A-Angry. B-Bitter. C-Concerned. D-Despairing. E- Exhale
voting
Who Are You People?
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My friend posted this on Threads. I scrolled past it because I wasn’t ready. I was still living in Schroedinger’s Democracy. I have questions about yesterday’s outcomes. Tomorrow I will go through all my emails and unsubscribe from every news organization that I feel betrayed the American values we purported to share. These include The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time, Politico, possibly a few of the Crooked Media podcasts among others that helped heave us into this cesspool of apathy and antisemitism.
Another thread that I want to share came from “OhNoSheTwint” who wrote, “It wasn’t ‘but her emails;’ it was ‘but they’re females.'”
I sat with my friend’s simple, heartbreaking post. I went into my daughter’s room to watch her sleep. She was also in Schroedinger’s Democracy up until the point from her very first vote just over twenty-four hours before to when her eyes opened, and I watched her groggy and yawning and innocently unknowing, and I kissed her head and I went out and brought back bagels.
On the drive, with the window down and the cool air blowing, a litany came to me.
- Women’s Rights. It is finished.
- Equality. It is finished.
- Protecting women and girls from predators. It is finished.
- Rule of law. It is finished.
- Department of Education. It is finished.
- Safe school. It is finished.
- Climate Progress. It is finished.
- Voting rights. It is finished.
- Public safety. It is finished.
- Separation of church and state. It is finished.
- Freedom of religion. It is finished.
- Freedom from religion. It is finished.
- Freedom of the press. It is finished.
- Freedom of Assembly. It is finished.
- The Right to an Education. It is finished.
- Learning history. It is finished.
- Social security and medicare. It is finished.
- Standing up to Jewish hate. It is finished.
- Facts matter. It is finished.
- America. After two hundred forty-eight years, it is finished.
It is finished.
Election Connection – Know Your Rights
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Mental Health Monday – Election Edition
StandardWhatever happens (or doesn’t happen) tomorrow and in the following weeks, once you’ve cast your vote, there isn’t anything left to do. Settling into that in-between time between when the polls open and when the President-Elect is announced can be fraught with anxiety and worry. I feel it, too.
I’m going to vote first thing in the morning with my final first-time voter child, have an unhealthy breakfast (probably McDonald’s), drop my other child off at work, and then go to work myself, and then I’m going to let it go until I catch up to Rachel Maddow in the evening.
We planned our dinner around watching the returns, but my plan is to remain in a neutral frame of mind. That doesn’t mean that I don’t care about the outcome – I care very much, but it will be out of my hands, and I need to hope that everyone understood the assignment.
My advice to anyone who’s very anxious is to turn off the television and do something else. You will know when it’s time to come back to the news. Read a book. Drink water. Watch a rom-com or another favorite genre. I may hit up the Supernatural reruns because they soothe me. What soothes you? Use it.
And tomorrow, we’ll see what the world wants to tell us.
Peace.
Election Connection – 1 Week
In exactly one week, we will be voting to save our democracy.
Be sure and fill in your circle completely and verify that your ballot is accepted.
Turn your ballot over – there may be ballot initiatives, propositions, referendums that need to be voted on. Here in New York, there is a lot of misinformation going around about our Proposition 1, an amendment to the Equal Rights Amendment.
The claims that they are only out to “save girls’ sports” is disingenuous at best, bigoted and hateful at worst. Please vote yes to save our girls; to give them bodily autonomy, travel autonomy (something that Texas is trying to ban without a pregnancy test), and a reminder that trans girls and women ARE GIRLS and WOMEN. Please get the correct information and don’t fall into the trap of denying girls in New York state their equal rights
Election Connection – 12 Days
StandardWe can do this!
In our house, we have a first time voter! We are very excited to have her vote for HER rights and who we hope will be the FIRST WOMAN President.
In 12 days, she, her father, and I will walk together into our polling place and watch her “pull the lever” for Democracy. She knows the issues; she knows what’s at stake, and she’s ready to add this civic duty to her growing list of growing up milestones, following graduation from high school, getting a driver’s license and buying herself a car, and working in her chosen field.
We are so proud of all of our kids who are choosing their ways through life, and we are proud that they all know that equal rights are for everyone, and civil rights are human rights.
Take the responsibility and the privilege and go out and vote on November 5, and let’s turn this country around.
BRING THE JOY!
HARRIS/WALZ 91 DAYS LFG!
What do we get with Tim Walz?
- As governor, he has executive experience
- Midwest state
- Joyful – this is going to be the most joyful Presidential ticket in history, and there’s something to be said for joy for the sake of joy.
- In his state, he signed an executive order protecting gender affirming care; he eliminated tuition for state schools and signed into law universal free school lunches. We know that kids need to eat healthy in order to learn and thrive.
- And so much more.
- As an added bonus, his Lieutenant Governor is Peggy Flanagan, who will become the first Native American Governor in the country. She is a citizen of the White Earth Nation Ojibwe and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Child Psychology and American Indian Studies.
The choice of Walz is a win-win for the country and for Minnesota.
Election Connection – 91 Days Left
StandardToday we should know who VP Harris chooses as her running mate. All the names put forward as being on the short list are all excellent candidates. They all have virtually the same positions on every subject: reproductive rights, gun control, rule of law, Supreme Court reform, and the war on Israel.
We will be lucky to have any one of them.
But first, we need to get them elected on November 5th!
Before you go on vacation.
Before school starts.
Before Election Day comes and goes.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO SAVE DEMOCRACY BY GETTING OUT THE VOTE FOR KAMALA HARRIS AND HER VICE PRESIDENT AND THE REST OF HER PROSPECTIVE ADMINISTRATION?!
Travel – Following in Susan B. Anthony’s Footsteps
One year, on our way to Canada, we stopped in Rochester, New York. My boys wanted to visit a comic store (of course), and since we were in Rochester, I suggested we visit Susan B. Anthony’s gravesite (Section C, Plot 93). I wanted my daughter to see a symbol of one of the pioneers of suffrage and women’s right to vote. Especially because when I mentioned that she had been on the dollar coin, there was a little confusion and looking up the difference between the Anthony dollar and the Sacajawea one. Driving to Niagara Falls and the Canadian border, west on I-90, there are several signs for women’s history from Seneca Falls, NY (birthplace of women’s rights) to Auburn, NY (home of Harriet Tubman).
I’ve written before about Susan B. Anthony and suffrage. They can be found by searching my tags in the search bar to the left. Below find some places to visit related to Susan B. and women’s rights as well as the surrounding area.
There are no falls in Seneca Falls.
Susan B. Anthony’s gravesite can be found at the Mount Hope Cemetery. Frederick Douglass may also be found in his final resting place here.
National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House
Near her house is the Susan B. Anthony Park.
Women’s Rights National Historical Park
National Women’s Hall of Fame – reopening in the spring
Spend 48 Hours in Seneca Falls (from the I Love NY site)
Also visit this online, virtual, “museum without walls”: National Women’s History Museum
And this online feature at the New York State Museum: Votes for Women: Celebrating New York’s Suffrage Centennial
Rochester Region Suffrage Timeline
Play Women’s Hall of Fame Solitaire
Finally, use the Freethought Trail to plan your journeys for the following (more available on the website):
Women’s Suffrage Conventions Trail
Election Connection – Year End Wrap
What a Year from Vote Save America
Let’s look at the list of the races we were following here for the 2022 Election, and see how we fared:
- Senate Races
- AZ – Mark Kelly
- CO – Michael Bennet
- CT – Richard Blumenthal
FL – Val Demmings- GA – Rev. Raphael Warnock
- HI – Brian Schatz
- NH – Maggie Hassan
- NV – Catherine Cortez-Masto
- NY – Chuck Schumer
OH – Tim Ryan- PA – John Fetterman
- WA – Patty Murray
WI – Mandela BarnesAlso, keep an eye on Iowa and Kentucky
- House of Representatives
- AK – Mary Peltola
- MI – Elissa Slotkin
NY – Matt CastelliNY – Sean Maloney- VA – Abigail Spanberger
- Governors
- CA – Gavin Newsom
- CO – Jared Polis
FL – Charlie CristGA – Stacey Abrams- MI – Gretchen Whitmer
- NY – Kathy Hochul
- PA – Josh Shapiro
TX – Beto O’Rourke
- Mayor
- Los Angeles – Karen Bass
Looks like the majority of them won their races. Beto and Tim Ryan were close. We need to keep pushing in Ohio and Texas. In that endeavor, follow Olivia Julianna on Twitter (while there’s still a twitter). She is a Gen Z political activist, doesn’t back down, and speaks her mind.
Have we learned anything from the last several years?
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Griffins and Ginger Snaps 