The scene playing out on our national stage is, to put it mildly, embarrassing. Having our current president act like a spoiled child who has been told no more treats is certainly not anything we ever wanted to see. I think we all had hoped America was a bit above that. Certainly we hoped America was not at a point where we’d see press conferences with a sweaty elder who had black ink running down the side of his face spewing falsehoods like spittle.
But here we are. And what, you ask, should we do about it. Well, I may be a bit of an optimist here, but I’m going to bet American democracy is strong enough to withstand the antics of the current man-child in chief and his oddly overheated legal team. The fact that the GSA caved and gave Biden’s team access to start a clean transition is something we should all celebrate. It proves that American democracy can handle these challenges and not only survive, but thrive.
As we head into the month long holiday season that is Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, I think Americans should be cheering and celebrating for what we did do in this last election. We held one, for starts. No one was able to deny us that. And it went off swimmingly well given our prior concerns. In fact, because of prior concerns, this was one of the most secure elections in our history.
We elected Republicans and Democrats and Independents and people of all colors and religions. We elected people who more clearly represented the population of this country than at any time in the pass. Look at a picture of previous Congresses or previous state houses. They are overwhelmingly peopled with white men. No women. No people of color. It’s as though we didn’t exist. Or if we did exist, we needed these men to make our decisions for us.
While I have no problem with white men per se, I do have a problem with the way they have, in western society at least, dominated all thought, expression and governance for way too many years. But after this election, I feel as though we are finally getting closer to a fair and equitable society governed by an elected Congress that is closer to looking like America than ever before.
Despite the antics at the top of the ticket, a lot of down ballot issues went fine. Marijuana was legalized in more states, thus finally undoing the damage done by Nixon’s unwarranted War on Drugs. He started it to keep our minds off that other war in Vietnam and his actions in the White House. It didn’t work.
But now we are coming into the light and starting to correct some of our past mistakes. Police reforms passed in many places across the country as well as stronger environmental protections. People on a local level were engaged. That can only ever be a good thing. The fears that our election would turn into a bloody battle were unfounded. In the end, America did what America always does. We went, we voted and then we drove home to bitch about why our candidates never win and why they had to pre-empt our favorite shows for election results.
One way or another, most Americans will figure out how to connect this holiday season. While you can’t pass turkey through a Zoom call, you can express love and appreciation for another year that finds us still together. And for those who are missing a loved one around the table this year because of Covid, there are no words to heal a wound that never should have been caused. So if it helps at all, a new president will soon be in office who is determined to use science and public health expertise to try to prevent the sorrow you are feeling from being passed to many more families.
As for politics, I say let’s call a moratorium on it until after the holiday season. And the good news is that if Uncle Pete insists on bringing up all the deep state conspiracies that resulted in massive voter fraud that can’t be proven because Soros runs the media, you can just mute the Zoom call, keep on eating and never miss a beat. If that doesn’t make for a happy holiday, I don’t know what does.