I think rather than the winner in this race being seen as the chosen one, we are more likely to, and more realistically should, be acknowledging the loser. So who is that loser? Us. WE. The American people. Democracy. Trust. Ethics. The future.
Never before have we written off democracy and its processes as we have done this year. Never before have we had a demented man both insist on the results and deny the results according to the moment and the whims of his darkened and darkening mind. Never before have we had such a challenge and such an existential danger to the body politic.
You are perhaps thinking that I have forgotten Bush/Gore. Sorry to disappoint, but I have not. There was a final grace there in the elegant sacrificial moment of Gore when he conceded, though he was actually the winner. Why did he do that, abandoning an historical role? Because the man was an American before he was a Democrat. He was an American who knew that the country would be riven , shattered into pieces, were he to continue this fight. So, he conceded and saved America at that point.
Today we have the broken figure of a man insisting that he has won and as facts have shown otherwise, challenging that statement, made inappropriately by the way, he now screams and rants and raves on both sides of the coin -I won. The election results are dishonest. Fraud - but only in the states where he lost, apparently. And as the balance and the razor thin margins changed, so did his mouthing off.
See, I can shout and wonder what the hell was the matter with those voting for Trump, how they could look aside from his crudeness, his incapacity for governing , lack of diplomacy, involvement in so much corruption and fraud over the years, the constant lies, the insane behavior with Twitter, and on and on. I can wonder how they could be so dense. What I cannot do, is argue that they should be blocked from exercising their American right to vote, to have a say in the future -or lack of one- of the country. But that is precisely what their mesmerizing leader, their would be despot, wishes to do. He will take the Hitlerian path, stating a win and then the putsch! He and his would then take away the right to vote and other rights and perhaps lives -if we allow it to go that far.
Armed people at the polls, apparently "protecting" it. For the years I served as a poll worker, as a clerk in charge of precincts, never was there a need for that. Seemingly, a twisted logic says that peaceful protests that are ambushed by violence seekers are not okay, but armed caravans, protests and rowdiness and violence, with threats, well, they are okay, just as the Brown Shirts of Hitler were okay, but the violent cadres of workers and communists were not. Well, how about we turn away from all violence, turn to peaceful protest only, ban the pepper spray, the force used so quickly by police, the rowdy hanger- ons at the end of the protest which were peaceful?
There are so many constructive paths and possibilities. There is the urgent need of cooperation, of being American rather than partisan; Biden makes this plea all the time. And yes, I agree, the margins are so close that a recount can be called for logically, but if so, must be done impartially, with no armed forces, with no intimidation and ALL such elections are involved, not only one side or the other. But the more graceful way would be to honor the tradition, the rite, the grace of voting, and accept defeat. However, this man, this ranter, this deranged man, inserts doubt at every turn, and I, along with many others, wonder at his rage, wonder if the supposed interference was from his side and thus the insane level of his rage as he realizes his efforts were for naught. So close, but no cigar! Just a thought, and a reasonable one in this situation. But think of the damage this man has done to our country with voicing these 'facts' and the acceptance by too many of their veracity.
Let us have done with the election. Count, wait for the ballots, stop playing political hide and seek with ballots still in the postal system. Stop the repression of voting rights. We will not return to Jim Crow times for all "others" - not ever.
This country is the man lost in the desert, and like all men, refuses to ask for directions. Well, we do not have the sexy voiced, English accent, classy lady of the GPS to tell us, to guide us, to direct us to the 'freeway', but we do have the inner strength of an American and we can get through this if we put our minds to it, if we remember we are all Americans, if we reject hatred and insane and useless thoughts, if we remember that there are actually no free freeways.
Americans are tense, anxious. Many of us have not slept these past two nights and carry our phones permanently tuned to Apple+ or Daily News or some running news site. People overseas are worried too and I cannot begin to count how many calls I received from overseas, from family here, worried, concerned, happy with good news, every second attuned to the results and what this means to the country and to them personally.
Where is that lady? But until we find her, our own internal classy voiced lady who knows exactly where to go, we must cooperate, dig deep to find patience and trust once more. We must avoid filling in that blank with the name America. We must. Are both sides willing to do this? I hope so, I truly do, but in all honesty, I am not optimistic about this at all. So much open hatred and violence and threats and the proverbial water running under the bridge. But if we do not make this herculean gesture, then we are lost. That, my friends, should not be an option at all.
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