We left a year ago. And two years before that we started the planning and the process of leaving.

Didn't need to wait for the election results. Or the inevitable aftermath.

Just the fact that he was going to run, enabled by Republican pardon, and that roughly half of Americans would likely vote for him (as they did before) was enough. Done.

The America I knew has been disappearing for decades, replaced with fear, ignorance, desperation, and greed. Very few understand how anything actually works, and so clearly ignorant and dangerous statements are accepted, despite being ridiculously easy to disprove, as long as they support what the audience wants to believe.

As I put in the work to ensure that my children would have a place in the world, wherever they decided to live, I was deeply unhappy on a daily basis, surrounded by former friends and family I know longer recognized. "Conservatism" of the Nixon, Reagan, and Bush variety is a disease. Trump is just the most virulent end product.

Glad to be well shut of all of it at last.