Nov 4

Two old white men have dominated the news for far too long now. In an election like no other, things have finally come to a head. The United States has hijacked the world news with incessant coverage of their election in the coronaverse. Today the final votes were cast and the world anxiously awaits the results.

We may not know who the new president of the United Mistakes of America will be for days, perhaps weeks to come. In the meantime, the Orangeman has declared victory. Donald Trump has started his grab to retain power by declaring victory in the middle of the night. He has declared that the votes should stop being counted. Even though millions remain to be tallied; votes that were cast legally by people that care about the future of their country.

It is strange as a Canadian to sit on the sidelines and watch our friends to the south go through the process of selecting the leader of their country. In Canada our elections take weeks and it is about the party much more than the leader, our southern allies seem to be in a perpetual state of elections. It is another time I am grateful to be Canadian.

I remember as a kid when Ronald Reagan was elected president and there was fear that rippled across borderlines. But in the end, there was no rancour and no hate. Now it does not matter who wins, there is a divide that will be very difficult to bridge. Unfortunately, the incumbent president is throwing stones of divide to increase the fear and doubt. As the morning light shone on the western edges of the country the Orangeman tweeted. He questioned the validity of the voting process. His tweets questioned the ethics and morals of many people counting votes. He wanted the count to stop and questioned the legitimacy of the votes. This smacks of an attempt to usurp their democracy.

Mr. Reagan is rolling over in his grave.

I look forward for this to be over, I hope that the Americans get back to normal soon. I don’t think it will be the case, but I hold out hope. If Trump retains his tenuous grip on power will we be in for four more years of fear and division? Can a Joe Biden presidency bridge the divide? In either case, I hope that my friends to the south can patch their country back together and move forward in peace. I hope they can truly become a United States of America.