So many emotions and thoughts the past few days. The horror of what happened in Orlando. The particular and hard ways that this attack and its aftermath have hit those of us like me who are gay/lesbian/queer Americans. The revulsion at the hate-fueling and dangerous and pathological-seeming words that Trump has spoken and tweeted in the hours and days since.
But can I just post this quick diary to say how damn proud I am to be a lifelong Democrat since the week I turned 18, which is now 31 long (and short!) years ago? And how inspired I was today to hear what was said by both our current President and our very likely next President.
I am not presuming to speak for all, but I do speak for many of us: THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. Your words today really restored my faith in the sane majority of this nation. The ones who elected you twice and meant it and still do.
We have been so fortunate to have Barack Obama as our President these past seven years. Historians will judge this President very well over time, if they are not already doing so now. And I fervently hope he lives long, and I predict that if Obama is blessed to do so, he will continue to do all kinds of good on this planet, post-Presidency.
Again, not presuming to speak for us all, not at the tail end of what’s been a divisive Primary contest… but I also feel this nation is deeply fortunate to have Hillary Clinton ready to take the wheel from President Obama. Reading her words just now in Pittsburgh, this is a presidential candidate who is absolutely and declaratively sure of what she believes in, and why she needs to defeat her opponent. Like Obama, Clinton brings unusual intelligence to her candidacy. It is a distinct shape, her own, not identical to his — and it is just as gifted and just as impressive.
One thing I love about Hillary Clinton. She knows what time it is and she will know it from the very moment she is inaugurated. No learning curve on that! She knows the opposition will be scheming to take her down as President from Day 1. They have been at it for decades now. And, in today’s climate, she also knows how to maintain good relationships with the slim wedge of reasonable Republicans, to peel them off from the extremes, when or if she has to.
So back to Orlando; I am demographically someone who could be feeling absolutely broken inside by what has happened these past few days. I’ve been “bashed” and bullied for my sexual orientation, and I’ve been in my share of crowded clubs at 2am; I’m feeling this one deeply as tragedies go. But somehow I am filled with a surge of hope, of faith, and of strongest admiration for both President Barack Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton. I feel very sure she will soon become President Hillary Clinton. Feeling more optimistic about this one than I’ve felt about any presidential election since her husband was re-elected in that ‘96 landslide against Bob Dole.
We did not always have leadership like this. I found things to admire about John Kerry, back in ‘04, but I had to reach, had to convince myself he was great stuff as a candidate. Didn’t instinctively feel it in the gut, “in the kishkes” as some of my Jewish friends like to say here in Brooklyn. But I am so fired up for Hillary and her candidacy and her unusually high degree of preparedness and fitness for the highest office of this nation. Just as I have been fired up for Barack Obama throughout his presidency, even when he has disappointed me on a few issues, he still stands tall among them all. And I see qualities in Hillary Clinton today that give me far much more hope than what I saw in her eight years ago. Loving what I am seeing. She has grown wiser in these past eight years and is so ready for the Presidency.
I thank Obama and Clinton both for their on-point, kick-ass, insightful and truly patriotic words today. We are doubly blessed.