This is why we grieve

I'm not sure where this came from.  A friend emailed it to me and said he'd received it via email from a neighbor.  I'd be more than happy to give the author credit if I knew who it was who managed to put words to my feelings.

This is why we grieve

I don’t think you understand us right now.

I think you think this is about politics. 

I think you believe this is all just sour grapes; the crocodile tears of the losing locker room with the scoreboard going against us at the buzzer.


I can only tell you that you’re wrong. This is not about losing an election. This isn’t about not winning a contest. This is about two very different ways of seeing the world.

Hillary supporters believe in a diverse America; one where religion or skin color or sexual orientation or place of birth aren’t liabilities or deficiencies or moral defects. Her campaign was one of inclusion and connection and interdependency. It was about building bridges and breaking ceilings. It was about going high. 

Trump supporters believe in a very selective America; one that is largely white and straight and Christian, and the voting verified this. Donald Trump has never made any assertions otherwise. He ran a campaign of fear and exclusion and isolation—and that’s the vision of the world those who voted for him have endorsed.

They have aligned with the wall-builder and the professed p*ssy-grabber, and they have co-signed his body of work, regardless of the reasons they give for their vote:

Every horrible thing Donald Trump ever said about women or Muslims or people of color has now been validated.
Every profanity-laced press conference and every call to bully protestors and every ignorant diatribe has been endorsed.
Every piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation Mike Pence has championed has been signed-off on.

Half of our country has declared these things acceptable, noble, American. 

This is the disconnect and the source of our grief today. It isn’t a political defeat that we’re lamenting, it’s a defeat for Humanity.

We’re not angry that our candidate lost. We’re angry because our candidate’s losing means this country will be less safe, less kind, and less available to a huge segment of its population, and that’s just the truth.

Those who have always felt vulnerable are now left more so. Those whose voices have been silenced will be further quieted. Those who always felt marginalized will be pushed further to the periphery. Those who feared they were seen as inferior now have confirmation in actual percentages.

Those things have essentially been campaign promises of Donald Trump, and so many of our fellow citizens have said this is what they want too.  

This has never been about politics.
This is not about one candidate over the other.
It’s not about one’s ideas over another’s.
It is not blue vs. red.
It’s not her emails vs. his bad language.
It’s not her dishonesty vs. his indecency.

It’s about overt racism and hostility toward minorities.
It’s about religion being weaponized.
It’s about crassness and vulgarity and disregard for women.
It’s about a barricaded, militarized, bully nation.
It’s about an unapologetic, open-faced ugliness.

And it is not only that these things have been ratified by our nation that grieve us; all this hatred, fear, racism, bigotry, and intolerance—it’s knowing that these things have been amen-ed by our neighbors, our families, our friends, those we work with and worship alongside. That is the most horrific thing of all. We now know how close this is.

It feels like living in enemy territory being here now, and there’s no way around that. We wake up today in a home we no longer recognize. We are grieving the loss of a place we used to love but no longer do. This may be America today but it is not the America we believe in or recognize or want.

This is not about a difference of political opinion, as that’s far too small to mourn over. It’s about a fundamental difference in how we view the worth of all people—not just those who look or talk or think or vote the way we do.

Grief always laments what might have been, the future we were robbed of, the tomorrow that we won’t get to see, and that is what we walk through today. As a nation we had an opportunity to affirm the beauty of our diversity this day, to choose ideas over sound bytes, to let everyone know they had a place at the table, to be the beacon of goodness and decency we imagine that we are—and we said no.

The Scriptures say that weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning. We can’t see that dawn coming any time soon.

And this is why we grieve.
----------------

Update:  A reader provided me with the author, John Pavlovitz.  His original post is HERE.

Aftermath

I'm in shock.  I just can't today.

Election Day

Spouse & I happily did our civic duty this morning and voted before going to work.

While I know that people in more heavily populated areas often have to wait in line (sometimes for hours) to vote, we live in a less populated area where there is typically no lines.  Most of the time we walk in the door, show our ID, vote, and are outside in under 5 minutes.  This morning there was just a bit of a wait, so it took about 8 minutes.

After work we'll be taking some food and going to Steven & Thad's house to watch the election returns.  Steven is making some food too, and a few other friends like Joe P will likely stop in for a bite and to chat.  

I'm looking forward to an exciting evening and (hopefully) a win for Hillary!

Voting

Yesterday was DE's primary so I voted, of course.  It's a privilege!

I absolutely love that they give out these stickers to wear around!  Its the small things, people.

I've written before about how much I love being able to vote here.  Its the complete embodiment of small town America.  We vote in an old school (all schools are closed on voting days for this reason) and there are no lines.  I literally walked in, showed my drivers license, signed my name, and voted, all within about 2 minutes.

When we used to live in Northern VA we'd wait in line for an hour sometimes to vote, because that area is so much more densely populated than where we live now.  I like it better this way.

Regardless of who you vote for (Hillary or Bernie, the only 2 choices), get out there and vote!

I voted

 

Although this is not a presidential election year,  I believe that all elections are important so I made sure I voted this morning before work.  All day long I saw facebook posts that read "If you don't vote you can't complain" and the like.  If facebook is any indication, it seemed there was better turn out than expected for this election.

Back when I lived in the very densely populated area of Northern VA we would often have to stand in line for an hour or more to vote.  Life is different here in my little beach town.  I walked into the voting place at 8:30 am and found NO line.  I checked in with the ancient woman at the desk, voted on the electronic voting machine, and was done in less than 2 minutes.

When I was finished, the poll volunteer gestured toward the exit.  I stepped over toward it and stopped to wait for Spouse.  The volunteer looked at me for a few seconds and said "I think your wife already left" to which I replied without missing a beat "Nope, my husband is still in the voting booth."  The volunteer raised his eyebrows, smiled, and said "Oh, okay then" and we both chuckled.

This guy voted...

Did you??

Vote

Tomorrow is election day.  I hope all of you are planning to vote!!

Vote

Today was the vote in the DE state Senate on SB 30, the civil unions bill. I'm happy to say that it passed!

Rumor had it that the conservative, religious folks had organized bus loads of opposers to fill the Legislative Hall during the discussion and vote. So SB 30 supporters mobilized our people and got a bunch to attend as well. The viewing gallery was filled and the overflow watched via closed-circuit TV from another room. Spouse & I were both working, but several of our friends were able to go and hopefully level the field of support.

So the final hurdle will be the House vote next Thurs. The Governor has already said he will sign the bill if it passes the Senate and House.