Three huge post-election concerns

6th blog

This may be the most serious post I’ve written, as there is little that is fun in my life, now that we are in a 2-week lockdown statewide, and plenty of situations transpiring  that are mostly awful. I want to write about 3 of them: the election and its aftermath, the COVID epidemic, and the new awareness that there is an almost equal division of US voters into two vastly different ideological camps. They emerged clearly with the election and are playing out as I write. So be warned, and if you don’t want to hear my read  my dismal thoughts skip to the last paragraph.

First the election. We chose between two candidates for President so different in every way that it turned out to be an event unmatched in our history. President Trump was without civility , usually closer to sneering and acrimony, Joe Biden kept his responses under tight rein. The polls predicted a possibly large win for Biden, but it never materialized. It was so close that Trump thought it contestable and refused to concede defeat (an unheard of and unwelcome development). Now, over two weeks later the landscape is cluttered by wild-swinging Republican suits to declare it void, which are, however, being uniformly thrown out by the courts. And by holding up funding for the design of a new government by the Democrats during the interim period and using the lame duck period to continue issuing executive orders to further his radical conservative agenda (not, however, an unusual custom) he is extending his presidency in an unprecedented fashion. Such a situation has never occured before and is potentially harmful to a smooth and successful transition of power. Now Georgia and Michigan are in the Democratic column and Biden’s electoral margin is over 300, but still Trump is holding out and appearing more ludicrous every day. And this could go on until January 20.

The second reality is the worst – the COVID-19 pandemic, which is making the Ebola epidemic seem tame in comparison. Our local Jackson County situation was exceptionally mild until a week ago when a surge hit Jackson County and has now filled our hospitals. It added 4 deaths to the miniscule 5 we had sustained before. It is finally affecting me personally. My retirement home has been allowing 1-2 visitors at an indoor space – now prohibited. I can still go out with van transportation but don’t know how long that will last. And for Thanksgiving we will have two servings (at 11AM and 1PM) in our rooms, alone, and arriving in styrofoam packets. Can you imagine a more dismal prospect for a personally favorite holiday? So do I sound like a spoiled child??? Yes, and I’m not proud of it but still can’t feel differently. I don’t know yet what I am going to do.

The third concern is that the election showed that we now have an almost equal number of Trump enthusiasts as there are sane voters. And this after 4 years of a Trump presidenc!y! Hard to accept and even harder to deal with. We have have been assuming they were a vociferous minority – wrong. They are almost as many as us, a powerful opposition. And is this not truly scary? So Biden and his team face a terribly difficult challenge unless there are some more helpful surprises in the near future. All in all, the future is cloudy.

                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                          

 I finished my latest mosaic and here it is. It will grace my balcony. As usual I was unsure until it was all done that it would be what I envisioned, but it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My 97th birthday was two days after the election and Channing hosted a brunch with Jack, annd Jackie and me attrnding. She made scones, my favorite breakfastfoo, and we had a happy talk. Jackie gited me with a photo of the NY Times headline, much appreciated.

NY Times headline
Jack, Jackie and I checking the latest news.