We Have Won

 After all of the joy I felt on Tuesday night watching record numbers of voters coming out to vote in support of this inspired president, to support women's rights, equality in marriage, access to health care, and an end to bigotry and hate. Like the election before it, the following days terrified me. My mom has a friend from her home state of Michigan who had "n*** lover" spray painted on her son's truck becuase of his Obama license plate. Twitter was inudated by tweens posting the N word and racial slurs that I didn't even think people knew anymore. Angry facebook "friends" posted cutting insults to me and my co workers like as women we were neglecting our children by caring about politics (not to mention the fact that he assumed as women we have children - which I do not. Believe it or not some women choose to have a career first). And the peppered comments all over social media stating all kinds of hateful and ignorant things that I won't even bother repeating - suffice to say the insults were personal attacks on liberal people not on liberal policy. And don't even get me started on Rush, Donald T and the rest of those racist/sexist/ poor sports and the classy way they have handled this defeat.

 The angry part of me wants to DARE the red states and the die hard conservatives to put their money where their mouths are. If you are of the belief that Americans take too many hand outs and that social services are BAD, please, by all means, don't participate in the programs. Don't collect unemployment or medicare or medicaid or food stamps or military pensions or FEMA aid or disability benefits. Don't get free care at the hospital, don't get the free lunch for your kids at school, don't use headstart, or the police services or ambulances or firetrucks. Don't live in subsidized housing or get a discount on your childcare vouchers. Perhaps that alone could free up the deficit.

 Or maybe you could reconsider what you are so angry about. Why a woman's desire to control her own body makes you feel so threatened.

  But either way - I saw this video of Obama and I realized - none of that matters. I can't change every persons minds or talk the world out of it's prejudices. There will always be ignorant hateful people who want to put others down. There will always be an underclass be it women, LGBT communities, immigrants, emigrants, disabled people...something.

   We will be fighting for our civil rights and for humanity for the rest of our lives. But as long as we are battling - We Have Won.