We were with her. However, as we cautioned the girls (who were among her most ardent supporters, despite their inability to vote), the election was very close, and we were prepared for the election to go either way. Even as the media celebrated Hillary's imminent win, we reminded the trio that the race appeared to be hovering at 50-50 odds. We told the children that regardless of the outcome we would support the president-elect on November 9th, and we would pray for both candidates.
The girls and even George, to a lesser degree, were very interested in this election, having studied both candidates, having watched the debates and familiarizing themselves with the minor candidates on the ballot. We encouraged them to make their own choices about which candidate they preferred for the job. Unanimously, they chose HRC, and they accepted the fact that we are a political minority in our exceptionally red state. Grace and Lauren asked to go to the polls, and they carefully filled in the bubble beside HRC's name on my ballot. Lauren outlined the outer edges, and Grace filled in the center. We had hoped that would be a lasting memory from a historical election, a memory they would one day share with their grandchildren. Although I am sure they will cast their own vote for a female president in their lifetime, they will remember helping me vote for the first female candidate of a major political party. To explain some of the gender issues surrounding the election, I pointed the girls to this photo of Susan B. Anthony.
[Some sources list the above photo as being Susan B. Anthony, while some indicate that this is a fellow suffragist, Ida Wright. Regardless, this woman was struck down and arrested for requesting the right to vote.]
Although they know Ms. Anthony's story, they know it through the rose colored glasses of their age-appropriate education. Gaining equality has always required a fight. While she may not have gotten to shatter her celebratory glass ceiling on election night, HRC fought a good fight, and she put more cracks in the ceiling than ever before.
Truthfully, we struggled to keep our vow to support Trump on November 9th. Skip and I called the girls downstairs first thing that morning, and we had to tell them that HRC lost. If you know us at all, you know that we are not big on drama, but telling them the results of the election was like communicating a death. They cried and were very concerned about the ramifications of a Trump presidency. The girls' closest friends are of hispanic origin, and they immediately thought of the centerpiece of Trump's campaign. "Effective campaign devices" is how Newt Gingrich has dismissed the divisive promises Trump made to his base. "We will have to pray and hope that common sense will prevail," is what we told them. We also gave them a Jed Bartlett inspired speech about being an American patriot, and that their most important job of the day was to go to school and excel.
Also, since it was track day, I told them to outrun all of the Trump supporters.
Oh, I kid.
To be honest, keeping our vow of throwing our full support behind President-Elect Trump was more difficult than we expected. Although we didn't light fires and protest in the cul-de-sac, we took a couple of days to collect ourselves.
Our biggest indulgence was Lauren's announcement on her dry erase boards in her "classroom":
Obviously, that's a frown-face next to the Trump announcement, but be sure not to miss the eye-roll as well.
We discussed the popular vote versus the electoral college, and we talked about what it means to win and lose graciously. We talked about how our differences give us strength and what it really means to be the United States of America.
Going forward, we are approaching this thing with humor. To that end, here are some election observations.
1) Quotes from the children.
a) When explaining the degree to which our state is red and the controversial history of our state viz civil rights and race relations, Lauren cried out, "Then why do we LIVE here?!?!"
b) We are in the reddest of states. Accordingly, the trio's classrooms overwhelmingly favored Trump. Gracie was a little shy about sharing her vote, but Lauren jumped up in class and forcefully said, "I'M WITH HER!"
c) When discussing a likely Trump win, George asked, "If Trump wins, will you home school me?"
d) When telling them the election results, Gracie burst into tears and cried out, "I CANNOT stay here with him as President!!!!"
For the record, we never even jokingly discussed any fantasies of leaving our country should our candidate lose, but they obviously picked up the sentiment elsewhere.
2) Quotes from my personal social media.
Because we are in deep, red state territory (I realize I keep repeating that, but it cannot be stressed enough), we have some truly pro-Trump gems. Now there are plenty of people who voted for Trump because they are struggling, are frustrated and basically wanted to vote against the establishment. I know many of those people, and they earnestly love their country. However, I also know some of those occupying some space in the "basket of deplorables". While I do not agree with their ideology, there's some good, quotable material in their feeds. I am not going to post that, with the exception of one fairly innocuous gem date-stamped late on election night:
"Y'all... if Trump wins, I'm gon' get out every gun I own and shoot 'em!"
3) Make America Great Again
We love our country. Neither party has exclusivity on patriotism. We love Jesus, and we respect the environment because it is God's creation. We want to be safe. We love children, and we want to see them have insurance and access to healthcare. Access to an affordable education would be wonderful. When I see images of children, who are my own children's ages, who are wounded and hurting in the aftermath of having their home bombed, I want to help.
I'm sure your beliefs are equally noble.
And while you will never observe me disrespecting our country or its sacred symbols, be prepared to hear me poke fun of "Make America Great Again," a la "Thanks, Obama" style, for the next four years. My need to make fun of this slogan is directed at Trump's Twitter tendencies and not the USA. #maga is one of the bright spots of this entire ordeal.
Por ejemplo:
This past weekend consisted of three consecutive days of home improvement at the Lindsey abode, during which time Skip spent about eight hours sanding, conditioning and staining our front door which was in sad condition due to the westward facing position of our home. After about hour five, we were giddily telling anyone who stopped by, "We're just trying to make the door great again."
It's highly possible that only we will find #maga and our overuse funny. For more giggles, peruse the Biden memes.
I am woefully behind on all other posting and will resume this week.
Let's make the blog great again.
