We often hear that it’s all about the journey, not necessarily the destination. But there are definitely situations where that’s not the case. For example, in poker, I might have the best starting hand… let’s say a pair of Kings. And you have a pair of Queens. Excellent; I manage to get all my money into the pot, and sit back patiently waiting to collect all of your money. I am a 4-1 favourite. I will win this hand 80% of time.
But then… the flop of three cards contains a Queen. What? Why me, always me, just one time… jeez… agh… then turn card is dealt and it doesn’t help me, and now I’m standing up and packing up my stuff, getting ready to leave… and then… King on the river. Boom. I sit down. You go home.
Quite a rollercoaster ride, but… I had the better starting hand, and I had the best hand at the end. What happened in between, who cares. The journey was irrelevant. It’s all about the destination.
And the U.S. election… before it, Biden was heavily favoured to win. As it stands now, it looks like he will, though nowhere near as powerfully as some imagined.
One day, elections… and, specifically, vote counting… will enter the 21st century with the technology available to make it completely trusted by everyone and, more importantly, instantly tabulated. At 7:00:01pm PDT, the electoral map of the United States will light up, reds and blues dutifully coloured in, and a declaration will be made with respect to who was just elected president. That is the indented destination, and it would sure change the journey, and everything that comes with it.
As I write this, the journey continues. The destination has yet to be reached. Biden is presently ahead by almost 4 million in the popular vote, 73M to 69M. On that magical journey to 270 electoral votes, it’s presently 253 Biden / 214 Trump. What’s interesting is that given the trends of what’s left to be counted, this could easily wind up above 300 for Biden. I’m imagining a very plausible 306/232 win.
I say all this because if that turns out to be the case, it’s more of a statement than first appeared. It’s not so squeaky close after all. But this agonizing and stressful journey (for both sides) could have been avoided, and should be in the future.
Depending how you look at it… this journey started on Tuesdsay, or maybe this journey started 4 years ago. Either way, we’re hopefully approaching the end of the line. The turbulent flight. The bumpy train ride. The endless stop-and-go rush-hour commute that should take 15 minutes but takes 90. Enough already. Let me out of here.
Things that amaze me:
1. The President of the US wants to shut down “voting” (actually counting votes) and tear up the legitimate votes of Americans while he is still ahead. That’s not how democracy works, buddy.
2. Over 68 million Americans thought it was a good idea to vote for a racist, misogynist, narcissist, liar, cheater and criminal as their president, even after watching him in action over the past (close to) four years.
3. The Electoral College is an obsolete 18th century invention.
The US needs a complete rethink IMHO.
I’m still waiting for my mail in ballot for the BC election to be counted. They haven’t even started yet! How backwards is that?
As I seat patiently at the pet hospital in Bend, OR for my dog surgery to end… this was a good read ????Thanks for reminding us that no matter how difficult the journey is, the destination will come ????????
I live in Indiana, one of the most republican states in the Union; in fact, it was one of the first ones to be called at 8pm on Nov 3. To answer why 68m people voted to re-elect the current POTUS, we do not have to think long and hard. To quote James Carville. “It’s the economy, stupid.” I talk to people who work in manufacturing, who have seen a difference in their economic well being since 2016. At the end of the day, its all about $$, and if you are making $30K a year, and the rhetoric coming out from DC is talking about concepts utterly foreign to you and then comes an outsider whose policies positively affect your paycheck, you will vote for him. Regardless of his traits, etc. And remember, a large part of this great nation is composed of people whose priorities are different from those of the “coastal elites”- for lack of a better term.