It’s hard to put into words what this election has meant to America. Yes, we fired Donald Trump in no uncertain terms. That asshole lost. And, no, it wasn’t even close. It only seemed close because it takes a long while to count all the votes, particularly the increase of mail-in votes because WE’RE IN A FUCKING RAGING PANDEMIC YOU ABSOLUTE SELFISH NON-SCIENCE BELIEVING MORONS. Not that I have strong feelings about that last part - or any part of the last four years. But more than 5 million Americans choose sanity and competence over unchecked hate, greed and dishonesty. So that is at least something.
The uninhibited and hard-earned joy we felt on Saturday, when the race was called, has since evolved into extreme relief and continued exhaustion. So much still must be fixed, even to get back to where we were let alone make real progress.
And then there’s the fact that so many millions upon millions of our fellow citizens still voted for that man. It’s beyond disheartening that nearly half of America saw Donald Trump and his racism, his sexism, his homophobia and transphobia, his corruption, his ineptitude and his pathological narcissism and said, “Yep, four more years of that, please and thank you.” And it’s just as disheartening that just about the entire Republican Party is indulging his vanity and vengeance with this “stealing” the election nonsense. It’s all lies, per usual, but they’re politically expedient lies and the GOP cares about holding power above all else and especially above helping people.
I know it won’t be easy these next four years. Heck, I know it will be pretty much hell these next two months and change as we watch That Orange Stain wallow and lash out. There is perhaps no one more accustomed to getting his way than Donald Trump. But now he’ll forever be an impeached one-term loser who let more than 240,000 Americans die and couldn’t even protect himself or his family from a deadly pandemic.
It’s sad to say that the relief I feel in us at very least ridding ourselves of this monstrous excuse for a human being has somewhat overshadowed the history this election represents. Vice President Kamala Harris. Madam Vice President. The first woman vice president, the first Black woman vice president, the first South Asian vice president. So many first we should be reveling in but instead we’re all just waiting for that hateful, grifting Oompa-Loompa to exit the Oval Office.
The duality of these emotions reminds me of 2008, when the elation of electing the first Black president was tempered by the passage of homophobic Prop. 8. One step forward, but also one step back. The arc of the moral universe is indeed long, and some days it feels like it just keeps getting longer. But at least we keep trying to bend it toward justice. Well, at least 77.5 million and counting of us are. Happy safe, healthy and righteous we’re gonna have a new president weekend, all.
p.s. It is just now dawning on me that I get to write Vice President Straight Bette Porter for the next four years. See, 2021 is definitely already looking up.
p.p.s. To the "Anonymous" dropping novels in the comments, no politician is perfect. Not Bernie. Not Liz. Not AOC. Not Obama. None of them. You vote for the best candidate with the best chance of winning and moving the government and society toward the goal of full equality and civil rights for all - especially the marginalized and the underrepresented. You have the audacity to call Kamala pure evil when Trump has been president for the last four years? Damn that Kool-Aid must be delicious. Has she made political decisions I disagree with? Sure. Every politician has. But if you want to write a novel about her being pure evil find another blog to haunt. And if you want to deny the science of the pandemic, well, I invite you to sincerely and with my full blessing kindly fuck right off forever. It's my personal blog, and your freedom of speech is not being infringed upon. Go start your own blog and write posts on it every day for 14 years. It's still a free country.
