What did it take for us to brush the gossamers of our complacent or indifferent stupor to us to collectively realize just how important democracy is? An election that looked like it was going to take this country closer than it has ever been to a potential authoritarian regime led by a man who shouldn’t be trusted with a potato gun, much less the codes to nuclear weapons. In 2016, our ignorance about the constitution, about our own sordid historical genesis, and our inability to decipher conspiracy from detrimental lunacy elected a glorified tyrant and megalomaniac into the most prestigious office in the world. I write this seething with anger, as I too was part of that problem. In 2016, I became so apathetic about the two candidates in front of me that I sat out what I thought was circus of an election.
Donald Trump was not the clown. I was. In two Massachusetts cities, the election literally came down to one vote. ONE VOTE. That ONE vote in each respective city was what led to a Joe Biden victory. It goes without saying that we can no longer be cynical about the power of our right to vote. While I watch so many people in my community celebrating from the comfort of their homes (still diligently adhering to social distancing) or pouring into the streets of those key battleground states (thankfully, masked…although the social distancing needs some work) what I seeing isn’t hubris or that OUR TEAM IS THE BEST! Post Super Bowl/World Series bullshit…I am watching entire communities realize how close they and this amazing country came to extinction. It only took a global pandemic, a volatile sociopath tweeting from his insulated world of sycophants and likeminded criminals, and a newfound paranoia over whether you should trust your local law enforcement, relatives, neighbors, and top brass decision makers in regard to adhering to any kind of sincere moral compass or incorruptible integrity. I am thirty-three years old and it took me THIS long to figure out that I don’t know nearly enough about the history of my country and this government than I fucking should. There is SO much work that must be done in education, in law enforcement, in government, but most importantly? In every single one of us. Its not enough to say inclusion is important to our communities, we must fight for inclusion and understand how to be more inclusive. It is not enough to say racism is wrong or bad, we must work toward expunging structural racism and looking deep within ourselves to identify our privilege and the areas where we need more work to become anti-racist. It is not enough to say that we appreciate the reproductive rights of all women, we must do that very awful thing that is going to bring up some shit that makes us realize…maybe I wasn’t the good guy. We need to self-interrogate ourselves and say, are we happy with how we have or how we currently treat women? Their rights, and have we always done our best to take a step back and try to live vicariously through them and identify the areas where they have felt personally victimized, ignored, or rejected. I realize this is such a tall order, but because of the country we live in…we are getting our only mulligan. This is the time to appreciate America as the land of opportunity. What opportunity is in front of us? The opportunity to do better. Be greater. If you failed to recognize your privilege, heed the cries from the Black Lives Matter movement, if you see prejudice take place in your home or business? Speak up! If you find yourself getting that promotion over your female co-worker, ask yourself…is this truly merit based. Did I earn this? Rather than accepting and never wondering if you got it because of privilege. Four years in Donald Trump’s America, and I realized how much work we all have ahead of us to ensure that this nightmare never EVER happens again. When I found out that Biden had one the election, I immediately ran out of my bathroom and turned on CNN and screamed for joy to my son…”HE’S ONE AND DONE! WE DID IT BABY! BAD GUY TRUMP LOST!” The absolute elation on his face is something I can’t even begin to illustrate for you. All it took during this pandemic for my son to make that deduction was how arrogant, apathetic, mean, and irresponsible this man was about COVID-19. My son lost someone so close to him (a woman who lived at his mom’s nursing home) and I swear to you…that was the day he realized what Trump really was. Sure, it could have bad Dad yelling at the television, or having mental breakdowns when Trump spewed his deflective rhetoric at anyone and everyone who challenged him…but my three year old can spot apathy when he sees it. I am not going to sugar coat it…we still have a long road ahead of us. Trump is going to try to fight dirty. He already refused to a peaceful transfer of power. I don’t want to scare anyone, but you all remember when he addressed the proud boys and told them to stand down and “stand by,” yeah…this is what he was talking about. He knew he was going to lose; he knew had the public trust (outside of his cult) among undecided voters and that he never had it with the rest of us. I am praying that this gets resolved with Trump being escorted out of the White House and right into a courtroom where he will be forced to stand trial for his crimes against humanity…but that could just be wishful thinking. We have a new president and vice president, and for the first time in four years? I can finally say we have a president and vice president. However, long after Donald J. Trump is an afterthought…remember those who deified and weaponized him. Remember the complete lack of humanity and humility that came out of these four years. Do not dwell, but do not forget. Why? Because these are the people, we need to hold accountable. These are the moments we need to galvanize this country toward improving. At the end of the day? Work toward a collective and shared goal to be better than what we bore witness to from 2016 until the horrifying finale in 2020. God Bless America. God Bless Democracy. Stay safe. Take Care. Move forward. This is our second chance, never forget how close we came to the end.
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September 2021
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