Happy Thanksgiving to all

Let’s be thankful for friends  and grateful whenever we can be physically in their presence. Jerry Seinfeld says it so well: “Energy, attitude and personality cannot be “remoted” through even the best fiber optic lines.”

Where Do Words Come From? – Interregnum

An interregnum, noun, (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or “gap” in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin inter-, “between” and regnum, “reign”).
The term has been applied to the period of time between the election of a new President of the United States and his inauguration, during which the outgoing president remains in power, but as a lame duck.
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However, it is not just a word. It is a period of time from Election Day to the new president’s swearing-in comprising 79 days, carefully bounded by law. The Interregnum period allots 35 days for the count and its attendant lawsuits to be resolved. On the 36th day, December 8, an important deadline arrives known as the “safe harbor” deadline for appointing the 538 men and women who make up the Electoral College. The electors then meet six days later, December 14, however, each state must appoint them by the safe-harbor date to guarantee that Congress will accept their credentials. The controlling statute says that if “any controversy or contest” remains after that, then Congress will decide which electors, if any, may cast that state’s ballots for President.
On December 14 the electors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia must cast their ballots for president and those votes must arrive in Washington by December 23. The next important day is  “the 3d day of January,” when the newly elected Congress is seated. Finally “the sixth day of January,” is when the House and Senate meet jointly for a formal count of the electoral vote.
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Many things can go awry during this time frame as we are now discovering. However, there are procedures to follow in all of those cases. This “Interregnum” time is one of the most important days in our country as it is not just a word but a process to ensure the peaceful transfer of power to the incoming President!

It Is Mourning In America

In this year of Covid, we mourn yet another loss. Almost half the nation must now grieve the end of a President and try to go over to “the other side.” Denial of this election’s results will not return our Nation to 2016 anymore than denying the passing of a loved one keeps that person alive! But will we choose to keep the calendars set at October 2020, and the clothes of our beliefs hanging in the closet of our minds, refusing to move on? Grief not faced, reality denied, changes nothing, it just continues to stab at our hearts with pain.
Like the Corona virus that cannot be contained, spreading, killing in its wake, not accepting the reality of this election does not defeat the reality of what is. We need to pick up the pieces and move on or else our lives will be more than sad and hopeless. Grief will become the body bag that encompasses us, anger the instrument that caused the death of our souls.
Resolving grief is neither easy nor linear. 2 steps forward one backward is its path. But having the courage to walk that path one must. This Nation, in the short course of the year, has lost too much. Each and everyone of us has lost something along the way. We might be physically/socially distancing, but what we have to do in order to heal is to reach out “across the aisle” and listen to each other. Otherwise our National anthem will turn into a dirge!

Words Matter

Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Our election process is proving that. Let’s not have a disgruntled, egotistical loser debate the power of our Nation’s citizens to determine the direction that change will take!

Quote of the Week

When making your voting choices, keep this quote in mind about leadership and if your candidate can really give you hope for a better future:
“Leaders are dealers in hope…that it is possible to make things better.” – Brett Culp