I am done. . .

Note:  Today “Zennie” and Deanna are sitting out some high winds and rain near the Sierra Nevadas before they move into California.  Deanna texted that today was a day to put on some wool socks I knit her, get the tea pot going and curl up with a good book.  I would say “Amen” to that thought.
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            Montana allowed early voting by registered voters starting on October 10.  So on October 11th I went to the county clerk’s office and voted.  So I am done with this whole business for another four years.  I heard in the news that early voting is going on fast and furious.  I think everyone is tired, worn-out with all this and just eager to be on to something else.       
         Trump, his bombast and his classic narcissism, have worn us all out.  If he did not make the top line in the newscasts each and every day we thought we were missing something.  My family in Sweden is shocked at what this election has produced in a country that prided itself on civil discourse and attention to the issues.  At least in his day, Abraham Lincoln could confront a heckler by taking off his coat and offering to fight them if that is what it took.            Once again I am not so sure but what the real issue here is gender-based.  Just as President Obama had to face racism at every turn, even though many of his detractors would not admit it, so Hillary Clinton is having to take-on what it means to be the first woman elected to the presidency in this country.  I don’t know what has taken us so long.  Perhaps the “locker room” mentality is so deeply-seated that prying it out of our consciousness will take longer than we think.  Yesterday I was trying to think about other leaders who were women and the first one that came to mind was Gold Meir, an early leader of Israel.  There was nothing of physical beauty about Mrs. Meir, but she ran Israel with a firm hand and there was little, if any excuse made about her being a woman.  Margaret Thatcher the “Iron lady” and Ronald Reagan were conservatives and political friends.  Indira Gandhi ruled India as part of a family line but was assassinated, not because she was a woman, but because of political differences within the vast subcontinent of India.  For some reason, in this country, I don’t feel as though we have reached equality and respect for women even yet.
        I wish I had been more excited at being able to vote for the first woman nominated by a major political party for president, but Donald Trump has taken all the dignity out of the occasion.  A hundred years since women got the right to vote we are at last seeing an intelligent and qualified woman step to the front and be recognized.  She is not perfect, who is.  You can look back to elections in the 1800s where political corruption was rife, but issues and the power of the office of the presidency brought a sheen of decency to it all.  I don’t mind saying I hope Hillary wins.  Our option is unthinkable.