Watching the American election results pour in, slowly, and seeing
HOW MANY AMERICANS VOTED (yay!)
and how all the votes have caused those counting the votes to need more time to tally them… as expected…
but also seeing how many people voted for what Trump represents… it sadly surprised me.
The Trump folks said “Wait and see… our numbers will show themselves.”
And they were right because they did.
And they are so many.
And this aged me.
So I have to question why people like Trump.
I hear that many men (and some women) like his machoism.
Gross.
And others enjoy his tax policies.
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. So… greed wins.
And others believe all the propaganda, the lies, spewed through the Internet.
The number of people who now cling to conspiracy theories in the same way people used to cling to religion… it’s jarring.
It seems people are so empty, they are actively looking for something semi-substantive to fill the space within them.
Rather than goodness and light, they instead prefer to gobble up fear, distrust, greed, ignorance, lies and hatred.
Ow.
So I was listening to Bob Dylan’s third album this morning in an attempt to employ my therapeutic mantra of music is medicine
and my mentor emailed me a video which a comrade had recently sent to him:
And it’s one of the only times reading the comments following a media post has lifted my spirits. I highly recommend you check it out.
It isn’t about borders and boundaries and nationalism… it’s about being able to differentiate between Right and Wrong, fight for what’s right
and also understand that we all have a stake in this fight.
It’s difficult for us Americans because we are socialized to be individualists.
Yet, despite the unfortunate odds, I keep wanting “Good” to win.
I define “good” as wanting everyone to see how unequal and unjust our world is and to fight to make it better for all.
And that’s bordering on insane thinking.
At the same time, it’s certainly not the first time that the powerful and wealthy have attempted to manipulate the thinking of the people they rule.
Yet, I feel tears well up in my eyes when I see satirical interviews conducted by Comedy Central’s Daily Show correspondents at Trump rallies.
Not tears of anger but… for example, the last bit I watched had the correspondent interviewing Trump supporters at a recent rally.
And this white woman seemed excited and… genuinely lovely. Her eyes were bright and she laughed easily and was doing her best to represent and defend her “Trump facts”.
She had even written down these “facts”. For instance, one fact was how Trump had completely solved unemployment and added a bajillion jobs and, naturally, more than any other president has ever added.
It was a nonsensical fact and simply untrue.
The correspondent asked her where she got that piece of data and she couldn’t say.
But her eyes stayed just as bright. She was trying so hard. She was not seemingly consumed by anger and hatred like how some others seem in these interviews…
In contrast, she had clearly been duped.
Lacking any kind of critical-thinking ability, she had consumed the lies which have been effectively dispersed.
And watching her… well, it was just so sad to me. 😣
But it’s important to remember that, when fighting fascism (oh wow… Trumpers attacking ANTI FASCISM!? which makes these people proud PRO FASCISM?!)
… “fascism” always felt like a word which represented something we could all oppose…
… in the same way as how opposing Nazism and all that it espouses used to be something I felt we could all oppose…
… sigh …
… it is clear we haven’t come close to defeating evil.
Yet, when you think you’re fighting the “good fight” and you’re on the side which has the support of the Klan…
you’re probably not fighting the Good Fight.
So, for the rest of us, it’s important to not feel depressed by the number of votes counted for the current president and the movement he leads.
It was naive to think his anti-PC way of thinking and doing hadn’t become entrenched in the minds of many Americans.
It’s great they voted.
Honestly, it’s wonderful so many Americans got involved in this election.
It will simply take time to dismantle the Hate Machine.
And I have to say, Trump’s favorite offense and defensive strategy of
“I know you are but what am I”
has been alarmingly effective.
Damn.
Classic strategy:
“Mr. President, that statistic you just gave is not accurate.”
“You’re not accurate. Fake news.”
At the same time, if Trump wins a second term and doesn’t magically start addressing the climate crisis, the tragic and emotional history of all those who rose up, the few against the mighty, to fight for what was right will mean very little.
Because none of us will be here anymore.
Brain Wars!!! 
I think some people approach politics like a sport, where they root for their team no matter what, and if the referee makes a bad call that benefits them they ignore it, and if it hurts them they scream bloody murder. Anything that you can get away with is fine — if you don’t try to get away with absolutely everything you are a loser and a sucker in their minds.
Maybe I am naive, probably, but I think there were times when someone’s honor, their reputation, their integrity, and their basic goodness were enough to keep the system from being gamed. But if someone doesn’t care about those things at all, they’ve abandoned society.
And yeah, no matter how it turns out I now have the discomfort of knowing every new person I meet has a coin flip chance of thinking it’s ok to support someone who would erase me entirely.
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Like a sport indeed, dear Gabi. A friend sent me a MSN list of the “Worst Sports Fans” and it reminded me of the Trumpers.
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Well put – and so sad.
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Sigh. Isn’t it, my beloved sister? 💔
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It’s hard to watch from afar. Can’t even imagine how you feel. Maybe it is some consolation that there is so little support for him in the rest of the world. If the world was voting it would be a different outcome (I hope!).
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Ahhhh I was just remembering how, when we lived in Scotland, we were personally responsible for electing Bush Jr. and then Obama. 😂 The flurry of texts we received at 3AM when Barry was officially elected… ahhhh it remains such a happy memory. 😂 The Christy Moore song really helped me today.
Last night I felt how I felt the day after Trump was elected. The pastor came to give Mom communion and I said, “Could he be the Anti-Christ?” in a half-joking way and the pastor who was a very tan and laidback sort of evangelical and who I expected to laugh or something similar… he turned to me with the most serious expression and nodded and said something like “that seems very possible” or something and… my heart sunk into my guts. Hence, my references to the Horses. 😬
And Trump just keeps making us (America) more isolated and apart. 😣 Because it is SO CLEAR to everyone living in what had been our allies (the other democratic countries) that he is NOT A NATIONAL LEADER and is a divisive, corrupt, selfish human who lives to sew discord and chaos and who loves dictators. 💔
But… as a PoliSci major I should know this but… the vote is always super close. It’s abnormal for it to not be super close, no matter who is running.
I just wasn’t expecting the mail-in and absentee votes to be so BLUE and the in-person/day-of voters to be so RED.
So the in-person numbers were tallied first, it seems, and now they’re working on the mail-in and absentee and… so the numbers have changed and Biden’s path to victory seems more possible.
Of course, his “return to normal” is not a possible thing. This divisive hateful split state IS our American normal😣. It always has been.
And climate change and inequality and differential power dynamics… New Normal if only because now more people are AWARE of it.
But… unlike last night, staying up tonight! Just to see if Arizona is called… and votes keep trickling in for Pennsylvania… and holy cats GEORGIA! 🤯 It’s taken longer but… it seems a bit more like how and what I had expected it to seem last night. Disappointed about the House though but the Senate isn’t as dire as it had seemed…
Miss you and miss Europe! It won’t have us back! We are the PLAGUE! 😂 Tell Paul to hire me and get us a visa! 😂
Hugs and love to you. Thank you so much. 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
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Yes, maybe Paul can hire us both! 😀 xxxxxxxx
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PAUL, PUT THE KETTLE ON! WE ARE ALL COMING “HOME”!!! HIRE US!! Hee hee I love this idea. 😂 We can have movie nights again. 😺
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YAY!!! 😀 😀 Can’t wait!!!
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Yes, maybe Paul can hire us both! 😀 xxxxxxxx
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I noted that white evangelical christians skew heavily towards Trump, but forgot to add that the uneducated need to be added. (And, it goes without saying, white supremacists.)
Your wizened election game face! Make that a meme and get it out there, quick.
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Hahaha I’m just off my game! I should make Jack a meme! 😂 But, alas, I’m just… holding on. 🖤
Oh yes. The willfully ignorant, and the hyper wealthy… well, those who engage in false practice are in trouble. If not in this world, then the next. So upsetting. All of it. 😔
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