[thanks to Judi for this amazing graphic!]
Today is Tuesday, November 3: Election Day! I was awakened this morning at 7 a.m. by a series of enthusiastic dings from a political text thread my daughter created, so I just got out of bed, poured a cup of coffee, and joined in the fun... 😍
I managed not to post at all last week... mostly due to stress and anxiety about today's results. I've not been able to watch much news during this Trump administration. Just hearing his voice and/or his lies throw me into an emotional tailspin. Tuned into MSNBC for ten minutes the other night, Steve Kornacki was walking through a What If of what it would take for Trump to get to 270, and my stomach began roiling, and hasn't stopped since. I am trying so hard to visualize an election where the people have spoken resoundingly on the side of Justice and Equality. Optimism is my default mechanism.
I managed not to post at all last week... mostly due to stress and anxiety about today's results. I've not been able to watch much news during this Trump administration. Just hearing his voice and/or his lies throw me into an emotional tailspin. Tuned into MSNBC for ten minutes the other night, Steve Kornacki was walking through a What If of what it would take for Trump to get to 270, and my stomach began roiling, and hasn't stopped since. I am trying so hard to visualize an election where the people have spoken resoundingly on the side of Justice and Equality. Optimism is my default mechanism.
Even if we win the election (and I firmly believe we will!), there will be repercussions and the potential for violence. When even Walmart stops selling guns and ammunition for a few weeks, you know there is a problem. And the incident with the Biden-Harris tour bus in Texas is horrifying. These people (and you know how I mean that) will stop at nothing over the next few months to continue their agenda of hate and deception, which will lead to more deaths, coronavirus and otherwise. I ask myself: "why aren't they looking out for their own children's and grandchildren's futures?". I love that Obama is out there stumping for Biden; I truly think it will help, but it does make me melancholy for what we had and what we lost.
Things You Never Thought You'd See in Your Own Country for $500 please, Alex. So many improprieties (bots and hacking and gerrymandering) in 2016, and we acceded and regrouped and tried to move forward, and it's only gotten worse. I believe in Fairness, and I have been consistently proven wrong these last four years. Hey, I know it can't be Camelot, but I am weary of Hadestown.
Hitting Publish, going out walking, attending my weekly Tuesday 11 a.m. Zoom call with Nancy and Judi, then headed to vote (actually here in my own condo complex). As the old protest song goes: "one and one and fifty make a million". There *will* be cause for celebration tonight. May it be so. Ooooommmm... ॐ
Hitting Publish, going out walking, attending my weekly Tuesday 11 a.m. Zoom call with Nancy and Judi, then headed to vote (actually here in my own condo complex). As the old protest song goes: "one and one and fifty make a million". There *will* be cause for celebration tonight. May it be so. Ooooommmm... ॐ
Penzeys Spices does it again...
What if Today's the Day You Admitted to Yourself You're No Longer a Republican
It’s been four years now. You know this is not going to get any better. Last election you could still believe the Republican Party was your father’s Republican Party. A party of financial responsibility, small government, defending democracy, supporting our troops, respecting others, family values and even telling the truth. You now know these values are long gone. Up until now there’s been nothing you could do about it. Today that changes.
It’s been said elections have their consequences. A big part of this is who gets elected, but with each vote we also define who we are and what we stand for. Are you a serial liar? Are you a cheat? Do you really want gay friends and family members to fear for their marriages? Are you a racist? I’m pretty sure you want the answer to all of these to be a resounding no, but when your votes inflict all those things on your fellow Americans your actions speak louder than your denials. Why not have your actions match your actual values?
And it’s not just the president, it’s the party. Seriously, who's worse, the out of control leader or those elective legislators who took an oath to the Constitution and then broke it out of fear, corruption, or possibly both? At least Utah has Mitt Romney they can re-elect without shame, the rest not so much.
What to do? If you are in a spot where you feel safe to do it, I hear from customers, making the leap and telling the world the Republican Party is no longer for you can be quite exhilarating. But for those of you living more complex lives, I can see where that might be hard. If need be, maybe borrowing a page from the gay rural teen handbook and living a double life for a while is your best bet. In many ways this election is about your soul. Today who you vote for is far more important than who people think you voted for.
As of today we’ve needlessly lost over two hundred thousand Americans to the failed Republican handling of the Coronavirus. Without a change in leadership in both the White House and the Senate that number will be more than a million by this time next year. Today your vote can actually save lives. Please use it wisely.
Once we get past today’s vote, going forward your spirit is needed every bit as much as your vote. America and the world have serious issues to deal with and for many of these issues time is of the essence. You being among kindred spirits where you no longer have to hide your empathy and compassion just to fit in could lead to real difference. Come join in. Being on the good guys' side is a whole lot more fun.
BOOK: Resistencia: Poems of Protest and Revolution by Mark Eisner and Tina Escaja (Editors), Julia Alvarez (Introduction)
POEM: Kindness by Nikita Gill
POEM: Kindness by Nikita Gill
And maybe this is how we learn the value of kindness.
When the whole world is like a small child with a fever,
trying her very best to make herself feel better.
Maybe we find our unity in the near-losing of everything.
Where we have no choice but to depend upon each other.
This is what it takes to realize we are in this together.
A man helps someone he dislikes because they are in danger.
A neighbor delivers groceries to everyone ill on her street.
Old friends forgive each other, stop acting like they are strangers.
Maybe this time, the revolution arrives dressed as kindness.
People helping each other despite their differences.
Understanding truly, that without the aid of others,
we would be all alone in this.
QUOTE: “The best way to describe how I’m feeling right now — it’s somewhere between Christmas Eve and the night before a liver transplant.” ~ Jimmy Kimmel
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