Why It Hurts

The dust is settling.  A collection of rationalizations are being developed.  Many believe that the lives they have known will continue largely unaltered.  Some even hope things will improve.

There are some of us, however, that have already been changed.  You see, we saw a light.  It was dim, but it was there.  The future we dreamed of was so close.  In 2008, I joined the Democratic party long enough to vote in the primary.  I was glad I did.  In 2016, I did so again.  The candidate I chose was not chosen by the party.  However, I gave my support to the Democratic party regardless.  The future would come slower, but it would come.

And then November 8th came...

I watched as it became more obvious that the election had been decided.  I watched as news organizations held off from "calling it".  I watched as 61,000,000 Americans voted for the past.  I watched as 61,000,000 Americans voted for failure.  I watched as 61,000,000 Americans voted for hate.  Meanwhile, 90,000,000 Americans didn't care enough to even express an opinion.

And now, I no longer care.  I had held on to hope.  I had believed in my fellow humans.  That belief had been tested again and again, but it had remained.  It has shattered.

I may be wrong about what the next few years will bring.  I do not believe I am.  I believe history has given us quite enough examples to make a projection.  I will not throw around cliches or comparisons.  If the parallels aren't clear to someone, it is because they are deluding themselves.  It can happen here.  It can happen now. 

I will not "hope for the best" or "see what happens".  Instead, I will give people exactly what they have asked for.

On the hills

The light burns in the land of Eternal Twilight
It has its time but is quickly obscured
Gray and green rule and their reign is not tested
I am not of this land

My land is far across the sea
It calls to me
Its voice made louder by the waves
Just yesterday I pondered leaving
Now I know home

I have become addicted to her moods
I think on her often
She that fed me from birth
Her ways have become mine

Soon I will leave this land
I will soar away
I have left no mark upon it
Has it left a mark on me?

The Third Party... Racists

I was reminded that the Democratic party aligned with the Ku Klux Klan.  Many people will simply ignore this as rhetoric.  However, we should not ignore this.  There are a large group of people that are not aligned to a party but to hatred.

The Dixiecrats, Strom Thurman, George Wallace... they may have been labeled Democrats at one point.  They may have referenced "states rights", but it has always been the same.  At the moment, the hate mongers have aligned with the Republican party.  I need not provide evidence for this, the nomination has already taken place.

Time and again, politicians have made references to stereotypes to further their agendas.  The references may have been less obvious in other cases, but the truth is that "the race card" is played by the hate mongers in nearly every election year.

We should not simply ignore misinformation and half-truths.  We must call out all direct and indirect racism.  The re-emergence of more direct racism is not really surprising.  The hate mongers have always been there.  They will always be there.  We must identify them.  We must stop pretending that we are talking about a tiny fraction of the population.  Hate is commonplace.

The lines have been drawn.  Open racism has again reared its head.  We must all now choose how to react.