This is the first election I haven’t covered in like 2 decades. Instead of politicians, their staff, operatives, and lobbyists I deal with migrants, sex workers, addicts, gangsters, anarchists and priests. And sister, lemme tell ya
They’re some of the most shit upon, forgotten people in our society. And I’d trust them all with my life more than almost anybody I covered in my old life.
That said. It’s also made this election much more scary. Because if you dear reader, or I, have anxiety about racist, sexist, horrible people openly and actively controlling the most powerful country on earth, just imagine what they’re going through.
That so many of our fellow humans - some good, some bad, but all dealing with circumstances that would drive many of us to madness - are watching all THIS, knowing they could be ground under heel, is shameful. We shouldn’t have a system that assumes them to be an after thought
Regardless of your party or political ideology, the least of us need the rest to be looking out for them and not throwing up barriers to survival. That’s the whole point. But way too many have lost the script
It’s funny. I’ve covered the cruelty of all this from both sides: first as a political reporter, and now writing about what that means on the ground, you’d think I’d be cynical as fuck. And you’d be right. But I’m also still hopeful, oddly enough
I’ve met priests and nuns, doctors and academics, young anarchists and defiant transwomen who despite all the fucked up ugly shit, get up everyday, put their shoes on and get to work making the world better for those without hope - all with a smile on their face
They stare down and call out the bad with a fierceness that takes the breath away. And then they smile and laugh and bring joy into this world. Some are conservative, some are liberal. But most don’t really care to fit into that. They just ... do.
Anyway, the point to this, if there is one, is that it’s possible to stand up against cruelty and power, it’s possible to raise your voice against injustice, and to do all that with love. Love isn’t weak or accommodating, I’ve learned. It’s in your face and defiant.
