…
Today in the morning I smiled when I got ready for the day and it took me by surprise. I felt calm. So much has changed in such a short time. I had no idea how frustrated and hopeless I had felt until it all went away.
I smiled when I watched the news. Can you imagine? I don’t even remember the last time I felt like that. What are the right words? Hopeful? Enthusiastic? At Peace? Calmer? Trusting?
It’s not about politics, even though it is.
Joe Biden is out, Kamala Harris is in.
And with that, the dark clouds disappeared, the frown stopped, and the weight on my shoulders seemed to lift and ultimately disappear.
The broadcasters on the screen smiled as well, which indicated my TV was set on the right station because this is important here in the US, you choose either the news/entertainment TV station wisely, and with that, you decide what ‘side’ will manipulate you, or you are already biased enough and you select the station because of it. There is no in-between.
There is a left-wing and a right wing, and both sides have forgotten that they belong to the same bird.
May I be honest, please?
I have lived in constant fear since around 2015 when D. Trump announced he would run for President. My worst nightmare came true on November 8th, 2016, when the entertainer Donald Trump became the President of the United States of America.
What did I fear? Lies! I am fearful of lies. I was fearful of hate. I was scared of division.
I didn’t like our new President, but decided to give him a chance, a chance he obviously didn’t want from me -and others like me- because he made right from the start very clear that he didn’t want to work for me and my wellbeing.
It brought me to my knees, mentally. The hatred got to me. The name-calling wore me down. The neverending brutality in words and actions seemed too much to bear.
Like a fish almost out of the water, gasping for air, that’s how I felt all these years.
I belong to the other side, even though I do not. I am a MIDDLER, one of the undecided voters, an independent thinker, who still believes that both sides need to be heard, yet it got harder and harder.
I am agnostic, yet I know Christianity very well, perhaps better than many in this country. How could I not? I was raised by nuns, by The Salesian Sisters, also known as the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (F.M.A.), a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in 1872.
I have knelt on the bible -not by choice- I have read the bible, and have studied the bible and other religious books, but more importantly, I have seen Christianity lived by women who had chosen to live in a convent.
Nuns!
Women who vow to dedicate their lives to religious service and contemplation under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.
I was very fortunate to be brought up not just by my Grandma, whose wisdom I can only wish for, but also by a group of nuns, who taught me so much about life, feminism, and humanity. Nuns are human and their struggle to live by the convent’s rules showed sometimes, and it made them likable, perhaps more human.
This is perhaps my biggest struggle here in the US, watching blasphemy so openly displaced by so-called Evangelists. But there was always someone around who showed me that not all is lost. My deeply religious Republican neighbor, the woman who still hasn’t lost all hope that one day I will find my way back to church, when she said she could not vote for Trump because that would be like making fun of Christianity I almost hugged her. Sadly, she couldn’t vote for the other side either, so they stayed at home.
The other side! My goodness am I tired of THE OTHER SIDE. Same bird, remember?
You know what’s almost comical? The age of both contestants, presidential nominees, bothered me more than anything. One old man, calling the other one “Old man.” It could be funny, yet it isn’t. Well, perhaps it is if you have blinders like a horse.
For years I expected certain people to leave the house only with tin foil covering their heads, but so far this was just wishful thinking. Perhaps they wear it at home?
Race!
Biden is out, Kamala Harris, a black woman, a mixed black woman, because let’s not forget she is also part South Asian, will be running for the highest office.
I have to point out her heritage and her race because that’s what we do here. Even when you fill out an online form for a doctor you have to let them know what race you belong to. That’s something I will never get used to. In Austria I was just an Austrian, and so were all the others. I didn’t know what Caucasians were until I was asked to check the box when I came to the US, because I was one of them.
Where was I? (My mind is indeed like a junk drawer and there is nothing I can do to get it organized.)
Oh yes, Kamala Harris, the Vice President. When I saw her genuine laugh and smile that night on TV, my heart opened and I felt relieved. A burst of honest laughter, an inviting smile, and open-displayed joy, it’s just a question of time before some will make fun of it. Will they call her a nasty woman too? That’s what they called Hillary Rodman Clinton and I felt offended for her -and every other woman who has who gets belittled like that. The stronger the woman, the more they belittle her. Perhaps the only chance they have?
I watched Kamala Harris on TV. She has a spring in her step. She is a young candidate, only 59. This means that I am now young again as well because I am only 60. Retirement talks are off the table, I am young again!
Gender!
May I scream it out loud, please? There is a woman on the ticket! Yep, you heard me. I am making it a gender game now because it is.
A WOMAN IS RUNNING TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and it’s not Hillary Rodman Clinton, who paved the way. She also won the 2016 election by almost 3 Million votes, but because we keep outdated institutions in place (not we..they) she lost and Donald Trump won.
Trump for Prison! Harris for President!
I read it yesterday and I laughed out loud.
Sadly, it’s the truth. A convicted felon is running for the highest office in the United States and half of the country thinks that’s alright. I do wonder what they will tell their children now. “You can accomplish everything in this country, even be a criminal and run for President?”
A former prosecutor vs a criminal!
It should be a no-brainer, but it isn’t. Perhaps I wasn’t too far off with the tin foil?
Is it humor or what? A felon is not allowed to vote, but can run for President?
See, that’s what I call absurdity, don’t you think?
The Youth
I watched the crowd on TV last night. I saw the number of small donations that have been made in only two days. 100 Millions, still going up. Not the big donors, the little people feel hope again, ten or twenty dollars at a time.
The younger generations must feel hope more than I do. Finally, they feel represented.
Forward not backward (into middle age).
What kind of country do we want to live in?
It’s not about me. I will be starting the last chapter of my beautiful life soon. This is about the youth, about the future, about women’s rights. This is about my neighbors the gay couple who are happily married because now they can (or should I say ‘still can’?) It’s about LGBT rights, about minorities, about dignity.
It’s about being open-minded toward all people.
What do I wish for?
I wish for an all-woman ticket. Go for it, Kamala! Take Gretchen Whitmer as Vice President and this young, older lady here in Ohio will open the bottle of sparkling wine that has been waiting in our small beverage fridge for way too long.
Is it ok to be so openly excited to see another woman in the race for the White House?
…
Will Kamala Harris win the Presidency? I don’t know but I have high hopes.
I need my mind at peace for good, please! I need the hate to stop. I need peace within this country. I need us all to get along. I need freedom for all and everybody, no matter religion, race, gender, or money.
There it is again, my honesty, blabbering along. “Don’t write about politics, Bridget.” I will never learn. It’s hopeless.
But I can’t help smiling. I feel hope again.
I Think Kamala Harris will be the 47th president of the United States
We’ll soon know.
I agree! I just read that Trump told a bunch of “Christians” if they just vote one more time for him, they’ll never have to vote again. It’s so scary that so many people still want him as their leader. I would feel safe and relieved with Kamala Harris as president.
I saw it yesterday, It’s shocking and I will post it on my blog, but have to make sure it wasn’t taken out of contex.
I read that a democrat who is communication specialist suggested he meant it won’t matter if they vote after that because he can’t serve more than two terms. Typically, self-centered. Sometimes I think he doesn’t even know what he means.
It is a bit of a relief, but until the election is won (and not tried to be upended or overturned) I can’t rest. Everyday there is more news that is frightening. Just recently it was the statements about never having to vote again that Trump made that made me very nervous. I hope for the right outcome, but fear the worst.
Trump has singlehandedly taken the U.S. back decades. He is a fraudulent, lying person who said that he doesn’t care about you and that he just wants your vote. I can’t believe that so many mindless people follow him! 🙄
He is like a cult leader and his followers are drinking the cool aid without questions.
I am pleased you are less fearful
I do so hope that she wins!
I hope so. Thanks for stopping by.
“Is it ok to be so openly excited to see another woman in the race for the White House?”
YES! And don’t apologize. We are openly elated up here in Massachusetts. I just saw a homemade sign in someone’s yard. It spelled out KA-MA-LA in blue painters tape. 💙
I didn’t know how much I needed this until it happened. I see Karris signs popping up here too. I seems a sigh of relief is going around.
So many people feel the very same way. Ever since Biden indicated that he’d run again, I asked: where’s Kamala Harris? How can they not have Kamala Harris as their prime candidate? It seemed to me the only obvious choice. I smiled when I read it first, and I don’t even live close to the US. It’s more than overdue that a woman gets the job, but more than that she seems like an overall great candidate. This completely changes the game, and I somehow wonder if it was planned this way…? Anyway, I most certainly hope she’ll have a landslide victory. I think it’s needed.
How funny that you say that. I find the timing of everything particularly lucky and wondered the same thing. Either way, I am thrilled. I am tired of living in doomsland, where every thing is dark and dangerous.
I always thought of her to be a strong woman in the roles she plays. Ronald Reagan was an actor too.
I wish Kathy Bates would run for president 😁🙃
Why? Because she is famous or because you liked the characters she became in her work?
You are so right. This feels different and perhaps Niki Haley’s warning said it best…The first party to retire its 80 year old candidate is going to be the party that wins the election. Fingers crossed she is right. After she kissed Trump’s, er, uh, ring, I hope all her supporters go to Kamala. Everyone needs to get off their couch and vote in this election. Like Trump says, vote for Hope, which is what Kamala offers. Who could refuse a party that wears a hat reading Make America Laugh Again? I even want one. My hope is she helps the Dems win all three branches of government, so the legislation process can stop being hamstrung by individual agendas and big money. Project 2025 is all about control, not Hope. As to the consistent pitting of Black against white, queer against straight and yes, even Male against Female, it has to stop. We need the best PERSON for the job and right now that is Kamala. The whole election process and Supreme Court needs a top to bottom overhaul. The election cycle is too long and governed by too much money. The Supreme Court seems to forget that Justice is blind and should not see Red or Blue. They need term limits and a code of ethics. In closing I want to give Joe Biden praise for getting your country through the last 4 years after #45 and for his thoughtful selection of Kamala as his VP. I want the constant Trump news cycle to end. Wishing you and America all the best. Allan
I like the “Make America Laugh Again” hat. I need one. My campaign log would be “Make America Honest Again” because I can’t take more of the lies or fanatism.
Women’s rights, gay rights, there is so much at stake. Social security, our retirement that we earned, should never be privatized. Trump has a doctrine “Trump 25” it read a lot like “My Kampf” I made it through 400 pages then I gave up. I feared for my sanity.
Trump is an old man, he has torn this country apart. It’s time for younger people, men and women, who earned to be public servants through their work, not through fame.
I am an idealist and now I am optimistic -let me dream for at least 100 days, please.
🤗🤗🤗