Moving Forward

I've taken awhile to post this, mainly because I didn't wish to talk politics for awhile following the general election in the U.S. in November.  Readers of this blog know that I vote for politicians who promote the advancement of science.  In this past election, that was Hillary Clinton.  I was deeply disappointed when she lost.  I admit to having some fear for what this means for the future of this nation, in particular what this means for the fight against climate change.  However, on the morning of Wednesday, November 9 I had a choice.  I could rant and rave about a rigged election and unfair results and let my daughters see this, or I could move forward and use this as example to explain how democracy in the U.S. works.

It was hard telling my daughters in the morning that the next president will be Donald Trump.  They both wanted Hillary Clinton to win.  They both wanted to see the first female president.  I explained to them that Mommy and Daddy are disappointed but the people of the U.S. voted for Donald Trump (I didn't go into the Electoral College with them).  We may be disappointed, but we had a choice and we made it.  Others made their choices too.  More people on the other side (based on electoral votes) voted than on our side.  Therefore we lost.

But it's important to move forward.  I explained that Donald Trump is our president.  We may not like it, but we have to accept it.  We can't say that he's "not our president".  We are one country and he IS our president whether we like it or not.  I explained we move forward.  We still fight for the things we think are right.  We write to our politicians.  We play a greater role in the political process.  They are getting older.  In four years they will be 13 and 10.  Old enough to have a better understanding of politics.  I want to get them involved.  I want to get myself more involved.  This may take the form of making phone calls, canvassing, placing signs around the community, working with the local county party.  I don't know right now, but what I do know is I want my daughters to understand the importance of politics.  If we don't fight for what we think is right, we lose.

Part of why I write this is for me.  I'm still stunned.  I'm still disappointed.  I'm still somewhat fearful of how this will all play out.  It's a feeling that many had when Obama won in 2008 and 2012.  Now it's my turn to experience these feelings.  I don't like them nor should I.  Nor should anyone.  But we move forward to continue the good fight to make this country a better place.  We are not the best country in the world.  In fact, I think it's ridiculous that anyone should be fighting to be the best.  No one is the best at everything.  But we can fight to make things better.

This is a bit rambled as I'm quickly writing my thoughts as they come to mind.  For that, I apologize.  I know there are many excited about this year's election outcome and others who feel how I do.  My goal is to teach my daughters that it doesn't matter.  We are still people who have human rights.  We have to work together to make the world a better place and we can't do that by failing to acknowledge the other side won fair and square.  The other side did win fair and square based on the rules set forth in the U.S. Constitution (referring to the Electoral College).

That's enough for now.  I'm not sure if any of this makes any sense.  Right now not much makes sense to me so I'll assume what I wrote above comes across as a foreign language.  I don't know.  Peace.