Another Election Day

Virginia held a special election yesterday to approve or disapprove new congressional districts, created primarily in response to the Republican redrawing of Texas districts to pick up new seats. For me, as a local elections official, this meant another big day working at my polling precinct (fortunately, it's at my old elementary school, a short distance up the road). Especially for an aging dude like me, it's pretty grueling. Up at 4:00 a.m. to be at the site by 5:00 a.m.; get the polling area all set up (we did some of it the day before); open at 6:00 a.m., work until 7:00 p.m., with a brief lunch break midday; and then break down/repack all the equipment, as well as tabulate/sign off on all the results. This means getting home a bit after 8:00 p.m.

It was a busy, busy day, with at least three times as many voters coming in as in the previous elections I've worked (about 650 at our precinct). The redistricting issue was the only one on the ballot, so at least tabulating and reporting the results weren't very complicated. There were two hardware snafus during the day (these seem almost inevitable on Election Day), but fortunately, they were relatively brief inconveniences. Oh, and one unhinged fellow who clearly wasn't a registered voter who had a little fit when we wouldn't allow him to vote without going through the full registration/affirmation of identity/provisional ballot process.

Having been on the other side of the voting booth, it's safe to say that while I'm not a fan of making voting difficult, I'm certainly a proponent of requiring a valid ID to vote. It's sensible and practical. No, not in the way the SAVE Act proposes. There's too much potential for disenfranchisement in the terms of that proposal. What we currently have in Virginia is absolutely sufficient.

I don't have it in me to editorialize on the results of the election, other than to say that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. I hate gerrymandering, but when one party starts using it so blatantly to gain an advantage, you cannot be surprised—or legitimately disapproving—that the other does so only to level the playing field. You start cheating, and cheating comes back to bite you.

At least in Virginia, the voters approved the measure. In other states, it was foisted upon them. That said, however the election might have turned out, I am happy to have been part of the democratic process that functioned exactly as it should. By the way, if you believe Trump's typical, unhinged rant about how the election was rigged, I have one question for you: How is the air there on Planet Moronica?

Another Longest Day

Back in June, I took my first turn as an elections officer in my home precinct for the Democratic primary. Election Day, even for a smaller one like the primary, is a pretty long one: up at four a.m., at the polling place by five a..m., work the station for thirteen hours, then break down and repack all the equipment and complete the mountains of required paperwork, which takes from sixty to ninety minutes. Very tiring, but since I found working the previous election ultimately gratifying, I decided to do it again. I'll probably even go for it again next year for the mid-term election.

 

Yesterday, the election for state governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, plus several local positions, brought out a record number of voters in town for a non-presidential election. Whereas the first time around was a slow day (I even managed to get in a significant amount of work done on my then-current novel-in-progress), yesterday was busy, busy. Very little downtime, and quite a few hours on my feet, which I'm feeling a bit today.

 

The other officials on our team are all fantastic, consummate professionals, and I'm proud to serve with them in one of the most important democratic processes in this country. No matter who the members of our community voted for, it was my honor to be part of making their votes count.

WDBJ Channel 7 from Roanoke did a short segment about our election, and you can even get a quick glimpse of ye Old Dude in action in the video story. The link is here.

The Longest Day

Not to trivialize D-Day or anything, but for me, Tuesday, June 17th was one helluva long day. Since I retired, I've committed myself to more civic-minded activities, so this year, I signed on as an election officer for our district here in town. So, a couple of weeks ago, I went to training; on this past Monday, I went to the polling place (my former elementary school) to help set up; and on Tuesday, we had the Democratic Primary Election. So, I was up at 4:00 a.m. (after a night of almost no sleep), at the polling site at 5:00 a.m., and ready for voters at 6:00 a.m. Being a primary, there wasn't a massive turnout, but I sure got to know the ropes. I'll be working the November election as well (for numerous positions in Virginia, including governor). It promises to be far busier. The polls closed at 7:00 p.m., and afterward, it took most of an hour to break down and pack up all the equipment. I think I crashed around 10:00 p.m., which is far earlier than my usual bedtime. That made for a solid 22-hour day, given my lack of sleep the night before. Whew!

 

Regardless, it was a rewarding and enlightening experience. I was impressed by the professionalism and dedication of every member of this team. There was no question that all of us were committed to following all procedures to the letter and ensuring the accuracy of the final count at the end of the evening.

 

Much to my surprise, one of the election officers, Lanita Hall Herlem, is quite the fan of my writing (I think she owns all my books), so she bought copies of The House at Black Tooth Pond to give out to all the other election officers. Talk about going above and beyond! Many thanks to Lanita!

 

There were several extended periods with no activity during the day, so I spent those hours either walking to get in my daily steps, or writing (I made some forward progress on my as-yet-untitled sequel to Black Tooth Pond).

It was very cool to revisit my old elementary school (which is now the local city school administration building). I went to school there from first through sixth grades, and this was the first time I've seen much of its interior since I "graduated" (back in 1971).

 

Anyhoo, I'll be an election officer again in November. Something tells me I won't be fitting in quite as much writing, but I am actually looking forward to it.

 

Y'all be sure to get out and vote! 

A Challenge

Philosophically, I am in absolute agreement with my wife, Kimberly, whom I shall quote below. That said, if things transpire as they seem destined to, and she can't get the health insurance she needs, then the grudge I hold will be profound. And that's just one wee part that might affect us personally and gravely. Many, many others are going to be hurt, badly and so needlessly.

I'm going into this Trump presidency with exactly the same attitude I did the last one. People who have voted for Trump said he will make our lives better and the United States better. Prove it to me. And prove it to me with things that aren't already on the upswing...immigration is now at the same level as it was when Biden/Harris took over, inflation has slowed, and violent crime is down. (I've fact checked these statements with multiple sources.) So Trump ran on a platform that he would fix things that are already fixed. Prove it to me that he will improve my healthcare. Prove it to me that he won't be an authoritarian dictator who takes away the rights of so many people. Unlike many, I can absorb information and change my views according to that information. I'll be waiting for proof."—Kimberly Ann Brugger

There are a million issues I could talk about, vent about, but I fear it would be belaboring the obvious for anyone with eyes to see, and simply fatigue me further. I have no illusions that we, personally, as well as the entire country are going to have issues challenges to confront that we certainly would not if the election had gone the other way. But that's a non-issue now.

Yesterday, I headed out early to work the polls for local city council candidate — and winner — Julian Mei, an acquaintance of mine who I believe will be a fine shot of tonic for Martinsville. There were five candidates for three positions, and sadly, the other two were not his first choices (or mine), but I believe the council will still be in a much better place in the coming year.

Last night, Brugger and I went to Wild Magnolia, one of our local pubs, to watch the city council election results and hang out with some of the candidates. It was, as you might expect, both rewarding and disappointing.

Today, my stress/anxiety level is down some from yesterday simply because certain unknowns are now known. There are plenty of unknowns to come, but we'll just have to deal with them as they come down the pike. This morning, I had business to take care of at the bank in uptown, so once that was done, I took a long, relaxing walk partly through town and partly on the nearby Dick & Willie Trail. The temperature out there is ridiculously warm for November (yet climate change is "not our problem!"), but some of the foliage remains purty.

Inauguration

It is with a heavy heart I say farewell to President Obama and his family. I have admired him, disagreed with him, sometimes sworn a little at him, praised him, laughed with him, and been shocked for him. I know a lot of people will disagree when I say that he and the first family brought a much-needed sense of dignity to the White House; but when you consider the relentless obstructionism from his political opponents, the unwarranted personal attacks by the ignorant masses he and his family suffered, and the unknowable challenge of being the first US President of African American heritage, down to the end, he refused to stoop to the level of his detractors. From day one of his presidency, his opponents brazenly boasted of their intent to make him a one-term president, and despite one attempt after another to reach across the aisle to them, the president was forever rebuffed, derided as "divisive," and subjected to increasingly ridiculous attempts to discredit him (birth certificate, anyone?). He was and is blamed — quite wrongly — for racial divisions that have come to the forefront of our national consciousness. There is all kinds of fault to go around, to be sure, but at the end of the day, we, not the president, are responsible. And yes, I know many of you disliked his policies, not his skin color, but racism was, in fact, a horrifyingly huge component of the hatred heaped upon the Obamas. For god's sake, I have personally witnessed racists coming out of the woodwork way too often, not just on social media but in the world at large. I stopped going to one local establishment I had frequented for years because, since 2008, the owners and staff constantly bitched and moaned about the "Muslim nigger from Kenya." Those exact words. Over and over and over. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

I have disagreed with President Obama on any number of issues; he did spend too much, he tended to go for over-regulation rather strike a fair balance between necessary protections — for the environment, for minorities, for labor issues — and executive overreach. I think he too often caved to special interests rather than stand up for the middle class. That said, however, the more he braved the slings and arrows of his detractors, the more I admired him. When his initiatives failed, he was derided as weak and ineffective; when they succeeded, he was vilified as a tyrant. From the right, no consistency, little logic, and never a reasonable alternative proposed. Nothing he did could please his detractors. And again, the uglier his detractors become, the more I came to admire him. Little illustrates the ridiculousness of the prejudice against him than the right's condemnation of his farewell address (to which I was going to link, but the White House site has apparently removed it), in which Obama's usage of the first person was condemned as "narcissistic." I did a little math on this myself. The speech ran approximately 4,800 words long. Obama referred to himself in the first person 75 times. That's 1.5 percent of the word count. To those of you in opposition, I defy you to produce a 4,800-word missive detailing one's eight-year tenure, one's accomplishments, one's failures, one's hopes, one's recollections of how it personally impacted one's family, one's forecasts for our nation, without mentioning yourself using no more than 1.5% of the total word count. I defy you.

"Oh, but the speech shouldn't be about him, it's about us." Next breath: "We never could get to know Obama because he was distant and disconnected." Sure. Sure thing.

A personal disappointment: more than anything, having seen the complete, utter failure of our pre-ACA health system to address severe, chronic illness — up close and personal — I truly wanted Obamacare to succeed. There are so many positive tenets of the plan, it's a damn shame it was implemented so poorly; I have never felt it beyond repair, however, and I fear the direction we'll be going in the coming days with healthcare is going to be an even greater disaster. I hope I'm wrong.

In fact, when it comes to President Donald Trump, I hope I'm very, very wrong in my, oh, maybe slightly negative evaluation of him. No, really. I have, with more than due conscientiousness, evaluated every conceivable rationale for accepting his shortcomings, every argument for his strengths, and I'm sorry, but there's just nothing there. Nothing. What we have today is a narcissistic, immature, tone-deaf bully, who has assembled the least-qualified bunch of clowns to staff his cabinet positions that any sentient being could imagine. I can't see any good coming out of this, and if you can, you must give me the name of your eye doctor.

All that said, I do not want to see Trump crash and burn. Our country, our fortunes, our lives depend on this man being an effective leader, a respected player on the world stage, a partner in the success of the United States. But at the end of the day, Trump works for us, we Americans who put him where he is, however unwillingly. Me, I will oppose his every utterance that does not reflect my values. As I have from the day I reached legal voting age, I will speak with my vote as well as whatever ability I might possess to influence rational, reasonable people to see what I see, as objectively as possible. If Trump follows through with his promises to bolster the middle class, to present a workable health plan that does not leave the most vulnerable of us to the wolves, to boost a still-struggling economy, to keep America a respected world power without thrusting us into yet another avoidable conflict... I will say to you, to the world, to Trump, to anyone with an ear to hear it... that I was wrong in my evaluation of his abilities. My ego has no vested interest here. But my well-being, and the well-being of my loved ones does. However, I will never apologize for condemning this man's lack of character, not only admitted to but celebrated by his most rabid supporters. Given that a disproportionately large number of Trump's supporters are diehard Christians... I'd call that an irreconcilable absurdity. Wouldn't you?

Yeah, I understand a dislike of Trump's opponent. Hillary Clinton brought enough baggage with her to kill a train of pack mules. But I tell you this, I'd vote for her again in a heartbeat over what our now-President Trump brings to the table.

If you don't see things as I do, I'm fine with that... up to the point that you and I get thrust into a void from which we can never return. I'm not fine with that. And truly, despite having been brought up in a period when fallout shelters were ubiquitous and we rather amusingly learned how to drop, duck and cover, this chapter of life is one that brings with it a unique trepidation, a sense that the territory into which we're treading is anything but Great.

No, I'm not religious, but I pray that I am the wrongest son of a bitch to ever walk this land. I pray this. If I'm wrong, in four years, you can have a front row seat as I eat humble pie. Deal?