thedeadparrot

Okay there was a tweet about trying to preserve our thoughts and feelings and impressions of this day, so here is my attempt.

Went to the local Women's March today in Boston. It was kinda cold at first, but then it got warm. Tons and tons of people (estimates had it at 135k-150k). Many, possibly even most, of them in homemade knit hats.

Spent a lot of time being jealous of all the really great signs. Considered getting a Non-Compliant or Rebel Alliance tattoo briefly.

Ate a lot of granola bars. Hung out with fangirls and speculated about our new favorite fannish trope (imagine your OTP meeting by climbing the same tree at a protest!)

Stood around a lot. Hopped up and down a bunch. Listened to a boatload of speakers. Didn't actually march because it was taking too long to leave Boston Common and get on the parade route.

Enjoyed social media afterwards. So many great photos of all the different Marches all across the country and the world.

We have a privilege here in our state that our hippie progressive ideals are part of the establishment. We had both our Senators and our Attorney General and the Boston mayor speak at the event promising to do all they can to continue being hippie progressives. The police was on good terms with the demonstrators. No reports of violence.

I am not sure if I was comforted by the display of solidarity so much as I felt a sweeping reminder of the gritty difficult work of enacting change. If anything, this election has helped galvanize me into more concrete action. I have always been politically aware, and I was slowly drifting towards becoming politically active. But now I have various reps' offices on my phone. Now I have monthly donations set up to support causes I care about. Now I'm feeling the pressure to roll up my sleeves and get to work.

So that's what I'm going to do.

I have always loved my country, even when things are difficult, even when elections didn't go my way.

I remember going to bed on election night 2000 with high hopes that Gore would win the presidency with Florida safely in his pocket.

I remember being furiously angry that Bush managed to win re-election in 2004, hopeless and sad in the face of more war.

I remember celebrating in college when Barack Obama became our first black president, rushing out onto the green of my super-liberal campus in the middle of the night into a crowd, a feeling of pure joy.

I don't know how I feel right now. I'm awake at 2am because America has elected an actual monster as president because racists felt empowered to vote. I've seen some of the breakdowns. We minorities turned out. We waited in long lines. We donated. We put out a massive ground game. We called people. We canvassed. We did all the right things.

But the racists still won anyway.

We have always been surrounded by racists, sexists, the worst of human nature, but it's rarely felt as visceral as it has tonight. This is the ugliest of America, come to show its face in the voting booth.

We have voted in as president a man who can't be trusted with a fucking Twitter account. Even worse, the Republicans control all three branches of government, including both the House and Senate. Things will get uglier for so many people.

I live in a liberal bubble. I and my parents are US citizens. I have a comfy, bleeding heart liberal job in an industry that is always in more need of people like me. This only goes so far when it comes to federal policy, of course, but it helps soften the blow.

I can only hope the accelerationists are right. The ones who thought a Trump presidency would usher in a 100 years of light or whatever because he would burn it all down and we could start all over again. I thought the accelerationists were full of crap, because their ideas would mean that a lot of people would be hurt along the way. I can only hope that they are right, because now, a lot of people will be hurt for no reason with no light at the end of the tunnel.

The better people on my social media networks have been gearing up for a fight. Not like an armed revolution sort of thing, but the long slow slog of a political fight for the soul of America. I want to be like them, to put today (yesterday?) behind us and focus on what we can do to make our future better, brighter, safer. A future that I want America to have.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have the strength for that fight. I want to have it. But for now I'm going to go back to bed. It can wait until morning.

Man, I wasn't expecting this week to be so politically intense. I keep getting distracted at work and reading The Atlantic's website and such every few hours or so.

How are all of you surviving?


P.S. I did vote yesterday in what must be one of the most boring elections ever.

0.

The Iranian election fallout is just sort of insane and amazing and I don't even know. I am inclined to believe that it was rigged, but I think that's sort of a less-important issue than the way the government has been reacting to the dissent and protesting, as well as the eventual outcome of this much anger. I have to say, the bravery of the protesters is awe-inspiring, and the tweets have been giving me chills.

The revolution will be posted on the internet, indeed.


1.

This open letter to Pixar made me sob a little. I'm going to see Up tomorrow, and I'm sure I'm going to love it, but at the same time, I remember how much it meant to me, growing up, to see spunky girls in my movies and on my television. Yeah, just go read it.

2.

Kings this week, I don't know. This show is remarkably uneven for me. I will say that I was surprised and pleased that Michelle annoyed me far less than Jack this week, but I wish that they'd make Jack a lot less incompetent in general.

3.

Python is still my favorite.

4.

So I did some martial arts training for the first time in like two years yesterday, and now my body is punishing me. Ow. Ow all over.

5.

I need to start reading more books this summer. I have like, three that are just sitting on my shelf, and I have a library full of awesome that I would want to use. At some point.

6.

Wrote Forgetful a Doctor Who Rose/Martha porn battle ficlet. Kinda a rush job, but there it is.