I know, I know; I’m supposed to say Love Sweet Love, and that is something we always need, but I don’t think it is what the world needs right now. In the words of badass rocker Bob Seger Turn the Page.
I was taught by my parents to accept losses gracefully; to acknowledge that you gave all you had and it just wasn’t enough to succeed. But also included in those life lessons were the words congratulate your opponent and then move on. Politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, are behaving petulantly now, as the fog lifts from the closest our government has come to being overthrown.
Now I admit I am a bad loser. I hate losing. But I was raised to respect the rules even more than my distaste for second place.
Democrats cool your jets. Have some empathy for your Republican counterparts. Remember how you felt in 2016? Face the facts: you were out-politicked and out-campaigned by a person who spoke directly to the heart of millions looking for a return to some sense of familiarity in a world changing every second of every day. I hear the phrase “not my country anymore,” and it honestly hurts me to think that instead of rejoining the political world at the head of the table, we seem to have excused ourselves for an extended bathroom break as the bipartisan system flails away in the face of real progress. Compounded by the presence of a global pandemic and the transition of power, we are stuck in idle as the world speeds by us.
Republicans cool your jets. I get it. You are upset because you lost the election, but you had your shot and fell short. I understand loyalty; I write about my take on loyalty in EMOTIONS: Not your Mama’s ABC’s! It is my humble opinion that loyalty is an extremely malleable concept. Ask Mr. McConnell how being loyal to the President worked out for him.
Loyal to what?
How about showing some loyalty to the people of this still-great country? I don’t give a shit if the final count was won by a SINGLE VOTE, it is the system our forefathers established and we must live within it. Change the system, but not by insurrection. Put all that energy into something useful and BENEFICIAL to the American people. What a novel idea.
Turn the page.
Get to work, and I am not talking about the work needed for reelection, seemingly the only common thing on the minds of politicians. So, with one eye on learning from past mistakes and the other on preparing for an uncertain future, whose vision does that leave in charge to represent the interests of the people?
In my first novel, which I continue to work on, there is no such thing as an electoral college. Every political position on Earth will be decided by the popular vote.
Talk about pie-in-the-sky thinking. With women running the planet, who knows?
Stay well.
Mark's Playhouse 