Well, here we are, the day before the end of the world. Perhaps.
As I shared sometime last year, I just don’t have the stomach for politics the way I used to. I had largely disengaged before this fall, sick of how our political process had become a system not of checks and balances, give and take, discussion and compromise, but rather a zero sum, destroy your opponent, repeat lies until they become truths, never ever compromise, slash-and-burn mess. While both parties have some responsibility for this, most of it lies with Republicans, who have spent the past eight years more intent on destruction than doing anything constructive that would move the country forward.
Because of my disengagement, I just didn’t feel the desire to write about political matters anymore. A few times over the past couple months I’ve thought about putting some thoughts together. But the mental drafting process always causes my blood pressure to increase and I find it’s not worth the effort or trouble.
Over the weekend, again, I thought perhaps I should put some kind of pre-election day post together. But, again, emotions turned dark and I chose to spend my time on other things.
And then I read this piece by Will Leitch this morning. I think he largely captures my feelings on the travesty this year has been and the true choice that we face. And I think he does it far better than I could have done if I had stuck with my weak effort over the weekend.
I think Tuesday night is going to be a(n) historic night in many, many ways. Hopefully most of that history is good, regardless of who wins the presidency, the senate, and so on. Despite the lack of attention I’ve given to the presidential race this year, I’m going to sit in front of my TV and soak a lot of it in. No matter what happens tomorrow, and moving forward after, I think it’s going to be right up there with 2000 as an Election Night none of us will ever forget.