I'm Thinking About Moving Abroad... Again

 

When you're 20, it's easy to pick up and go live abroad. Now...

After Nixon was elected, I left the country and stayed away until he was being impeached. That's a photo of me in 1969 when I first went overseas to live. Eventually, I wanted to come back to America, my home... so I did. I never thought I would consider moving away again. Last night, looking at my computer screen as the returns rolled in, made me start thinking about how much I liked living in Amsterdam. I could do it again. It's harder for an old person than was for me when I was a young person. But I started thinking about it-- mostly about how much I don't want to liven a country where so many people want to elect... a fascist... a sociopath... a degenerate... a traitor. It's not him-- not Trump-- that made me think about moving away. It's Americans. They came out in droves and voted for Trump as another 88,980 of us were reported to have COVID yesterday.





I have to talk myself off this ledge.

It may take a few days. Or maybe I won't be able to. Meanwhile, I'll work on a post this morning trying to make some sense out of how horribly Democrats did-- not just Biden-- Democrats everywhere. And I'll try to look at how I could have been so wrong about a wave election. Rural, blue collar voters don't see themselves as Democrats any longer-- and why should they? What does the party stand for-- a confused Big Tent that is no longer a vehicle for the legitimate interests of the working class. Biden may win this-- I think he will-- but the Democrats lost the chance to take the Senate and lost seats in the House and lost opportunities to advance a next generation of progressive leaders like Kara Eastman, Julie Oliver, Mike Siegel, Dana Balter, Nat McMurray, Adam Christensen, Beth Doglio, Jon Hoadley, Georgette Gomez... 

And... is anyone ever going to believe a pollster again?





Or is it going to all come down to this argument in the Lincoln Project video below... they stole the election? Can we muster it up to fight over this now? I guess... But how did both Miami-Dade Democrats lose in D+5 and D+6 districts. It's not even supposed to be possuble, even though both Muarsel-Powell and Shalala have to be-- at best-- be described as unispiring and mediocre. Still, that describes most members of Congress. But it looks-- at least from the numbers I'm looking at as I write this... well they describe a smoldering ruin everywhere. This was supposed to be an extension of 2018 and instead it feels more like 2010. Actual neo-Nazis Lauren Boebert and Madison Cawthorn look like they are beating Diane Mitsch Bush in Colorado and Moe Davis in North Carolina. And Texas... at least half a dozen House seats to pick up. Mike Siegel, Wendy Davis, Sri Kulkarni, Gina Ortiz Jones, Candace Valenzuela, Julie Oliver, Donna Imam... it looks like everyone lost. Damn! Still, the winters are so cold in Amsterdam...