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Americans went to the polls(not poles as the current occupant of the White House tweeted, then deleted during one of his infamous rants questioning the outcome) on Tuesday to select the next president of the US. After much handwringing the race was called for Joe Biden on Saturday after the election’s most prized state, Pennsylvania, went to former VP Joe Biden.
It was a bitterly contested election race that detailed two stark differences and the choices couldn’t have been more clear. What this election showed was there are two Americas – one where there can be respectful debate & forward thinking on ideas and an America where the status quo is narcissism, bigotry, misogyny and a lack of belief in science.
This election should not have been close. On the one issue alone of the handling of the coronavirus the current occupant of the presidency has horribly mismanaged this virus. He has failed to protect the American people. He will be the 1st president in a century to actually have overall job loss. He has repeatedly lied & misled the public, ostracized international allies and fomented hate. All of these things would be a death knell to any other politician but yet he maintained vast amounts of support.
There are political pundits who will claim that this is where the current occupant has pushed the country. I disagree. I feel that this is who America has always been – a country whose focus was always on protecting privilege than promoting change & diversity. Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude said it the best:
Glaude is absolutely correct. Until we confront the ugliness that is America we will continue to repeat the same cycle since the founding of this country. The current occupant is not the cause of America’s ugliness. He’s the gatekeeper that opened the doors to show the world how America truly is.
While the slim majority of Americans will be able to celebrate the current occupant’s demise and celebrate the history making election that gave us the first woman, first black woman, first woman of South Asian descent and first person born of immigrants to ascend to the vice-presidency, those same Americans will have to deal with the fact that the era of Trump will not disappear with the current occupant’s dismissal. In fact, this era will boldly continue and dig deeper.
Joe Biden was absolutely correct when he said this election was the battle for the soul of America. The issue at hand is this: does America have a soul and if it does then what is in its makeup?
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