Four More Years

 I can't really explain how I feel. It feels like the 5 stages of grief. I'm trying not to waste too much time in Anger and hurry up and get to Acceptance but it's not working out very well. I'll get there but I won't get there too soon. Hopefully by Inauguration Day: it will be the biggest, most attended Inauguration in the history of the country. *sigh*

I watched election results until about 1 AM, fell asleep, woke up and turned it off at 2 AM and nothing was looking good for Harris. When the Harris campaign comes out and says, "We're still optimistic", you know it's over. So today, this morning Nov. 6, I've been doom-scrolling and trying not to let my anxieties grow. I'm telling myself that this isn't the end of the world; just the end of the world as I know it. Sorry, Kamala, I just can't stay optimistic. I've already lived through 4 years of his BS and now I've gotta live through it all again but worse.

Convicted felons, in some states, can't even vote but they can become President. You can inspire an Insurrection and become President. You can threaten to use the power of the President's office against your political rivals and still be elected President. You can convince the voters that most of what you say is just "locker room" talk and have it proven in a court of law that it isn't but still be elected President. You can campaign for over a year with only ONE appearance with your wife at your side and still be elected President. If Melania can't take the time to put in a few good words for you...

I'm just gonna say this. Why is it that America votes for ANY man over a woman? You can pull a serial killer out of prison to run for President and he'll win if he runs against a woman. The smartest, strongest, most likeable woman ever will be defeated by a reprehensible man. DISCLAIMER: I'm not referring to Harris here, nor even Trump. Just sayin, it seems like America doesn't want to vote for a woman, no matter her character or experience, or intelligence. Women will always appear weak and second-class in this country. F you.

In 2016, when Hillary Clinton seemed to have it locked up, we got Trumped. I didn't chalk it up to her being a woman. I was surprised. I was called a snowflake and told to suck it up by MAGA supporters. I accepted the loss and got behind a new President because I believed that he was just full of hot air. He couldn't possibly be as incompetent as I thought. He would never follow through on all his BS: Build a wall, repeal Obamacare, defeat China with tariffs. But guess what? He did. He fucking tried it all! Even more. And when Covid came around, he was displayed as a buffoon and glory-seeker. We got a vaccine in record time and that is the only good thing he can claim because he did nothing else to allay our fears as a nation or even as a world.

When his term came to an end, when another old white guy was elected instead of him, he pouted and threw a tantrum refusing to leave the office. Yes, he did. He refused to cooperate with the incoming President's team and bring them up to speed on a CURRENT PANDEMIC. He held a rally on January 6th that inspired his followers to storm the Capitol, to complete an Insurrection. And he fiddled while Rome burned. He sat around and did nothing to stop it. The minute he got around to addressing those folks (and calling them good people), the violence stopped and they went home. He, Trump, had that power to STOP IT and DID NOT. So MAGA can say that he didn't incite anything...but he didn't stop it either. AND HE COULD HAVE.

When Trump left office, I didn't call anyone a snowflake. I did tell people to suck it up. I had been told that when my candidate loses, I need to suck it up. So that's the way it works, right? But apparently when Trump's followers lost, they had to call foul. They claimed election fraud, voting machine tampering, destruction of ballots, and on and on. No peaceful transition of power. No shake hands with the other team. No good sportsmanship. Just a kindergarten tantrum. 

WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT WITH TRUMP?

He's not that charming, he's not mysterious, he's not good-looking. He's an asshole. He's a bully. He doesn't care about anybody but himself. He's a spoiled rotten rich kid that thinks the world revolves around him. He believes that if he is the President, then he is America, and the people have to do what he says. Back in 2016, I was fairly confident that the Republican party would reign him in, slap him around, and make him play politics. They didn't. They let him go. They didn't stand up to him and any of his BS instead many representatives doubled down and backed him up! Even the Congresswoman of my own district, Elise Stefanik. She stands behind him and his BIG LIE even though he can't even pronounce her last name correctly. That's the kind of disrespect he shrugs off. If he really cared about your support, you'd think he'd at least take the time to say your name correctly. I've never heard him say it right, never. Suck on that, Elise.

Ok. Ok.

I need to find my center. I see that I'm ranting about Trump as a person rather than his policies which is why he should be elected. So, what are his policies? Good question. He wants mass deportation of "illegals". He wants the wars to end. He wants to fix the inflation problem with tariffs on imports. He also wants to use the Presidental power to take revenge on his political rivals. He also wants to use the military to put down protests he doesn't like. He wants to cut the tax rate for the wealthy and for corporations. He wants a military parade in his honor through Washington DC. He wants Puerto Rico to drop off the face of the Earth. He wants to be Putin's best friend. Just how is he gonna accomplish any of this? Has he even given us a plan? Oh, yeah, I forgot, he has "concepts of a plan". He didn't need a plan until he actually became President. So NOW he needs the plan. And I'm guessing it just might be called Project 2025.

It's not that I was enthusiastic about Harris. Some of her "plans" didn't make much sense to me. In fact, it annoyed me every time she (or her campaign) mentioned she was going to improve Medicare so that it would pay for in-home elder care. It already does. It doesn't pay for what is really needed: long-term care. She seemed inclined to carry on the support of Israel as it attacks all of its neighbors. But overall, I agreed with more of what she talked about than with Trump. Women need healthcare and they need to have an enshrined right over their own bodies. And listen up, boys, if we don't have those rights, you might not be gettin any!

Why were these two the only choices I had? Sure, I could write someone in but that seems like a waste of my vote since no one else would vote that same way. So few of us vote in this country anyway! In my rural county of NYS, less than half of the registered voters actually voted. I'm going to save that line of thought for another post.

I've vented enough and am starting to feel a little better. I think I'll go look at some cat videos and google search how to become a Canadian citizen. 

Just one last thing: I'm going to call it now. In two years (or less), Trump will ask Congress to repeal the 22nd Amendment that limits how many terms a President can serve. I know he's pretty old but I think he'd try it just in case his health stays good. He will also utilize every nuance of the Supreme Courts expansion of Presidental power; he will commit crime and call it an "official act".

sigh

Only 3 years and 364 days to go.