DANCING IN THE STREETS

It's over (ish).  The election, fraught with so much discord, distrust, and disarray, has been decided.  WE WON!  Well, "we" if you were supporting the Biden/Harris ticket, which I most certainly was.  

On Election Night November 3rd we sat glued to the TV watching returns come in.  Nothing was decided by the time I went to bed at 10:00 PST.  Hub stayed up until 1:00 a.m.  We were back at the TV on and off on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I couldn't take hours upon hours of hearing nothing but the trickling in of votes and ongoing commentary that was nothing more than speculation, so I went to bed early and then was awake at 4 a.m. tuning in to the overnight results, which continued to come in agonizingly slowly.  I did learn the names of important counties in Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia and could recognize all of their election officials by sight, for what that's worth.  I also know what the vote counters were wearing and how long they each worked and where they sat/stood to count.  I saw the current president's supporters chanting "Count the Votes!" in Arizona and "Stop the Count" in Georgia, depending on how their candidate was doing.  It was ridiculous, but pretty typical of his whole regime.

We had been warned that we might not know the result for many days given the Covid-induced numbers of states allowing mail-in ballots, with all of them having different rules on when votes could be counted and for how long.  We had been warned, also, that there would be a "red mirage" of early same-day vote reporting that showed the GOP candidate ahead, but that lead would disappear as the Dem. votes came in later from mostly mail-in ballots.

Still, by Thursday night we were no longer patient and no longer remembering that the "red mirage" was not reality.  We were, many of us, relieved to be ahead but dismayed, angered, and saddened to find that there would be no "blue wave" of overwhelming repudiation of the man in charge of the chaos of the last four years.  Some of us raged, sobbed, stomped our feet, and sat in mute disbelief.  (Well, at least one of us did.)  This was not how we had hoped it would go.  Nor was it what the pre-election polls predicted.  We are now finally and truly OVER listening pollsters.  Something has gone awry with their methodology.  

So, when all major networks announced a winner at around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday November 7, my overwhelming feeling initially was just relief.  Finally!  Then it sank in and euphoria arose.  WE HAD DEFEATED HIM!  After 4 years of his abuse, of a slide into deeper authoritarianism, of resistance and work and worry and oppression, of chaos and dismay and disbelief, we had said, "NO!"

Spontaneous parties erupted throughout the United States with video of major metropolitan areas showing people taking to the streets in joyful exuberant (masked) cheering, dancing, and singing!  And not only in the U.S.  -- people in European capitals joined in, with one correspondent musing that it felt like his experience of seeing dictatorships toppled.  Indeed.  Saturday was a day of celebration for sure, especially when we all settled in to watch Kamala Harris -- first woman/woman of color Vice President -- take the stage in her Suffragette white pantsuit, then Joe Biden after her to deliver a beautiful and moving speech about healing the soul of the nation.  Tears, joy, relief.  Overwhelming relief. Many, including me, described the feeling of as if a great weight had been lifted from our bodies.

Not all of us were joyous, of course. And that part is very troubling.  Here are the vote totals today:  Biden 76,408,662 (50.8%) 290 electoral ; Trump 71,495,756 (47.5%) 214 electoral.   A week later, only North Carolina (leaning Trump) and Georgia (leaning Biden) are still outstanding.   It was a record-breaking turnout, over 66%, with Biden winning more votes than any candidate in history.   But what that also indicates is a country divided along party lines that shows no sign of healing, yet.  

The current president has refused to concede, is pursuing a zillion simultaneous lawsuits in a variety of states (all defeated or thrown out so far) and has instructed the Justice Department to investigate voter fraud (with absolutely zero evidence of such) and will not allow the GSA to give permission to the Biden campaign to start the official transition process.  So there's that.  A bunch of his administration and Congressional sycophants and his citizen supporters are "all in" on this move to stage an electoral coup.  They won't succeed, but they will keep us mired in anger, chaos, and confusion -- and will play up the "stolen election" lie to keep their supporters violently and rage-fully blaming the "socialist democrats" for taking over their country and their rights.  It's scary.  And sad.  And infuriating.

And yet, something wonderful and important has happened.  We fought back against a credible threat to our democracy.   A majority of Americans chose experience, decency, and hope.  We chose a man of character and empathy, with vast experience in leading.  

And we chose a woman to be at the top (or near enough for now) -- a dynamic, intelligent, capable, joyful, charismatic woman of black and East Indian descent to be Vice President.  This is a phenomenal thing for me to finally see in my lifetime.  I had been an early and ardent Harris supporter for her presidential bid until she dropped out.  I happily switched my allegiance to Elizabeth Warren, whom I also adore.  But to have Kamala back and in charge is a gift I didn't expect to get.  There is a person in power who knows my lived experience as a woman, who is a role model for my granddaughters who will grow up in a world where it will seem impossible for them to believe this used to be unheard of...a woman at the highest levels of our government.  I feel like dancing.

At least, that's the view from here...©