Republished with permission from D. Earl Stephens

I have a lifetime golfing habit. As far as these kinds of addictions go, I got this one mostly under control, though I won’t lie to you, it has brought me a fair amount of misery through the years.

I limit my golf to once or twice a week max, because the more I play the worse I get. That sounds counterintuitive, but it is similar to what happens after consuming too much booze, or too much fast-food, or too much politics …

Moderation is key to a healthy lifestyle.

Well, I was back golfing with a group of old buddies Wednesday as a sub in the league I decided to quit after many years last fall. I was partnered with a big-shouldered younger cat, who hits the ball a mile in all directions, but shoots straight when he’s trying to make a point.

Dan’s a Republican, but not one in the new, absolutely terrifying and insane sense. He sees problems with both parties, but all things being equal will lean Right because that’s what a lot of white guys do by default. The majority of us are a fairly insecure lot, who believe rocking the boat too much will only result in our drowning.

Better and safer to just float above it all as we have for hundreds of years …

As we strolled down the fairway of the second hole and small-talking about big things, Dan asked me how my writing was going. I told him that because most of the stuff I was turning around these days swerved into politics, I had endless material.

He appropriately grunted.

“Yeah, I know,” I said, “But these are crazy scary times, dude. Trump and everything associated with him needs to go away already. They’ve done enough damage.”

I said this knowing Dan’s rightwing affinity and because I gave up pulling punches about 50 years ago when I discovered I’d rather be punched back, than never have thrown a punch at all. I’ll let you decide whether that’s plenty wise or just plain stupid.

As Dan walked up to his ball and contemplated which club he was going to use to launch it in the vicinity of the moon, he said this:

“I’m just so sick and tired of the guy and all his bullshit, and wish he would go the hell away already…”

I just looked at him and said, “Huh. Right on, man.”

When you climb out of your bubble, you find that most people don’t give a single damn if Kamala Harris is giving an interview to anybody, or whatever it is that the endlessly aggrieved Donald Tump is whining about every hour.

They just desperately want some peace and quiet, and a return to an America where our similarities, not our differences, are what define us.

They are sick of politics and politicians, but since both are necessary evils, maybe they can work together to make America a little bit better. And if they can’t, well we have elections for that, because those elections determine the way forward in our country.

Our vote is supposed to be our voice in a healthy, functioning democracy.

That said, the way ahead and what that destination will look like seem oddly clear to me these days. Sure, the landscape will shift some in the coming weeks because of the desperate billionaires in this country, who thanks to Republicans’ Citizens United ruling, have outsized influence over the hundreds of millions of us who just want a fair shake, some rest, and for them to go away and count all their ill-gained money in the privacy of their gated, empty lives.

Two-plus months from now this is certain, though: Trump will still be an appalling, dirty old man incapable of telling the truth, while leaving a trail of insult and excuses in his steaming wake. Harris will still be the ascending public servant who represents the change the majority of America know that we so desperately need. She will be no closer to perfect than she is now, but nobody is asking for that. They just need to know that somebody is offering a way out of this smoke-filled maze.

When the polls close early on the evening of November 5th, she will be well on her way to becoming our 47th president. The highest, hardest glass ceiling will have been smashed, and the United States will be off and running and finally on its way to new possibilities.

When our wobbly press starts breaking out exit polling data, to explain the Harris/Walz landslide, it will sound something like this:

“Americans have voted to overwhelmingly turn the page on a decade of caustic, ugly politics. They have told us they are sick and tired of the vitriol, and clearly want a new start with a new candidate.”

Hope and change …

Sure, the garbage (and ketchup) will fly on the other side, but the people they work for will have spoken by using their vote—their power—to take that garbage out.

We will breathe easy, but will always carry the scars of the past eight years, to remind us of just how bad things can get when we take our eyes off the road. We’ll have finally broken new ground, while readying ourselves for an exhilarating ride into the great unknown.

As I wrap it up here, I think I’ll take the liberty of exiting that road for a minute to lean on one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists, the late, great Tom Petty. His lovely, hopeful “Time to Move On” describes this moment better than anything a mere mortal like myself can come up with:

It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going,
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing;
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing,
It’s time to move on, time to get going …

I’ll see you on the other side, good people.