Happy to Be Wrong; Nervous About Being Right

Yes, I was surprised. I truly did not expect Biden and Harris to prevail. I expected it to be close, possibly contested in some places, but I did not allow myself to believe the blue ticket would be the winner. 

Ruby Bridges walked so Kamala Harris could run

Something happened on Saturday night when Kamala Harris addressed the nation first. You could hear glass ceilings shattering all over the country. The power in Harris's stature, presence, and words was not lost on little girls across the country. As she said, "I may be the first woman to hold this office. But I won’t be the last.”  Little Miss stayed up late to hear her speak. According to my daughter-in-law, she completely understood what she was seeing on that stage. As she got into bed, Little Miss told her mother, "I liked Kamala. She made me feel happy." That is the power of Kamala Harris: Girl Power. 

But the election is not yet over. While we think we know who won, we're not 100% sure yet. Tallies are not all certified, electors have not yet voted. And the GOP is flinging lawsuits around like confetti. Nor am I surprised that Feckless Loser is refusing to concede. I don't have much to say about that, short of how could the Dems have stolen the election if all those Republicans picked up seats in the House and held seats in the Senate?  That would've been a feat of monumental proportions and frankly, I don't think our technology is anywhere near that sophisticated. 

To be sure, every vote must be counted. 

Let me say that again: EVERY VOTE MUST BE COUNTED.

It took over 7 months for Al Franken to be certified as our Senator back in 2009. Ziggy, who tried so hard to hang on to see the decision, died 3 days after oral arguments started on June 1st. 26 days later the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Norm (the jackass) Coleman's appeal. (Note: Norm and I never saw eye on eye on anything....we had a history.) So, We, the People of Minnesota, have truly been there, done that, and have gotten the t-shirts. And we still believe EVERY VOTE MUST BE COUNTED.

Meanwhile, back at the White House: Feckless Loser can do a huge amount of damage in the waning days of his presidency. He fired his Secretary of Defense via tweet. (Would that he would fire Betsy DeVos. No such luck.) Not that he or his party is focused on the state of the nation. They are too busy sending out letters asking for money to fight the "theft" of this election. 

A friend in Israel, a DFL'er of the old school, has been slammed with dozens of these emails. And they are pretty scary. She sent me a selection and y'know, there is something seriously sick about them. This is what one looked like:

Xxxxxx, President Trump needs your help. The Democrats are trying to STEAL this Election and the Fake News can’t be bothered to report on it. It’s madness. The Left knows the American People want FOUR MORE YEARS of President Trump, and they just can’t handle it. We’re emailing you now with a very urgent request. We need YOU to step up and publicly stand with your President. With your help, we’ll send a RESOUNDING message to the Liberal MOB that REAL Patriots support President Trump 100%. President Trump needs you right now, Xxxxxx. We’re going to send him a list of EVERY supporter who adds their name in the NEXT HOUR. Please add your name IMMEDIATELY to stand with your President and to DEFEND the Election from the Radical Left. >>   STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP PETITION Please confirm your information below:   xxxxx@gmail.com   ADD YOUR NAME NOW >>

Every single Patriot has to step up to protect the integrity of our Election.

We’re sending President Trump a list of ALL the Patriots who step up RIGHT NOW. Make sure your name is at the VERY TOP.

Please add your name IMMEDIATELY to get your name at the TOP of the list President Trump sees.

Thank you,

Team Trump 2020

This is the line that scares me the most:

With your help, we’ll send a RESOUNDING message to the Liberal MOB that REAL Patriots support President Trump 100%.

Yeah, I know it's part of the rhetoric, but dog whistles are real and this is one. There are people out there who will get these emails and read them as a call to arms. You know it and I know it. There is no election fraud. 

Try to understand the sheer number of votes cast in the election. According to the Associated Press:

• 147,757,158 votes cast   
•   76,326,728  votes (50.8%) cast for Biden/Harris 
•   71,350,307  votes (47.5%) cast for Trump/Pence
•     4,976,421. vote margin 

 Now, take a quick look at 2016. In case you forgot, Clinton won the popular vote:

• 128,838,341 votes  cast
•   65,853,516 votes (48.5%) cast for Clinton/Kaine
•   62,984,825 votes (46.4)  cast for Trump/Pence
•     2,868,691  vote margin

Clinton lost in the electoral college, even though she had a 2.1% lead in the popular vote. Once it was established that Feckless Loser would win in the electoral college, Clinton offered a gracious concession. There were no recount demands, not calls to arms, just a concession. Which is how it's supposed to work. 

But that is not what's happening here. And I am not certain we should be surprised. 71,350,307 were cast for Feckless loser, that was 47%, only slightly less than half the country. HALF. You think they are going to just disappear like CoronaVirus was supposed to disappear? 

Far from it. A whole lotta that half has gone underground where they can fester in the cabals and caves. There are militias in them thar hills and they are taking this stuff seriously. They are gonna send a RESOUNDING message to the Liberal MOB that REAL Patriots support President Trump 100%.

Hate festers. It is what is does best and this will have 3 years to fester while it looks for a new face. The next time, the GOP won't allow a crass, classless, reality show host to take the top of the ticket. Oh, no, that will not be repeated. instead, it will be someone slicker, someone better able to soothe while riling up the base. That person will take on Joe and Kamala and possibly wipe the floor with them only because more than half this country will still be racist, misogynistic, and willing to believe a pot of money will fall out of the sky for them if they enter the Presidential Clearing House Sweepstakes. They drink the Kool-Aid because they want to believe the American Dream is for them, too. Those are the ones who will enable the next attempt at deconstructing America. 

I appreciated President-Elect Biden's echoing of last week's episode when he said, 

America has always been shaped by inflection points — by moments in time where we've made hard decisions about who we are and what we want to be.

This is the core of that which must be done. In the healing, there must be listening. We, the People, cannot simply ignore that which is inconvenient. We do need to address the internal workings of this nation to find that middle ground. There will never be total unity and agreement, but there has to be common ground on which we can all stand while we figure out what's best for this nation from the inside out. 

The path before Biden and Harris is fraught with danger...from both sides. I do not envy them the task. That said, they are far more prepared and able to care for the national condition of the United States. I believe them both when they say they will listen to scientists and doctors. They are already putting together a terrific COVID Response team. I believe them when they say they will work with other world leaders to repair the damage inflicted on our reputation. 

I want to be hopeful. I want to be optimistic. 

I'm not there yet. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Let's play a game: How long until Melania files for divorce?

I am taking bets.