I woke up this morning and it was a dreary, foggy, dark morning. I turned on the Today Show, and they remarked that we really only have a week of political ad hell to go through. And that is almost a comforting thought, that in a little over a week this will all be over. In theory.

The reality is no matter what happens next week it will not all be over. And if we all don’t come together as communities and as a nation the anger and vitriol will linger and persist. If this trajectory continues we are a country on the brink of a modern Civil War.

Yesterday was two months until Christmas. And oh yes, I love Christmas. Thanks to COVID-19 I have absolutely no idea what our Christmas is going to look like yet, but this weekend also means the Christmas movies are out! (Cue husbands and life partners groaning everywhere.) Lifetime and Hallmark are in a stiff competition.

Yes I have watched a few Christmas movies already. Even one on Lifetime where I was shocked at the amount of bad plastic surgery Charlie’s Angel alum Cheryl Ladd has had.

Are these movies from Pulitzer Prize winning novels or will they win Emmys or Oscars? No. But what they do is give us all a mental and emotional break from politics and COVID19 in the USA.

Things are just starting to literally boggle my mind and even Saturday Night Live and the cold opens can’t alleviate the mind boggling things like someone saying to me the other day quite literally “But you don’t even look like a Democrat.”

What does that even mean? What are Democrats supposed to look like? Am I supposed to have horns or something? And this is someone who might actually know who probably didn’t even realize how that sounded. They are an extraordinarily lovely person I respect. But still. Hard to fathom. Hurtful to hear.

Like everyone else, over the past couple of weeks with increasing intensity I have been inundated with Robo calls, emails, even phone calls and personal messages from people I know. All about voting Republican.

This is no longer the party of Lincoln. Or any Republican President preceding what currently occupies the White House. I don’t recognize any of it. Most don’t if they are honest.

I am still a moderate and more of a centrist. And I believe that extremism in politics on both sides of the political aisle is ruining this country. Politics is a sad and crazy business. And the anger in this country can literally take your breath away. I watch and marvel.

I don’t understand how people who are still Republicans can look at me and tell me how this end result after four years is better than we were for years prior? I don’t understand how they think COVID19 has been addressed and treated properly. I don’t understand how they just don’t see a lot of what I see. But I guess I don’t have to understand, because founding fathers of this country fought for us to all have our opinions and beliefs as individuals, correct? We aren’t and shouldn’t all be Stepford on this bus.

But what is also sad is I know I have not heard from certain friends in a long time because they know I am not voting for Trump. When did Trump become the price of friendship? I might not understand their choice but I don’t begrudge them their choice as Americans so why did they judge me my choices? Of course there’s also the little fact that if you know me you know I have never liked Donald Trump. That completely predates the current iteration of Donald Trump as a politician. I thought The Apprentice was stupid.

This weekend I realized I found all of this political crap exhausting and virtually inescapable. But then I watched the movie titled On The Basis of Sex. It’s about the early career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I also watched the latest movie of fellow Shipley graduate Sarah Megan Thomas, A Call to Spy. This movie is about female spies who gave in many cases their lives to fight the Nazis in Europe during World War II including American Virginia Hall who most Americans do not know ever existed.

Everyone should watch both of these films. Then you really understand what fighting for your freedom and rights is all about. And then there are the Christmas movies. Even I will be sick of the Christmas movies by the time the new year rolls around, but it gives you a little glimpse into a more pleasant universe. And face it, right now we all need a little Christmas magic. Or any magic to believe in possibilities and not ugliness.

So bring on the Lifetime and Hallmark Christmas Movies! In a year utterly devoid of magic, the temporary diversions these movies provide is so welcome!

NSB. Never Stop Believing.