Hope and joy are contagious. They can spread quickly, especially when there is a concerted effort to share them.

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Well, that was unconventional. At least for Democrats.

From Lil Jon to Oprah to Bill and Hillary and Barack and Michelle to the Gen Zs and Old Joe, the Democrats (and a few sane Republicans) had a grand old time in Chicago reminding the rest of the country what it means to be a proud American and the threat Donald Trump and the Republican Party pose to that idea.

America needed the wake-up call.

Four nights of joy and optimism culminated in the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's nominee to run for president of the United States. Historic and hopeful.

It is fair to say that there has been a profound mood swing in America in the short time since Joe Biden said he was once too young to be a senator and is now apparently too old to be president, handing the reins of power to a black/South Asian/American woman with apparently just the right attitude and resume to dispose of an aging, self-absorbed felon whose only interest in America is how to fleece it.

Hope and joy are contagious. They can spread quickly, especially when there is a concerted effort to share them. Democrats, working together and setting aside differences for the moment, have decided to share the wealth. The moment is that important.

Harris, adapting quickly to the role of party standard bearer, delivered a powerful acceptance speech, reminding Americans that Trump is an "unserious man" who represents a serious threat to the freedoms they cherish and typically take for granted. But this is not the time for taking things for granted. This is the time for action, she and speaker after speaker at the convention reminded Americans. It's time to work together, setting differences aside for now, to protect and preserve democracy.

For Democrats, very unconventional. For all Americans, very much needed.

***

Meanwhile, in the world of lies and delusion, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abandoned his third-party candidacy for president, endorsing Trump as a man who shares Kennedy's views on America's future. Birds of a feather.

Kennedy, hoping that his endorsement will result in a role in a Trump presidency, said the Harris campaign never returned his calls. Another plus for them.

However, Kennedy's siblings sent him a message. They issued a public statement dismissing everything he stands for and calling his endorsement of Trump "a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear".

The Kennedy endorsement wasn't expected to do much for Trump vote wise either.

All in all, a good week for America.

rjgaydos@gmail.com

Authors Website: https://www.blogger.com/home

Authors Bio:

Bob Gaydos is a veteran of 40-plus years in daily newspapers. He began as police reporter with The (Binghamton, N.Y.) Sun-Bulletin, eventually covering government and politics as well as serving as city editor, features editor, sports editor and executive editor. He was also managing editor of the Evening Capital in Annapolis, Md. He retired from daily newspapering in 2007 after 29 years with the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y., where he was Sunday/features editor and, for 23 years, editorial page editor. He won numerous awards for his editorials from the New York Newspaper Publishers Association and The Associated Press and in 1992 was a finalist for The Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Gaydos continues to write on a freelance basis, including a column on addiction.