Fate of the world
It is the early morning of 5 October as I write this. Later this morning my daily run will take me past the local post office in the civil parish of Amesbury, England, where I will stop and send off my ballot — certified mail, signature required — to the Northampton Electoral Registration Office. My vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. That’s right, my ballot finally arrived yesterday. Finally.
It will be a profound relief. My last residence of record before moving abroad just happened to be a pivotal battleground state, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, so I feel my obligation keenly. I’ve spent the last several days in the clutches of a personal nightmare. What if, I wondered, Northampton County was decided by a single vote, and that County decided Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania in turn decided the election, and my vote didn’t make it on time?
Yes, I know, lottery odds are against such a scenario. But with so much at stake one thinks such things, and such is the stuff of waking nightmares. That nightmare won’t completely end until I receive my signature confirmation. Then it’s still going to be white knuckles all the way until Election Day.
In just 31 days the fate of the world will be decided. Yes, my confidence is high. All indications are that in one little month Kamala Harris will become the President-Elect of the United States of America, the first woman to hold that title. And just 78 days after that she will be President. And the most evil man to ever hold power in the United States, Donald Trump, will be gone, gone, gone forever, gone for good.
Meanwhile, a good man who was a great President will continue to keep watch over the Republic. What a difference it will be from four years ago, when it was white hot terror all the way up to Inauguration Day, when the Trump-thing was still president and it traitorously tried to steal the election! At least this time the government will be safeguarded by a man we can trust.
I am sickened by some of the lies I see online from the minority but still active Trump idolaters. I wonder anew at what inadequacies, what parental failings, what inbred cowardices, malignancies and bigotries go into the making of a Trump supporter. I’m pleased that their postings give rise to a clamour of defiant disapproval and almost universal mockery. But even still, I remain chilled that such a child of ignorance can survive into the 21st century, into 2024.
But We the People will change all that. We will grace the world with the first woman President, and she will show them how it’s done. And one day, when we are all very old indeed, we will look back and recall with pride the change we took part in. We will say that we were a part of the poetry that was Kamala Harris, and we contributed a verse. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe. Donate now
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.