You get up in the morning, and you take a shower, and you wash your face and your hair – what there is of it, anyway – and you wash your armpits, and you wash your legs and your private parts and your feet, and don’t forget between your toes! In the kitchen, you make yourself a cup of coffee, and if the paper is delivered, you go out in your apartment hallway or out on the stoop and get your paper and sit down to read the news. If you’re working outside the home, by subway or car or foot, you go to the office and do your job. At lunchtime, you eat your lunch. After work, you go out to dinner, or you pick up something already prepared, or at home in the kitchen, you make your dinner. Later, you might watch the news or one of your shows on network or cable or streaming television. When you get tired, you change into your pajamas and you climb into your bed and go to sleep.
I waited till today to vote, it just feels better somehow to wait till today.
Eight years ago, I was in hospital waiting for a 'cabbage' or 6-way bypass surgery.....
Didn't know the results till the next am, when a nurse informed me. I requested the morphine pump, it was THAT depressing to hear that Trump became our president. And it's been the Gong show ever since.
Been so very anxious about this election, it's been a real joy to watch it all unfold, including Joe so graciously step aside.
I know the women will bring this victory, and hopefully in huge numbers to our Kamala.
And just FYI, the ticker is doing just fine!
Thanks again Lucian, your daily email remains my favorite & most looked forward to....
This should be taught from childhood on. One of my earliest memories is my mother taking me with her to vote. I doubt I reached her hip in height. And what she told me that day - that when she was born that women did not have the right to vote, so I should never miss an election and the chance to vote. She told her granddaughters that too.
I'm going to use this as an excuse to say something I've been thinking, Patris. An Indian-American woman presidential candidate has been prominent in each party in this election. I'd have laid money that such pioneers would have been Greek-American women, the fiercest, most single-minded I ever encountered. This is going back, but think of Melina Mercouri as representative. …
Based on the inspiring positive momentum and America for all message Kamala Harris has infused in her campaign, I'm confident she will win the popular vote and the EC while Trump increasingly looks like a train wreck heading for the dust bin of history. My week of positive calls in N. Carolina reinforced that belief. As many analytics guys are pointing out, early voting trends look favorable for us but the effort to understand by how much is quite foggy.
Winning BIG today and Weds is WAR I and we'll win. The larger the margin in the popular vote the better.
However, we all need to brace for WAR II. Trump and MAGA's response to a second loss may be loud, legalistic and potentially violent. What individual citizens or the totality of the grassroots movement can do to fight WAR II is not clear to me.
For starters, I'm thankful that Joe Biden will be POTUS until Jan 20 and commander in chief of our military should we need it.
I'm also thankful the DOJ works under a Democratic administration this time around.
After that, we must be prepared to stand up for our 250 year democracy and our tradition of free and fair elections. It's been a long battle. Getting our grievance driven fellow MAGA Americans to return to our democratic heritage is the next battle we must win.
You are right on to enumerate all the things we can already be grateful for, including that at least until Jan. 20, Joe Biden is commander in chief, the DOJ is run by sane Democrats, and it is Kamala who will preside over the Congressional certification of the Electoral College results in Congress on January 6.
On word choices, I'd rather say CONTEST or CAMPAIGN than "war". I want my language to embody the principle that as Americans, we should be able to settle all our differences with our fellow Americans _peacefully_ . It may feel like we are in a war, because TCFG frames the contest in such dark and violent terms, creating an entire dark and violent fantasy universe to lure his supporters into. I think part of deprogramming his millions of cult members will be to _show_ them that the future we are working hard for is a better future for them, too. It will be a long process, and we won't end up persuading everybody, but a lot of the women already get it. It will take us longer with the MAGA men.
Eating my lunch as I read this, Lucian. After school is over, I plan to go home and take the dog for a long walk, passing by the polling location at my local elementary school. I want to see LONG lines, like the ones I saw, and stood in, for both Obama elections.
My wife is going to a watch party with several of her loud friends tonight, so I opted to stay home and walk the dog a few more times, grill an Impossible Burger, and quaff a Keegan Ale's Mother's Milk stout, but leave the TV off. I'll go to bed blissfully unaware of what the pundits say on the idiot box and read a little SciFi before I fall asleep.
I expect to walk around school tomorrow with a spring in my step and a smile on my face.
I've already voted at a nearby library a week ago, with very long lines, but quick and efficient team inside. It took longer to fill in all the circles at the top (D) line of candidates, than to go in and cast my vote.
"This is the last day before the rest of our lives." This is a very accurate description. And so is the last sentence from Merrill: "Getting our grievance driven fellow MAGA Americans to return to our democratic heritage is the next battle we must win." The one leads directly to the other - i.e., the rest of our lives will likely be consumed with trying to de-program as many MAGAites as we can. Many will die off b/c they are old white people. Others - the young, uneducated white guys - may simply mature enough (as they become the fathers to daughters?) to understand why voting for Democrats helps raise them up AND keep their daughters safe. Kamala's getting older women to vote for her thanks to the anti-choice crowd's over-reach and the Supreme Court's Dodd decision is a gift that will probably keep on giving, since the anti-choice crowd will neither give up nor die off. My guess is that for at least the next 40-50 years, this "war" will continue. Very depressing but at least it's the good fight.
One of the things I really like about your writing, Lucian, is the way you make concepts concrete by providing examples. The other day it was about how we all benefit from the infrastructure our taxes have paid for. Today it's the effects of voting. Thank you for connecting the dots.
Drove my daughters EV to the polling place, EZ. Thanks for starting your substack. I used to wait for the Salon articles to drop and now I don't have to. It's like having electricity and hot water. Thanks
I take the fact that Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal is calling for a day one pardon is an indication that Rupert has seen the tracking polls and they are not good for Felonious Trump, his puppet, revenue stream and vexatious "friend." Good. Now for the "no pardon; if he's done the crime he needs to do the time" campaign. Besides, as he demonstrated by mock fellating a microphone, he's already mastered all the prison survival skills he needs.
Women will save the world. Beautiful day on Cape Cod today.
I voted by mail but drove sweet husband down to the local polling place, largely for me to see the lovely ladies from the church who always put out a huge spread of homemade baked goods on every Election Day as a fundraiser. They did not disappoint. Almost all elderly — that is, older’n me— they loved my VOTE sweatshirt with letters shaped like, respectively, two books together in a V, a fist in a circle, an anatomically correct uterus with fallopian tubes and ovaries, and an E with rainbow stripes. There was a big sign out front cautioning us that no political materials, e.g., signs, buttons, hats, tee shirts, etc are allowed within 150’ of a polling place, but somehow my awesome wordless leggings with cats and blue waves got overlooked. They loved that too.
It was a happy morning. Even the poll workers, scrupulously observing their impartial role as they confirmed that my mail-in vote had been logged in, agreed with my unscientific sampling of the thirty- or forty-odd people present showing all but one or two women relaxed and smiling, all but one man looking stern and unhappy. Unofficially, they were struck by the anecdotal finding that developed over the day: the frowning folks were all of one (unspecified) party, and the smiley women were of another. They also noted a notable increase in enthusiastic younger, first-time voters.
Husband picked up an extra “I Voted” sticker for me and we went home with some killer brownies and Joe Froggers. Democracy, ya gotta love it.
Just yesterday, a friend shared with me a similar anecdotal account of her experience in an exercise class at the senior center. She noted that the "feel" was especially tense and almost nobody was talking. One elderly woman, however, vehemently expressed her fear about "violence" because "the blues were going to take everything over." My friend and her exercise buddy looked at each other and grinned, saying "we're blue." It amuses me that the grim faces and anxiety over violence are emanating from the very party that engages in violence as a remedy to just about everything, while the dastardly "blues" prefer to discuss, debate, use reason, and employ democratic solutions.
Just voted. Town Hall was packed with mostly young people registering to vote. It looks good.
O Blue!! Thank you for sharing!
And we are in New Hampshire!
Pure poetry and from the heart. Thanks for your wisdom and passion, Lucian.
Go Kamala! Go America!
Chris, we speak Lucian!! I agree with you, verbatim.
I waited till today to vote, it just feels better somehow to wait till today.
Eight years ago, I was in hospital waiting for a 'cabbage' or 6-way bypass surgery.....
Didn't know the results till the next am, when a nurse informed me. I requested the morphine pump, it was THAT depressing to hear that Trump became our president. And it's been the Gong show ever since.
Been so very anxious about this election, it's been a real joy to watch it all unfold, including Joe so graciously step aside.
I know the women will bring this victory, and hopefully in huge numbers to our Kamala.
And just FYI, the ticker is doing just fine!
Thanks again Lucian, your daily email remains my favorite & most looked forward to....
Corky in KC
This should be taught from childhood on. One of my earliest memories is my mother taking me with her to vote. I doubt I reached her hip in height. And what she told me that day - that when she was born that women did not have the right to vote, so I should never miss an election and the chance to vote. She told her granddaughters that too.
My grandmother couldn't vote until she was 40, but she never missed an election after that. My vote has already been counted.
I'm going to use this as an excuse to say something I've been thinking, Patris. An Indian-American woman presidential candidate has been prominent in each party in this election. I'd have laid money that such pioneers would have been Greek-American women, the fiercest, most single-minded I ever encountered. This is going back, but think of Melina Mercouri as representative. …
You’re right - and I was raised to believe that there was no door closed to me (except being a sea captain which I wanted to be) ..
So - you’d think so. I have some thoughts on that myself ..
And I wanted to be the first woman jockey! Robin somebody beat me to it!
Didn’t she marry Fred Astaire?
Yes she did!
TWO WARS TO WIN:
Based on the inspiring positive momentum and America for all message Kamala Harris has infused in her campaign, I'm confident she will win the popular vote and the EC while Trump increasingly looks like a train wreck heading for the dust bin of history. My week of positive calls in N. Carolina reinforced that belief. As many analytics guys are pointing out, early voting trends look favorable for us but the effort to understand by how much is quite foggy.
Winning BIG today and Weds is WAR I and we'll win. The larger the margin in the popular vote the better.
However, we all need to brace for WAR II. Trump and MAGA's response to a second loss may be loud, legalistic and potentially violent. What individual citizens or the totality of the grassroots movement can do to fight WAR II is not clear to me.
For starters, I'm thankful that Joe Biden will be POTUS until Jan 20 and commander in chief of our military should we need it.
I'm also thankful the DOJ works under a Democratic administration this time around.
After that, we must be prepared to stand up for our 250 year democracy and our tradition of free and fair elections. It's been a long battle. Getting our grievance driven fellow MAGA Americans to return to our democratic heritage is the next battle we must win.
You are right on to enumerate all the things we can already be grateful for, including that at least until Jan. 20, Joe Biden is commander in chief, the DOJ is run by sane Democrats, and it is Kamala who will preside over the Congressional certification of the Electoral College results in Congress on January 6.
On word choices, I'd rather say CONTEST or CAMPAIGN than "war". I want my language to embody the principle that as Americans, we should be able to settle all our differences with our fellow Americans _peacefully_ . It may feel like we are in a war, because TCFG frames the contest in such dark and violent terms, creating an entire dark and violent fantasy universe to lure his supporters into. I think part of deprogramming his millions of cult members will be to _show_ them that the future we are working hard for is a better future for them, too. It will be a long process, and we won't end up persuading everybody, but a lot of the women already get it. It will take us longer with the MAGA men.
I sooo agree. It took a generation in Germany after Hitler. I hope we can accomplish peaceful coexistence faster.
Eloquent. Your mom and dad and I daresay grandpa and the Randolphs would have been especially proud of this column.
My folks were always proud, but unsurprised. And my Randolph great aunts down in Charlottesville subscribed to the Voice until I left in '75.
Eating my lunch as I read this, Lucian. After school is over, I plan to go home and take the dog for a long walk, passing by the polling location at my local elementary school. I want to see LONG lines, like the ones I saw, and stood in, for both Obama elections.
My wife is going to a watch party with several of her loud friends tonight, so I opted to stay home and walk the dog a few more times, grill an Impossible Burger, and quaff a Keegan Ale's Mother's Milk stout, but leave the TV off. I'll go to bed blissfully unaware of what the pundits say on the idiot box and read a little SciFi before I fall asleep.
I expect to walk around school tomorrow with a spring in my step and a smile on my face.
I've already voted at a nearby library a week ago, with very long lines, but quick and efficient team inside. It took longer to fill in all the circles at the top (D) line of candidates, than to go in and cast my vote.
Thanks for providing an even keel for most of us.
"This is the last day before the rest of our lives." This is a very accurate description. And so is the last sentence from Merrill: "Getting our grievance driven fellow MAGA Americans to return to our democratic heritage is the next battle we must win." The one leads directly to the other - i.e., the rest of our lives will likely be consumed with trying to de-program as many MAGAites as we can. Many will die off b/c they are old white people. Others - the young, uneducated white guys - may simply mature enough (as they become the fathers to daughters?) to understand why voting for Democrats helps raise them up AND keep their daughters safe. Kamala's getting older women to vote for her thanks to the anti-choice crowd's over-reach and the Supreme Court's Dodd decision is a gift that will probably keep on giving, since the anti-choice crowd will neither give up nor die off. My guess is that for at least the next 40-50 years, this "war" will continue. Very depressing but at least it's the good fight.
One of the things I really like about your writing, Lucian, is the way you make concepts concrete by providing examples. The other day it was about how we all benefit from the infrastructure our taxes have paid for. Today it's the effects of voting. Thank you for connecting the dots.
"If you don't act, someone else will decide everything." Donald Judd
Drove my daughters EV to the polling place, EZ. Thanks for starting your substack. I used to wait for the Salon articles to drop and now I don't have to. It's like having electricity and hot water. Thanks
Lucian,
Thank you for your inspiration!! I’ve already voted by mail but your words have given me a wonderful boost in celebration of my vote!
Gail
I take the fact that Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal is calling for a day one pardon is an indication that Rupert has seen the tracking polls and they are not good for Felonious Trump, his puppet, revenue stream and vexatious "friend." Good. Now for the "no pardon; if he's done the crime he needs to do the time" campaign. Besides, as he demonstrated by mock fellating a microphone, he's already mastered all the prison survival skills he needs.
Good point George!
Ha-ha! Love it! Little does Donny realize, but if he goes to the Big House, he ain’t gonna be pitchin’. He’ll be catching! (LOL!)
Women will save the world. Beautiful day on Cape Cod today.
I voted by mail but drove sweet husband down to the local polling place, largely for me to see the lovely ladies from the church who always put out a huge spread of homemade baked goods on every Election Day as a fundraiser. They did not disappoint. Almost all elderly — that is, older’n me— they loved my VOTE sweatshirt with letters shaped like, respectively, two books together in a V, a fist in a circle, an anatomically correct uterus with fallopian tubes and ovaries, and an E with rainbow stripes. There was a big sign out front cautioning us that no political materials, e.g., signs, buttons, hats, tee shirts, etc are allowed within 150’ of a polling place, but somehow my awesome wordless leggings with cats and blue waves got overlooked. They loved that too.
It was a happy morning. Even the poll workers, scrupulously observing their impartial role as they confirmed that my mail-in vote had been logged in, agreed with my unscientific sampling of the thirty- or forty-odd people present showing all but one or two women relaxed and smiling, all but one man looking stern and unhappy. Unofficially, they were struck by the anecdotal finding that developed over the day: the frowning folks were all of one (unspecified) party, and the smiley women were of another. They also noted a notable increase in enthusiastic younger, first-time voters.
Husband picked up an extra “I Voted” sticker for me and we went home with some killer brownies and Joe Froggers. Democracy, ya gotta love it.
Just yesterday, a friend shared with me a similar anecdotal account of her experience in an exercise class at the senior center. She noted that the "feel" was especially tense and almost nobody was talking. One elderly woman, however, vehemently expressed her fear about "violence" because "the blues were going to take everything over." My friend and her exercise buddy looked at each other and grinned, saying "we're blue." It amuses me that the grim faces and anxiety over violence are emanating from the very party that engages in violence as a remedy to just about everything, while the dastardly "blues" prefer to discuss, debate, use reason, and employ democratic solutions.
Sometimes by Sheenagh Pugh
Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.
A people sometimes will step back from war;
elect an honest man (woman); decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.
Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen: may it happen for you.
SMILING! THANK YOU SO MUCH.