Today is my 58th birthday. I sit contemplating all that happened in this past year, and I think it may have been one of the more active and action-packed years of my life. It has certainly been the most alarming year of my life. A review over the fold.
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Not long before my 57th birthday, one of my nephews married, making him the first of the next generation to take that step, and pushing my generation ever closer to old-fogeyhood. A little more than a month later, after a couple of DNA tests and some sobering conversations, my sister and I discover that our mother, gone for nearly a decade, had been illegitimate, and we don’t know who our biological maternal grandfather was. In October, after two years of unproductive contract negotiations, my union decided to strike for the first time in its 30-year existence. And we won! For years, management had said “Oh, they’ll never strike,” but we showed them what we’re made of.
Then there was the election. Hubby and I spent an day canvassing for Hillary (the weekend after the release of the Comey letter), and it was one of the more depressing such experiences I’d ever had. Then there was the actual election and its aftermath. I had decided it was necessary to step up my level of political activity, and I did quite a lot in 2017, starting with the Women’s March in DC. Then there were visits to the local offices of Congressmen Mike Kelly and Glenn Thompson to demand a town hall; neither Congressman has held one anywhere near Erie County, PA, for the better part of a decade. When neither responded, activists held one in absentia. There was a rally in support of immigrants; there was the tax day protest; there was further lobbying with Congressman Thompson’s staffers as the ACA repeal vote in the House drew closer; there was the March for Children’s Safety; and there were the protest marches that occurred in Atlanta during Netroots Nation. I’ve easily done three times more protest marching this year than I’ve done in my entire life, previously. And I’d never done real lobbying before. But let’s face it: we’re in a do-or-die moment in the life of our democracy. We must stop encroaching fascism before it swallows us. And so the protests and phone calls continue until something breaks, and that something had better be Stubby Twitterfinger and the Republican Party.
I’m hoping my 59th year is less stressful than the 58th, but I’m not betting on that.
Now, on to the comments!
Top Comments (August 30, 2017):
Highlighted by Canadian Reader:
This comment by MBBrit in annieli’s recommended post about Pence looking presidential.
Highlighted by ZenTrainer:
This comment by Cali Scribe, in ursulafaw’s recommended post about the school board election results in Fairfax County, VA.
Top Mojo (August 29, 2017):
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Top Photos (August 29, 2017):