Out In Front Of The Storm

Wow.
What a relief.
I sat down last night and filled out my ballot. No more head scratching tense moments for me. Now I'm just going to sit back and let it all unfold in front of me. Like a huge golden opal. I've made my bed, and now I expect I'll have to lay in it. Lie in it. You know.
The future is now because I can tell people who call me on the phone, asking me how I intend to vote that the intentions are a thing of the past. I am a man of action. Can we count on your vote? Well, you can count my vote, but you don't really need to count on it anymore because the check is in the proverbial mail. That ship has sailed. I have immersed myself in the democratic process and come up with what I believe is a winning ticket.
I did not vote for Donald J. Trupmiwether. I voted for the lady, the former Secretary of State. When I did, I thought of the conversation I had with a fifth grader who wondered why we couldn't have different choices for president. "Why does it have to be one of those guys? Couldn't they get somebody better?" I understood his struggle, which was mirrored by my own son who will be voting in his first election. "She's a liar, isn't she?" asked my fifth grade charge. I knew why he would say that. Grownups have been saying that about Hillary Clinton for months now. Years. Why should we trust her?
Because of the alternative. The fishy part of Hillary Clinton is still infinitely preferable to the hateful fear mongering taking place in the camp of the Republican challenger. Then came the next logical question from the eleven year old: "Why can't we just keep Obama until we find somebody good?" I tried to explain the twenty-second amendment and how, after Franklin Roosevelt, it was decided that eight years was plenty of any one man or woman. "President for life is a little like a king. And we don't want a king, do we?"
He had to think a little on that one. It sure would take the strain off having to watch all these debates and listen to all this political mumbo jumbo for months at a time. As I folded up my ballot and prepared it for mailing, I was pleased with myself for doing my civic duty one more time. Until we elect a king who will take care of all that paperwork for us. For now, I'm done. Start watching those early returns.