got worse after 9/11. I think since the 80s there has been a concerted effort to squelch debate of any kind. When I was a kid, thoughtful debate, thinking for yourself, questioning authority were all encouraged. It's now perceived as unpatriotic to engage in anything that criticizes the government. Nationalism is all the rage, and some of white America sees immigrants as taking their jobs away, taking away their livelihood, ruining their neighborhoods, taking their resources. They abhor programs that use tax dollars to help people because they feel like they are paying for laziness and scam artists just abusing the system. I have heard it from own family members. "Why should I have to pay for people who just want to suck the system dry?" It's depressing. They don't seem to want to hear about all of the people these programs have helped.
I have never understood how people could vote for a lot of GOP candidates because some of them believe your circumstances are what you make them. While that is true to some extent, sometimes misfortune has nothing to do with choices; **** happens. But I've always felt like the GOP has no use for anyone who doesn't pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Sometimes, people need a helping hand to do that. Not everyone comes from the same circumstances and has the same opportunities to do that. I think a lot of women, even if they believed the OM was flawed, were willing to overlook it all because they just want to be able to feed their kids and have a nice place to live.
There is so much at play, though, so much manipulation by those in power, and not everyone is able to see through that, or wants to for that matter. They just want to be comfortable. Change is difficult and some people aren't amenable to it.
I'm not sure I've articulated all of this very well, but it's just a little of what has been going through my mind as I try to figure out why this happened.