No One Is Going To Make Things OK For Us
We're going to have to take control and make things OK for America
I no longer believe that our leaders will choose country over party, because over and over and over, I’ve watched them pervert the system and disregard the rules in order to hold power and steal elections and gain Federal judges.
I no longer believe that the truth matters to everyone, because I’ve witnessed too many powerful people ransom it off to the highest bidder, and too many people I love grow violently allergic to facts.
I no longer believe that the American Church is a source or moral leadership, because I’ve witnessed the Franklin Grahams and Jerry Falwells of the Evangelical Right, sink deeper and deeper into the putrid cesspool of their political bed-making….
They are not going to protect the air we breathe or the waterways that sustain us or the diverse ecosystems that hold life together, when there’s so much money to be made off of them.
They are not interested in stopping gun violence or mass shootings, because they profit from both the guns that create the carnage—and the fear it generates among their base.
I endeavor mightily not to be cynical…but, like a lot of us, the Trump years took their toll on me. Where before I might have believed that the bulk of those engaged in public service did so for the right reasons, I’ve frequently found myself defaulting to the belief that “here be monsters.” No longer did America’s best and brightest aspire to public service as a way to make the country a better and more equitable place. Instead, here in my later years, I’m confronted with a country where public service is pursued for the wrong reasons. Greed, self-aggrandizement, and a lust for personal power are but a few of the lowlights.
It’s become difficult to maintain faith that government can and will work for the Greater Good. For the past few years, we’ve endured a form of government intended to benefit only a select few- the wealthy, White, Conservative, Christian, and heterosexual. All others need not apply because there’s no seat at the table for you.
Those in positions of power no longer make any effort to camouflage their intentions. Their greed and lust for power are there for all to see because they no longer feel shame in their selfishness, avarice, and lust for power. It’s who they are and they wear it like a badge of honor.
Nor do they care who suffers along the way. The Prime Directive is to maximize and consolidate power and inflate their bank account for as long as possible. So when Conservatives talk about creating a “permanent Republican majority,” this is precisely what they mean. It’s about creating a majority so robust and durable that it can withstand any electoral challenge.
American Conservatives have joined forces with Evangelical Christians to create a political reality straight out of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. While fictional, Atwood’s novel is a terrifying depiction of an America ruled by Evangelical Christians far more committed to political power than the teachings of Jesus Christ. The state they create- Gilead- is a brutal dictatorship so malevolent and corrupt that it can only survive by keeping its population in a constant state of fear and terror.
They have no intention of protecting marginalized and vulnerable communities from discrimination, when they can use those very communities as props to terrify the privileged into bans and walls and wars and rally cries of “send them back” and “lock her up.”
They have no interest in stewarding the full diversity of America—only leveraging and weaponizing some fairy tale nationalistic nostalgia to keep uneducated white people more focused on anthems and flags, than on the disparate humanity they’re supposed to be providing refuge for.
And I know that because there is no integrity or nobility left in the people currently leading us, that things are not going to be okay as long as good people are bullied into silence and numbed into inaction and content to merely feel bad and do nothing else.
The only way things are going to be okay—is if good people make them okay[.]
The Republican Party, still in thrall to Donald Trump, is currently working to create a system that will allow them to steal midterm elections in 2022 and perhaps the Presidency in 2024. What Republicans are doing at the state level is laying the groundwork for nullifying Democratic votes in large numbers and ensuring that only Republican ballots count.
Though this is happening in numerous states across the country, the effort needs to be successful in only a handful of swing states- Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina. Then, if those states can guarantee that their electoral votes will go to a Republican no matter how their states vote, a Republican will be sworn in on 1.20.25.
It doesn’t have to be this way. It SHOULDN’T be this way. We don’t have to stand idly by as American democracy is hobbled before our eyes. We can, should, and MUST demand that our elected representatives do their jobs and protect democracy from those who’d turn America into a Republican garrison state.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not about to claim that America is about to become a police state. But neither am I about to dismiss the possibility out of hand. After all, we did elect an actual fascist in 2016 and came close to re-electing him in 2020. A fascist America is not outside the realm of possibility, and there are those actively at work at this very moment trying to destroy American democracy in favor of a fascist system.
Gilead may have been the product of Margaret Atwood’s fertile imagination, but good fiction is often not so very far removed from the truth…or at least the possible. Some would happily see America turned into a not-so-benevolent dictatorship- as long as they were on top of the political food chain.
So while the darkness on the edge of town may be in the grocery stores, coffee shops, and other places where you might not have previously found it, where it goes from here is up to us. We can still save America from those trying to “save” it from Liberals and Democrats and those who care about things like compassion and caring and acceptance.
First, though, we have to stop those who’d manipulate our electoral system to ensure Republicans can create a permanent majority. The votes of Americans- ALL Americans- must still count for something, but they won’t if we stand idly by and allow the corrupt to destroy our democracy for their benefit.
What’s it going to be, America??
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