“In the end we will remember not the words or our enemies but the silence of our friends” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
In these times, it would not be right for even a tiny blog with almost no readership to remain silent.
When life here in the U.S. regains some measure of sanity, then I’ll go back to talking about Reiki, Taoism, Brewer’s Yeast and making your own beach wave hairspray.
In the meantime, there are some things I am compelled to scream into the void, simply because it serves no purpose NOT to scream them. I don’t know if any of this will do anything, except maybe document a certain (I believe widely shared) point of view of the current zeitgeist, but I have to try. If I can change one mind, or move one person to action then the effort was more than worth it.
I like calling it a zeitgeist. German seems appropriate as we are being overrun with fascists. Seriously. No exaggeration, no hyperbole, I am for real and properly afraid that a coup may well be in progress, and if you voted for Donald Trump it is your fault. If the worst happens, the blood of Americans is on your hands as much as the buffoon you helped put into office. The only way Trump voters have to redeem themselves is to resist the changes, and do everything a private citizen can do to oppose every single thing he does. No matter how you voted, now patriotism calls you to oppose Republican and ineffectual Democrats in Congress, and vote for more compassionate, inclusive replacements as soon as possible, including off year Congressional, local and state offices.
Yes, it does sound partisan. Yes I AM partisan-sort of. Partisans are technically enthusiastic about some party or another. Living in a closed primary state, I’m only registered Democrat in order to be allowed to vote in state level primaries. Except for primary “super-delegates” and their tendency toward a certain general spinelessness in congress, I generally agree with Democrats, especially the more progressive wing such as that represented by Senator Sanders’ platform. I started my adult voting life as an Independent and am about a hair from re-re-registering back to Independent. I AM highly partisan for a defacto “party” of independent thinkers in favor of reason, science, compassion and basic human decency.
Yes, the Democrats fucked up big time when they had a thumb, four fingers and an asscheek on the scales for Clinton against all comers before Sanders even declared his candidacy.
Yes, the Russians hacked e-mails and used leaks to weaponize our domestic stupid against us.
Yes, I just called half of America stupid. They are gullible too. Unless they are evil. Or some combination of all three. You’ll have to decide which for yourself if that is how you voted.
But the first are just symptoms, an actual vote for Trump was the root cause. Here is how you connect the two.
I’ve been watching politics since Carter, voting regularly since Regan….
Who has always favored the rich and a”trickle down” economic policy that in decade after decade of has yet to trickle anywhere? Republicans.
Who has manipulated a large, gullible, vulnerable evangelical christian population by manipulating their innate, native biases (against reproductive privacy, against separation of church and state, & and against marriage equality) again and again for decade upon decade? Republicans.
Who has touted populist economic change and/or possibly manipulated oil policy / oil supply to win popular favor? Repulblicans.
Who has been militaristic and quick to go to war? Republicans.
Who has been obstructionist, failed to serve the American people (government shut-down)? Republicans.
Who tacitly, through their silence, supported Tea Party racist & “birther” rhetoric since 2008? Republicans.
See a pattern?
The only thing to clean the American landscape of the Republican shit stain is
- Support the removal of Donald Trump from office, be it by impeachment proceedings or by 25th Amendment mechanisms. Encourage those in power who represent you and have the power to enact these things to do so.
- Hold your representatives responsible. They work for you. YOU elected them. If they don’t actively advocate for the good of the nation now, when will they? VOTE out any Republicans or ineffective Democrats at every level of government at the very next election. Now is the time. We can’t afford to “give it a chance”. We can’t afford second chances. It’s do it right, right now, or get out of the way for someone who will.
- Do your part to resist no matter how you voted in November. Indivisible Guide is a good resource to learn HOW to do this if you have never been involved in politics before now. If you have the means, donate to organizations who are actually doing something to change things. I joined the ACLU.
- Pay attention to the man behind the curtain. . Don’t be fooled again, even if you were the first time. Follow objective, professional journalists and ignore the truckloads of bullshit that is out there…which is doubly true of white house and other “official” sources now. Daily Kos was especially helpful in THIS article.
- Support the people…all people…even the ones you disagree with IF they are trying to fix this mess. Together we really are stronger. We can argue about the small stuff again later, when we are out of danger.
- Motivate your resistance through causes you truly believe in. If your thing is trees, join with feminists, scientists, journalists, atheists and the pro marajuana lobby and anyone else who is trying to protect the EPA. Stuff like that. The assaults from this regime are so wide-ranging they offend everyone except maybe the KKK and Neo-Nazis. Choose your cause, but cooperate with all causes at the same time.
“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing” – Edmund Burke
