Cody, thank you for sharing this and your vulnerability and ethics in sharing so openly about this truly ludicrous election. You described my feelings so well as an Ohio voter who voted a blank ballot for the primaries but a vote for Kamala a few weeks ago - though Ohio isn’t much of a swing state anymore, but hope springs eternal. I work in libraries and archives, and I am petrified that if Trump gets anywhere close to the White House again, he will try to eliminate the federal funding agencies that direct money towards libraries, archives, and museums - pivotal institutions that serve millions of people in our country. He proposed these closures during his first term, and I worry that it was just a dress rehearsal. This would only accelerate the damage already happening through a record number of book banning measures and interference from state leaders on issues related to historical memory.
Eira - thank you for sharing your reason for voting. I want libraries and archives and museums to remain. To become more radical. To remain as free resources for the people. May it be so.
You nailed it. And I too start weeping at the most unexpected moments in the last few weeks of this election. The GOP is literally offering up a christo-fascist police state as their platform. And yet, there are decent people all over this country voting for it--what do we do with that? I honestly don't know. And, on the other side of the equation, I have been on the left for all of my adult life, and I have long thought that the favorite human emotion often seems to be self-righteousness. People love feeling it and have a hard time letting it go. And it can be a serious disease on the left. So when I read, "Self righteousness is not a part of service work.” I welled up. 100% to that. You did good work here with this essay. Longing for a landslide but I'll settle for a win.
Cody, as a queer person who was raised in and continues to live in Florida, I could not relate to this more. I also made the decision to vote for Harris, as imperfect as she is. I also believe she is a person who wishes to make the country better. That cannot be said for the other candidate. Every morning when I take a walk through my neighborhood, I walk through a sea of Trump signs and flags and it raises my anxiety levels every time. There is a part of me that wants to flee to a blue zone, and that may ultimately be my decision, but I also know we need progressive voices in red zones. Thank you for this post and your vulnerability on this topic.
I love you and respect your doubts and am deeply grateful that you are brave enough to be transparent. When Trump won the first time I tried to not completely despair but my 92 year-old mother who lived through WWII said, "You have no idea how terrible this will be. I know dictators and he is a dictator." We who benefited from legal abortions and thought "we got this" must admit, we didn't.
I saw a rainbow on my way to vote on Friday driving along the center of the county. And then after I voted you shared something in your stories about a rainbow. Good signs good signs.
Cody, thank you for sharing this and your vulnerability and ethics in sharing so openly about this truly ludicrous election. You described my feelings so well as an Ohio voter who voted a blank ballot for the primaries but a vote for Kamala a few weeks ago - though Ohio isn’t much of a swing state anymore, but hope springs eternal. I work in libraries and archives, and I am petrified that if Trump gets anywhere close to the White House again, he will try to eliminate the federal funding agencies that direct money towards libraries, archives, and museums - pivotal institutions that serve millions of people in our country. He proposed these closures during his first term, and I worry that it was just a dress rehearsal. This would only accelerate the damage already happening through a record number of book banning measures and interference from state leaders on issues related to historical memory.
Eira - thank you for sharing your reason for voting. I want libraries and archives and museums to remain. To become more radical. To remain as free resources for the people. May it be so.
You nailed it. And I too start weeping at the most unexpected moments in the last few weeks of this election. The GOP is literally offering up a christo-fascist police state as their platform. And yet, there are decent people all over this country voting for it--what do we do with that? I honestly don't know. And, on the other side of the equation, I have been on the left for all of my adult life, and I have long thought that the favorite human emotion often seems to be self-righteousness. People love feeling it and have a hard time letting it go. And it can be a serious disease on the left. So when I read, "Self righteousness is not a part of service work.” I welled up. 100% to that. You did good work here with this essay. Longing for a landslide but I'll settle for a win.
Cody, as a queer person who was raised in and continues to live in Florida, I could not relate to this more. I also made the decision to vote for Harris, as imperfect as she is. I also believe she is a person who wishes to make the country better. That cannot be said for the other candidate. Every morning when I take a walk through my neighborhood, I walk through a sea of Trump signs and flags and it raises my anxiety levels every time. There is a part of me that wants to flee to a blue zone, and that may ultimately be my decision, but I also know we need progressive voices in red zones. Thank you for this post and your vulnerability on this topic.
I love you and respect your doubts and am deeply grateful that you are brave enough to be transparent. When Trump won the first time I tried to not completely despair but my 92 year-old mother who lived through WWII said, "You have no idea how terrible this will be. I know dictators and he is a dictator." We who benefited from legal abortions and thought "we got this" must admit, we didn't.
yessss.
Let it be so. Loving your words, my neighbor, my friend. Let us meet for a hug on Wednesday. xx
I saw a rainbow on my way to vote on Friday driving along the center of the county. And then after I voted you shared something in your stories about a rainbow. Good signs good signs.