A FEW GOOD THINGS
ABOUT A BAD YEAR
#1:
WE FIRED TRUMP!
WE FIRED TRUMP!
WE FIRED TRUMP!
WE FIRED TRUMP!
Yes, we did. And while Der Toddler maintains that his re-election would have been a slam-dunk if it weren't for the pandemic -- nothing could be further from the truth, in my opinion. The pandemic made campaigning much more difficult for the Democrats. While Biden was in the basement trying to figure out how to balance campaign rallies with health precautions, the Prez and his Trumpian minions were gathering by the maskless thousands, spreading the Lyin' King's words, along with the virus.
We Dems looked forward to a campaign with 1,000s of foot soldiers knocking on doors in all the purple-hued states. I myself committed to spending all of October in Pennsylvania. But I never set foot outside of San Francisco and neither do I know anyone who canvassed for Biden in a swing state unless they lived there already -- and that started very late in the campaign. Door-to-door canvassing is both the least efficient and the most effective way to convince voters. Even if people disagree with you, they're very impressed that you took the trouble to show up on their doorstep.
No, the Democrats were far more hobbled by the pandemic than was Trump.
And while it was clear to millions that Trump's incompetence and cavalier dismissal of the health threat caused unknown 1000s of unnecessary deaths -- there were other millions who, not having any experience to compare with the pandemic, thought that Der Toddler was doing the best he could do.
And let us not forget that all those millions -- clear and unclear, Dem or GOP or or Green or Libertarian or independent -- every single one of them got a check for $1200 signed personally by Der Toddler. At the time Trump demanded the checks be delayed so that his name could be printed on them, I thought, "Oh yeah, another pointless exercise in megalomania." But when the NY Times interviewed people of color who voted for Trump, one older African-American woman (and Obama supporter) said she thought he'd done well with the virus -- and she appreciated that $1200 from him very much. Very very much. How many people voted for Trump simply because he had "given" them $1200? More than a few, I think. So, even if getting "Donald Trump" on every single check WAS motivated by simple narcissism, it turned out to also be a brilliant political move.
AND let us not forget the rather large amount of VOTER SUPPRESSION that preceded the campaign. That doesn't get mentioned anymore, because Biden won. But that doesn't mean that a sizable number of Democrats were not kicked off the voter rolls or otherwise prevented from voting. It means that
We worked hard enough
to overcome all the drawbacks!
We got the word out to the American people
and they rejected Trump!
(Of course we also rejected him the first time, but that's another story.)
LET US CONTINUE TO REJOICE
IN OUR HARD-WON VICTORY
AS WE CONTEMPLATE 2020
IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR!
#2
I would like to salute:
The
incredible
amazing
stupendous
creativity, imagination, and resilience
of the American people.
How we have entertained each other,
How we have made each other laugh,
How we have comforted each other,
How we have reached out to each other
How we have supported each other
in so many new and old ways.
I'm not going to bother to give examples. We all know so many. I am deeply moved.
#3
And this rotten, contemptible year ends with.....
The legalization of abortion in Argentina!
As Senator Norma Durango said,
"Abortion is a reality, and it has been taking place since time immemorial. Legalizing it brings the practice out of the shadows."
This is a Catholic country, with a growing evangelical movement -- both deeply opposed to abortion and opposed to seeing women as equals. They both in turn have been opposed by a VIBRANT movement of feminist women who have worked HARD for over eight years to build a popular movement to pressure the federal government to make abortion legal. I mean, this is a country that was sending women to prison for MISCARRIAGES, just on the possibility that it MIGHT have been an abortion. Can you imagine WANTING to be pregnant, and not only feeling the terrible loss of a miscarriage but being IMPRISONED for it? I know this also happens in Mexico. Argentina is seen as a bellwether for social change in Latin America. So this bodes well for the women in the other countries.
I say:
If the women of Argentina can get rid of the law against abortion, then WE can get rid of the Electoral College!
Am I right?
When you're right, you're right!
And lastly:
#4
This is wholly personal:
From 1999 to 2011, my immediate family needed me, as first my father, then my sister, and then my mother became ill and died. It was a great blessing in my life that I could be there for them.
When my mother was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2010, I worried how I would handle her loss, because I need to be needed. And since she died in 2011, it has indeed been hard for me, to feel that no single person actually NEEDS me.
Yes, Carolyn and I are deeply entwined in terms of friendship and work. But she also has a husband and children and grandchildren and in-laws and many friends -- ALL of whom need HER, because once you have Carolyn in your life, you need her. But I have never felt Carolyn needed ME.
But you, Bloggelinis, you have expressed to me how much my blogs have meant to you. Just recently, Gail wrote me that she felt her day had an A-side and a B-side, like an old 45 record. The A-side was finding out that someone close to her was very ill. And the B-side was reading my blog, "Night of the Radishes." And that these two things somehow balanced each other.
I feel needed, for the first time since my mother died. I feel tethered to the earth again, and that is a good feeling.
Thank you, Bloggelinis, for needing me. I will continue to try to be worthy of you. Terry
Thank you for that #2 salute especially.
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