As Buffalo Bills fans know all too well, it’s a lot easier to be gracious in victory than in defeat. And so it is this morning. I went to bed before the final results were in on Election Night, believing that finishing Oliver Sacks’s autobiography would be a more pleasant way to spend the evening. (An excellent book, and a wise choice.)
There was plenty of disbelief to go around today. My officemate, a statistician, asked how polls could be so wrong. Simple: People choose not to answer the phone when a pollster calls, or they lie. My hairdresser’s husband was utterly distraught and couldn’t sleep. Julian was in bed by midnight, proof positive that things did not go his way.
There were some consolations here in the Evergreen State. Not only did Washington go for Clinton, but Democrats retained their majority in our Congressional delegation. Governor Jay Inslee and Senator Patty Murray were re-elected. We also elected Cyrus Habib, an Iranian-American, Lieutenant Governor.
So now what? We have to make sure that some of the overreach does not occur. We need to pressure our elected representatives to vote in line with our values. The 2018 election is an opportunity to regain some balance. We also need to stand up when individuals and groups are targeted by the powers that be. We will re-bend the arc of history toward justice again.
Recent Comments