Hell yes – Go, Fricking POLAND, where almost 74% of voters turned out to resoundingly reject the conservative, Catholic Church affiliated, white-nationalist-leaning creeps of the “Law and Justice” Party. Famously anti-woman in their policies (you got the whole Catholic Church leaning, right?) as well as anti-immigration, and anti-humanism, and dangerously open to Putin – although the government did initially respond to the invasion of Ukraine appropriately, and heroically. The concern, however, has been that Poland, which borders Ukraine and Russia-leaning (Russia-dependent?) Belarus , could go the way of Hungary under Orban; that means authoritarianism, including the death of a free press and free exchange of ideas including protests at institutions of all kinds, and the eventual death of democracy itself. Nope. Deep breaths, breaths of relief for the Polish people, women and girls especially. Yay.
I love good news.
https://apnews.com/article/poland-election-tusk-results-f687cf22fee9d395e92a08d2b6ab0f03
Less hopeful or good is the on-going war in Israel-Gaza. A long history of being chopped up by colonial powers, deep-seated hatred, mistrust and pain, and entrenched power brokers who do not want Israel to exist, refusing to accept reality and willing to risk their own citizens in order to – make a point by way of terror? Ditto a refusal to accept the need for a Palestinian state. Ghettoizing an entire people is never going to work in the long or short run. JHFC. President Biden is traveling there as we ‘speak’, and here at home a six-year old American child whose parents happen to be Palestinian was stabbed to death in an anti-Islamic hate crime, with anti-semitic acts having risen by three-hundred percent recently. THREE-HUNDRED PERCENT. Unacceptable.
The average turnout, FYI, in U.S. Presidential elections hovers around 55%. So, kudos to the Polish people. And may we do better, in 2024, and every single election going forward.
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/voter-turnout-in-presidential-elections
May the whole world know peace and healing. May the whole world know peace and healing. May the whole world know peace and healing. And, the latest vote for Speaker of the House – THIRD IN LINE for the PRESIDENCY – will be held at noon. May the whole world never know Jim Jordan as speaker. May the whole world never know Jim Jordan as speaker. May the whole world never know Jim Jordan as speaker. Amen.