Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Be the Change

Like the majority of Americans I am grateful that election day has finally come. I have been avoiding the presidential race news for quite awhile as I found it so negative and decisive.  Unfortunately, because I work in government, I couldn’t avoid the local races which were becoming even nastier.

I will work for a couple of hours this morning and then vote.  I live in a state with no early voting. Polls are located in churches, libraries and firehouses and you must go to your assigned polling place.  There the girls scouts or some other civic group will probably be having a bake sale and neighbors will be chatting with neighbors, no matter who they voted for.  It’s all very friendly and civilized. As it should be.

Then I will spend the day shuttling senior citizens and those who cannot drive, to their polling places. In my youth I only worked for one political party to get out the vote. These days I am happy to drive anyone who wants to vote, no questions asked.   I particularly like driving the seniors and listening to their opinions, which are usually about all the ways this country has gone to hell in a handbasket. I can’t say that I disagree with them. Nor can I imagine what this campaign must have looked like to the greatest generation. Oy.

I will most likely go to bed before the results are in. When I wake I hope there is a clear winner. My worst fear is that it will be close, or there will be some controversy that forces it to the Supreme Court. A tied 4-4 Supreme Court.  I don’t even know what happens after that.  Either way our government has become so dysfunctional that neither candidate will be able to advance their agenda very much.  We are approaching a failed state.

Still I do hope that we, as a nation, will begin a healing process from the ugliness of the last few years. Surely we have much more in common than those things that divide us. When the election is over and done we will be in desperate need of more advocates, reconcilers, and peacemakers. We’ve got a lot of healing, loving, restoring work to do my friends.

No matter what happens today  - be the change you want to see in the world.


8 comments:

  1. This is going to be a mess for a while. Hopefully, when the dust finally settles something close the healing may happen.

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    1. I am hoping this is the bottom we needed to hit before we can rise again.

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  2. I like that... Be the change you want to see in the world... Sounds like a great place to start!

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    1. I am heeding the British advice to Stay Calm and Carry On.

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  3. It's the only choice we have at this point. I've already cried all the tears I never thought I'd have to cry, about how differently we Americans seem to be seeing the world and it's frightening and scary, but also heartening to see all my friends standing up for each other and saying this isn't the world we want to create, live in or leave for our children.

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    1. I hope this may be the catalyst that finally wakes people. I have certainly heard a lot of people talking and debating - people I have never heard talk politics before. I am just hoping that too much damage is not done before we an turn this ship around.

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  4. The change I would like to see is the dismantling of the two party system. It no longer serves the people. I do not feel represented. If we had more than two parties, all the politicians would have to work together to accomplish anything. None of them could act unilaterally to halt the business of governing.

    It's a sad damned day in our country.

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    1. I agree. In fact I went third party this year (although safe in the knowledge that my state is solidly blue). But if a 3rd party could could garner enough votes, they would have to be represented in debates and such. I don't see it happening for quite a while but perhaps the Democrats will rise from the ashes a refreshingly new and trustworthy party. Hope springs eternal.

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