The victory of Donald Trump in 2016 is still inexplicably shocking to vast numbers of Americans, which in itself is shocking.
It’s hard for me to believe that by the middle of the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency we’d still have people denying the legitimacy of the election, people on major cable channels still peddling conspiracy theories about Russian collusion and election hacking, still having the defeated candidate complaining about how the people who didn’t vote for her “didn’t like black people getting rights” or “women getting jobs.
Come to think of it maybe it’s not all that shocking to see, but it is unfortunate. The fact is we’re always going to have equal parts of America that have very different political philosophies.
In the 19th Century it was the North and the South. Up until about 20 years ago it was red states and blue states. Today, political philosophical battles seem to be between those who live in big cities vs. those who reside far suburbs, small towns and rural counties.
What almost happened in 2016 was that one of those factions (the Left) came perilously close to shutting the other side (the Right) out of conversation, out of the national debate.
It’s been well documented that Hillary Clinton intentionally didn’t campaign outside of cities. Her advisors told her she didn’t need those voters. And those people (us) noticed.
Fellow Illinoisan and Cracked editor David Wong may have put it best when he said “Donald Trump is a brick chucked through the window of the elites” and he wondered if elite leaders are “listening now?”

The answer, clearly, 17 months after the election, is a resounding “NO.”
And then comes Roseanne (2018). For one refreshing night this past week, 18.2 million Americans got to see an iconic protagonist on a major network TV show who proudly voted for the Republican in the most recent presidential election, and the character didn’t hate the poor, wasn’t racist and wasn’t anti-gay. She was real. She was like us.
I haven’t seen beyond Episode 2 of this newest iteration of Roseanne. Maybe Roseanne Connor jumps off the Trump Train in a couple of months and starts openly supporting a Democrat challenger for president. Maybe the character doubles down on The Donald and has entire episodes devoted to Trump Country... or maybe the show’s plot lines drift away from politics altogether.
Politics has never been at the root of Roseanne’s appeal – comedy was, and is. Realism was, and is. Deep relationships between characters was, and is. And more than anything else, human emotion –“heart”– was and clearly still is at the heart of the show.
From a comment my friend Laura made on Facebook: “…When [Sara Gilbert’s Darlene] was sitting on the bed with her son getting choked up while talking to him about his being bullied... powerful and relevant scene... Emmy material.”
My biggest complaint about the Left in general isn’t their politics or their philosophy or even the fact that the don’t “get” us. It’s that they don’t want to get us.
There’s a piece in Thursday’s New York Times by Roxane Gay who actually enjoyed this latest Roseanne episode, but refuses to watch future ones because of Roseanne’s politics. This is exactly what I’m talking about, and it’s unfortunately still prevalent on the Left– the intentional ignorance of opposing viewpoints.
Much like Donald Trump, Roseanne can be crass, offensive and make extremely indefensible decisions in her private life. Also, much like Donald, Roseanne is not a philosophical conservative, per se. But they both get us. They acknowledge our existence.
People who didn’t vote for Donald Trump can continue to ignore the viewpoints and world views of those of us who did. They can mock us, they can ridicule us, and they can continue to pretend that the election of 2016 didn’t happen. But it did. And we exist. And we’re not going anywhere.
I’m tempted to say “ignore us at your peril” but I really don’t want people on the Left to be in peril. I just want them to make an effort to at least attempt to understand where we’re coming from, even if they never will agree with us. Is that too much to ask?
If it is, the least they can do is watch Roseanne. The Connors don’t represent every single one of us, but they’re closer than anything else in mainstream entertainment. And they will make you laugh – a lot – while they do it.

Mike Koolidge lives in Rochelle and hosts the regionally syndicated radio program The Michael Koolidge Show (www.koolidge.com) heard daily on thirteen radio stations statewide, including Rockford’s 1440 WROK from 9 to 11 a.m. live every weekday morning. Public officials and citizens can reach the show anytime at radio@koolidge.com or 815-561-7130.