Sunday Salon, Special edition

I spent the day Saturday, after the early morning announcement that Biden had won the presidency, victory scrolling the internet for more details on the happy news. After four days of anxious waiting to find out the results since election day on Nov. 3rd, it was a sweet, sweet announcement. I just couldn't get enough of the reports about the happy celebrations that broke out everywhere. Since I had been working on my usual Sunday Salon post all week, a lot of what I talked about on it related to "waiting" for results and the counting. I focused a bit of attention on Trump's lawsuits claiming election commissions should keep counting or stop counting the ballots. His lack of understanding about how a democracy functions is mind-boggling.

I posted my Sunday Salon, Biden Wins edition on Saturday morning, then surprisingly felt a jolt of energy and headed outside to prune the roses before the cold sets in. Periodically I had to stop and pinch myself. This really happened. Biden won. Our long four-year nightmare is nearly over.

Tonight as my family and I gathered to watch Biden's victory speech in his hometown, Wilmington, Delaware, it occurred to me that posting my Sunday Salon a day early was premature. I was witnessing the good stuff that should have been included in the post. So here I am typing out a special edition.

President-elect, Joe Biden and wife, Dr. Jill Biden

Joe Biden, President-elect

• In his victory speech, Biden promised to be "president for all Americans, not just those who voted for him." Read the whole speech here. (NYT)
• Listening to the whole speech was like taking a long drink of cool water on a hot, dry day. It was soothing and comforting. Here are a few quotes I loved:
• “Let us be the nation that we know we can be,” he said. “A nation united, a nation strengthened, a nation healed.”
• "I said from the outset I wanted a campaign that represented America, and I think we did that. Now that’s what I want the administration to look like."
• "And to those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of elections myself.  But now, let’s give each other a chance. It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric. To lower the temperature. To see each other again. To listen to each other again. To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. We are not enemies. We are Americans."
• "We must restore the soul of America. Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses. It is time for our better angels to prevail."
• Near the end of the speech, Biden spoke about a hymn which has brought him comfort and he hoped would comfort those who have lost someone to COVID. He then quoted the words of the song, which are based on Psalm 91, Book of Exodus 19, and Gospel of Matthew 13: 'And He will raise you up on eagle's wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His Hand.' (Listen to the song here.) It was one of many moments I cried during the speech. For the past four years we have had a President who clearly wasn't capable of offering any kind word or gesture of comfort. 
• Joe Biden celebrates the moment with his family.
  
  
  
• Networks find moments of JOY in the Biden 17 minutes victory speech. News anchors respond to its message and his speech making. One journalist said,  "Words can't do everything in (a presidency), but they can do a lot." (USA Today)
• Celebrations break out at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. and all over the nation. (WashingtonPost Video) 
• Sunday morning President George W. Bush called Biden to congratulate him on his win. 
• “I just talked to the President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden,” the statement reads. “I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night. I also called Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her historic election to the vice presidency. Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country.” (Transcript)
  
• Happy first couple-elect, who clearly love each other.
  
  
  
• DOTUS-elect. We will once again have a dog (two, actually) in the White House. Meet Champ and Major. (New York Post)

  

  1st dogs-to-be: Major (with Joe); Champ (with Jill)
  

  
  

Kamala Harris, Vice-President-elect

• I would have voted for Biden no matter who he picked as his running mate, but today I was blown away by my emotional reaction to the news that the first woman in our whole history will hold the second highest position in our government. Tears flowed.
• Kamala Harris ushers in a 'New Day in America' with her victory speech. (HuffPost) 
• Think of it.
  
  
  
  
• Kamala just broke though a huge glass ceiling.
  
  
  
  
• And you know what happens when barriers are broken.
  
  
  
• These adorable photos say it all.
  
  
  
  
  

•  Here Kamala and the Second-Gentleman-to-be, Douglas Emhoff, hug after they learn that the Biden/Harris ticket won. Remember this? Couples who actually love each other?
  
  
  And here is the hometown celebration in Oakland, California. They call it the Oaktown Crosswalk.

  Doin the Oaktown Crosswalk. pic.twitter.com/RTTJhtpy7G

  — Contraindicate (@Contrai61502558) November 7, 2020

  
  

The World was watching and celebrating

• London set off fireworks and Paris rang church bells when Biden's win was made known. (The Hill)
• "Welcome back, America!" Messages from many world leaders. (CNBC) and (DailyKos)
• This is how a newscast in Ireland closed it's show last night:
  

  This is how Ireland ended its newscast tonight pic.twitter.com/Izi14NxnUh

  — Harry Alford (@HarryAlford3) November 7, 2020

• Then there's this...
  
  
  
  

Reactions by people of color to the Biden win

• Van Jones breaks down in response to Biden win. Character matters. If you haven't seen this yet be sure to watch it, but get a Kleenex ready. (CNN) It is really obvious that racial tension has been awful under the Trump Administration. It is hard for me to not think of every Trump voter as a racist. (Repeat from yesterday's blogpost.)
  

•  Black men got the right to vote in 1870. The nation had just survived a terrible civil war and was a afraid it would happen again. They granted black men the right to vote to reaction to that, hoping their vote would keep the nation from going down that path again. Black women did not gain the right to vote until 1920. Black men (and women) voted to save the nation with their support for Biden in the 2020 election. I was unable to find the source link for this information to an interview done by Joy Reid on MSNBC in the past few days. The professor who is a black man, was also crying as he shared the information about how blacks are continually called upon to save our nation from civil wars. (Read more on Black suffrage here.)
• "We are always in search and pursuit of a more perfect union. The Biden/Harris win means we are going to get back on track toward that goal." -Rep. Clyburn from South Carolina 
• 'Black people believed in our founding ideals even when our founders did not'. -Nikole Hannah-Jones, one of the authors of the 1619 project. (MSNBC)
• "Black voters repudiated Trump like he was a piece of used gum." (The Nation) 
• "That rejection should be respected, and celebrated. Trump is the first president to lose a reelection bid since 1992, and he lost it because a coalition of basically everybody other than white cis-hetero Christians overwhelmingly united and turned out against him. We saved America. You’re welcome."
• And this...
  

  

  Rosa sat, so Ruby could walk, now Kamala can run (and win!)
  

A few final words on Trump and the election

• "Biden beat Trump but had to do so with one hand tied behind his back." This is a very interesting and maddening article about the ways that Trump, his associates, the GOP, the RNC, and the electoral college all tried to game the system to secure a win for Trump. Yet Biden prevailed. (HuffPost)
• Now the hard work of repair has to happen.
  
  
  
• Donald Trump is the only President who is in all three of these sucky categories: Impeached, lost the popular vote, lost second term.  Do you see his face in the middle of this Venn diagram?
  
  
• It's time, Trump. It's time.
  

 

Signs of health and healing. The press is playing up the bad trouble that Trump-supporters are and will make about their dear leader losing. I remember what it felt like when Hillary lost in 2016. I went into a fairly deep depression for months. I'm guessing that indeed many of his followers are just sad and mad but will eventually just get back to life without too much trouble caused to society. Let's hope that is the case. It has to help that Biden addresses them every time he speaks: "I will be your President, too." "I know you are hurting and I hope to help heal those hurts."

One of many spontaneous parties that broke out all over the nation. This one is at a gas station with Mariah Carey belting out "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Yes, Biden, thank you for the early Christmas gift.

I knew we’d be happy but I didn’t realize we’d be spontaneous dance parties in the street happy. What a moment pic.twitter.com/8NsGheybEU

— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) November 8, 2020

And just for fun, this comment from Mark Hamill aka Luke Sywalker...

So once again, I sign off. This time with a happy and hopeful heart. Please leave a comment below to let me know your thoughts. Thanks for visiting and reading my blog.

-Anne