Tag: 2020 election

Considering who counts

On By MezzoSherriIn Memoir, Politics and Policy, Pop Goes the Culture, Practicing in the Heart, Topics of Study1 Comment

Mr. Mezzo and I have a monthly Datebox subscription. I gave it to him as a Christmas present last year, and we enjoyed it enough that we re-upped once the initial subscription term ended.

For the record, this was not one of those passive-aggressive “you aren’t bringing enough romance into my life” kinds of gifts. Between my workaholism and my mental health, I have been the less-romantic member of this partnership for a long damn time. Instead, the gift was offered in the spirit of “I know I’m often too busy or distracted or depressed for romance, but this is my commitment to you to regularly carve out time together“—and I’m pretty confident that was the spirit in which said gift was also received.

I’m sharing all of this because one of the activities in a recentish Datebox involved rolling dice to randomly get questions to answer so we could learn new and quirky things about each other. One of the questions was “If you could have one wish, what would it be?”

I don’t actually remember how I answered that question, but I do remember that we then organically and nerdily moved from there into the question “If you could choose one superpower, what would it be?”

A close-up of two Itty Bitty dolls: Batgirl and Wonder Woman.

That, I remember my answer for:

Universal Empathy Bomb

Continue reading “Considering who counts” →

The unexamined majority

On By MezzoSherriIn Flagrantly Feminist, Politics and Policy2 Comments

Finally back to my election post-mortems! Here’s the prior in the series:

Anyhow…

So, one of the things that’s been pissing me off this election season is all the calls for liberals and progressives to dig deeper and understand the Trump voter. NY Times think pieces on how we don’t understand America if we don’t understand Trump’s appeal. CNN op-eds on how we need to listen differently. Politicians and pundits alike have been telling liberals to reach out, to empathize, to build bridges.

And why has this been pissing me off? Because 4 years ago, after Trump won in 2016, democrats, liberals and progressives were inundated with the exact same advice. Listen. Learn. Understand. Build bridges.

It’s almost like there’s certain groups of (*cough*white*cough*) people who want to make sure they stay at the center of the universe and the center of all American discourse.

Hogging the spotlight, as it were.

A black and white of three spotlight beams merging to form an illuminated circle on an empty stage.
Continue reading “The unexamined majority” →

What if voter suppression impacts voting trends?

On By MezzoSherriIn Politics and Policy, Topics of Study3 Comments

The second third one of my series of election post mortems. Still don’t know how long the series will be, but here’s more links:

============

[CW: white supremacy, prison-industrial complex, sexual assault]

I’m still wondering my way through the demographic trends among Presidential voters this year. Tonight, it’s the seeming paradox that more black men voted for Cheeto POTUS this year than in 2016—and this is after 4 years of overt white supremacy from the Oval Office.

It’s the kind of data point that I certainly found unexpected, in my bubble of Caucasian naivete. Taking the time to get myself a little more educated, I’ve found out that fewer Black men have been voting for the Democrats in every presidential election since 2008. The downward stair-steps go like this:

  • Obama 1: 95%
  • Obama 2: 87%
  • H. Clinton: 82%
  • Biden: 80%
Looking down a long concrete and cobblestone staircase between two rows of houses.
Down, down, down we go.

And that got me curious.

Continue reading “What if voter suppression impacts voting trends?” →

Let’s call a thing a thing

On By MezzoSherriIn Politics and Policy, Pop Goes the Culture, Topics of Study4 Comments

This is not the second election post I was planning to write: the post focusing on the “second lens of analysis” I had in mind on Sunday is still in process. However, more current events are demanding attention today.

As the post-election post family is built, I’ll put the cross-links here:

============

A friend of mine texted me this morning with a brief question:

Can we call it a coup now?

Yes. Yes we can.

I mean the jury is still out about how successful this coup will be, or even how whole-heartedly Cheeto POTUS is really working towards this goal. Nevertheless, the appropriate language to describe the administration’s obstructionist behavior around the presidential transition is to call it—at bare minimum—an attempted coup.

Close-up of a protest sign reading "Error 404: Democracy not found."
Continue reading “Let’s call a thing a thing” →

White women, do better

On By MezzoSherriIn Flagrantly Feminist, Politics and Policy, Pop Goes the Culture, Topics of Study3 Comments

[CW: gender binary, racism]

Preface: I’m not sure how many posts I’ll make analyzing the 2020 elections through various lenses. I have at least 2 such lenses rattling around my brain, but it may unfold into a longer series. We’ll see. I’ll just keep cross-linking this little family of posts together as it takes shape. So: watch this space for more.

============

Here’s my first, unfiltered, thought upon seeing the demographic breakdown of Presidential votes by race and gender:

Good grief. America does not deserve the goodness that Black women do.

A medium shot of approximately 30 people at a protest. In front and in focus are four Black woman in a variety of clothes, hairstyles and skin tones.
Leading the way. Again.
Continue reading “White women, do better” →

Winner winner cheesesteak dinner

On By MezzoSherriIn Gratitudes and Thank Yous, Memoir, Pop Goes the Culture2 Comments

So the race has been declared: Joe Biden is our president elect and Kamala Harris is the vice president-elect.

Closeup of a young woman's hands holding a lit sparkler.
Thank Gaia!

Honestly, I’d been cautiously optimistic about this outcome since I first thought through the vote counting trend lines mid-Wednesday. Of course, I had no desire to jinx anything, which is why I didn’t say anything here about that prediction/expectation.

I did, however, share that assessment with a few select friends and co-workers—basically as a way of explaining why I was able to focus on work Wednesday and Thursday and wasn’t feeling undue stress about things.

(Ah the hubris!)

Once the call was finally made late this morning, a friend of mine asked on Facebook,

Did everyone else just unclench muscles they didn’t realize they were tensing?

Yup. #ItMe

Continue reading “Winner winner cheesesteak dinner” →

Wasting time wisely

On By MezzoSherriIn Gratitudes and Thank Yous, Memoir, Self-Acceptance, The Pressure to Fix Myself, The Voices in My Head2 Comments

(Yes, I’ve been tracking the election count, and yes, I’ll have more to say here about that. Later. ‘Cos every time I think about commenting before the race is called, I hear Toby Ziegler in my head: “You want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing?” So mum’s the word—for now.)

Anyhow, on the domestic front, I’ve got a day off today. In fact I have a few 3-day weekends coming up during November and December. We can thank COVID for that: Mr. Mezzo and I were planning two fun getaways during the spring (1 to DC in March and 1 to Boston for May) but neither of those happened—of course—on account of the world shutting down.

Those 2 cancelled trips add up to more than a week of vacation time I didn’t cash in, and since my company has a strict policy regarding how many days you can carry over from year to year, I’ve got some time to burn. So: 3-day weekends galore!

Close-up of a mirrored disco ball.
Celebrate good times, come on!
Continue reading “Wasting time wisely” →