Dear Jackrabbit #8 – On Recent Events

Dear Jackrabbit,

So it looks like I’m going to get political here after all.

Even though I post these letters on Sundays, I’m writing this on Wednesday and posting it on Thursday because I, like parents all over the country, are struggling to explain how we’ve failed you in this most recent election. How do you live proudly in a country where nearly half of the voters supported a candidate who expressed such open hositility to minorities, women, the LGBT community, and those with disabilities? It boggles the mind.

A lot of Trump supporters will say that they felt left behind by government and society. It’s a bit of bullshit. The folks in those red states complain about a lack of support from their goverment as they vote in people who are openly contemptuous of the poor and disadvantaged. They decry welfare as they drain more from the federal government than anyone else. They disguise their hypocrisy with a religion they have no understanding of. They claim not to be racists, but there they are standing with the man who legitimized the KKK and the alt-right.

As for American culture, American culture didn’t abandon them, it fled. It fled the small-mindedness, the unwillingness to look beyond their own backyard, the fear of people who weren’t like them that turned into hate. Ugly hate. It fled the poisoning of their own land through deregulation and coporate interests. Personally, I have run out of sympathy for them.

They should be ashamed of themselves, but instead, most are going to double down even as it leads them to more ruin. I wonder who they will blame? Certainly not themselves.

It’s a strange time, and one that has a lot of us worried. What’s going to happen to healthcare? What’s going to happen to schools? Will big business continue to have more rights than individuals? Will hundreds of thousands of marriages suddenly be cancelled?

Challenges will come in how the future Supreme Court decides to look at things like voting rights, gay rights… hell, human rights. The challenge will come from a majority in the Senate and House that are openly hostile to the American people. We’re bound for setbacks, maybe ones that we won’t crawl out of for decades. But we presevere. We endure. We fight on.

Fortunately, things move slowly, and there is time to fight and defend the America we believe in. Clinton received more votes than Trump. The vagaries of the Electoral College worked for him as they have others in the past. We can take a small about of comfort in that Trump’s win was not, by far, by an overwhelming majority and was, in fact, a pretty thin win. He has no mandate.

Across the country people of color, Muslims, homosexuals have been physically attacked and threatened by Trump’s supporters. Bullying in schoolyards have been on the rise because a Trump presidency makes them think that’s okay.

The good news is that good people are gathering together to support each other. To offer aid, sanctuary, and help wherever it is needed. This is where the real America resides, and this is where we can take some pride.

Times will be tough, and they will be a lot tougher for other people. It’s more important than ever that we stand together and support each other.

And if there is one thing you can count on, son, it’s that your mother and I will protect you to the very best of our abilities.

We will raise you to be better than the people who failed us today. We will raise you to carry the future forward, and we will help as much as we can along the way.

So… sorry about what happens over the next four years. Take heart that this is far from over. Take heart in the goodness of people. Take heart in the resiliance of the Ameican ideal. Never let the turkeys get you down.

All the love in the world (which is more than you might think),

–Dad

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About jdteehan

John is a proud geek and nerd, a publisher, a freelancer, and a new dad. He's into books, gaming, and music. He's a good cook, a passing musician and artist, and terrible fisherman. The biggest thing in his life right now is being a new dad and he has started a blog all about that. Visit Dearjackrabbit.com for more on that. Also visit Merryblacksmith.com for word on publishing projects.
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