Democracy

This is not the post I expected to write today. I was planning to document my decorating of Ava and Wes’ birthday cake. But it is clear that the development of events at the United States Capital need to be addressed instead.

I was watching our Senators debate on the floor of our capitol when horror ensued. I haven’t felt this way since September 11th. Watching it unfold was horrible. I have shed tears… both of fear and anger as well as joy- in response to the news out of Georgia. But I cannot get those images out of my mind.

I’m sad for my country.

Biden/Harris Win

I want to thank everyone who went out on Tuesday and voted. Our democracy only works when we exercise our duty to cast a vote in the election of members to represent us in government.

My family has patiently but anxiously awaited the tallies and projected results of this election. Like many Americans this week, we watched as the vote totals in key states switched back and forth. We weighed the statistical analysis of blue counties and red counties, mail-in vs in-person votes and estimate reported. It has been a great lesson in mathematics for all of us. I think for our children, they watched us as we worried on Election Day that early votes were not favoring our desired outcome. I went to bed Tuesday night feeling a panic that was reminiscent of 2016, but not nearly as evident. On Wednesday morning, I felt sick as I reached for my phone to check what had been reported overnight. I was encouraged, but skeptical. By Thursday evening I was annoyed, but the feeling of victory felt imminent. On Friday we woke to the news that both Georgia and Pennsylvania were now light blue as Biden’s number overtook Trump’s numbers. I was sure that by Friday evening, we would be celebrating a victory.

We watched Biden’s humble speech when there were few new results by Friday night, and we too began talking about the way forward. Saturday, finally, brought the projections that we had been waiting for, and we celebrated, hard. Not to gloat, but out of relief. The outpouring of relief I could feel across the world. This isn’t about Republican vs Democrat for me. This is about humanity and humility. It is about morals and democracy. It’s about right and wrong. Everything that Donald Trump stands for is what I have worked to teach my children not to be, not to accept, not to allow in their character. I have a lot of trouble believing that more than 70 million American adults went out on Tuesday and cast a their vote of approval for such a man. They looked around this world and said, “Yes, I want four more years of this.”

I don’t think Joe Biden is the be all end all person of the year, but his moral character is a whole lot closer to mine than Donald Trump. I believe that Joe Biden will work across the isle to find compromises that benefit both sides. I believe that he and Kamala Harris will work to make policy that is good for our earth, our children, and our country. I believe they too will make mistakes, but not egregious attacks on our own democracy, citizens, and allies. I am damn proud that if one good thing comes out of 2020, it will be President elect Joe Biden and Vice President elect Kamala Harris. I am ready to have a president that will represent me on the world stage and my interests in government. Diversity, inclusion, civil rights, health care, public health, gun control, climate control, national pandemic response... Things that we should have had ALL THIS TIME.

Vote

One last plea! Please go exercise your civic duty, vote. I hate asking people to consider who they are planning to vote for, however I believe that the American people have been lied to, embarrassed by, and neglected by Donald Trump. If you are planning to vote for him, I beg you to consider your own loved ones who have fallen prey to his many offenses. I'm sure you will easily identify at least one person close to you who he has offered. Most of us have many.

1. Please Vote

2. Please consider voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (Think of it as the lesser of 2 evils, if you must)

3. Save American morality

I Voted, Did you?

Don’t we look “adorkable”? I believe in the power of our democracy, but I know that the decks are also stacked. The best chance we have to bring the power back to the people is to show up to vote! So even though night had fallen in Portland, we put in our dorky smiles while Liv photographed our official ballot drop!

I only beg when I am desperate….

PLEASE GO OUT AND VOTE!!!

Signed and Sealed

Tonight Taylor and Liv got their first shot at civic responsibility. We sat down together with our ballots and voting pamphlets and discussed the issues. We asked them to offer their choices and support it with arguments. We discussed the importance of knowing the source of your information and how to dig through the fluff. I wouldn’t say that they swayed my vote at all, but generally we are all in agreement about who and why we would choose someone to vote for. We took our time, about an hour and fifteen minutes. We did so because there is so much at stake in 2020, and I want my children to vote responsibly in three years. All that is left is to mail back, or drop in a ballot box. Since we live very close to both, I will like drop mine in the ballot box directly. It’s such a satisfying feeling.

PLEASE VOTE, PLEASE VOTE RESPONSIBLY, PLEASE!

Jon’s friend

Jon made a friend on our afternoon walk this evening!

To me, a bug is a bug… even when it’s a “cute, fuzzy “ caterpillar 🐛!

I had a Pilar cyst excised today. My head was very numb for most of the day, but I’m glad it’s done. I am scheduled to work this weekend, and I can’t do that with a huge bandage on my head! So I spent some time making scrub caps to protect my wound and unsightliness while I’m at work.

And our ballots came in the mail today! I’m looking forward to doing my part and casting my ballot! I can’t believe that the next time we do this, Tay and Liv will get a ballot too! 🙄

Vote

Our second Voters’ Pamphlet came the other day. This one is full of information about the general election. I started flipping through it and I was inspired to share some of the information!

This page is all about a “Don’t be fooled” campaign to try to dispel myths around voting. While several pertain to Oregon’s automatic voter registration at the DMV (which is awesome by the way!), there are a many that are relevant to all. I want to highlight a few:

In 2018 many people used 3rd party sites thinking they were registering to vote. But the information was never sent to the Elections Division and they could not vote. These sites also steal your personal information.

In Oregon, if your ballot is rejected you will be notified and may have the chance to fix it. You can also see your ballot at oregonvotes.gov/my vote

This image and the next talk about frequently asked questions. I particularly like the second page which covers some broad concepts in our general election such as the electoral college.

This one talks about your voting rights.

I love that this information lands in my mailbox and is here for me to skim at my leisure.

Voting this year is vital.

If you are reading my blog, you know how I feel about our current political situation. I implore you to read articles from multiple sources, challenge your views of current events, vet stories you see on social media and hear from friends and family. Don’t accept what is laid before you as it is. And before you fill in your bubble ask yourself, Does this person care about you, is this person going to represent the needs of your children, grandchildren, siblings, parents, you?

Choices

Today I made a poor choice. I opened my iPad and clicked on the news widget where I was treated to the latest in the confirmation hearings of the woman chosen to replace RGB on the Supreme Court. My heart sank as I read about her opinions, afilliations, and values. What brought tears was the blatant partisan motives that made a clear hypocrisy of Senate republicans. Those who refused to allow Obama to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat during an election year, but are now willing to ignore all of America’s suffering in order to rush through a Supreme Court pick in less than a month from an election. What made me loose it is what lays in the balance. Health care for millions, pre-existing condition clauses, a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her body, gay rights… This woman is associated with a group that supports sterilization of all transgender people!

My tears are for my children who will inherit this mess. My tears are for the children ripped from their families and the families of those who needlessly died from a virus that simple measures could have contained. My tears are for the families whose homes are flood again and again each year as hurricanes get stronger and more frequent and for those who’ve lost everything as the wildfires burn hotter, longer, farther every year. My tears are for the Americans that I once thought of as kin and the country I proudly thought was the land of the free and the home of the brave.

My heart is broken and I have nothing left to give…

Informed

Yesterday our Clackamas County voters’ pamphlet arrived in my mailbox. This is my favorite part of mail in voting. It allows me to sit in the comfort of my own home weeks before the election and read about the candidates and measures that will be on my ballot. They also include arguments in favor of and opposed to the proposed measures. So when I get my ballot next week, I will have some information upon which I can begin to make my vote. Arguments are presented with their sources clearly identified and candidate backgrounds/qualifications and goals.

My America

I just finished reading a book called “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson. It is one of many attempts I have made in the last two months to be more informed about the race climate in America. I read this book via audiobook and can say that it was one of the most difficult books I have ever listened to. Retold depictions of things that white Americans have done to people of varying skin colors merely because of their skin color… well it seems to me that just knowing that these things happened wasn’t - isn’t- enough. I think we need to hear it. As the events of the past two months have played out, I have become more aware of the prejudices of people whom I know to be “good” people and whom I love. I have never been good at conflict, but I don’t want to be that complicit silent white woman either. I have struggled with what I can and should do to be part of the solution. There is no place for Caste in this world. I grew up, rather naively, believing that theAmerican civil war, World War II, and the American Civil Rights movement were large enough lessons to remind us how wrong these ideals are. The 2016 election stunned me into a consciousness were many people I was close to harbored feelings and beliefs of caste superiority. My awareness has grown since that time, and has been amplified this summer.

I won’t claim that I have figured any of this out. I certainly haven’t. But, I am making a concerted effort. I listened to the book in the car when I took Taylor and Liv shopping for swimwear. Liv came home and read it in its entirety. Liv said, “Yes, some of it was so horrible to hear, but it’s just so important.” My 15 year old, I must be doing something right. We have family discussion about discrimination, prejudice, privilege, poverty, and the like. This didn’t just start two months ago either. A few years ago Ava brought an entire homeless family home and offered them to live in Liv’s room. No, it wasn’t okay, but the point is at 8 or 9 years old, Ava recognized a problem and wanted to be part of a solution. I want my family to be problem solvers and fight in the right side of injustice.

We are a family of privilege, but I’m not so arrogant as to believe that our fortune cannot change. My autistic boys, as young men, will face their own injustice. I can only hope that I have done enough to create an infrastructure of protection around them. I can only hope that they don’t unknowingly step out of line in the wrong place as the wrong time. My trans son will face injustice. I feel like Portland, and especially those we have befriended here, have built a cocoon of safety and comfort for him. The world, I fear, is largely too self entitled realize that his gender identity isn’t about them. Consequently though, they make the world a hazard for him and those like him. Sadly, a caste doesn’t only imply racial discrimination.

How are you becoming informed? What are you doing to effect change?

Please vote in November, please consider the values of those you vote for. What kind of future are you setting up for your children, my children, and the children of all shades of melanin?