And this is all I've got to say about that . . .

It's called ACCOUNTABILITY

 

Thoughts on the guy who embodies what we voted for

James Talarico.

You may have heard of this guy.  😉.   I love him.  To me, he embodies what we all voted for. 

Hope.  Trust.  Democracy.  Decency.  Integrity.  Kindness.  Fairness.  Empathy.  

"Talarico defeated Ken Paxton in the general election, 55% to 43%.  He became the first Democrat to win a Texas U.S. Senate seat since Lloyd Bentsen, who was first elected in 1970 and last reelected in 1988 will become the youngest U.S. Senator. "

And then he gave a speech.

Every once in awhile a politician makes a speech that resonates.

A speech that lifts the speaker to a new, higher level.

If you missed it, I encourage you to watch it.  (have tissues handy)

He so perfectly sums up what this election means to this country.  What so many of us were telling the current administration and congress when we went to the polls this year and fired the Republicans.

My feelings about this election are no different than those most of you are experiencing.

Relief.  Pride.  Joy.  

We elected people into positions at every level of government who have declared themselves ready to fight for democracy. 

And look at the diversity!

Diversity.

 It reflects exactly who we are as a country.

Diversity.

The very thing the people we voted to remove tried to use to scare us.  

The thing they tried so hard to make us believe was the monster lurking in corners and under our beds.

And we said Bull. Shit.

The monster is the guy in our White House and his corrupt, self-serving band of thugs. 

 They may wear expensive suits and ties, and they may live in big fancy houses (more than one),  and drive fancy cars (more than one), and own over 31% of our country's wealth, but that phoney gloss covers up, in my opinion, hard hearts and greedy souls.

 When I see these ugly old white men standing tall, grinning smugly, I can picture every one of them fitting comfortably into long white robes and stupid tall pointy hats.  

I am so proud of the blue wave.

So proud of this group of young, vibrant, diverse Democrats who are going to work for us.  

Hope feels good, doesn't it?

Now go watch this speech - 

 https://youtu.be/mYehNiPTirE?si=SOaBw3n3LeR71xew

Or, you can read it here - 

https://singjupost.com/transcript-james-talaricos-victory-speech-after-historic-texas-senate-flip/

And let's hold tight to what we're feeling right now.  We earned these feelings.

We the People

 See what WE did!

After two years of waiting for a corrupt do-nothing Congress to put the brakes on an out of control president moving us away from democracy into an authoritarian government, WE stood up.  And our voices were heard.  

We The People continually asked WHERE ARE THOSE GUARD RAILS?!  

Well, WE THE PEOPLE are putting up the guard rails that the Republicans ignored or kicked aside.

Time for us to remember WE hold the power.

We elected people into positions at every level of government who have declared themselves ready to fight for democracy. 

Y'all.  We The People did this.

Now we need to stay on top of things.  We can't allow this feeling of hope erode into complacency.

We need to remember just how easily trusted institutions capitulated to the corrupt demands.  Institutions including corporate news, universities.  Lawyers and judges.  

Right now I am, like many of you, feeling hopeful.  But the cynic in me will stay on alert.

We have a lot to fix.  Both domestically and around the world.

WE can do it.

We kicked out some of the worst and have put our trust in a promising group of diverse progressive men and women who are willing to fight for this country.  For Democracy.

And, y'all, i want the crooks brought to justice.

No slaps on the wrist.

No forgiveness simply because of who they are, or what positions they have held.

No standing in front of a helicopter with arms high while flashing peace signs.

Let the subpoenas begin.

And then, let's lock 'em up.

(i seem to have woken up this morning with my writing voice back in place.  Yay!!!!)

Today

Whew!

Y'all?

How ya feeling!?

Good?

Feeling good?!!

Hell, yeah!

I am feeling good, and I have given up with trying to stop the tears.  Tears of joy.  Relief.

Just letting them roll.

I have shed many a tear in anger, hurt, and frustration.  Now it's joy's turn.

This country voted for a lot of things we've been missing.

One of my favorite publications, The Bitter Southerner, once again, speaks what's on our minds and in our hearts.

"Civility, intelligence, dignity, care, compassion, the economy...you voted for it all. 🌊💙🙏"

Y’all. ​ This email has taken a minute to write. Honestly, it’s hard to see the keyboard through these tears of joy. ​ Last night we elected the first Black woman governor in U.S. history, the first Native American woman governor in U.S. history, the first openly gay man senator in U.S. history, and the country's first Muslim senator. We made the House and the Senate turn blue. And propelling this historic wave, the women:  Annie, Gina, Keisha, Mary, Deb, Peggy, Amy (Acton and Klobuchar!) and so many more. ​ Bring on the matriarchy!  ​ We love our country, we love our neighbors around the world, and we just elected folks who feel the same. From here on out, we teach our children and we remind ourselves over and over and over: we cannot look away. We must stay engaged. Civic mindedness is non-negotiable. Let’s continue to ride this wave. All the love and a thousand hugs to everyone across this country who continued to believe in a better America, and who've worked tirelessly to make this happen. Thank you for voting. We love you. ​ Thank You, Thank You!

Here's a few of my favorite quotes and memes from this morning -

And here's one of my very most faves

I am not too proud to gloat

THIS is America

Some truly despicable people lost last night.  They showed their true colors and we let them know they just don't fit the standard for what We The People want.

They chose Trump over the America we love.

They lost.

Including some women who truly needed to be told to hit the road.   They will not be missed.  

Have you watched Keisha Lance Bottom's acceptance speech?  You need to do that.  Grab the tissues.

https://youtu.be/YusRDPL79eg?si=U_26qbFEazD5Y4GE

Let's enjoy riding this wave!

We earned it!

❤ 💙 ❤ 💙 ❤ 💙 ❤

Dear GOP,

Decency Matters.

Signed,

United States of America Voters

❤ 💙 ❤ 💙 ❤ 💙 ❤

tears and a Hymn - Reposted from 2017

I've always been a person easily moved to tears. 

I'm the girl who cried during an Eric Clapton acapella encore just from the sheer beauty of it all.

I find myself shedding more tears than usual these days - they began the evening of November 8, 2016.

Donald and Harley and I were settled down in a little beach house at Topsail Island watching the returns.

Plans were made to walk down a quiet beach that we love, step into the ocean that soothes my heart and soul and say a silent "Thank You" once we heard the news I was sure we would hear.

When Hillary Clinton would step up on a stage as the President Elect of the United States of America and say her "thank you's" to a country that was smart enough, strong enough, to turn their backs on the likes of Donald Trump.

Instead, we turned off the TV and sat in dumb silence and went to bed.

I didn't cry that night.

I woke up the next morning thinking the story would have somehow changed during the night.

Well, we know that didn't happen.

And I cried.

And I feel like I've been crying ever since.

And the reasons vary from day to day - sometimes from hour to hour.

Sometimes they come because I am so SO angry.

Or I'm unbearably sad.

Or frustrated by the ignorance.

Or, once again, I'm moved to tears by the beauty of someone's words.

Or the strength they possess in order to write them.

Words such as these, written by Sherman Alexie -

Hymn

Why do we measure people's capacity
To love by how well they love their progeny?

That kind of love is easy. Encoded.
Any lion can be devoted

To its cubs. Any insect, be it prey
Or predator, worships its own DNA.

Like the wolf, elephant, bear, and bees,
We humans are programmed to love what we conceive.

That's why it's so shocking when a neighbor
Drives his car into a pond and slaughter–

Drowns his children. And that's why we curse
The mother who leaves her kids—her hearth—

And never returns. That kind of betrayal
Rattles our souls. That shit is biblical.

So, yes, we should grieve an ocean
When we encounter a caretaker so broken.

But I'm not going to send you a card
For being a decent parent. It ain't that hard

To love somebody who resembles you.
If you want an ode then join the endless queue

Of people who are good to their next of kin—
Who somehow love people with the same chin

And skin and religion and accent and eyes.
So you love your sibling? Big fucking surprise.

But how much do you love the strange and stranger?
Hey, Caveman, do you see only danger

When you peer into the night? Are you afraid
Of the country that exists outside of your cave?

Hey, Caveman, when are you going to evolve?
Are you still baffled by the way the earth revolves

Around the sun and not the other way around?
Are you terrified by the ever-shifting ground?

Hey, Trump, I know you weren't loved enough
By your sandpaper father, who roughed and roughed

And roughed the world. I have some empathy
For the boy you were. But, damn, your incivility,

Your volcanic hostility, your lists
Of enemies, your moral apocalypse—

All of it makes you dumb and dangerous.
You are the Antichrist we need to antitrust.

Or maybe you're only a minor league
Dictator—temporary, small, and weak.

You've wounded our country. It might heal.
And yet, I think of what you've revealed

About the millions and millions of people
Who worship beneath your tarnished steeple.

Those folks admire your lack of compassion.
They think it's honest and wonderfully old-fashioned.

They call you traditional and Christian.
LOL! You've given them permission

To be callous. They have been rewarded
For being heavily armed and heavily guarded.

You've convinced them that their deadly sins
(Envy, wrath, greed) have transformed into wins.

Of course, I'm also fragile and finite and flawed.
I have yet to fully atone for the pain I've caused.

I'm an atheist who believes in grace if not in God.
I'm a humanist who thinks that we’re all not

Humane enough. I think of someone who loves me—
A friend I love back—and how he didn't believe

How much I grieved the death of Prince and his paisley.
My friend doubted that anyone could grieve so deeply

The death of any stranger, especially a star.
"It doesn't feel real," he said. If I could play guitar

And sing, I would have turned purple and roared
One hundred Prince songs—every lick and chord—

But I think my friend would have still doubted me.
And now, in the context of this poem, I can see

That my friend’s love was the kind that only burns
In expectation of a fire in return.

He’s no longer my friend. I mourn that loss.
But, in the Trump aftermath, I've measured the costs

And benefits of loving those who don't love
Strangers. After all, I'm often the odd one—

The strangest stranger—in any field or room.
"He was weird" will be carved into my tomb.

But it’s wrong to measure my family and friends
By where their love for me begins or ends.

It’s too easy to keep a domestic score.
This world demands more love than that. More.

So let me ask demanding questions: Will you be
Eyes for the blind? Will you become the feet

For the wounded? Will you protect the poor?
Will you welcome the lost to your shore?

Will you battle the blood-thieves
And rescue the powerless from their teeth?

Who will you be? Who will I become
As we gather in this terrible kingdom?

My friends, I'm not quite sure what I should do.
I'm as angry and afraid and disillusioned as you.

But I do know this: I will resist hate. I will resist.
I will stand and sing my love. I will use my fist

To drum and drum my love. I will write and read poems
That offer the warmth and shelter of any good home.

I will sing for people who might not sing for me.
I will sing for people who are not my family.

I will sing honor songs for the unfamilar and new.
I will visit a different church and pray in a different pew.

I will silently sit and carefully listen to new stories
About other people’s tragedies and glories.

I will not assume my pain and joy are better.
I will not claim my people invented gravity or weather.

And, oh, I know I will still feel my rage and rage and rage
But I won’t act like I’m the only person onstage.

I am one more citizen marching against hatred.
Alone, we are defenseless. Collected, we are sacred.

We will march by the millions. We will tremble and grieve.
We will praise and weep and laugh. We will believe.

We will be courageous with our love. We will risk danger
As we sing and sing and sing to welcome strangers.

©2017, Sherman Alexie

https://earlybirdbooks.com/hymn-a-new-poem-by-sherman-alexie

Halloween Over the Years

I LOVE Halloween

Always have.

Donald is fun to play Halloween with.

Annabelle, not so much.

Harley was a pretty good sport about it, but reluctantly so.

Halloween Reads

I have a few favorite books that also happen to be terrific books for Halloween reading.

Scary books!

But the fun, old fashioned kind of scary, not the yucky blood & gore stuff that's passing itself off as scary these days.

I just LOVE these books!

and the "Georgetown Trio" by the incomparable Barbara Michaels:

In the spirit of Halloween, what are your favorite scary books?