Am I a Hypocrite?

This past week marked 41 years since leaving the Navy and leaving the city of San Diego, CA—a city I very much fell in love with during my time there. I really do need to make a trip back there and take a week or more to ride some of the routes I used to love to ride (it's where I got into cycling) and to walk along the streets outside the naval base. I'm sure I have countless dormant memories waiting to be awoken by a ride or a walk along some of the roads and sidewalks I used to regularly use. How cool it would be to see the ship I served on again and walk its passageways, but that can't happen because she lies at the bottom of the ocean in water too deep for even sea life to inhabit and make use of. Enlisting in the Navy was one of the better moves I could've made as an 18-year-old, six months out of high school with little self-confidence and no idea what I wanted to do with my life. It was never on my radar to enlist—until it was. 

I'm not a particularly patriotic person these days; mostly because of what passes for patriotism today. And neither was patriotism something that factored into my decision to enlist. It would be nice to say it was but that would be a lie. There was a time, maybe 15 years ago, when I did feel a sense of patriotism. The pastor at the church I attended would ask the veterans to stand and be recognized once each year around Veterans Day. I would stand with a smattering of others in the congregation who had also served, and in that moment I felt proud. It's gone now, replaced by a sense of both bewilderment and shame for what's become of our country. 

This past week saw more than 60% of Republican Congressional representatives—including their top two leaders—sign onto a lawsuit to overturn the presidential election that Biden won by more than 7,000,000 votes. All this coming after Republican state election officials all certified the results as having been fair. Dozens of lawsuits in lower courts were rejected in favor of Biden, leaving one final lawsuit filed by Texas on behalf of four battleground states which was dismissed by the Supreme Court of the United States. And yet Trump continues to claim he won and his supporters (more than 70% of Republicans) agree with him that the election was stolen from him. This is the power of a lying president, dishonorable representatives, conservative media, and a misguided base. I don't mean to sound offensive but I don't know how else to state it.

Am I a hypocrite for believing Trump needs to concede?

I ask because I know how I felt after Clinton lost the 2016 election and the suspicions that arose about how Trump's campaign may have had help from Russians closely connected to Putin and how Trump's campaign may well have been directly involved in soliciting their help. The special council's report found nearly a dozen instances of obstruction of justice by Trump and his team, say nothing of Trump's refusal to even sit with Mueller to answer questions. And then there's Roger Stone who was found guilty of lying to Congress and witness intimidation all on behalf of Trump. For his obstruction, he was awarded a presidential pardon. That's a lot to overlook while at the same time standing by Trump who cannot be trusted to tell the truth about anything.

Did Clinton stomp her feet and refuse to concede? Did she get on TV and Twitter and incessantly lie about having won the election? Hardly. She conceded immediately after media outlets declared Trump the winner.

Biden clearly received more votes. There isn't any credible evidence that he cheated or that those in charge of the election process did, either. Lawsuits without evidence are an abuse of the courts and a waste of everybody's time. 

So, no, I'm not being a hypocrite when I say that Trump's refusal to concede the election to Biden has gone on too long and is only working to further divide the country, to divide families, and to divide friendships. What Trump and Republican leadership are doing to our nation is shameful. It's become more clear than ever that no amount of reasoning with those who believe Trump will do. There is not going to be a meeting of the minds, not after what we've just witnessed and are continuing to witness. We're going to continue to have Earth 1 where people play by the rules while using facts and Earth 2 where rules and facts don't matter. How do we govern this way? 

We're in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic—something that should've brought us together to fight in unison. But it didn't. We're divided even on this, to our detriment. One thing I do know is that none of this changes until conservative media calls off their dogs and begins to get real and level with their followers. Begin by working with facts based on science and facts based on truth. Be honest with those who are putting their trust in you.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Tammy and I fired up the griddle and made 75 lefse wraps a couple days ago. I was never a huge fan of them but lately, I'm liking them more and more. Tammy does the hard work of preparing the potatoes and rolling them out while my only job is to work the griddle. Like texting and driving, it's not a good idea to have one's cellphone in one's hand while monitoring the griddle. I learned my lesson! 

That's all I've got.