Even though I live in Appalachia, and I expected much of the region to vote Republican in the Presidential election, I am still appalled that he won. My method of coping was to find the county in each state most and least likely to vote Republican for President. Not satisfied with that, I picked out the fifty counties (and in some cases cities independent of counties) least likely to have voted Republican for President in 2016. Here they are, alphabetical by state. The city name in parentheses is the county seat, or an explanation of why there isn't one.
Alabama
1. Greene County ( Eutaw)
2. Macon County (Tuskeegee)
Alaska
in a separate category because regions were not broken out, although the state as a whole voted Republican.
I picked Nome as most likely not to vote Republican, because the Democratic legislator was unopposed and there were few write-ins for others.
California
3. Alameda County (Oakland)
4. Marin County (San Rafael)
5. San Francisco (City and County contiguous)
6. San Mateo County (Redwood City)
7. Santa Clara County (San José)
8. Santa Cruz County (Santa Cruz)
Colorado
9. Boulder County (Boulder)
10. Denver (City and County contiguous)
District of Columbia
11. Washington (contiguous with the District)
Georgia
12. Clayton County (Jonesboro)
13. DeKalb County (Decatur, county includes part of Atlanta)
Illinois
14. Cook County (Chicago)
Louisiana
15. Orleans Parish (New Orleans)
Maryland
16. Baltimore (independent city)
17. Montgomery County (Rockville)
18. Prince George's County (Upper Marlboro)
Massachusetts
19. Dukes County (Martha's Vineyard)
20. Suffolk County (Boston)
Mississippi
21. Claiborne County (Port Gibson)
22. Holmes County (Lexington)
23. Jefferson County (Fayette)
24. Noxubee County (Macon)
Missouri
25. St. Louis (independent city)
New Jersey
26. Essex County (Newark)
New Mexico
27. San Miguel County (Las Vegas)
28. Santa Fé County (Santa Fé)
29. Taos County (Taos)
New York
30. Bronx County (The Bronx, New York City)
31. Kings County (Brooklyn, New York City)
32. New York County (Manhattan, New York City)
North Carolina
33. Durham County (Durham)
North Dakota
34. Sioux County (Ft. Yates, coterminous with Standing Rock reservation)
Oregon
35. Multnomah County (Portland)
Pennsylvania
36. Philadelphia (coterminous city and county)
South Carolina
37. Allendale County (Allendale)
South Dakota
38. Oglala-Lakota County (no county seat, coterminous with Native American reservations)
Texas
39. Jim Hogg County (Hebbronville)
40. Maverick County (Eagle Pass)
41. Starr County (Rio Grande City)
42. Zavala County (Crystal City)
Virginia
43. Alexandria (independent city)
44. Arlington County (no county seat as it is the size of a small city in area)
45. Charlottesville (independent city)
46. Falls Church (independent city)
47. Petersburg (independent city)
48. Richmond (independent city)
Washington
49. King County (Seattle)
Wisconsin
50. Menominee County (Keshena)
Some of these are big diverse cities (BDCs), some are poor Black counties (PBCs) some are Native American reservations (NARs), some Mexican border towns (MBTs), and a few are liberal college towns (LCTs). Many of the smaller ones have colorful histories, worth exploring.
In my mind, I'm planning a trip to visit all fifty of these places across the country. It's not likely to happen.
My source for this was the state election maps compiled by Politico.
Showing posts with label 2016 election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2016 election. Show all posts
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Saturday, December 31, 2016
New York and New Year
We were both busy the evening of the twentieth, Joe with a temple board meeting, and I with a Morgantown City Council meeting where they were to discuss banning guns in municipal buildings. I am in favor of restrictions on guns.
So we were late getting out and late getting to Henry's concert. Henry also stayed with Naomi until Christmas day, when their sister Martha came from Memphis with a friend, then he stayed with their half-brother, Naomi's son, the famous Zack Hample.
It's too bad we are not rich. We could easily be bicoastal jetsetters. I am most comfortable in New York and Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles. We have friends and family members who can put us up in all of those cities, so we are able to visit.
In New York, we spent an afternoon in Macy's, like the "hicks from the sticks" we really are. We visited the train exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx. I wanted to go there because I read about it in New Yorker, and I love model trains, and because The Bronx is the county in New York State where the President-elect got the lowest percentage of votes. I can tell you which county that would be in every state.
In addition to Joe's family, we saw cousins from my mother's family, and one more distant cousin from my father's side. I met him through Jewish Genealogy. I love them, but we don't get together often.
I started to understand how people in West Virginia feel about being "eleventh generation West Virginians." I hear that all the time here, and, as someone without West Virginia connections, I'm a bit offended by it. Yet my ties to New York, although I never actually lived there, are strong. My parents grew up in The Bronx and the club where Henry's band played is two streets over from where my maternal grandfather lived at thirteen, as recorded in the 1910 census.
My relatives in New York expressed concern for us being in Morgantown, as some people here worried about us being in New York, which feels safer to me than West Virginia. Naomi Hample lives in an apartment building with a doorman. It would be hard for someone to get to her at home; we live in a house on a public street. My relatives thought we should live in New York, if Joe could get a pulpit there. It's tempting, but we own a home in Morgantown, and have a cat who likes to be out on our lawn. Most importantly, we have meaningful work here. Joe is the mayven of liberal Judaism in this part of the world, and I am working with other progressives to change the political culture here. Our life is now in Morgantown, and I don't see that changing soon.
This year I noted that the street food in New York is more likely to be Halal than kosher, the cab drivers all had Arabic names, the people working at a luncheonette where we ate one afternoon were all from Bangladesh. Yet, on the Upper West Side, where we stayed, each apartment building had a Hanukkiah as well as a Christmas tree in the lobby, and Jews are an accepted part of the scene.
The wedding Thursday night was lovely. The groom is sixty-four, the bride, sixty. There were fewer than fifty people there, mostly relatives and some friends from England. I loved hearing about being Jewish in Liverpool, and they talked about how the city has grown and changed since the days of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Manhattan has changed too. While some things seem timeless, others change rapidly. When I see immigrants there, wherever they are from, I think about my father's parents and my mother's grandparents, who came to New York as immigrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I feel a kinship with them, rather than a fear.
And here's piece for the end of the year that I wrote on December 15 at my writing group at Osher Life-Long Learning at WVU.
I'm at Life-Long Learning, where a group of us elders spend two hours Thursday morning on our writing projects. I thought I would spend a half-hour reviewing my year on Facebook, then write for an hour about what happened this year. Instead, I spent an hour on Facebook looking at posts from last January and February.
Many people have said 2016 was the worst year on record. That typically refers to the presidential election this year, which left people like me (gay, Jewish, urban, educated) appalled by what has happened, distrustful of our own neighbors, especially here in West Virginia, where a higher percentage of the population voted Republican than in any other state.
But for me, personally, the year has been a great one. Against the advice of everyone I asked, and with the help of only a campaign treasurer, I ran for state delegate in Morgantown. I lost, which I expected, but I did better than anyone expected, made lots of friends, and a point, about how people need to be treated.
In the midst of the campaign, Joe asked me to go to Israel with him to the conference of Reform rabbis. I didn't know if I had the strength to do it, and things have not been going the way I would like in Israel, politically. What I found in Israel was that the people are friendly and welcoming, even many of the Arabs. There are leftists who fear their militaristic government, just as we do here. I saw some long-time friends, and since I was not technically registered for the conference, I had time off to rest up if I needed to.
Joe turned sixty in August, and in lieu of a party, I suggested we visit San Francisco and Los Angeles. We missed some of our friends, who were away when we were there, but we saw many of our peeps in both cities. Part of me wished we could be back there, where we are not freaks like we are here, but a part of the social structure of those cities. We stayed with friends in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, and a few blocks south of Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. In L.A. we stayed where Jews are an overwhelming majority- almost like being in Israel. Still, another part of me felt we got out just in time, before the cities were overrun by zillionaires whose agenda is not the same as ours, and where we could not compete even if we wanted to.
We were in Memphis for Thanksgiving with Joe's family, still in shock from the election. We attended an interfaith meeting, where Jews, Christians and Muslims came together to pledge to fight hate. There was gorgeous gospel music, in the Memphis tradition, and the invocation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who spoke, just before he was murdered, at the church where we met, now used as a community center.
Travel was theme for us both this year. I'm leaving Saturday for my twelfth county of the year within three hundred miles of here. Some of the places I visited this year went so heavily Republican in the election that news crews went out to interview people about their views. In some of these declining counties, people are frustrated by cuts in jobs, especially in coal country. Here in Morgantown, where the economy is more vibrant than in most of Coal Country, young people still don't stay here after college. I tried, in my campaign, to change the culture here, make it more accepting.
Joe and I both taught at Life-Long Learning this year. Joe had two classes on Jewish themes, booked solid. I taught about the popular music of 1960, 1961 and 1962. Our classes were wildly popular, and I learned a lot from my research. I'm a bigger fan of Elvis, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline and Judy Garland than I was before.
In our congregation, we lost five young families. The reason given was that the young college professors were offered better, higher-paying positions, but in two cases, sons of the families were harassed at school, one for being half-Asian, and one for being openly gay. Those two families had lived in California and went back there.
We'll be in New York at the end of the year. where Joe is doing a wedding, and his brother is having a CD-release party. Since the election, we have both been happy to be away in bigger cities, with family and friends.
Morgantown seems less friendly than before, although we have friends beyond the congregation after nearly four and a half years here.
My goals for next year include keeping on with the same things, being politically active, trying to block almost everything the Republicans in the US and state governments here try to do, and making the Democrats a better party.
I hesitate to make my perennial resolutions: to lose twenty pounds, organize the junk in the house and finish my novel.
I wish everyone reading this a healthy and happy 2017.
All the pics are from New York between December 21 and December 29. Apple Photos has changed, and now I can't get my photos onto the blog. These were all from my phone or taken by others and downloaded on my computer as documents.
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| At Macy's window |
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| Selfie with Joe, Henry and Zack Hample |
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| New York Botanical Gardens Model Train Exhibit |
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| The Empire State Building, lit up for the holidays |
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| Lighting candles for Chanukkah |
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| With many of my cousins from my mother's family December 24 |
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| With my cousin Georgeann |
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| At the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village |
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| The four Hample siblings |
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| The view just before sunset from the wedding venue at 5th Ave. and 14th St., looking east |
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| Concert at Naomi's apartment with Henry and members of Washboard Jungle. That's Naomi on Henry's left |
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Thanksgiving, Memphis, 2016
There is a new, semi-secret group on Facebook called "Pantsuit Nation." It's mostly women and mostly Hillary Clinton supporters. A Morgantown friend from California, who moved back to California last summer, added me to the group. There is also a West Virginia chapter. Most of the posts are from people who have been victims of hate crimes and discriminatory behavior. Often, posters ran out of a family Thanksgiving dinner because of something awful a parent or sibling said to them. It might have been a racial comment, or a refusal to accept the poster's same-gender spouse.
Joe and I are lucky, or perhaps blessed. I have one cousin who, from what I hear, is a big Republican. That cousin hasn't spoken to me since my mother's death nearly fourteen years ago. Just as well. Neither Joe nor I have political issues with our closest family members. We are always treated respectfully. We are all distraught about the 2016 Presidential election.
It was my sister's turn to have us for Thanksgiving this year, but there were complications, both for her and for us. Joe wanted to attend his family's grand Thanksgiving dinner in Memphis. We drove 210 miles to Greenbelt, Maryland Sunday and had a pre-Thanksgiving meal with my sister, her son and his fiancée. My nephew then went off to his girl's parents in Ohio, and, as a bonus, they left their sweet dog with my sister, where I was able to spend time with him.
We scored a non-stop flight from Baltimore to Memphis Tuesday, stayed at a suburban motel (with one free night), and rented a car. Although we asked for the cheapest, smallest car available, we left the lot in a gorgeous cherry-red 2017 Dodge Challenger with a hemi engine. I became fond of the car.
Joe's aunt and uncle and sister in Memphis have been great to me since I met them nine years ago, in what I see now as a ritual, bringing your new significant other for the family's inspection. Joe and his late mother were the oldest in his family, and I am older than Joe, so the "old" aunt and uncle are not much older than I am. We were nineteen family members at Thanksgiving.
A cousin's husband is an executive with the Memphis Grizzlies, so we spent Friday at a basketball game. We ate at many restaurants, mostly on Joe's uncle's dime. We saw a few movies, including "Loving" about an interracial couple arrested for being in love. We noted the connection to our non-traditional marriage.
Finally, we attended a rally against hate, held in a once-abandoned church, where Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in 1968, just before he was murdered. It's a beautiful place, almost literally falling down, a reminder of history and the passage of time. There were religious leaders of all stripes, including the rabbi from Memphis' Reform synagogue. There were speakers from immigrant communities, an LGBT center, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. Memphis is a multi-cultural, largely African-American city in an overwhelmingly conservative state. People are frightened by the rhetoric of the incoming administration, the backward-looking picks for cabinet posts, and the liberty now felt by racists, homophobes and neo-Nazis to speak out. Older African-Americans have been through this before, The spiritual presence of Dr. King was there in that former church to give us all hope. I attended a Rally For Change here in Morgantown Wednesday night after we got back. That rally was more about enacting specific political change here.
I loved being in Memphis. In addition to Joe's extended family. I found the people outgoing and friendly. I felt more "at home" in Memphis and in Greenbelt, in Prince George's County, Maryland, where my sister lives, than I do in Morgantown.
Our congregation here in Morgantown is still lovely, and although the county voted majority for the Republican presidential candidate, there is a core of people of good will, who are willing to fight the hateful troglodytes who have come out of the woodwork since the election. Joe and I will live here for the forseeable future, and be activists for equality.We have no other choice.
We have already attended two meetings (today is Sunday, December 4) in the five days since we returned from Thanksgiving. The meeting Wednesday was political, the one today was an interfaith council. Things are in the works here.
We'll be off to New York for an extended visit at the end of the year. New York is another spiritual home for us.
Joe and I are lucky, or perhaps blessed. I have one cousin who, from what I hear, is a big Republican. That cousin hasn't spoken to me since my mother's death nearly fourteen years ago. Just as well. Neither Joe nor I have political issues with our closest family members. We are always treated respectfully. We are all distraught about the 2016 Presidential election.
It was my sister's turn to have us for Thanksgiving this year, but there were complications, both for her and for us. Joe wanted to attend his family's grand Thanksgiving dinner in Memphis. We drove 210 miles to Greenbelt, Maryland Sunday and had a pre-Thanksgiving meal with my sister, her son and his fiancée. My nephew then went off to his girl's parents in Ohio, and, as a bonus, they left their sweet dog with my sister, where I was able to spend time with him.
We scored a non-stop flight from Baltimore to Memphis Tuesday, stayed at a suburban motel (with one free night), and rented a car. Although we asked for the cheapest, smallest car available, we left the lot in a gorgeous cherry-red 2017 Dodge Challenger with a hemi engine. I became fond of the car.
Joe's aunt and uncle and sister in Memphis have been great to me since I met them nine years ago, in what I see now as a ritual, bringing your new significant other for the family's inspection. Joe and his late mother were the oldest in his family, and I am older than Joe, so the "old" aunt and uncle are not much older than I am. We were nineteen family members at Thanksgiving.
A cousin's husband is an executive with the Memphis Grizzlies, so we spent Friday at a basketball game. We ate at many restaurants, mostly on Joe's uncle's dime. We saw a few movies, including "Loving" about an interracial couple arrested for being in love. We noted the connection to our non-traditional marriage.
Finally, we attended a rally against hate, held in a once-abandoned church, where Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in 1968, just before he was murdered. It's a beautiful place, almost literally falling down, a reminder of history and the passage of time. There were religious leaders of all stripes, including the rabbi from Memphis' Reform synagogue. There were speakers from immigrant communities, an LGBT center, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. Memphis is a multi-cultural, largely African-American city in an overwhelmingly conservative state. People are frightened by the rhetoric of the incoming administration, the backward-looking picks for cabinet posts, and the liberty now felt by racists, homophobes and neo-Nazis to speak out. Older African-Americans have been through this before, The spiritual presence of Dr. King was there in that former church to give us all hope. I attended a Rally For Change here in Morgantown Wednesday night after we got back. That rally was more about enacting specific political change here.
I loved being in Memphis. In addition to Joe's extended family. I found the people outgoing and friendly. I felt more "at home" in Memphis and in Greenbelt, in Prince George's County, Maryland, where my sister lives, than I do in Morgantown.
Our congregation here in Morgantown is still lovely, and although the county voted majority for the Republican presidential candidate, there is a core of people of good will, who are willing to fight the hateful troglodytes who have come out of the woodwork since the election. Joe and I will live here for the forseeable future, and be activists for equality.We have no other choice.
We have already attended two meetings (today is Sunday, December 4) in the five days since we returned from Thanksgiving. The meeting Wednesday was political, the one today was an interfaith council. Things are in the works here.
We'll be off to New York for an extended visit at the end of the year. New York is another spiritual home for us.
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| With Joe on Beale Street |
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| Brister Library at The University of Memphis |
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| Singing along with the Hamples at Thanksgiving |
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| Shelby County Courthouse |
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| Joe and his sister at the pedestrian crossing of the Mississippi River, next to an old railroad bridge |
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| Shelby Farms Park, east of Memphis |
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| Rabbi Micah Greenstein speaking at the interfaith event in Memphis |
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| Boyce-Gregg House, now The Community Resource Center |
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| We are looking cool with our boss 2017 Hemi-powered Dodge Challenger |
Thursday, November 10, 2016
I Wish This Would Be Over Soon (But I Know It Won't Be)
Comments last night and this morning on Facebook: There was a post about the Republican woman running for state treasurer in West Virginia, and people were supporting her in the comments. I should have kept my mouth shut, but I said "I never vote for Republicans."
Responder1: "Isn't time (sic) for change?"
Me:"Yes. Let's vote out the Republicans in West Virginia. I'm in a same-gender marriage. I can't afford to have haters trying to overturn that. And no, I don't vote for Democrats who would overturn my marriage, either."
Responder 2: "Barry's gonna vote for Hitlery (sic) who wants to flood America with hundreds of muslims (sic). Barry, you know they'll want to throw you from the roof of a tall building to splat on the concrete below. You Libs are crazy! You should let some refugees move in with you . Maybe you can change them."
Responder 2 (again):"Republicans won't let 'em do that to ya, Barry. We'll keep the animals away!"
Me; "You are full of crap,[name]. That minister in Iowa they all visited wants us all killed. The Republicans have never been any kind of friend to gays. None of us are that stupid."
Me (again): "And calling people 'animals' who are fleeing for their lives is not something I, as a religious person, can abide. It further proves how debased conversations by Republicans are. Have a nice day."
No comment from the candidate whose page this was on.
Someone else suggested I read the Bible, because I can't be gay and religious. I said "It doesn't say that," and suggested he read about helping the poor, healing the sick, and welcoming the stranger.
Then there were comments, possibly deleted, about how the church bombing in Mississippi and the graffiti that said "Vote Trump" could not have been done by Trump supporters.
Respondent 1: "the clintons have instigated violence before, plus who tf writes vote trump lmao seems like a dumb move that the clinton campaign and the Democracy Partners and Americans United for Changes SuperPACs would do" (exactly like that)
There are lots of folks out there who do write grammatically and sound like they know what they're saying. One was astonished when I called him an anti-Semite. Why? Because he said Hillary Clinton voted for war in Iraq because "Israel told her to." I asked for (but didn't get) proof that his statement was valid.
I wrote most of that in my OLLI writing group Thursday, before the election. After the Jewish holidays, six weeks of OLLI classes, and the election, I planned to be away four days on my own. Joe and I are spending time with our families in Memphis, metro D.C. and New York between now and the end of the year. I needed time to be on my own.
As everyone knows, the election did not go as most of us hoped. We woke up on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, to find someone who had used Fascist-type rhetoric, consorted with blatant racists, and lied repeatedly, elected President because a minority of the population doesn't like Hillary.
I've read all the calls to prayer, heard him say he wants to President for everyone and we should all come together, and nice words from Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. I don't think so.
I don''t actually know what to do. I'm too old and weak to be out demonstrating, and I don't think it will do any good. I'm not anxious to leave the country, not yet. And Joe likes his job in West Virginia, where Mr. Trump won a majority in every county, although a smaller majority in Monongalia County, where we live, than in any other in the state. Small comfort.
Most of the places I have visited on my monthly visits voted for him. I've seen many depressed places. Now they've blown up the country. I'm tempted to just walk away and tell them to deal with the mess they've created. Or maybe restrict where I visit in the future, like my parents, who only visited New York and South Florida, because they didn't know where else Jews would be welcomed.
Locally, we got two more Democrats in the state legislature, the two least progressive of the four non-incumbents who could have won. The two of us who were the most progressive got knocked off in the primary.
There's a lot of talk about understanding the frustrations of working-class white men. Same old story. What about the frustration of same-gender couples? Of women who feel like it's open season on them? Of people with family on two sides of the border? Of Muslims and Sikhs who came here for the freedoms others take for granted?
My young friend talk about waiting for old people to die off so they can take over. Thanks, guys. We are not all heinous troglodytes, and we will be gone soon enough. Young people overwhelmingly voted against Trump-except in West Virginia. And I spoke at the gym I go to to one of the sweet young girls who works there. She didn't register to vote.
I'm not sure what to do. I'm just venting here, like everyone else has been doing. He was right about the system being rigged: only it was rigged in his favor, what with gerrymandering in many states, most notably North Carolina, voter ID laws in many places, and the way the electoral college is set up to favor small states that can be easily swayed with money, like West Virginia.
I've heard pundits and sociologists say we all have different ways of interacting. In New Yorker magazine, there was an article about how you have to be friendly to your neighbors, even if they put a sign for him on their lawn. No.
In California, people say "Hi!" to you and smile when they pass you on the street. It doesn't mean much, except to acknowledge your presence and that you belong. The locals in West Virginia always say they are friendly people, but I find, just walking around, that people will turn away from you or ignore you when they pass by. Maybe I need to look at more people as being my enemy, because in effect, that is what they are. "No, we don't hate you. Our religion tells us two men shouldn't marry." My answer to that is "If you voted for that guy, you have lost the right to start a sentence with "The Bible says...". Charity, acts of lovingkindness, welcoming the stranger? Aren't those in the Bible, or were you absent from Sunday school that day?"
Enough ranting for now. There will be consequences. And not just "unfollowing" people on Facebook. I did that a long time ago. I'm siding with the people I've lately learned about: the ones who use words like "intersectionality" and "microagression." The people who decide on their own what race and gender they are. I'm a queer, non-white religious minority, and if it comes to taking sides, that is who I am with.
I have two days to explore Camden County, New Jersey. Then I'll be back to real life in West Virginia.
Responder1: "Isn't time (sic) for change?"
Me:"Yes. Let's vote out the Republicans in West Virginia. I'm in a same-gender marriage. I can't afford to have haters trying to overturn that. And no, I don't vote for Democrats who would overturn my marriage, either."
Responder 2: "Barry's gonna vote for Hitlery (sic) who wants to flood America with hundreds of muslims (sic). Barry, you know they'll want to throw you from the roof of a tall building to splat on the concrete below. You Libs are crazy! You should let some refugees move in with you . Maybe you can change them."
Responder 2 (again):"Republicans won't let 'em do that to ya, Barry. We'll keep the animals away!"
Me; "You are full of crap,[name]. That minister in Iowa they all visited wants us all killed. The Republicans have never been any kind of friend to gays. None of us are that stupid."
Me (again): "And calling people 'animals' who are fleeing for their lives is not something I, as a religious person, can abide. It further proves how debased conversations by Republicans are. Have a nice day."
No comment from the candidate whose page this was on.
Someone else suggested I read the Bible, because I can't be gay and religious. I said "It doesn't say that," and suggested he read about helping the poor, healing the sick, and welcoming the stranger.
Then there were comments, possibly deleted, about how the church bombing in Mississippi and the graffiti that said "Vote Trump" could not have been done by Trump supporters.
Respondent 1: "the clintons have instigated violence before, plus who tf writes vote trump lmao seems like a dumb move that the clinton campaign and the Democracy Partners and Americans United for Changes SuperPACs would do" (exactly like that)
There are lots of folks out there who do write grammatically and sound like they know what they're saying. One was astonished when I called him an anti-Semite. Why? Because he said Hillary Clinton voted for war in Iraq because "Israel told her to." I asked for (but didn't get) proof that his statement was valid.
I wrote most of that in my OLLI writing group Thursday, before the election. After the Jewish holidays, six weeks of OLLI classes, and the election, I planned to be away four days on my own. Joe and I are spending time with our families in Memphis, metro D.C. and New York between now and the end of the year. I needed time to be on my own.
As everyone knows, the election did not go as most of us hoped. We woke up on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, to find someone who had used Fascist-type rhetoric, consorted with blatant racists, and lied repeatedly, elected President because a minority of the population doesn't like Hillary.
I've read all the calls to prayer, heard him say he wants to President for everyone and we should all come together, and nice words from Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. I don't think so.
I don''t actually know what to do. I'm too old and weak to be out demonstrating, and I don't think it will do any good. I'm not anxious to leave the country, not yet. And Joe likes his job in West Virginia, where Mr. Trump won a majority in every county, although a smaller majority in Monongalia County, where we live, than in any other in the state. Small comfort.
Most of the places I have visited on my monthly visits voted for him. I've seen many depressed places. Now they've blown up the country. I'm tempted to just walk away and tell them to deal with the mess they've created. Or maybe restrict where I visit in the future, like my parents, who only visited New York and South Florida, because they didn't know where else Jews would be welcomed.
Locally, we got two more Democrats in the state legislature, the two least progressive of the four non-incumbents who could have won. The two of us who were the most progressive got knocked off in the primary.
There's a lot of talk about understanding the frustrations of working-class white men. Same old story. What about the frustration of same-gender couples? Of women who feel like it's open season on them? Of people with family on two sides of the border? Of Muslims and Sikhs who came here for the freedoms others take for granted?
My young friend talk about waiting for old people to die off so they can take over. Thanks, guys. We are not all heinous troglodytes, and we will be gone soon enough. Young people overwhelmingly voted against Trump-except in West Virginia. And I spoke at the gym I go to to one of the sweet young girls who works there. She didn't register to vote.
I'm not sure what to do. I'm just venting here, like everyone else has been doing. He was right about the system being rigged: only it was rigged in his favor, what with gerrymandering in many states, most notably North Carolina, voter ID laws in many places, and the way the electoral college is set up to favor small states that can be easily swayed with money, like West Virginia.
I've heard pundits and sociologists say we all have different ways of interacting. In New Yorker magazine, there was an article about how you have to be friendly to your neighbors, even if they put a sign for him on their lawn. No.
In California, people say "Hi!" to you and smile when they pass you on the street. It doesn't mean much, except to acknowledge your presence and that you belong. The locals in West Virginia always say they are friendly people, but I find, just walking around, that people will turn away from you or ignore you when they pass by. Maybe I need to look at more people as being my enemy, because in effect, that is what they are. "No, we don't hate you. Our religion tells us two men shouldn't marry." My answer to that is "If you voted for that guy, you have lost the right to start a sentence with "The Bible says...". Charity, acts of lovingkindness, welcoming the stranger? Aren't those in the Bible, or were you absent from Sunday school that day?"
Enough ranting for now. There will be consequences. And not just "unfollowing" people on Facebook. I did that a long time ago. I'm siding with the people I've lately learned about: the ones who use words like "intersectionality" and "microagression." The people who decide on their own what race and gender they are. I'm a queer, non-white religious minority, and if it comes to taking sides, that is who I am with.
I have two days to explore Camden County, New Jersey. Then I'll be back to real life in West Virginia.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
The Campaign
As with everything I have tried (speaking Spanish fluently, acting, singing, teaching, being a cantor, marriage), politics is more work than I expected it to be. Last Thursday, I attended three meetings: first about the possiblity of a new bridge over the Monongahela River, then a meeting of the Democratic Central Committee for our county, and then Suncrest Neighborhood Association. We live in Suncrest, part of Morgantown. Monday, I attended a kick-off campaign for the reelection of Judge Phillip Gaujot. I've been meeting lots of people, and enjoying that, and getting my name out there, and I have opinions to share in every forum.
I had signed up for an all-day training for new candidates, led by Stephen Stone Smith, a community organizer in Charleston. Training was held in places throughout the state. I attended the one in Wheeling, 74 miles from home. Although it was billed as non-partisan, I don't think many Republicans attended. The work Smith outlined for us is detailed and intense. One should have a committee of ten to help write and execute a written out campaign strategy, should go door-to-door to meet people in the district, and should calll people and ask for a specific amount of money from each person. At first, I didn't think I could do any of this. I now see I will have to bite the bullet and do most of these things.
Still, I have people helping me. I have a treasurer, who also can do tech for me, named Dee Quaranto. A friend from temple, who is active in politics, thought I shouldn't run and wouldn't help, but she has given me good advice about what to do since I seem to be stubborn about running. Another friend from Maryland has offered advice and help.
I'm still working on my 90-second "stump speech" which I gave, in draft form, to the other people at the workshop in Wheeling, who were supportive and gave good feedback. None of us of whatever political leaning, are "establishment" candidates, and I could see myself reflected in them and the struggles they will face to get elected. I've ordered business cards, which will arrive next week.
I met a candidate for the same office, a friend at Judge Gaujot's fundraiser. She complained that she has a full-time job and doesn't have much time to campaign. I thought I had something on her there, but I do our shopping, cooking and bill-paying, and I attend most events at Tree of Life. Joe and I are going to Israel for the CCAR (Reform rabbis) convention in late February, and I'm teaching a class at OLLI from January 25 to February 22, just before we leave for Israel. My time is not inexhaustible, and the primary is in May, not that far off.
Things are moving. I believe now that there will be at least nine Democrats running for five nominations for Delegate in our district. Candidates have until January 30 to file, so there may be even more. It's easy to criticize Republicans on issues, but the Democrats, most of whom I know, are people I generally agree with on issues. I think of myself as more "upfront" than they are, more "in your face." I want to be the Bernie Sanders of West Virginia.
Meanwhile, thanks to Dee, my website is up. I'm very happy with it, but there may be some changes down the road. Here's the link:
www.barryinthehouse.com
Don't be surprised if you get a call asking for a donation, or an invitation to a fundraiser, or, if you are in Morgantown, a knock on your door.
I had signed up for an all-day training for new candidates, led by Stephen Stone Smith, a community organizer in Charleston. Training was held in places throughout the state. I attended the one in Wheeling, 74 miles from home. Although it was billed as non-partisan, I don't think many Republicans attended. The work Smith outlined for us is detailed and intense. One should have a committee of ten to help write and execute a written out campaign strategy, should go door-to-door to meet people in the district, and should calll people and ask for a specific amount of money from each person. At first, I didn't think I could do any of this. I now see I will have to bite the bullet and do most of these things.
Still, I have people helping me. I have a treasurer, who also can do tech for me, named Dee Quaranto. A friend from temple, who is active in politics, thought I shouldn't run and wouldn't help, but she has given me good advice about what to do since I seem to be stubborn about running. Another friend from Maryland has offered advice and help.
I'm still working on my 90-second "stump speech" which I gave, in draft form, to the other people at the workshop in Wheeling, who were supportive and gave good feedback. None of us of whatever political leaning, are "establishment" candidates, and I could see myself reflected in them and the struggles they will face to get elected. I've ordered business cards, which will arrive next week.
I met a candidate for the same office, a friend at Judge Gaujot's fundraiser. She complained that she has a full-time job and doesn't have much time to campaign. I thought I had something on her there, but I do our shopping, cooking and bill-paying, and I attend most events at Tree of Life. Joe and I are going to Israel for the CCAR (Reform rabbis) convention in late February, and I'm teaching a class at OLLI from January 25 to February 22, just before we leave for Israel. My time is not inexhaustible, and the primary is in May, not that far off.
Things are moving. I believe now that there will be at least nine Democrats running for five nominations for Delegate in our district. Candidates have until January 30 to file, so there may be even more. It's easy to criticize Republicans on issues, but the Democrats, most of whom I know, are people I generally agree with on issues. I think of myself as more "upfront" than they are, more "in your face." I want to be the Bernie Sanders of West Virginia.
Meanwhile, thanks to Dee, my website is up. I'm very happy with it, but there may be some changes down the road. Here's the link:
www.barryinthehouse.com
Don't be surprised if you get a call asking for a donation, or an invitation to a fundraiser, or, if you are in Morgantown, a knock on your door.
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