NOVEMBER 9, 2016

November 9, 2016

Late Tuesday Night: 11/8/16

I have turned off the TV and bailed on Facebook.  This feeling of fear is an interesting one.  

There was a bit of a problem at the poll where I voted yesterday and though it really isn't a big deal, it was the first time that it had happened.  Poll workers are required to update the registered voter list that is publicly posted outside the polling place that shows the names of all the registered voters. They are supposed to mark a line through the name of each person who has voted.  When I went to check to see if my neighbors had been to the poll, not one name on any street had been marked. 

This bothered me and one of the long time poll workers came out to see what I was talking about. She blamed "Eddie" another guy who has been working the polls for years for not keeping up with the updates.  "We have been very busy.." Of course, you are busy, but you are supposed to follow the law. 

 I waited on hold for half an hour with the LA County Registrar of voters to make a report. Eventually, a woman came on the line, took the essence of my report said they would expedite the matter.  She said someone would call me back for details. No one ever called.  

When I returned to the poll two hours later, the staff had changed.  A man about forty with dark curly hair and a beard was taking in voters.  I asked him about the lists.  He dismissed me rudely.  I should have gotten his name.

With panic setting in on Facebook and my desire to not have to deal with the TV news, here I sit the night of what might be the most important election of our time and am hoping that the panic in the FB posts is premature.  Michael Moore predicted that the orange bully could win.  FBI director James Comey's interference with the old email issue may have had something to do with what might be happening.  

Is our country turning into a fascist state?  Am I an alarmist to see that the rise to power for Hitler was much the same as we have seen with this maniacal republican?  I refuse to say his name.  I refuse to write it.  I refuse to acknowledge anything about this election until it's over and then.. we shall see.

Isn't fear an interesting feeling?  I mean real fear, not the jump out from the bushes "Gottcha!", but a deeper feeling of angst and powerlessness? 

Politics.  Tuesday night.  Gosh.. I hope that all this  panic is for nothing. 

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The morning after..  Heaven Help Us. 

I checked email one last time last night and saw the news that the republicant had won.  The popular vote went to Hillary.  A map of our nation from the middle of the country on to the east turned a Blood Red.  Blood Red.  On the news this morning, riots in Oakland.  On Facebook a genuine feeling of dread.  Calls for unity are trickling in.  On a personal note, I have the satisfaction of knowing that my ultra conservative former friend, Tom Hayden, in Greeley, Colorado who said he was voting for the orange man, did not influence that state. Colorado stayed blue.

I really don't like politics.  It makes me physically ill to see this new president on TV.  I've actively deleted images of him when I see them.  His hubris and disrespect soils everything it touches. 

The best I can do is mourn and hope for a miracle. And, I feel sad for the little boy who is **'s son.  He looks lost and afraid.  His life is forever changed, too.  Barron.  Poor kid. Deer in the headlights. We are in for a rocky time in American History.  

Be kind to one another. 

michaelsheehan

November 9, 2016

Chayote 11/9/16