Crying

As an ex-American, I could no longer vote, and if I could my vote in Massachusetts would have been for Harris who took the state.

Because I'm an ex-American does not mean I've stopped caring. 

I really believe in the principles of my birth country that were drummed into me in school and from my family.

I was active when I was a citizen, following issues, calling my representatives, voting, reading many books on major issues and history. 

I watched the January 6th attempted coup -- and it was a coup -- no matter what else it might be called -- in horror.

Shock was the only word I can use to describe what I felt when Trump was re-elected president. The man is convicted felon, a rapist, a con man, a liar (easy to prove when you listen to him contradict his own alleged truths), a traitor, a business crook among other negatives and yet enough people voted for him to make him president.

An American on a foreign news station told why she voted for Trump claiming he  was the best president ever and one of the most intelligent, a point negated by some of his past aides. How could she believe that? 

Election night I was in Portugal accompanying my husband at a conference. It was attended by many nationalities. News stations from Portugal, France, England, Germany as well as Al Jazeera carried the election minute by minute.

Many of the American women at the conference claimed to have cried at the results. Their voices shake when talking about it.

Emails and messages from many of my other friends in the states, expats and renounced citizens expressed their horror. Many of them have claimed to cry too. One woman said she was too shocked to cry.

Many of the other attendees from various nationalities expressed shock and worry.

I too have shared tears. My birth country is dead. What is left behind is bad for what was the United States of America and bad for the world.