Morning Update: 08/13/24

How well do you know your kids? As parents, we want to think that we know our kids pretty well. We’ve taught them what to do in different situations and we’ve seen how they’ve reacted to surprise and change. Yet, all that can disappear in a moment when you get a text from the school saying, “Your child is marked present to school, but absent from advisory. Please talk with them about following their assigned schedule.” That hit my phone at 12:15 yesterday afternoon. Fortunately, I was awake and able to respond quickly.

“Why are you marked absent from advisory?” I messaged her. Sure, they’re not supposed to have their phones out at school, but I assumed that if she was skipping for some reason she would at least take her phone with her.

What was eventually revealed was that one of her friends, the one that took her to the far Saturday night, had gotten sick. Part of her message said, “…I had to watch him literally empty his stomach which was literally only water. I was scared for him.” We chatted briefly and soon after that I got a call from her support coach. She confirmed Tipper’s account and said that Tipper’s level of empathy left her exhausted. The coach recommended we pick her up. Unfortunately, Kat was booked and, of course, I had no way to go get her. Kat gave her permission to leave early and ride the bus home.

When she got home, I gave her a big hug, she cried a bit, and then she went to lie down.

Yeah, this is our child. We’re proud of her. And while her absence will be probably unexcused, her continuing education in caring about other people is just as important. Her empathy is immense and learning how to respond in a caring and appropriate way is more important than immersive Spanish.

Situations like this, however, are why I’m infuriated that women don’t have complete autonomy over their own bodies. The Associated Press ran a story yesterday about how hospital emergency rooms are turning women away despite federal law requiring them to be treated because of punitive state laws promising severe penalties, including long jail sentences if they end a pregnancy for any reason. This is the direct result of allowing Republicans to be in charge of anything. This also emphasizes why it is just as important to vote for Democrats down ballot as well as at the federal level.

We’re at this point where doctors and hospital administrators are afraid to do their jobs because we were lazy at the ballot and let Republicans win. We’re okay with autonomous cars, autonomous volocopters, and autonomous robots, but not autonomous women? As much as we can’t let Republicans grab control of Congress and the White House, we must wrestle control of state houses away from them as well. At the state level, dangerous plans such as Project 2025 are more likely to be successfully implemented. States are more likely to gut education systems, prohibit the teaching of critical race theory, eliminate DEI programs, ban books, limit or eliminate medical funding for poor and elderly people, cut or eliminate food assistance programs, and generally make the world a less tolerable place to live.

I find it interesting that both presidential candidates and President Biden support cutting taxes on tips, but no one’s talking about the fact that the minimum wage for servers remains at the bottom of the barrel where their work is being exploited by restaurant owners. Perhaps we’d rather have a nation where teens are so hopeless and angry that they don helmets and bulletproof vests and then randomly stab people.

The US stands at a tipping point. How we vote in this fall’s election will drastically shape the future and no one is going to be more affected than our children. What happens if empaths like Tipper help a trans friend get the gender-affirming medical care they need? That’s on the ballot this fall. What happens if schools provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ students? That’s on the ballot this fall. What happens if the rules requiring overtime pay are gone? That’s on the ballot this fall. What happens if water becomes undrinkable? That’s on the ballot this fall. What happens when people lose the right to organize at work? That’s on the ballot this fall. What happens when 48 million women lose access to contraception? That’s on the ballot this fall.

Are you beginning to get the picture? This year’s election is much more than winning the White House, which we must do. We have to win at the state and local level as well. Otherwise, living conditions in the US will inevitably suffer. Labor shortages will become common. Safety at every level will decline. More police violence as training programs are cut. Less aid for small businesses after a weather disaster. It’s all on the ballot this year.

Yes, there’s a lot of other news this morning, including the disastrous interview between Elon Musk and the Orange Felon. But you know what? Almost every issue comes down to how you vote this fall. Israel/Gaza. Russia/Ukraine. Global warming. Space exploration. Almost every corner of the globe is going to feel the effects of your vote.

Let’s not let up on the focus on this election. Even when the news seems positive, we must continue pushing all the way through November. Remember, a week before the 2016 election, polls held a 93% certainty that Hillary Clinton was going to win. We see how horribly that turned out. Apathy is a killer. We must keep up the pressure and make sure everyone votes.

We have great kids. Let’s not give them a shitty country.