Until the last four years I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to I’ve in a country with a stable government. Blithely, I took it as a matter of course, solid ground on which to stand forever, assuming it would last forever.
In that terrible moment of anguish in October of 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated, the earth beneath our feet shook. It was the terrifying prospect of chaos, order disordered, nobody in charge.
But it didn’t last long. There was a hierarchy in place, protocols to follow, and Vice-president Johnson stepped into the void, an experienced politician who picked up the reins. We grieved the loss of the prince, but life could continue as before.
For four years now, that sense of security has been shattered. This time, it’s an earthquake. A four years’ long earthquake. Nothing has been as usual, with laws flagrantly disregarded, custom in government ground beneath the feet of a would be tyrant. Values I believed the USA stood for, like equality for all, justice for all, a haven for the downtrodden and people who needed refuge from unstable governments, threatened.
Now, here we are. When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won both the popular vote and the electoral college, many of us breathed a collective sigh of relief. I was/am looking forward to business as usual in government with leaders who know the Constitution, how the US government functions, and are dedicated public servants.
But still, we have to watch the antics of a man who flaunts every aspect of lawful rule and petulantly, dangerously is trying to discredit the vote that booted him out of office and set himself up as the winner.
God willing and the creek don’t rise, this nightmare will soon be over.