Just a small note today. I’ve spoken a lot in big and small rooms in the last few years and almost always I say the same thing…that kindness and decency and empathy still exist…that there are people fighting quietly for you but it can be hard to see them because the loud people are trying to distract you…that there are more of us than them…that it is worth it to keep hoping and keep fighting. I’m not sure how much the results of last night will be able to change things in the long run, but I will always remember this moment and how incredible it feels to know that the average Texan I pass on the street was not taken in by the horrifyingly bigoted advertising we’ve been flooded with here, and instead said, “Enough of that. Give us back our books. Give us back our hope. Give us back our friends and family in detention centers. Give us back the potential to be who we can be.”
Remember this feeling, y’all.
Yes ma’am! 💙
I will remember
Amen, sister! I went to bed happy last night for the first time in months and woke up with a brighter look on the world. What a long, strange trip this has been–but it has a happy ending!
💙
YESSSSSS! Three thousand joyful hearts your way!
It’s so true! It’s easy to forget that most of us are kind and want a compassionate society. But I believe this. I hope we really learn some things about the last 10 years…May we follow that arc bending towards justice!
This is the first time I have hope in 10 years. It’s a beautiful feeling. I’m so proud of Texas and all the seats that flipped blue. I hope this is the beginning to some positive change! Big Hugs Jenny!
Holding hope for Texas and the country in my heart. Hinajosa and Talarico kicked some serious a$$ in TX. Take that, bigoted, greedy billionaires and trillionaire.
I’m old enough I remember voting for Ann Richards. Those were the days. This is the first time in a long time that I cried happy tears after an election. Way to go Texas!
Word of the Day:
Hallelujah! F@#k yeah!
yesterday wasn’t about party, it was about the country rejecting corruption, hypocrisy, hate, and ego. My die hard red in-laws had Talarico signs because they reject the corruption, self enrichment, and fear mongering. Even if it doesn’t stay blue we can all feel a little less like evil always wins.
And thank you!! Still frustrated in Wyoming but so happy for and proud of Texas and others – you give me hope!
I’m British and the sense of relief I felt when I saw the news this morning was huge. I can’t even begin to imagine how it must feel for you guys over there. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel; I hope it stays on for all of our sakes. Much love to y’all from the UK xx
True ’dat, Jenny. Kindness and empathy are on the ascendancy. Congratulations to us all. We did not lose hope.
I do think we will have massive change in this state in the long run, because we won so many of the state wide elections. It wasn’t just two seats, it was a ton down ballot too. We won the senate seat, the gov, LT Gov, AG, and a ton of state wide seats in other areas as well. We have the power to make lasting change, and not only that change a lot of the gerrymandering that has gone on for far too long in this state and make it fair.
The sweet state wide is such a clear indication that people are done with the hate, bigotry and sellouts to the billionaires. Last night felt like the state of Texas coming together and saying “Don’t mess with Texas” and mean it.
I have a lot more optimism and pride in living in the U.S. now than I did 24 hours ago.
💙
Amen.
Right there with you!
My fave headline from The WaPo (Washington Post), my local paper:
TRUMP TOLD VOTERS, ‘PRETEND I’M ON THE BALLOT.’ THEY DID.
But Texas! TEXAS! Kansas! Maybe even Mississippi!
My state of Virginia just passed 3 glorious amendments! Remove the ban on same sex marriage, protect freedom to make decisions about abortion/protect doctors/etc., and allow voting by people who were released from incarceration.
I don’t think I’ve fully wrapped my head around it yet. And I suspect that when I finally do, I’m going to fall apart a little.
Across the board. From the governor to the Texas Supreme Court, the Senate, the Railroad Commissioner…all blue. It’s almost impossible to comprehend.
I’ve been angry for so long. Angry at what we’ve watched happen, at the cruelty, at the disregard for people, and at the feeling of being powerless to do anything about it. I’ve carried that anger for so long that I’m not entirely sure I know how to put it down. I don’t even know what it feels like to be hopeful without immediately bracing myself for disappointment.
But there’s one thing I’ve allowed myself to celebrate, even if I’m still struggling to process the rest.
For the time being, our daughters are safe.
And after everything, that means more to me than I can possibly put into words.
Woke up in UK to have a message from a friend in Seattle saying ‘at last good news from America’ and she wasn’t wrong. It made me happy from this side of the pond, you guys must have been overjoyed – now the real work begins. Good luck my ‘merican friends – love y’all
Its wonderful but let’s hope that in January things change for the better but bravo democrats bravo
As a reader, I so appreciated your saying “Give us back our books.”
As someone who lives in Iowa (a gloriously purple state again) I appreciate this so much!
TEXAS BLUE!!! We did it!!! Hugs from Norway where I voted from abroad in Texas.
Weep not for the memories…..
I’m so happy for you! As a WI resident thrilled to be blue after last night, what I’ve seen come out of TX, OH, IA, and others is warming my heart in ways I didn’t know were possible.
The world feels lighter today, doesn’t it? I guess that’s what hope will do for you.💙
The tiny flame of hope has found oxygen and ignited into brightness.
Faith in humanity=restored(temporarily,but still).
I have always loved your humor and I have read all your books. Usually I find you lol funny. However, today, not so much. Are you in favor of socialism? That is scary to me. I am socially liberal, and fiscally conservative. Not extreme at all. Today you are not speaking to some of us, your loyal audience. Today it’s not funny.
God Bless Texas!
#21, I feel you. I’m still geared up for just how long this fight is going to be – real democracy relies on education, independent news, and trust and there has been such a long term, planned, deliberate, systematic attack on all of those that empathy and kindness winning a round only means we can breathe for a day.
But for the day – for this moment – our daughters are safe.
and now to brace for all the challenges and the retaliation and vitriol because you know it’s coming …..
Let’s not speculate on what might come, let’s just celebrate today’s return to sanity!
Books allow us to live another life through their words. I am so happy to not be yelling at the TV today! Books will always give us each another world to live in, even for 350 pages and find solace.
I live in WI and had a full on panic attack last night. After meds, I finally fell asleep and my husband woke me up with, “It’s good, it’s all good news.” I sat bolt upright and started to bawl from relief. I know we still have such a long fight on our hands, but I feel like I can breathe for the first time in 2 years. 😂😭
Yay for the blue tsunami!!!
So happy for the overall results, but so sad for the girls in WA who want to play sports, I expected better from my state
To JULIE LORENZ – if it will ease your mind, almost every toss-up victory was won by a centrist. The Democrat party has been called the Big Tent for a reason – there’s room for all. Article about that in The WaPo.
Yes yes yes!!!
Some people — a very few people — me — have had immense empathy for you for over a decade and tried unsuccessfuly to get you to come speak at Yale and are mostly glad that the political world’s most awful person lost his Senate election yet also sad that he lost his race to a woke socialist noob. Godspeed in your personal journey.
Waving from BLUE Georgia! We put the work in for the past ten years. Showing up, talking to neighbors, being KIND. And we flipped the whole damn state. Feels pretty amazing.
I am from Ohio and I am so happy today. I have memories of being blue, of being a swing state, but that has not happened in a long while. Texas going blue – never thought I would see that in my lifetime. Congrats to all you hopeful, newly blue states. Keep the momentum! Cheers!