Uncommon sense

Common sense is not so common. - Voltaire. 

The people of the United States of America have shown this year that they have some sense. They have elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as President and VP to be inaugurated in January. Record numbers of people voted this year. Perhaps Trump, who will go down as the worst President in American history, will be best known as the man who mobilised Americans to vote in droves during a pandemic. No more apathy. It was a clear and decisive margin of more than 6 million in the popular vote and a clear win of the electoral vote (306-232). Moreover, almost 154 million voters turned out -- that's almost half the population of the US. More than 100 million votes were cast early either by mail or in person as states took into account safety during the pandemic. 

The people showed uncommon sense in choosing a decent and honourable man and a woman of colour both of whom speak in full sentences and make all the sense in the world. Biden had a birthday after the election and he will take office as the oldest President in history at the age of 78. Kamala will make history as the first female VP, and the highest-ranking woman of colour. Finally, girls everywhere will be able to see themselves in important governing roles. Another first will be that President-Elect Biden's wife Jill is a PhD and Dr. Biden plans to continue to teach. We should call her Dr FLOTUS. The Second Gentleman, as VPE Harris' husband Doug Emhoff is to be known, is Jewish. There has never before been a SGOTUS and never has a spouse of POTUS or VPOTUS been Jewish. 

The US has the most cases of coronavirus infection in the world at nearly 13 million and more than 264,000 deaths. Trump tried to overturn the election results and was shut down by the courts, Guiliani made a fool of himself with melting hair colour and bizarre conspiracy theories. And still, they have extraordinary support. But they lost. 

I believe that Biden-Harris and all the smart people they are bringing in can heal and unite. But it's not going to be easy. It is so refreshing to hear people say reasonable things. It feels like integrity is returning to the People's House. 

Thanks be to God and the American people for restoring some order in the world. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all. 

I know that I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing. -Socrates

Turnout statistics

Election	Voting eligible population (VEP)	% Turnout of VEP
2008	229,945,000	57.1%
2012	235,248,000	54.9%
2016	230,931,921	59.2%
2020	239,247,182	66.4% - 72.1%

A historic day

Yesterday, 4 days of counting after the US Presidential election, the Biden-Harris ticket was declared the winner with more than 270 electoral college votes and a 4 million count advantage of the popular vote. With the win in Pennsylvania, the Keystone State where I grew up, Joe Biden became President-Elect, the oldest ever at 77, the same age as my brother. Kamala Harris became the first woman and the first woman of colour to become Vice President-Elect. As the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India and married to a Jewish man becoming a stepmom to his children, she broke all kinds of ceilings. Kamala is as all-American as it gets. 

This will be an unusual Presidency, of course after all the court challenges Trump is mounting. We have a President-Elect who tried to run twice and third time was lucky. We have a majority in the house but not in the Senate, so there will be obstacles. Unless of course, the run-off in Georgia flips two seats -- or at least one to cause a tie between Republican and Democratic seats, because then Kamala will have the tiebreaker vote. Personally, I'd quite like the latter outcome.

Trump had meltdowns on Twitter as expected and Twitter vowed to treat him like any normal human being if he lost. Well, he has lost and they've been not just flagging his tweets, they've been suppressing them. Cool. Thank you, Twitter. But the second-best moment of the election was that Rudy Guiliani held a press conference at the Four Seasons Landscaping company instead of the Four Seasons Hotel in Philly. He stood in a parking lot between a sex toys shop and a crematorium. The internet has had a field day with that one. And while he was talking about the lawsuits being prepared, the Biden-Harris win was announced. He asked who announced it and the reporters responded, "They all did!" Sweet.

Jill Biden is expecting to continue teaching in college so she will become Professor FLOTUS. Of course, she already has experience as Second Lady of the US. Douglas Emhoff is the husband of U.S. Senator and vice president-elect Kamala Harris and a successful litigation attorney. He is set to become the first Second Gentleman of the United States. He will be the first Jewish person in US history to be married to a President or Vice President. He has said he will take a leave of absence from the legal firm of which he is a partner. He could have interesting conflicts.

Things are getting complicated in two-career families who hold elected office. Michelle Obama must have found it extremely difficult to give up her career for 8+ years. 

We have a divided country, a soaring pandemic, historic unemployment, a delicately balanced economy, and systemic racism -- can these people heal a country in turmoil? It certainly finally feels like someone is going to try. 

I am grateful for the lack of rioting and peaceful celebrations in the interim. I just feel so relieved that we aren't going to have to endure another 4 years of trumpism. He's fired!  

May life be interesting. 

50,078,292

Sadly, yesterday was also the day that the global confirmed cases of coronavirus infection topped 50 million while America soared to 9.9 million ahead of most third world countries. God help us all.