2016 Election - From the Eyes of a Soon-To-Be Mom
I will start this blog by saying this: both candidates suck.
I remember when the election race had just started and I told Spencer I couldn't imagine voting for Clinton, because she's, in my opinion, not a great leader. We would laugh together about Trump, "oh he'll never make it past primaries" and at one point he looked at me and asked, "what if it comes down to Trump and Clinton? What would you do?" "Move to Antigua, I suppose."
So here we are many months later, and you can imagine my disappointment. Not only am I in my worst case scenario politics-wise, but I am STILL living in North Carolina and not in a beautiful beach-side home with the Caribbean winds blowing through my hair. Also, I'm 9 months pregnant.
[Insert Grouchy Face Here]
I've come to the point where I have hidden family and friends from social media because I can't take it anymore. I've asked my husband to limit the politics talk. I find myself at a crossroads with just about anyone who wants to talk politics to me, because what it really comes down to is that I'm sad. I'm sad for the future. I'm sad for the present. Most of all, I'm sad that my daughter will be born into a world with a president who is either a womanizing misogynistic pig, or a woman (sure that is a silver lining) who partners with big business, is sneaky, and lets her husband cheat on her over and over without ever leaving him because it's better for her career gain. Neither one are exactly who I want my daughter looking up to as a leader.
Every day there is a new scandal with one of these candidates. My only relief is in the form of Alec Baldwin playing Donald Trump on SNL because, damn the man has all his mannerisms down. Seriously, it is hysterical.
I've come to the point of banking/praying that neither of these candidates will serve more than one term in office because they're seriously old (Trump would be the oldest president to enter office, and Clinton is only one year below the current record) and will die of natural causes. Or, because someone will assassinate them (let's be honest, this has been one UGLY race). Or, the most likely, the American people will quickly realize they did not get what they bargained for.
Personally, I don't think I'm a better person for voting for one over another. I truly feel if you took each of them, and had two columns side-by-side simply titled "Good Traits" and "Bad Traits" and did a tally system....they'd come out pretty even. So excuse me if I don't present myself as better than the person next to me because I'm voting one way, and them another. We both suck. Our democracy sucks more, though.
I don't have a solution to the problem. My dad always told me not to complain unless you have a good strategy to change it. Sadly, I don't. The system is corrupt. Our citizens are angry - not only at politics but at each other. We live in a scary world where every things are very black and white. This or That. No in-between. Vote republican if you don't want abortions. Vote democrat if you believe in equal rights. Want both? Too bad.
So, as a woman who is about to bring a tiny (hopefully) human into the world, my reaction to all the angry voters out there is simply sadness. I am sad that Eva will experience such turmoil. I'm sad that the potential first woman president has all the traits of a dirty CEO and a weak woman. I'm even sadder that the other option....well I don't think I need to list all the reasons Trump isn't ideal for the women of this nation.
So while all of you continue to bicker over who sucks less, I'll be here gearing up to raise a young woman who I will, at the very least, teach her that she can be anything she wants, as long as she's a good person while doing it.
I remember when the election race had just started and I told Spencer I couldn't imagine voting for Clinton, because she's, in my opinion, not a great leader. We would laugh together about Trump, "oh he'll never make it past primaries" and at one point he looked at me and asked, "what if it comes down to Trump and Clinton? What would you do?" "Move to Antigua, I suppose."
So here we are many months later, and you can imagine my disappointment. Not only am I in my worst case scenario politics-wise, but I am STILL living in North Carolina and not in a beautiful beach-side home with the Caribbean winds blowing through my hair. Also, I'm 9 months pregnant.
[Insert Grouchy Face Here]
I've come to the point where I have hidden family and friends from social media because I can't take it anymore. I've asked my husband to limit the politics talk. I find myself at a crossroads with just about anyone who wants to talk politics to me, because what it really comes down to is that I'm sad. I'm sad for the future. I'm sad for the present. Most of all, I'm sad that my daughter will be born into a world with a president who is either a womanizing misogynistic pig, or a woman (sure that is a silver lining) who partners with big business, is sneaky, and lets her husband cheat on her over and over without ever leaving him because it's better for her career gain. Neither one are exactly who I want my daughter looking up to as a leader.
Every day there is a new scandal with one of these candidates. My only relief is in the form of Alec Baldwin playing Donald Trump on SNL because, damn the man has all his mannerisms down. Seriously, it is hysterical.
I've come to the point of banking/praying that neither of these candidates will serve more than one term in office because they're seriously old (Trump would be the oldest president to enter office, and Clinton is only one year below the current record) and will die of natural causes. Or, because someone will assassinate them (let's be honest, this has been one UGLY race). Or, the most likely, the American people will quickly realize they did not get what they bargained for.
Personally, I don't think I'm a better person for voting for one over another. I truly feel if you took each of them, and had two columns side-by-side simply titled "Good Traits" and "Bad Traits" and did a tally system....they'd come out pretty even. So excuse me if I don't present myself as better than the person next to me because I'm voting one way, and them another. We both suck. Our democracy sucks more, though.
I don't have a solution to the problem. My dad always told me not to complain unless you have a good strategy to change it. Sadly, I don't. The system is corrupt. Our citizens are angry - not only at politics but at each other. We live in a scary world where every things are very black and white. This or That. No in-between. Vote republican if you don't want abortions. Vote democrat if you believe in equal rights. Want both? Too bad.
So, as a woman who is about to bring a tiny (hopefully) human into the world, my reaction to all the angry voters out there is simply sadness. I am sad that Eva will experience such turmoil. I'm sad that the potential first woman president has all the traits of a dirty CEO and a weak woman. I'm even sadder that the other option....well I don't think I need to list all the reasons Trump isn't ideal for the women of this nation.
So while all of you continue to bicker over who sucks less, I'll be here gearing up to raise a young woman who I will, at the very least, teach her that she can be anything she wants, as long as she's a good person while doing it.
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