I know there are a lot of people really scared, but one group deserves special mention.

[markodochartaigh]

12. I'm gay.

I also have Asperger's. I have always tried to hide both, but I've never had professional help with "masking" and I'm not very successful.

I look at that very red map and I'm reminded of 1980. But it is not nearly as bad as 1980. Also we have a lot more public allies than in 1980.

On the other hand. The Republicans have openly spoken about enforcing the Comstock Act, which is still on the books. I absolutely believe that many Republicans would include even stories of the daily life of lgbtq+ people without any pictures as pornography. Of course probably all lgbtq+ people will have something on our phones or computers which fit this broad interpretation of pornography. And in large part thanks to the Sillycon Valley techbros a surveillance state that the Nazis couldn't have dreamed of is easily possible.

Santayana said that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. I feel that the reich-wing leadership (not the strawman Strong Leader) in the US absolutely
remembers the past, has studied it and wants it back, while the great mass of us hoi-polloi doesn't even care what we had for breakfast. It seems to me that most of our left-wing leadership is either clueless or in abject denial not only of the potential horror, but even of the current lived experiences of many groups in our society today.

Two positives to end on. My Grandmother told me that her Grandmother (who had lived through An Gorta Mór) told her that when you think about the way people act you will always be disappointed, but when you think about Nature you will always find wonder.

Positive 2: I hope we get the House of Representatives.