I woke up before the alarm this morning, wracked with
anxiety. RBG’s passing last Friday, may her memory always be a blessing, has
thrown so much more doubt into an already doubtful time. I don’t think many
people, myself included, understood viscerally what she stood for, all she had
done, and what a bulwark she was … and how much we were depending on her.
Honestly, she reminded me of my mom, seemingly able to
absorb every blow and come back fighting… until her frail body just couldn’t
take it anymore.
Now with McConnell and Trump working as hard as we knew they
would to fill her seat with an anti-RBG, to all intents and purposes, their
motivations and lies are laid bare.
For all those who think they want an a world without all
that Libtard shit, 40 hour work weeks, weekends off, osha protections, the ACA,
a functional CDC, environmental regulations, clean water, freedom to live that “gay
lifestyle” (including marrying the one you love, working without fear of being
fired, and other “minor” considerations), women’s rights to have a credit card
or mortgage without a co-signer, to take birth control without consent of her
partner, not lose her job just because she gets pregnant, to have an abortion, equal
rights for black people and people of color, trans-rights, and so many other things
we have come to enjoy and count on.
The list is voluminous, but the point is that she worked for
us all.
The amount of damage our institutions, norms, and laws have
sustained under Cheeto Mussolini and his Magic Sharpie in not even 4 years is
amazing … unthinkable is how much more he will be able to do with his packed
courts and a win in November. Nothing that we have known is safe, especially if
you aren’t white or male or straight or Christian.
These movements are like an ever-tightening circular firing
squad, with continuous purity testing. It happened in the French Revolution, it
happened in Nazi Germany, it’s happening with Trump. As the Dear Leader gets bored
or tired or disaffected with a given person, they get tossed aside and the
circle gets smaller and the purity tests get harder to pass.
And the faith that so many had in our institutions is now
recognized as a false hope. Certainly, those loyal to the rule of law and the
constitution remain, but the agencies have been co-opted and corrupted by
Trump. The CDC, DOJ, USPS, have all been Trumpified to some level or another…
and many other agencies as well.
The rule of law and the constitution are only as strong as
our collective belief in the ideals they represent. This includes our
elections. Trump has been sowing doubt about the elections, which have been a
sterling hallmark of our country since its inception, especially as the franchise
has expanded… and now that founding principle is thrown into doubt. He has
successfully brainwashed his minions into believing that voting by mail is
fraudulent, even though, according to former Republican strategist Rick Wilson,
absentee voting has long been the “secret sauce” the GOP used to help secure
wins in states like Florida.
And now, tonight, Trump made his plan clear… pack to the Supreme
Court with a 9th justice favorable and (most likely beholden) to him
and refuse to accept any election results. Then he will use that favorable
supreme court to throw out all mail-in ballots and declare the election null
and void so he can just continue on. That’s it. That is the plan.
And the Democrats, after years of bringing tea sets to gun
fights, are finally waking up to fact that the old norms and rules were
scrapped long ago. Unfortunately, while they were clutching their pearls, and sending
scolding letters to Republicans, the playbook fundamentally changed and they
have been stripped of many powers. Additionally, they refuse to use the powers
that they do, such has the subpoena & contempt powers of the House. It’s
just not decorous, it’s not bipartisan, it’s not seemly…. “here have a cup of
tea… and be careful not to get it on your lace gloves.” It’s also way past time
trying to shame the shameless.
The Democrats have got to get it through their heads that
the tea set needs to stay at Grandma’s house, and while dropping it off, they should
grab Grandpa’s shotgun. As former Congressman Joe Walsh said on his Monday
(9/21) “F*ck Silence” podcast, the question Democrats need to answer is “What
are you prepared to do?!”, referencing Sean Connery’s character in The
Untouchables. It’s a valid question that deserves an answer.
The death of Notorious RBG has made an already complex
situation worse for this country. As has been said in several places on social
media, it’s a hell of an indictment in this country that the laundry list of
things I mentioned earlier were being held up by one 87-year-old woman in frail
health. She can’t save us, Pelosi & Schumer can’t (or won’t) save us, Mueller
didn’t save us, the Electoral College didn’t save us, Hillary didn’t save us.
Again from Pogo, “We have met the enemy & he is us”.
All we really have left is the vote. This is our last chance
to save our Democracy. And we must do in numbers too large to be ignored. And if they try to nullify the election, we
must be ready to lay ourselves on the line… just like the Civil Rights fighters
in the 1960s and the Black Lives Matter protesters today.
VOTE!
No comments:
Post a Comment