Friday, August 9, 2024

Joy!

One word can encapsulate our feelings the last couple weeks.

Joy!

It's everywhere!

Rob Rogers

Joy is Mamala and Palz. 💞
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Boston Globe
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters

Joy is in Kamala's laugh. 
Some have derided Kamala's laugh, but I find it joyful! It is genuine, which is the most joyful laughter of all. Her smile – and there are plenty – can't be beat. What a breath of fresh air!

NBC News

She has said, "People love to talk about the way I laugh. I have my mother’s laugh. I grew up with a bunch of women in particular who laughed from the belly … I think it’s really important to remind each other and our younger ones: Don’t be confined to other people’s perception about what this looks like or how you should act in order to be."

Keep your misogynistic tropes to yourself, detractor! This lady has joy! And joy is good!

Joy is in the crowd's cheers.
The crowds at Kamala's rallies have all been so joyful! 
 
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images via ABCNews

And people are clamoring to join in. The cars were lined up for miles to get in to a Harris/Walz rally in Wisconsin. 


Joy is in the self-description: "Joyful warriors."
Kamala used the description in a recent rally, and no words are better. 

Joy is in "I'm speaking."
With throwbacks to her clapback to Mike Pence in a debate during the 2020 election, she handled some hecklers at a recent rally. The crowd went wild:

Joy is the cat ladies.
And boy oh boy are they coming out of the woodwork! (sorry not sorry that some of these are repeats. They are good!)

















Joy is in Tim's bow. 
Sister Resister Karen pointed out that when Tim Walz was introduced at their first rally together, he responded with love and respect. There is much joy there:


Joy is in normalcy. Sweet, sweet normalcy.
As we've learned more about Tim Walz, I think we have all fallen in love with him. 

Here is a radio ad that Walz used in his run for Congress in 2006.
Gwen and Tim Walz are Mr. and Mrs. America. They have modest Midwestern origins. They have zero investments. Zero. No stocks, bonds, mutual funds. Not even any real estate. They sold their home in the $300K range to move into the Governor's mansion. All they have is their salaries and pensions, including teacher pensions.

Their son has a "non-verbal learning disorder." Walz said, "When our youngest Gus was growing up, it became increasingly clear that he was different from his classmates. Gus preferred video games and spending more time by himself.... When he was becoming a teenager, we learned that Gus has a non-verbal learning disorder in addition to an anxiety disorder and ADHD, conditions that millions of Americans also have."

I'm not sure what the disability is, and as a speech-language pathologist, I would like to learn more. 

Coach Walz is your average Midwest white guy. He's your favorite uncle, the neighbor who would bring his own tools if you asked him to help chop back your shrubbery; he's your favorite teacher, the inspirational football coach, the one who gives you advice on the wording on your resume. He is balding, paunchy, bespectacled, and has a bit of a rough voice. Gov. Walz is so normal, in fact, that I spot his doppelgänger whenever I go out.

Joy is in the backstory.
Tim Walz began his political journey after he had taken his high school civics class to a Bush II rally. The group were turned away because one of them had a John Kerry sticker on his wallet. It spurred him to volunteer at the local Democratic office, and a year later ran for Congress, winning his district as an unknown, against a six-term incumbent, to the tune of six points. His district had not been represented by a Democrat since 1892.

Joy is in the family dynamics. 
Watch this wonderful blooper reel from Walz and his daughter Hope's making a driver safety video in support of his hands-free driving law.

And this one from the State Fair. 


Joy is in the service to the nation.
Gov. Walz joined the Army National Guard two days after he turned 17, and he spent the next 24 years in service. He resigned in 2005 in order to run for Congress. Walz then turned his service to governance; he served in the United States House of Representatives for six terms before running for Governor of Minnesota, where he has been serving for six years. 

Joy is in advocacy.
Let's embrace the meant-to-be-mean nickname "Tampon Tim." Last year, Gov. Walz signed into law a bill that requires public schools to supply menstrual pads and tampons to all menstruating students in grades 4 through 12. Many other states and the District of Columbia have similar laws. The meanness from the Right comes from their hatred toward those with differing gender identities. The language of the bill states that the products shall be provided to "to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students." This affirms that not all menstruating students are women and that not all women menstruate. Tampons shall go in all school bathrooms. 

Normalize talking about a body function that more than 50% of the population will experience in their lifetime!


The more I learn about Tampon Tim, the more I love him.

Joy is Big Dad Energy!
The internet has dubbed Tim Walz "everyone's Midwestern dad." Here are some reasons why:









Within 24 hours Tim Walz became our beloved uncle, and our fondness grows deeper with each factoid that's uncovered. Who doesn't love his big dad energy?

Joy is in the evolution of views with action.
Rep. Walz defended gun rights in Congress for most of his time there. In fact, the NRA gave him "A" ratings in his first four reelection campaigns. In 2017, after the Las Vegas shooting, he began to work for gun safety. The NRA soon revoked his "A" rating and gave him an "F." 

After the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida in 2018, he donated the $18,000 contribution from the NRA to Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which assists service members who have been severely injured and families who have lost service members. 

Walz has been clear. After the Las Vegas shooting, he said:
"As a member of Congress, I support universal background check legislation, oppose conceal and carry legislation before Congress, and oppose legislation to reduce restrictions on gun silencers. As governor of Minnesota, I will work to ensure that Minnesota passes universal background check legislation. I will support increased funding for mental health services and support additional restrictions that ensure that Minnesota keeps guns out of the hands of dangerous people."
and after the Parkland shooting, he made it clearer:
"I've listened hard to students, parents, law enforcement, teachers, sportsmen and survivors of gun violence, in every corner of Minnesota. And while they have different perspectives, I've heard them all say one thing loud and clear: This. Needs. To. Stop."

Joy is the heroism of teachers.
Both Gov. Walz and his wife Gwen Walz are high school teachers. How many of us have impactful experiences with our teachers? Most of us, when asked who the biggest role models or influences on us, will name a teacher. Teachers are heroes, and Gov. Walz is one of them. 

Mr. Walz taught not by giving homework and quiet busywork. He led discussions about difficult subjects in his social studies classes. He took his students to political rallies. He asked them to think and talk about difficult subjects, like the Cambodian genocide. One of his class discussions famously predicted the Rwandan genocide a year before it happened. 

He coached a football team who had been winless in a 0-27 run. He began coaching with calm, encouragement, and demands for hard work. Three years later, his team won the state championship for the first time.

His former students sing high praise: 

"I was a C-ish student in high school,” wrote former student Noah Hobbs on X. "Mr. Walz took the time to make sure that I was successful. Not only in his class but others. He made learning exciting." 

Emily Scott, a student who traveled to China with Mr. Walz who led the group, said, "There were jocks that did football. There were history nerds like me that wanted to go to China. Debate and speech nerds, band nerds. And Mr. Walz stood in the middle of all of that and was pretty much universally beloved." 


Joy is in allyship.
Mr. Walz led his students with his heart. 

In the 90s, Jacob Reitan, a gay student, felt supported for the first time in his life by Gwen Walz, who declared her classroom a safe space. Soon after, he leaned on the support of Gwen and Tim Walz as he came out to his friends and family. Reitan wanted to start a Gay-Stright Alliance at school, and Tim Walz – yes, hunter, soldier, married football coach Tim Walz – stepped up to be the group's adviser. Read more of the story here.


Joy is in the memes.














Joy is in the shade.
Oh the savage memes! They keep coming, and I'm living for it.












I liked those so much I made a couple of my own:




Joy is in poetry and music.

Resisters! Have joy! I'm am leaving it here with that. I shall face other bizarro stuff in a future post.




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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousAugust 10, 2024 at 8:32 AM

    THANK YOU KAREN. It is wonderful to feel hopeful again.

    ReplyDelete

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