David J Bauman

Yes, early on in the voting tonight, the great haired one himself, that patriot, that birther, that idiot Donald Trump decided to get on Twitter and start moaning about how the President won in the electoral vote but lost in the popular vote. Therefore we are not a democracy; the will of the people have been thwarted. Bla bla bla. But what the old birther blow hard didn’t understand is that those of us watching, though we saw that the official popular vote wasn’t caught up to Romney yet, that once the mostly Democratic west coast votes came in that those numbers would change. And that’s what they did.

We knew it would be close in the popular vote, though it was beginning to look like an electoral landslide. You can look at the final results on Politico, as really this blog isn’t the place to go into the blow-by-blow. You can look at the numbers on Politico here. But right now, as I turn in for the night, only Florida is still considered too close to count, and even in the popular vote Obama is now slightly but safely ahead by almost 2 million votes. It’ll probably balance out at about a million when the final votes are all counted, but not enough for Mr. Trumps trumped-up revolution.

Which must be why he has deleted his earlier angry tweets, though I suspect a frantic call from his lawyer might have helped encouraged him to expunge. But luckily some others had screenshots, including Salon, whose article you can read here.

The evidence is out there on several sites, Donald, and the last political post I plan on making in a while includes this thought: I wish it were enough to get you arrested for attempting to incite treason. I know that’s too much to hope for, but it’s an image that makes me smile. The world deserves far better role models than  you.

Even Romney at least made a gracious concession speech. It took him long enough, and included a call to Rupert Murdoch to make Fox News to reconsider their call. But the math wasn’t in Romney’s favor, and even his media supporters could not pretend that it was.

Role models like our President, Barack Obama. You should listen to the video and check out the full transcript on the Washington Post, but honestly, as much as a nail biter as this was, I didn’t expect to cry. Again. But I did. I voted for you twice, sir. And you make me proud. Here are just a few clips from the speech:

… whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference.

I just spoke with Governor Romney and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan on a hard-fought campaign.

We may have battled fiercely, but it’s only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen to give back to America through public service and that is the legacy that we honor and applaud tonight.

In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward.

. . . Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.

That won’t change after tonight, and it shouldn’t  These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.

. . . And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from you, and you’ve made me a better president. And with your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.

. . . You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We’ve got more work to do.

But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America’s future.

But that doesn’t mean your work is done. The role of citizens in our Democracy does not end with your vote. America’s never been about what can be done for us. It’s about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That’s the principle we were founded on.

And so without further comment, we can return to our regularly scheduled program of poetry, fatherhood, and that elusive question, “Why didn’t I have time to go birding this year?”

Thanks for putting up with these brief couple of posts, but honestly, this is a personal blog as well as a family and poetry blog, and it is impossible to separate politics from these sort of discussions without doing what I see so many blogs do, become stale, seem fake or forced. I won’t  have that. I long ago decided that this blog couldn’t hide reality in hopes of making a better professional name for myself. If I cannot be myself in my profession, then it’s no profession for me. I’m a dad, a poet and a naturalist. As a gay man and parent there are many issues that affect my family, and I cannot pretend otherwise.

One of the greatest things out of this election is also that the state of Maryland has voted to legalize same-sex marriages, which means I’ll be able to dance at the wedding of one of my biggest supporters in life, a best friend and big brother named Keith. Keith, you and Bob. . . I’m just so happy. Enough said for now.

Whether you agree with me or not on how to get there, we really want the same things for our future and our families.  I thank you for your kindness and respect. However  you voted, if you voted today, thank  you for participating in the process, and thank you for understanding.