Musings

 

As I write this today, they declared Joe Biden the winner in the 2020 Presidential election.  While I am thankful that the 4 year reign of chaos of Donald Trump is ending, I cannot understand how almost half the American voters still thought enough of him to vote him another 4 years of office.   One would think separating children from their parents would outrage people against Trump.  Obviously not.  Supporting white supremacy the alt-Right groups?  No.  Lying at a rate that would make a used-car salesman blush?  Nope.  Callous treatment of women, corruption, rampant cronyism, a quarter-million of dead Americans from a virus he ignored, the list goes on and on; none of these things mattered to his supporters. 

 

Even as the Biden team prepares to take over power in a couple of months, I am concerned about effects of this type of blind obedience will do to make-up of our democracy.  When we have seen rabid zealousness take root in our country in the past, it has been divisive and destructive, leading to armed conflicts and the death of innocents.  When nationalism trumps common decency, our citizens have defended human slavery, killed native Americans by the thousands, interned Japanese-Americans and lynched black men for decades.