(#5757) Very sad

      I had hoped we as a country were ready to move forward on equal rights for our women. They are human beings as well and deserve every right that any man would have. Yet it seems it is not to be this time either. Coincidentally it was trump who denied both, Kamala 2024 and Hillary 2016, with his interpretation of a macho man. He isn't macho in the sense of strength and decency only in cruelty and divisiveness. Yet it seems he has rightly gauged the American electorate at its core since he has pulled off another victory. His unfailing disdain for all things that do not herald him as some kind of savior will be a brutish penalty for we who are defenders of democracy will have to pay.
     It is early this morning so I am still wrapping my head around the disappointment of again losing an opportunity to build upon the principles of equality and justice but it seems that America is not the beacon we had hoped we would be. There will be some changes to our form of democracy and it will be a lessening change not an expansive change. The trump people will work to dismantle more freedoms and liberties over the next at least 2 years. What that will look like given no unforeseen events will add to the disappointment many of us share. It rather sickens me that the real despots of the world are celebrating the trump victory and our allies are left wondering what to do about us now. As if they didn't have enough to worry about with putin and xi and their cabal of like minded tyrants.
     This post is not one I looked forward to making but despite my preference to ignore it for as long as I felt this disappointment I knew I had to at least say something about what happened last night. I won't do the comparison with 2016 because that is just piling on more injury. I will say though that I will fight on and continue to work to get my fellow countrymen/women to understand that harm is not the answer to whatever ails us. We must not make pain for others because we are angry or indifferent. our species is an amazing phenomenon but unless we recognize our unique value to each other we will go by the wayside with all other species who have had a chance to evolve into something much more enlightened than we currently exhibit.

(#5756) 0 days left

     We have arrived at election day. 82,713,594 as of last night around 10:30 pm, this was the early vote total. What the election day total will be is still to be determined but I suspect that it will be huge. Either huge or small it is here and what it tells us by the end of the day will have an effect on whether we keep our democracy or not. I and others have been sounding this alarm bell for decades concerning the direction of the republican party. They finally got the candidate they wanted who is more sociopath than empathetic. He is an image they prefer to project as strong and brutish. A brute who is not about what humanity demands, only what lust, greed, and power may provide.
     On the other hand we have the democrat who is so kind and helpful that she is the polar opposite of what the republicans drool over. Their cruelty is there credo, while compassion is ours. We who are democrats and now showing more independents stand behind what is best about our people. The welcoming spirit that is encouraging and positive. We democrats realize this about existence, it is short in duration for our individual beings so living in a just and respected world is an imperative. We do not waste time on being cruel to people because we can be like republicans, we instead focus on how to help others achieve their dreams like we wish to achieve ours. Again, life is too short to be doing harm.
     Today is the day we who have not voted get to go and express our voice about our present and future. Tonight is the time when we count those voices in the form of votes and see how we are to proceed with our American dream. The pursuit of our individual and collective happinesses is taking shape on this election day and may we all be gifted with another 4 years of forward evolving democracy. That is my hope and I do believe the hope of most Americans. We will know soon enough as there will be no more voting after tonight. The American dream of democracy that our foreparents fought and died for is on the line today. Us even having a chance to vote to protect democracy is a testament to the past efforts of our foreparents that allow us to honor the love of their great sacrifice.

(#5755) 1 day left

     This is the last day before the election tomorrow on Tuesday. If you need to vote tomorrow and need to call in sick or unavailable then do it if it means you won't be able to vote. Missing time from work if it comes down to that is far more important because of the stakes of this election. Every single vote matters when we are in an all out blitz to save our democracy! Every vote matters! It seems that the forces of destruction to our country are not going to stop regardless of how vile and oppressive they are so we who love our freedom must never give them a chance to take from us the most precious gift ever given by our foreparents. Freedom is ours, not some billionaires backed tyrant's idea of how to control us!
     As of this morning more than 78 million votes have already been counted as cast. Which is approximately half of the total votes cast in 2020. This is a remarkable number and shows that our electorate is keen to get their votes secured as cast. Now come election day the lines will be long in some areas but a large portion of those people who would have been in those lines will not be there allowing for shorter wait times and more participation. Early voting is proper when some states make it hard to vote. We cannot practice our democracy fully when we allow voting obstruction of any citizen from having a voice in their future.
     1 day left to do something until election day is upon us. I will be paying attention to turnout rates all day tomorrow while also listening for any obstruction by right wing republicans who make it a point to deny voters access to the voting booths. I do believe proper precautions are in place and ready to be implemented wherever they are needed. The necessity of caution is caused by the violent rhetoric the republicans seem to foster. We democrats and independents will not tolerate being bullied or otherwise dissuaded from voting. The one single right we have is to exert our lives into our own existence and we in America do that through voting. If anyone sees obstructive behavior anywhere please contact the authorities and continue to demand your right to vote!

(#5754) 2 days left

      With 2 days left until election day it seems that the floodgates may be opening for a Harris landslide. Appears is the key word here. With the new Iowa poll stating that Harris is actually up 3 points has triggered a mad defense by the traditional pollsters who vehemently disagree. I find it interesting though that the trump friendly pollsters, who are lacking a genuine objectivity, are jumping to try to destroy one of the most accurate pollsters over the last 10 years. Instead what I find is a chaotic group of trump friendly pollsters reacting to their own failures by blaming someone who is a tried and true prognosticator.
     It is all just polling and not actual votes but polling does give us an indication as to the mood of the electorate. I have already expressed my opinion about the trump friendly pollsters and their inescapable bending of facts to fit their narrative. So I don't give them a lot of credence. But like all things I will at least listen to their grievances before dismissing their illogic. The Iowa polling does reflect the general mood of the country given the nasty and disgusting behavior of the right wing candidate trump. From Shakespeare's play Hamlet, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks”, sufficiently covers how I feel about nate silver et al. The trump friendly pollsters are working overtime on this Iowa poll to make it seem like an outlier when in fact it seems more true than not given the ongoing enthusiasm for Harris.
     We are down to 2 days left until election day arrives. The pro Harris Iowa poll is a harbinger for things to come. It establishes an inkling into our mindsets that even nate silver's own admission of a polling error may end up with one of the candidates winning in a landslide. Albeit, I don't think silver was alluding to Harris but despite his preference for trump, contrarily, we are seeing and feeling a landslide for Harris much to his chagrin. We the good common people of America are not beholden to those forcing their opinions through narratives of illogic that financially benefit them. Instead we are sure and true in our simple quest to keep our democracy safe and protected with a leader we can be proud to call President. By my reckoning that President will be Kamala Harris.

(#5753) 3 days left

      This is the last weekend before the end of voting on Tuesday. The majority of us who have been anxious to cast our ballots are now focusing on doing what we can to help Harris get across the victory threshold. Whether knocking on doors in swing states or calling voters in swing states and everywhere else a Democrat needs extra help to secure a victory, our mission is coming to an end Tuesday evening. One final push to get every voter to vote is here and we all need to do what we can to make sure we have done all we can. There is no do over after Tuesday so now is the time to finish what we started and then late Tuesday evening wait for the counting of votes to begin.
     Several ongoing historic events are about to unfold and like most things American, they will be trendsetting events. I will leave them for now and wait until we actually get them before elaborating but suffice it to say this election may well be unlike any we have ever had. The two candidates will continue their closing arguments for why we should give them our votes this weekend and on into Monday. Come Tuesday the campaigning will wind down with either or both candidates pushing their message out into the public square as voters are voting. This election has been so consequential to our form of government that hopefully more voters will have voted to reflect the immensity of the moment.
     In 3 days the votes will start to come in and the majority of us will be watching from wherever we are to see the fruits of our hopes achieved. I know this will be difficult to watch for me because it is so deeply personal to me as an advocate who has spent much of his life doing what I can do to keep our democracy alive. Nothing in this existence as a thought of any higher order compares. My life and how I feel are personal to me but our democracy is even more than personal, it is worthy of me existing in the first place. So when I see threats to it there are no bounds to my approach in life that would keep me from dropping everything I am doing to put my full attention into combating the threat. The value of our democracy goes well beyond merely existing. It is why I exist! Vote for Democrats everywhere!

(#5752) 4 days left

      This is it. We are in the home stretch with the finish line just in front of us. Like any foot race the last several feet are the most critical. We cannot relent in our full out sprint to the finish. The only way to make sure we democrats with Vice President Harris win is to forget about that finish line and run full speed until we are well past it. There cannot be any slowing down for fear that we will be caught from behind. I expect us to win handily but I know better than to believe that until the race is done. Then we can tabulate the votes and see our result. At this point all we can do is give everything we have and leave nothing in reserve.
     There is still time to knock on doors in battleground states. There is still time to phone bank everywhere we can for the sake of not only electing Harris but to give her both a House of Representatives and Senate majority. We can get our vote out by helping our friends and neighbors get to their voting precincts for in person voting. We can use our voices in our communities to uplift the vision of Harris while denouncing the disparity of republican talking points aimed at dividing us. Our commitment to electing Kamala Harris to the presidency must not falter however we are doing whatever we can to elect her. We must not give up on our quest for a Harris victory until we actually have it.
     There is too much at stake. Either we build on the sound democratic principles established in our constitution through amendments and laws or we destabilize all our nation has strived and fought to achieve. Harris will keep our nation on the pathway of equality, freedom, justice, and opportunity while trump has pushed ahead with his plan to destroy our rights and freedoms by undermining our constitution. That trump wants to make himself a sole ruler like his tyrant friends by subjugating our citizenry under terms he defines, is in contrast to Harris who wants us to define our terms and she will through the constitution, defend them. The choice is remarkably simple, either we elect a wannabe tyrant or we elect a true defender of the people!