I will admit that I am a Conservative Democrat. I am largely a liberal in things like economics, but in social issues I am some times conservative. I feel I am very patriotic and very religious, and these things go against the grain of those farthest to the left in the Democratic Party. At the same time, I dislike the racism of Trumpism (and the fact I still believe Trump committed treason), and I believe that a good society has an obligation to take care of all of its citizens, no matter how poor or ill or if they are in a racial minority. And of course, I am an environmentalist. So I am officially “purple” in politics. This election I voted for the Democrats on the ballet. Of course, on the surface my state, Kansas is a “red state.” I am not ashamed, but I do point to our Democratic governor and a few Kansas in the House of Representatives who are from Kansas. Of course, our senator Jerry Moran is a Republican.
Mom and I voted in the afternoon after she got home from a class she is taking with a friend. Then I went with her to grocery shop, where I picked up ingredients for a Asparagus Tarte but also potato chips, French Onion Dip and carbonated grape juice. I must confess that although I only eat the last of these three on special occasions (like election nights), French Onion Dip is only barely Kosher if it is at all. It has gelatin in it, which is a pork product. Of course, the Conservative movement says that gelatin is a permissible thing to eat… but I always feel a little guilty. As a Conservative Jew I always want to tread close to Orthodoxy in how I keep the laws even if I am more liberal in my beliefs. However, for some reason to really celebrate Election Night requires potato chips and dip.
At this moment, it is dubious who controls the Senate and House. What bothers me is that if there is a Republican majority in either house it will be a recipe for gridlock. I am not sure why, but I always imagine Republicans believe if they vote with Democrats, even to get things done, than it will hurt them at the election box. Perhaps Democrats appear to be that way to Republicans, I don’t know. I did not like it that Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin would also not vote with the party on things like the environment which are very important to me. I believe God gave us one world and I don’t think we shall ever have another… besides, Donald Trump undid good work to protect animals like gray wolves and grizzlies because he does not care about the possibility they might become extinct. I believe carbon emissions will destroy the place where we live, but I also believe that we cannot let elephants or polar bears go extinct either.
I wish Republicans would learn to bend. For all that I do not admire him, Nixon set up the EPA for good reasons. Other Republicans in the past have been willing to consider liberal ideas. Yet I know that there are social issues which I almost sympathize with them: I am not really fond of the 1619 Project and I never understood why kids had to give up Dr. Seuss or even Little House on the Prairie. George Washington and the Pioneers are still my heroes. I know: my Grandma Williams grew up at the turn of the 19th Century and she was a Swedish immigrant’s daughter and Pioneer Girl in a 1-room schoolhouse in Kansas. Grandma was my hero; she was even a flapper in college, and the first female editor of the Washburn School Journal in Topeka, Kansas. I hope that my love of the prairies both for environmental and historical reasons does not seem paradoxical.