The Next Four Years

Today is Inauguration Day. And it fills me with dread.

There. I said it. I know there are people who say feelings like this are silly. To give him a chance. To see what happens. That the election was won fair and square and we need to stop being sore losers and work on uniting the country.

And yeah, that's exactly how I'd feel if it was practically anyone else, Republican or Democrat, being sworn in to office today.

This is different.

I voted for Hillary Clinton, and I don't feel shame in that. I know there was talk of "voting your conscience" and "choosing the lesser of two evils", but that was not what my vote was. It was a vote for her and being stronger together, a vote for her policies and her vision for America. I wanted her to win.  

But she didn't.

This isn't me feeling bummed because a Republican won and I lean Democrat. That's like my Royals losing in Game 7 of the World Series with the tying run ninety feet away. It sucks, and it definitely bums me out, but life goes on. There are no consequences.

This outcome, though, there are consequences. I would have been bummed if Secretary Clinton had lost to nearly any other Republican candidate - Bush, McCain, Romney, even Rubio or Paul Ryan. That is difference of policy. The loss would have sucked, and I would have been bummed. But it would not have elicited the feeling of actual sadness that I feel now.

This is something different. This is endorsement of living in fear. Supporting sexual assault. Not caring at all about facts. Misogyny. Racism. Xenophobia. I can disagree on policy, but I cannot disagree on character. And this does have consequences.

I know that life will continue to go on. I will still get up each morning, put my pants on one leg at a time like always, and make my way to work. And I will be okay. I am a white, heterosexual, Christian female with a college degree. My life will pretty much be the same. But for many others it will not be. That makes me sad.

I know there are many that will say Clinton was just as bad. My opinion is that I disagree. This is a woman who spent her adult life working to make things better for families and children and people in general. She had to endure attacks from everyone. Attacks for using her maiden name and not being the correct kind of First Lady. She had had to endure attacks of being ambitious. Of being uncaring.

I believe in an America that is diverse. I believe in an America that chooses inclusion. I believe that no one is pro-abortion, and to combat abortion one needs to look to the cause - sex education, contraception, education, raising women and families out of poverty - rather than make illegal the outcome. I believe the emails were a complete non-scandal and were a deliberate ploy by Republicans to tarnish Secretary Clinton. I believe that access to affordable health care is vitally important to every one, not just those with a non-service-industry job. I believe in taxes, not just hoping for philanthropy from the rich. I believe once we care for those less than us and raise them up then we all rise up. I believe in loving people.