It hurts me to say this ...

[Jedi Guy]

67. I know exactly what you mean.

I moved to Canada in 2012 since it made more sense for me to move there than for my wife to move to the States. Even though America was (and never has been) perfect, I didn't feel any need to apologize for America or being an American. I love and will always love my homeland, imperfect though it is.

Then along came the 2016 election. When Trump got the GOP nomination, my Canadian friends were astounded that they'd chosen him of all people. "Not to worry," I said. I held on to the hope America would do the right thing and elect Hillary. I thought she would win.

The day after the election, as I walked into work, my Canadian friends bombarded me with every variation of, "How could this happen?" you can imagine. I had no answers for them, no explanation I could offer that would make sense of the calamity from the previous night.

Then Trump took office and lurched from one debacle to another, to the growing disbelief and horror of me and my Canadian friends. When Biden won, it seemed like the nightmare was finally over.

The cherry on the sundae was January 6th, 2021. I vividly remember being at work and seeing the headline, "US CAPITOL BREACHED" blaring across CNN's homepage. I remember sitting there, watching the video and feeling chilled to the bone as I thought of the future of my homeland.

I don't foresee that I'll live in the States again, sadly. I'll go back to visit my folks every so often, but once they're gone, there'll be nothing left for me there.