Hopeful thought for fellow Berners: no matter what happens in 2020, in 2024, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be old enough to be the first woman President. Let that sink in. Think about how much we (Bernie and all of us) have changed the dialog in our country. We have already done that, no one can undo it, and, no matter what, our movement will go forward. Hopefully, we win the nomination and the Presidency in 2020. America desperately needs that. But even if we don't: we have US. We have brilliant, passionate, eloquent young leaders like AOC. And, whether it happens in 2020 or later, one day, our platform will be America's reality.*
( * Unless it's too late by then and we lapse into total fascism and oligarchy, which we're pretty close to at this very moment, but this was supposed to be a hopeful thought/musing! I'm just saying: whether we win or not-so-much this year, in some ways, we truly have already won, because we've really started a movement and, no matter what, it, and we, will GO ON.)
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Friday, March 6, 2020
A Rose By Any Other Name Still Smells As Sweet
As an ardent Bernie Sanders supporter who has many friends among my fellow Democrats who are not, I find it very dismaying, upsetting and ironic to read posts and comments on social media mischaracterizing Bernie and we who support him. Bernie Sanders is the most decent, classy person and campaigner I’ve ever witnessed. In 2016, journalists and debate moderators were constantly trying to bait him to personally attack his opponent, Hillary Clinton, and he would not. For example, he refused to entertain questions on the whole email server thing, and said he wanted to stick to the issues. He constantly said, throughout 2016, that he hoped the debate between candidates for the nomination would be substantive, stick to the issues, and avoid personal attacks. And he stuck to that and ran a beautiful campaign.
His entire life’s work, platform, choices and actions, up to and including his 2020 campaign for the Democratic nomination for President have all been about INCLUSION, respect, civil rights, social justice, economic fairness and a society that invests in and is for and about all the people, not just the wealthiest individuals and corporations. At every campaign rally, from 2016 through the present, he talks about how “we cannot allow anyone to divide us up. When we stick together, black and white, straight and gay, men and women, old and young, there is nothing we cannot do.”
Most of us who support Bernie, do so precisely because of the decency of both the man and his platform, period. I, and every other actual Bernie supporter I know, are kind, fair-minded, loving human beings. So it hurts to see us constantly mischaracterized on cable news networks and on social media as being the opposite, and I won’t even give the specific words that are being used ANY oxygen.
What is so ironic is, I see and hear all this commentary about how terrible Bernie and, particularly, us Bernie supporters are. Yet, from our perspective as Bernie supporters, it sure seems like WE are the ones taking a lot of incoming missiles and being generalized about.
Perhaps if people would actually take the time, and make the effort, to listen to what Bernie himself actually says, and what is actually in his platform, and his life’s choices and actions, instead of believing what is said *about* Bernie and those of us who support him, by the media and those who aim to take down his campaign, they would realize that Bernie stands for respect, tolerance, pluralism, civil rights, social justice, economic justice and inclusion. There is zero way, if you actually LISTEN to what Bernie says, that anyone could misconstrue it as being--as the media and those who oppose Bernie are working very, very hard to have you believe, and are clearly having success at getting you to believe--the opposite.
His entire life’s work, platform, choices and actions, up to and including his 2020 campaign for the Democratic nomination for President have all been about INCLUSION, respect, civil rights, social justice, economic fairness and a society that invests in and is for and about all the people, not just the wealthiest individuals and corporations. At every campaign rally, from 2016 through the present, he talks about how “we cannot allow anyone to divide us up. When we stick together, black and white, straight and gay, men and women, old and young, there is nothing we cannot do.”
Most of us who support Bernie, do so precisely because of the decency of both the man and his platform, period. I, and every other actual Bernie supporter I know, are kind, fair-minded, loving human beings. So it hurts to see us constantly mischaracterized on cable news networks and on social media as being the opposite, and I won’t even give the specific words that are being used ANY oxygen.
What is so ironic is, I see and hear all this commentary about how terrible Bernie and, particularly, us Bernie supporters are. Yet, from our perspective as Bernie supporters, it sure seems like WE are the ones taking a lot of incoming missiles and being generalized about.
Perhaps if people would actually take the time, and make the effort, to listen to what Bernie himself actually says, and what is actually in his platform, and his life’s choices and actions, instead of believing what is said *about* Bernie and those of us who support him, by the media and those who aim to take down his campaign, they would realize that Bernie stands for respect, tolerance, pluralism, civil rights, social justice, economic justice and inclusion. There is zero way, if you actually LISTEN to what Bernie says, that anyone could misconstrue it as being--as the media and those who oppose Bernie are working very, very hard to have you believe, and are clearly having success at getting you to believe--the opposite.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Democratic Party: Embrace Your Base!
I'm trying to figure out why the political party I've been a member of my entire life (since age 17--I think I somehow registered at 17, so in 1979, but if it wasn't at 17, it was 18, 1980, okay--suffice it to say, dinosaurs still roamed the earth), and that I have been a consistently loyal, voting member of, ta boot, is treating the only presidential candidate in my entire life's history who actually represents me as a mortal threat to the party and our country.
The only other presidential candidate I have ever been this excited about, this passionately FOR, was my beloved Al Gore. But even Al, who is, obviously, great on climate change, and a great human being and leader, did not represent ME--my exact platform and exact world view in virtually every single way, on every single issue, and as a WHOLE--like Bernie Sanders does. His platform is my platform (except he's for open primaries and I'm not, but there had to be SOMETHING--some small issue--we disagree on). He's a democratic socialist, I'm a democratic socialist. His heart is in Vermont and my heart is in Vermont. He's for all the things I've been fighting for my entire, entire, ENTIRE life: peace, protecting the environment, single payer health care/universal health care, federally mandated maternity and paternity leave for workers, federally funded child care, everyone paying their fair share of taxes. I mean, I could go on, but the man is MY candidate. His platform represents me. Me, a lifelong Democrat. Me, whose lifelong party is now acting like, if this truly great candidate wins our nomination due to the will of the Democratic voters, it would be the end of the world.
I am stunned, shocked and disgusted with my party's centrist spokespeeps right about now. You've got James Carville, for example, running around saying he's "terrified" and that Bernie's platform is a ...wait for it...this was last night on MSNBC..."utopian fantasy". You've got basically the entire party running around talking about: how do we STOP SANDERS?!!!
My question to my party, after I have spent a LIFETIME shouting into the intense wind that the party needs to stop trying to be "Right Lite" and to woo Republicans and Independents, and instead needs to EMBRACE THE BASE, stand for progressive/liberal issues and be a true ALTERNATIVE to the Right, show some backbone, and GROW THE BASE, is: why, when someone (Bernie!!! 💜) comes along and does that, inspires entire new generations (Millennials, Gen Z and beyond) of young people, brings them, enthusiastically into the party, fired up, and with a substantive, LIBERAL/progressive platform to get behind, WHY, WHY, WHY are you trying to "stop" him?!!!
Isn't this what we WANT? Don't we want to bring massive numbers of young people into our base, our party? Don't we want to have a fired up, impassioned grassroots base, people who VOTE, people who go out in the deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep snow and knock on doors, a candidate who casts off corporate lobbyists and is funded solely by said grassroots? Isn't this all amazing, inspiring, breathtaking, heartening, and, in a word, GOOD?
What is your ever-lovin' problem, James Carville et al.? Quit your disparaging and realize that YOU are what the party should be terrified of: pundits and party spokespeeps who show shocking levels of overt disdain and outright, inexplicable anger over a beautiful grassroots influx of young people, your beautiful long-suffering grassroots of not-as-young-as-we-used-to-be liberal Democrats who have been putting up with YOUR ruining of our party since 1984, to be precise, when you decided we needed to be Reagan Lite and, face it, you've never gotten over that misguided decision. And now you are finally being forced to HEAR US: your ACTUAL base. You know: LIBERALS. PROGRESSIVES. We are who you should embrace, not be terrified of!
EMBRACE YOUR BASE!
BERNIE 2020! It's a GOOD thing!
The only other presidential candidate I have ever been this excited about, this passionately FOR, was my beloved Al Gore. But even Al, who is, obviously, great on climate change, and a great human being and leader, did not represent ME--my exact platform and exact world view in virtually every single way, on every single issue, and as a WHOLE--like Bernie Sanders does. His platform is my platform (except he's for open primaries and I'm not, but there had to be SOMETHING--some small issue--we disagree on). He's a democratic socialist, I'm a democratic socialist. His heart is in Vermont and my heart is in Vermont. He's for all the things I've been fighting for my entire, entire, ENTIRE life: peace, protecting the environment, single payer health care/universal health care, federally mandated maternity and paternity leave for workers, federally funded child care, everyone paying their fair share of taxes. I mean, I could go on, but the man is MY candidate. His platform represents me. Me, a lifelong Democrat. Me, whose lifelong party is now acting like, if this truly great candidate wins our nomination due to the will of the Democratic voters, it would be the end of the world.
I am stunned, shocked and disgusted with my party's centrist spokespeeps right about now. You've got James Carville, for example, running around saying he's "terrified" and that Bernie's platform is a ...wait for it...this was last night on MSNBC..."utopian fantasy". You've got basically the entire party running around talking about: how do we STOP SANDERS?!!!
My question to my party, after I have spent a LIFETIME shouting into the intense wind that the party needs to stop trying to be "Right Lite" and to woo Republicans and Independents, and instead needs to EMBRACE THE BASE, stand for progressive/liberal issues and be a true ALTERNATIVE to the Right, show some backbone, and GROW THE BASE, is: why, when someone (Bernie!!! 💜) comes along and does that, inspires entire new generations (Millennials, Gen Z and beyond) of young people, brings them, enthusiastically into the party, fired up, and with a substantive, LIBERAL/progressive platform to get behind, WHY, WHY, WHY are you trying to "stop" him?!!!
Isn't this what we WANT? Don't we want to bring massive numbers of young people into our base, our party? Don't we want to have a fired up, impassioned grassroots base, people who VOTE, people who go out in the deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep snow and knock on doors, a candidate who casts off corporate lobbyists and is funded solely by said grassroots? Isn't this all amazing, inspiring, breathtaking, heartening, and, in a word, GOOD?
What is your ever-lovin' problem, James Carville et al.? Quit your disparaging and realize that YOU are what the party should be terrified of: pundits and party spokespeeps who show shocking levels of overt disdain and outright, inexplicable anger over a beautiful grassroots influx of young people, your beautiful long-suffering grassroots of not-as-young-as-we-used-to-be liberal Democrats who have been putting up with YOUR ruining of our party since 1984, to be precise, when you decided we needed to be Reagan Lite and, face it, you've never gotten over that misguided decision. And now you are finally being forced to HEAR US: your ACTUAL base. You know: LIBERALS. PROGRESSIVES. We are who you should embrace, not be terrified of!
EMBRACE YOUR BASE!
BERNIE 2020! It's a GOOD thing!
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
I've Been Waiting for Today My Entire Life
Long ago (1980), in a galaxy far, far away, known as “Vermont”, there was an idealistic young college student. She wanted to change the world and believed that her generation was the one to do it. She was concerned about climate change (then referred to as “global warming” and/or “The Greenhouse Effect”). She was concerned about The Cold War/nuclear weapons. She was concerned about social justice.
In this remote galaxy of Vermont, this idealistic student went to a tiny, idealistic, experimental college called Goddard. It was full of idealistic, creative, imaginative students and teachers. At one point, she went on a group Independent Study trip to Europe (mainly Germany) for four weeks. Of course, she ended up in an alternative record shop, rifling through some political buttons they had. One had a beautiful sunflower on it, kind of like a Georgia O’Keefe painting, and it said something in German, like “Alternative die Grunen”. The girl asked around, “What does this button say?” She started asking questions about it. Thus she learned about the European Green Party at that time, and about social democracy/democratic socialism. And about how the European Greens were all about the environment, just like she was.
On that trip, the girl was studying European preschools and comparing them to American preschools, and she got to go and observe several preschools throughout Germany, Denmark, Holland and a few other countries. All of this led to the girl learning all about countries that value and invest in their children, and how, in Democratic Socialism/Social Democracy, there is federally funded early childhood education, and maternity and paternity leave, and “single payer health care”, wherein everyone is covered, it comes out of taxes just like our public schools do, and that’s that. No in-network and out-of-network (not that that was a thing yet in the states—most people had indemnity insurance back then), no being afraid to leave your job because you would lose your health insurance, no deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance or premiums. Health care is paid for by taxes, and everyone has it. Early childhood education is also available to everyone, and VALUED. Federal maternity and paternity leave is a thing. WOW! I’m a democratic socialist, she realized! (She also thought, at the time—1980--that she wanted to join the Green Party but, much to her sadness and frustration at the time, upon returning to the States, she learned that it didn’t even exist yet here, which is fine, as now—2020--she detests the American Green Party, so we’ll skip past that part of our tale—she remained a Democrat, as she already was, and still is to this day.)
The girl returned to Vermont, energized to the hilt re social democracy, which NO ONE was talking about at the time. ZERO humans in America. And she learned, when she brought it up excitedly to everyone she knew, that it was “too idealistic” and/or a commie pinko idea that only a naïve, young hippie-type would possibly have/entertain. Still: this is me, she knew: this is my heart, these are my priorities for my country and politics and the world. This is what makes sense. She so wished that there was an American equivalent to the European Greens, or that her own party would be so concerned about the environment, and want to change America’s investment priorities so that we would invest in PEOPLE, and not the military-industrial complex and tax cuts for the very rich. But her country was going the EXACT OTHER WAY: Reagan had just come to power in the 1980 election, her first election, at age 18 (she voted for CARTER, just for the record). Her country went the exact opposite direction from ALL of her beliefs, and would remain on that horrendous track for her entire adult life. But, back to 1980 for a moment…
Just a year later, this young college student in the galaxy known as “Vermont" started to hear about a young mayor over in Burlington, who also was for single payer health care. Wait—someone else in my country is talking about single payer health care?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, yes, and guess what: HE’S A DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! TRUE STORY! Guess what else? He cares about the environment, and the nuclear arms race, and maternity and paternity leave, and child care. He cares about social justice. His name is Bernie Sanders and he basically had me at ALL OF THAT!
For many years to come, Bernie remained our little secret, up in Vermont. I remember, in 2004, talking with some fellow Al Gore aficionados, as we were all crestfallen at the realization that Gore was NOT going to run in 2004. Who did we want to run? Who was our dream/ideal candidate? Some names were bandied about, and then I—by the way, I’m the girl in this story, if you haven’t figured that out yet—said, you know, I REALLY wish Bernie Sanders, who is a great Senator up in Vermont, would run. About 85% of people in that conversation had no clue who he was. The other 15% said that would be great but, one, it will never happen. And, two, “you’re too idealistic, Edna. No one would ever vote for Bernie.” Too idealistic. Too idealistic.
WELL: I meant to post this early this morning, long before now, late afternoon, but I’ve been too busy at my grueling job. The young girl is all grown up now, with a really stressful job and boss, which, among other things that unfolded in her life, resulting in the aforementioned “growing up”, you would think might have resulted in all the idealism, spirit and hope being ground clean out of her. But NO!!! I’m still the idealistic, democratic socialist environmentalist HIPPIE FREAK FLOWERCHILD THAT APPARENTLY TERRIFIES THE JAMES CARVILLE’S OF THIS WORLD only now: there are so many more of me!
I am so gratefully glad and gladly grateful that I lived to see this day, 2/11/2020, the 2020 New Hampshire primary and BERNIE SANDERS is the FRONTRUNNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, our country may have ended last week but I still have an ember of hope, and its name is BERNIE…and us. “Not me, us!”
GO, New Hampshire, vote, vote, vote!
I've been waiting for this moment my whole life.
In this remote galaxy of Vermont, this idealistic student went to a tiny, idealistic, experimental college called Goddard. It was full of idealistic, creative, imaginative students and teachers. At one point, she went on a group Independent Study trip to Europe (mainly Germany) for four weeks. Of course, she ended up in an alternative record shop, rifling through some political buttons they had. One had a beautiful sunflower on it, kind of like a Georgia O’Keefe painting, and it said something in German, like “Alternative die Grunen”. The girl asked around, “What does this button say?” She started asking questions about it. Thus she learned about the European Green Party at that time, and about social democracy/democratic socialism. And about how the European Greens were all about the environment, just like she was.
On that trip, the girl was studying European preschools and comparing them to American preschools, and she got to go and observe several preschools throughout Germany, Denmark, Holland and a few other countries. All of this led to the girl learning all about countries that value and invest in their children, and how, in Democratic Socialism/Social Democracy, there is federally funded early childhood education, and maternity and paternity leave, and “single payer health care”, wherein everyone is covered, it comes out of taxes just like our public schools do, and that’s that. No in-network and out-of-network (not that that was a thing yet in the states—most people had indemnity insurance back then), no being afraid to leave your job because you would lose your health insurance, no deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance or premiums. Health care is paid for by taxes, and everyone has it. Early childhood education is also available to everyone, and VALUED. Federal maternity and paternity leave is a thing. WOW! I’m a democratic socialist, she realized! (She also thought, at the time—1980--that she wanted to join the Green Party but, much to her sadness and frustration at the time, upon returning to the States, she learned that it didn’t even exist yet here, which is fine, as now—2020--she detests the American Green Party, so we’ll skip past that part of our tale—she remained a Democrat, as she already was, and still is to this day.)
The girl returned to Vermont, energized to the hilt re social democracy, which NO ONE was talking about at the time. ZERO humans in America. And she learned, when she brought it up excitedly to everyone she knew, that it was “too idealistic” and/or a commie pinko idea that only a naïve, young hippie-type would possibly have/entertain. Still: this is me, she knew: this is my heart, these are my priorities for my country and politics and the world. This is what makes sense. She so wished that there was an American equivalent to the European Greens, or that her own party would be so concerned about the environment, and want to change America’s investment priorities so that we would invest in PEOPLE, and not the military-industrial complex and tax cuts for the very rich. But her country was going the EXACT OTHER WAY: Reagan had just come to power in the 1980 election, her first election, at age 18 (she voted for CARTER, just for the record). Her country went the exact opposite direction from ALL of her beliefs, and would remain on that horrendous track for her entire adult life. But, back to 1980 for a moment…
Just a year later, this young college student in the galaxy known as “Vermont" started to hear about a young mayor over in Burlington, who also was for single payer health care. Wait—someone else in my country is talking about single payer health care?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, yes, and guess what: HE’S A DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! TRUE STORY! Guess what else? He cares about the environment, and the nuclear arms race, and maternity and paternity leave, and child care. He cares about social justice. His name is Bernie Sanders and he basically had me at ALL OF THAT!
For many years to come, Bernie remained our little secret, up in Vermont. I remember, in 2004, talking with some fellow Al Gore aficionados, as we were all crestfallen at the realization that Gore was NOT going to run in 2004. Who did we want to run? Who was our dream/ideal candidate? Some names were bandied about, and then I—by the way, I’m the girl in this story, if you haven’t figured that out yet—said, you know, I REALLY wish Bernie Sanders, who is a great Senator up in Vermont, would run. About 85% of people in that conversation had no clue who he was. The other 15% said that would be great but, one, it will never happen. And, two, “you’re too idealistic, Edna. No one would ever vote for Bernie.” Too idealistic. Too idealistic.
WELL: I meant to post this early this morning, long before now, late afternoon, but I’ve been too busy at my grueling job. The young girl is all grown up now, with a really stressful job and boss, which, among other things that unfolded in her life, resulting in the aforementioned “growing up”, you would think might have resulted in all the idealism, spirit and hope being ground clean out of her. But NO!!! I’m still the idealistic, democratic socialist environmentalist HIPPIE FREAK FLOWERCHILD THAT APPARENTLY TERRIFIES THE JAMES CARVILLE’S OF THIS WORLD only now: there are so many more of me!
I am so gratefully glad and gladly grateful that I lived to see this day, 2/11/2020, the 2020 New Hampshire primary and BERNIE SANDERS is the FRONTRUNNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, our country may have ended last week but I still have an ember of hope, and its name is BERNIE…and us. “Not me, us!”
GO, New Hampshire, vote, vote, vote!
I've been waiting for this moment my whole life.
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Goodnight Moon
I'm dreading tomorrow. I don't want my country to end.
The senate is about to set two terrible, America-altering precedents that POTUSes are above the rule of law, and that it is perfectly fine for POTUSes to obstruct Congress and thus they (the Senate) are about to end the separation of powers, in addition to the rule of law.
I don't want to go to bed tonight, as maybe somehow that will prevent tomorrow from coming.
The senate is about to set two terrible, America-altering precedents that POTUSes are above the rule of law, and that it is perfectly fine for POTUSes to obstruct Congress and thus they (the Senate) are about to end the separation of powers, in addition to the rule of law.
I don't want to go to bed tonight, as maybe somehow that will prevent tomorrow from coming.
I'm exhausted and can't believe everything going on all at once in our country in just the last few days and upcoming days. I feel shell shocked on so many fronts. No clue how I'm going to function at my demanding, stressful job tomorrow. Barely made it on time today after the Iowa Caucus situation went into the wee hours and beyond yesterday. And now here I am up way too late again. If you sleep, you miss something epic in America right now.
Yet, if you don't sleep, that is a bad thing. So...good night, moon, and all. Good night, America as I know it, this is maybe the last time I can say that.
Yet, if you don't sleep, that is a bad thing. So...good night, moon, and all. Good night, America as I know it, this is maybe the last time I can say that.
Friday, January 31, 2020
The End of America
America is in dire distress today. Within hours, America as I recognize, know and love it, will be over, if the Senate votes to acquit 45. Precedents will have been set that effectively end the separation of powers, and end the rule of law. The current POTUS, and future presidents, will have free reign to be lawless. They also will not be subject to congressional oversight. Our country, the heart and soul of which are the rule of law and the separation of powers, will be effectively ended.
The great American experiment will be over. We had a good run. We had a beautiful run. We had a lot of ugliness and wrong in our history but also a LOT of awesome goodness, high ideals, and much that was so beautiful.
So many gave so much, in so many ways, to envision, create, and continue to try to make America a more perfect union. In minutes, to hours, that will be over.
We will still be in the same physical place. The same beautiful, breathtaking land. We will still be called The United States of America. But it will all be over.
Just like that: no war. No guns. Just like that. Goodbye, my beautiful, beloved country. I'm so sorry we couldn't save you.
The great American experiment will be over. We had a good run. We had a beautiful run. We had a lot of ugliness and wrong in our history but also a LOT of awesome goodness, high ideals, and much that was so beautiful.
So many gave so much, in so many ways, to envision, create, and continue to try to make America a more perfect union. In minutes, to hours, that will be over.
We will still be in the same physical place. The same beautiful, breathtaking land. We will still be called The United States of America. But it will all be over.
Just like that: no war. No guns. Just like that. Goodbye, my beautiful, beloved country. I'm so sorry we couldn't save you.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Brave New World
In response to me posting last night on Facebook that I feel I’m watching the end of my country, watching Mitch McConnell and the complicit Republican-controlled Senate refuse to allow witnesses and documents in the impeachment trial, several friends said we need to focus on November. Focus on the 2020 presidential election, they encourage and urge. I started to write a response to them on Facebook, but it turned into this blog entry instead:
By November, long before November, nothing will matter, attempting-to-save-America-wise, if 45 isn’t removed from office by the Senate in the impeachment trial. It breaks my heart to write that, but it is true. Oh, you can be d*mn sure I’ll lovingly cast my primary vote in March for my hero, Bernie Sanders. And you can be (fairly) sure that I will also cast my vote in the November general election, as I have done in every single election since I came of age in 1980. But for the first time, I will agree with people who have always previously infuriated me by saying: “It doesn’t matter”. They always previously infuriated me by saying that because it always previously DID matter. It mattered very, very, very much. Anyone who doesn’t see that now, never will. But by November, it likely actually won’t matter anymore. Because, if 45 is not removed by the Senate, if the senate impeachment trial is just a complicit, rigged exercise in suppression of evidence, our constitution will have been crushed, and we will have no rule of law in this country. A terrible precedent will have been set, that we can never unset: we will go from being a representative democracy to being a dictatorship, in which an American President does not have to follow the constitution or any laws. He or she can do whatever he or she wants. That is called a dictatorship. Let that sink in.
I was lying in bed, in the dead of night last night, realizing that, very soon, by the end of the Senate impeachment trial, we will know if we still have a country, a recognizable America. And, if we don’t, if our country as we know it is about to be gone, that “future” is coming up, as I said, very soon. It hit me: in just days, I could be living in a dictatorship. Right now, it’s still a possibility that might happen “in the future”, yet that future is now just days away! I could, and it is looking like I likely will, wake up one morning very soon and find myself not in my beloved America, but in a dictatorship.
This is similar to Germany in the 1930’s, which was a modern, western country in which, for example, the German Jewish population was very, very, very well integrated. They, rightly, absolutely considered themselves to be Germans. They (and the “they” here is very personal for me, as it includes my Mom’s side of my own family—we are directly descended from German Jews…my Grandma grew up speaking English and German) went back many, many generations in Germany. But suddenly they were “other” and they were the scapegoats, along with political dissidents, homosexuals, artists and other minorities (but Hitler’s main target was Jews). How safe will any of us be in our “new” America, the day after the Senate acquits Donald J. Trump?
I’m scared of waking up the day after. I’m scared of the new America and I’m already heartbroken for my beautiful country. I’m already starting to mourn the America I recognize and cherish with all my heart and soul, which is taking its dying breaths right now, as we speak. The dying breaths are Adam Schiff, heroically arguing on the Senate floor, and the other Democratic impeachment managers doing the same. The dying breaths are us, we, the people, calling our Senators and begging for a fair trial, with witnesses and documents. The dying breathes are us, daring to hope for the 2020 election, when the reality is, it will all be OVER at that point if there is not a fair Senate impeachment trial right now, and if 45 is not removed from office.
Over. No “war”. No battlefield. Just a useful idiot with a dangerous psychiatric makeup, a foreign enemy with very sophisticated methods to pull said idiot’s--and all of our--strings, a decimated government, now populated with a few brave patriots trying to save it but being overpowered by a lot of complicit stooges, placed in key roles, who are now poised on the brink of laying waste to our constitution, our rule of law, our separation of powers, our free press, and the power of we, the people, to resist. And those things I just listed that are being laid to waste as we speak? Those are the whole enchilada, people: those ARE America, those are what make our country our country.
I lay there last night and all of this really hit me. This is happening. Now. America is dying, being murdered in front of my very eyes. We are all witnessing the murder of a loved one. And, we will likely wake up one morning very soon, and our loved one will be gone. Just like that. And we will be left here, in a Brave New World.
By November, long before November, nothing will matter, attempting-to-save-America-wise, if 45 isn’t removed from office by the Senate in the impeachment trial. It breaks my heart to write that, but it is true. Oh, you can be d*mn sure I’ll lovingly cast my primary vote in March for my hero, Bernie Sanders. And you can be (fairly) sure that I will also cast my vote in the November general election, as I have done in every single election since I came of age in 1980. But for the first time, I will agree with people who have always previously infuriated me by saying: “It doesn’t matter”. They always previously infuriated me by saying that because it always previously DID matter. It mattered very, very, very much. Anyone who doesn’t see that now, never will. But by November, it likely actually won’t matter anymore. Because, if 45 is not removed by the Senate, if the senate impeachment trial is just a complicit, rigged exercise in suppression of evidence, our constitution will have been crushed, and we will have no rule of law in this country. A terrible precedent will have been set, that we can never unset: we will go from being a representative democracy to being a dictatorship, in which an American President does not have to follow the constitution or any laws. He or she can do whatever he or she wants. That is called a dictatorship. Let that sink in.
I was lying in bed, in the dead of night last night, realizing that, very soon, by the end of the Senate impeachment trial, we will know if we still have a country, a recognizable America. And, if we don’t, if our country as we know it is about to be gone, that “future” is coming up, as I said, very soon. It hit me: in just days, I could be living in a dictatorship. Right now, it’s still a possibility that might happen “in the future”, yet that future is now just days away! I could, and it is looking like I likely will, wake up one morning very soon and find myself not in my beloved America, but in a dictatorship.
This is similar to Germany in the 1930’s, which was a modern, western country in which, for example, the German Jewish population was very, very, very well integrated. They, rightly, absolutely considered themselves to be Germans. They (and the “they” here is very personal for me, as it includes my Mom’s side of my own family—we are directly descended from German Jews…my Grandma grew up speaking English and German) went back many, many generations in Germany. But suddenly they were “other” and they were the scapegoats, along with political dissidents, homosexuals, artists and other minorities (but Hitler’s main target was Jews). How safe will any of us be in our “new” America, the day after the Senate acquits Donald J. Trump?
I’m scared of waking up the day after. I’m scared of the new America and I’m already heartbroken for my beautiful country. I’m already starting to mourn the America I recognize and cherish with all my heart and soul, which is taking its dying breaths right now, as we speak. The dying breaths are Adam Schiff, heroically arguing on the Senate floor, and the other Democratic impeachment managers doing the same. The dying breaths are us, we, the people, calling our Senators and begging for a fair trial, with witnesses and documents. The dying breathes are us, daring to hope for the 2020 election, when the reality is, it will all be OVER at that point if there is not a fair Senate impeachment trial right now, and if 45 is not removed from office.
Over. No “war”. No battlefield. Just a useful idiot with a dangerous psychiatric makeup, a foreign enemy with very sophisticated methods to pull said idiot’s--and all of our--strings, a decimated government, now populated with a few brave patriots trying to save it but being overpowered by a lot of complicit stooges, placed in key roles, who are now poised on the brink of laying waste to our constitution, our rule of law, our separation of powers, our free press, and the power of we, the people, to resist. And those things I just listed that are being laid to waste as we speak? Those are the whole enchilada, people: those ARE America, those are what make our country our country.
I lay there last night and all of this really hit me. This is happening. Now. America is dying, being murdered in front of my very eyes. We are all witnessing the murder of a loved one. And, we will likely wake up one morning very soon, and our loved one will be gone. Just like that. And we will be left here, in a Brave New World.
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