Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Juices Flowing Again

I took a day off to lick my wounds, evaluate the new situation, and calm my soul, now I'm back in the game.

It was interesting watching the different reactions of people yesterday. I spent a lot of time texting with our daughter in Texas who was dealing with both grief and anger.  Texas is not easy to take on a good day if you're a Democrat, and espically not after the Trump win.

I describe our son as "a man of few words" but he runs deep, he's a thinker. Yesterday morning I texted him "Well, that did not go well." His reply was "It certainly did not." I heard nothing else from him until evening when I began to receive photos and texts. He works in downtown Portland (OR) and Portland is a city that loves marches and protests. He had walked over  after work and joined the the protest march that was forming. After he'd been there a while he reported he'd still not seen any police. Apparently that was his way of recovering his political balance. He marched a while and then caught the train home. This morning I read that march was unplanned and formed around a group of high school girls and college students. Estimates were it grew to about 2000.

I was proud of Oregon's Senator Wyden for begininng his day visiting schools and talking with students.

It's often difficult for me to see a way I can make a difference given my close to home living situation. However, at the end of the day I realized I can have a voice through my children in their work places and their social lives. They're busy people with limited time for research and fact checking. I have the time to do those things and put that information in their hands to use when the time is right.

20 comments:

  1. Sounds like an excellent strategy to me. I, too, spent yesterday licking my wounds. Today I'm more productive. Still not happy about the situation but able to tolerate it, I hope.

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    1. Not the time to go silent. Come January I will begin contacting senators, representatives, the DNC committee, as well as Obama. I want to know what's being done to set the Democratic Party on a new and better course. Course correction needs to happen from time to time.

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  2. There was was a lot of wound licking going on yesterday. I'm glad you found a way for you to believe you can make a difference but I think you have been doing that all along just by generating conversation on your blog. And hopefully you'll continue to do that.

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    1. I expect people will soon grow weary of this election and let it fade into the past. My blog readers and my children may grow weary of what I have to say but I will not remain silent. I'm extremely interested in what Democrats are going to do in coming days to correct their part in this fiasco.

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  3. We will get over the shock of Trump's win but what he actually does , we may never get over.

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    1. Totally new territory. He's actually a rogue, neither Democrat or Republican.

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  4. Interesting that your son was marching. I took into a Facebook poster today that popped up on my screen because he was a friend of a friend of mine who had "liked" his post. It was about those "spoiled brat participation trophy whiners" protesting in our cities. they needed to just "get over it".

    I let him know that they weren't protesting because they "lost", but because the winner won by stirring up anger and hatred and ugliness, and many of these marchers were now afraid. He took it as a personal affront and then I hd to straighten him out. In fact I have been doing a lot of that on Facebook the last two days. Got myself in trouble a bit with some family members, but so be it. I can't help it if they are feeling defensive about having voted for ugliness and evil.
    Today I have gone from grief to anger and now to curiosity. Trump conned everyone and nobody really knows what he will do. It's the Republican's ball game now. Good luck with that!

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    1. No, it's America's ballgame and we all have to play ball. There may come a time when it will be necessary to put the country through another impeachment hearing, I sincerely hope not. But if it came to that it would probably have to be led by Democrats. I do not want this country to ever take impeachment lightly or use it as a cheap threat. It does, however, need to remain an option on the table.

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  5. Though we have differing opinions on what this election means for OUR country, I am glad to read that you are feeling better.

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    1. Thanks Brig for commenting. It makes me feel good that though you are of opposing views you were not too put off by my writing to leave a nice comment. I want to be a voice of reason. We're all in this together.

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  6. I am still in shock from this election. I just cannot imagine how the polls got it so wrong.There needs to be an autopsy on national polling. I've read that it was an under estimate of the rural voter. I'm a firm believer in scientific method. Hopefully the pollsters can figure this out so that such a thing never happens again. I don't know how you can run a campaign if you can't count on the numbers you are given.

    Did you see the footage of Trump with Obama in the oval office yesterday? His body language shouted insecure and out of his element. Underneath all the bravado, I believe that is exactly who he is. Yet at the same time, this morning the headline is his ridiculous tweet claiming that the protesters in the street are "incited by the media, and unfair"!

    Glad your juices are flowing again Linda. I always enjoy reading your posts.

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    1. I'm trying to remain calm though it isn't easy. We need some people with sane minds and wisdom to help us through these troubled waters. I find 74 years of living brings perspective. I want to help my children through this time in history.

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  7. We can't always help our adult kids, but it's nice when we find a way. I'm sure they appreciate your fact checking. Isn't it great that we can do that so easily now. How did we survive without the internet?

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    1. I feel fortunate my immediate family are all of the same party. Extended family are out of state and I simply unfollowed them on Facebook until after the election. My son was very interested in politics as a teenager. I took him to many events and we share that interest today.

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  8. We continue to need a fact checker even now that the formal debates are over. Yesterday I heard a friend spouting on about how Obama lost the popular vote and Democrats were not saying anything about the electoral college system then. I am just going to keep challenging misinformation whenever I can. It is not my nature to confront, but it is past time to take a stand. As Moynihan once said. you are entitled to your own opinion, not your own facts.

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    1. Keep up the fact checking. You never know when an opportunity will open for you to slip in some facts. I had hoped after the election some of that vitriolic news would level off but not so. We're more than in a swamp, we're wallowing in mud. Write on your blog. You have a voice there.

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  9. Yay! I'm relieved your absence didn't last long, I would have missed reading your posts.

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    1. Hey, Connie, good to hear from you. Yes, I'm back in the game. It's hard to walk away from a lifelong passion.

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  10. I saw the same thing as Carole. Almost an "Oh Crap, what have I gotten myself into." I don't think any of us can understand what a daunting job the presidency is. The perks and power don't begin to compensate for the toll it takes on a person. Look at all those that went grey and wrinkled while in office.

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    1. Yes, there's much about being President Mr Trump is not going to enjoy. For one thing he's going to lose his Twitter account. He's also going to find he can't storm around randomly hiring and firing. There's order to be followed and he isn't going to like that.

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