For once this week, I don’t have to be up at 5 a.m., but here I am, wide awake at 5 a.m., checking for election results like a psychopath. Nothing yet, as I’m sure you all know. I write this as someone who was once registered as an Independent and only joined the Democratic Party in recent years because, if Trump is your idea of a Republican, then there was no need to remain Independent. Once upon a time, I held some beliefs of both sides. I’ve always had an insane work ethic (not really sure where it came from, my family seemed to be allergic to work) and was of the belief that no matter what, you should get out there and work if you want your life to be better. Social programs are there when you need a hand, but you shouldn’t rely on them long-term. Now I realize that that was a view drilled into me by the generation that could support a family of five on one paycheck being brought home by someone with a high school diploma. Those times are over and honestly, it’s exhausting explaining it every five minutes to the generation that benefitted from it, while simultaneously making sure that our generation wouldn’t be able to. Thanks, guys. So I guess now I find myself leaning “left” because I believe in silly things like racial equality, that women should have control over their own reproductive rights, that people should be able to marry whoever they love, and that religion has no place in our government. Wild, I know. In every other first-world country, these are considered normal, middle-of-the-road views, but here in the good ‘ol US of A, I’m a crazy liberal. Whatever, so be it.
So given all that, am I in love with Joe Biden? No, certainly not. I had a conversation just last night with a good friend, who is very similar to me in so many ways, to check in with her on how she was handling the anxiety of waiting. She, like me, is level-headed and logical. We make decisions based on facts and reason, and this is why we have great conversations and mutual respect for one another. While there are many issues that I feel strongly about, this election came down to one thing for me, at the end of the day: I am raising boys over here. I will not have them taught that Trump’s words and behavior are OK. I should not have to mute the television when the leader of the free world comes on, afraid of what they might hear. I will not have them learning that bad behavior awards you the highest office in the land. They will not go through life with the notion that women, people of color, or our friends in the LGBTQIA community are less-than. That’s it, folks, that’s the gist of it. These kids are going to run this place and put us in Shady Pines where we belong sooner than you think. We have got to get back to sanity.
So, here we are, history in the making. It could still go either way at this point, but I’m holding onto hope that, within the next couple of days, my boys will get a lesson that awful behavior WILL get you fired and (crosses fingers) thrown in jail. The fact that Biden has a lead right now seems like a miracle. Not because the country doesn’t want him, but because of the voter suppression that was so blatantly occurring before our eyes. When they knew mail-in ballots were going to be a bigger thing this year because of Covid, Republicans tried to destroy the U.S. Postal Service. When voter turnout was expected to be huge this year, because, frankly, everyone is sick of this shit, polling locations were closed in poor, black, and rural areas. Voter intimidation at the polls. Jesus, there were even caravans of Trumpers blocking highways. Let’s not leave out the Russian bots all over the internet. We paid a lot of money for them, they should get a mention. Through all of this, we showed up. America, you should be proud. There are so many ballots, that they are still being counted more than a day post-election. Based on the state’s laws, these are legal votes and should be counted. Otherwise, why would we even pretend to have a democracy? Our Con-man-in-chief wanted to continue counting where he was losing and stop counting where he was winning. Yes, this is real life and his supporters were all for it, while simultaneously claiming to love America. Psssst…..that’s not how it works.
So, we will wait not-so patiently while democracy plays out. At the end of the day, no matter who wins, we can be secure in the knowledge that we did the right thing and counted all of the legally cast votes. But, if Biden wins, I can assure you that you won’t see his name spread across people’s houses or Biden flags on the back our pickups. We are not in some weird cult, vowing unwavering love and dedication to a politician, no matter what he says or does (on tape, even!) We SHOULD question our politicians. They work for us, or at least they’re supposed to. We will breathe a huge, collective sigh of relief and get back to work. Because, while we may have the ability to change our leadership, we can’t change the mindsets of the people who put him there in the first place. We will still have a lot of work to do. If Trump wins, it just means we will have a lot more work. Get some rest and buckle up, friends.
Let's Be Dramatic 