Watchables

The mainstream media’s begun acting as though everything's biz-as-ushe – just a simple change of presidents – nothing catastrophically insane to see here! They're normalizing that orange fascist narcissist and his explosively racist, dimwitted, bullying Renfields.

I need to remember that, though the electoral college is in Trump's pocket, he lost the popular vote by a huge fucking lot. Projections are that he will have lost it by as much as two million votes. What this says to me is that I don’t need to fear for my life when I step out my door or leave my very blue Massachusetts to visit Jenny next month. Mind you, I feel that I need to be significantly more careful. Possibly I shouldn’t wear my hippy freak tie dye and mebbe I better color that swatch of purple up top, back to my own dark brown. Ya know, so I don’t stand so far fucking out. After all, Arizona went Trump.

Know what I need? I need some goddamned heroes and I want 'em NOW. Yesterday. A LOT of 'em too! These champions need to be on all levels of government too – NOT just up top like some sparkly star on a Christmas tree. I want wonderfully strong, eloquently vocal, left wing city counselors, mayors, governors, state reps, senators and reps.

Possible Future Heroes of America (I believe you can get a 4-H badge in that), to watch are:

• Stacey Abrams — Democratic minority leader, Georgia House of Representatives.
• Pete Buttigieg was elected Mayor of South Bend, Indiana – the right wing state’s fourth-largest city. He first won by a whopping 75% of the vote. While in office he exited the closet (stage left of course). As an openly gay man (with a funny name) he was reelected with 80% of the vote.
• The new Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
• Illinois’ Cook County has a new State’s Attorney – Kim Foxx
• Outgoing Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Julián Castro has a twin brother – U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas.
• Senator Cory Booker, New Jersey. I've had a thing for him for a while now.
• ​Eric Garcetti – he’s the first elected Jewish mayor of Los Angeles.
• Colorado House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran.
• Andrew Gillum is the mayor of Tallahassee, Fla.
• Hakeem Jeffries – Congressman for the 8th district of New York.
• Representing Minnesota's 5th District is Keith Ellison.
• State senator Mike Johnston of Colorado.
• Seth Moulton represents the 6th district of Massachusetts. Under his belt he’s got a degree in physics from Harvard, four tours of duty in Iraq (a Marine), graduate degrees in business and public administration from Harvard. Oh yeah, he's not a shy talker either! Gee, overachieve much? I'm psyched to watch his path.
• Ayanna Pressley is a very interesting member of the Boston City Council. In an awards speech Pressley paid tribute (for her successes) to a number of famous women who’d gone before her, including Pressley’s mother, whose voice, Pressley said, “told a black girl growing up on a tough block in Chicago that she had a right to a life of her own choosing.”
  “It was a voice of comfort for a little girl whose father was stolen away by addiction and incarceration,” she continued. And that voice, she added, still “comes to me when the walls close in, when the critics are loudest, when the doubts are greatest.” (source)
• Gina Raimondo – Governor, Rhode Island.
• Michelle Wu – President of the Boston City Council.
• Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut

Rising stars, to name just a few. I hope to see a lot more of them in the coming months. Knowing they're out there makes me slightly less afraid.