Mourning in America

In 1984, a commercial hit television screens. This commercial is commonly referred to as “Morning in America.” This ad was a success. It was part of then-Republican candidate Ronald Reagan’s Presidential campaign.

I have never been a fan of Reagan, but it can’t be denied people liked that commercial. It had a quiet optimism about it which might be why so many Americans took to it. That was a long time ago.

With Donald Trump came “Mourning in America.” The four years Donald Trump was in office contained endless mourning, it would seem. We wept for Heather Heyer killed in the Charlottesville, Virginia hate march when a car plowed into her.

We mourned so very many who died from Covid — many of whom did not need to die had the issue of masks not been turned into a political football of the most vicious degree. And we mourned the casualties of January 6.

We cried for the police officers who died. We mourned the ones who were beaten to a bloody pulp and almost didn’t survive. We have had so much mourning — too much mourning.

And then we elected President Biden. And we held the House and Senate. And now, riding the blue wave, we have a chance to put mourning firmly behind us, keeping mourning in the distant past.

And this is perhaps the most important reason to vote. For if we do not win, it will be mourning in America once again.

We will mourn women who will die because they were not allowed to receive abortions safely. We will mourn Trans children who the GOP will not stop going after. We will mourn and mourn and mourn.

I don’t want that. I want beautiful mornings of political sunshine, of helping America become even more vibrant, of forging a path forward — not back. And so let’s vow that in these last few weeks before the midterms, we will put our souls into turning out the vote — to ensuring we mourn no longer — and that 2022 is our year.