It is still unbelievable to me that so many people voted for an ignorant, immoral, vindictive, fear-mongering narcissist rather than an intelligent, articulate, law-abiding, inspirational leader! And not just once, but twice! I thought the country had learned its lesson and yet, here we are…
And yet… HERE! WE! ARE! WE ARE LOUD! WE ARE PROUD! AND WE’VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY!! Donald… We, the people, stand together to peacefully, passionately, and powerfully RESIST! And, you and your boot-licking, ass-kissing, cow-towing Republican cronies can take your bloated, abomination of a bill and stick it where the sun will never shine! Just because you got it rammed through Congress with your sleazy lies and empty promises does not mean that we will idly sit by and let all of its ugly measures ruin our people and this country.
I have spent decades taking democracy for granted. I told myself I was too busy, the system is too big for me to make a difference, and other people were taking care of everything. In all honesty, I just didn’t want to be bothered.
But now, this “3rd Act Rebel with a Cause” recognizes that every single thing this administration is doing is designed to make us feel afraid and powerless. But all of us being here today says… Donald, you picked a fight you’re gonna lose. Sure, you’ve had some wins so far, but we’re not weak, we’re smarter than you, and we’re not backing down.
As a child, I remember watching the Viet Nam protesters on the evening news and then as a teenager recognizing that those protests were the true catalyst that brought that our involvement in that conflict to an end. I’m old enough to remember that before HIV was called AIDS, it was called GRID which stood for Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. In the early 1990’s, I heard Anthony Fauci speak here in Indianapolis, telling a room full of medical professionals that he was once asked by a colleague why he would spend so much time studying a disease that was only going to affect maybe a thousand disenfranchised men. I was working in the field of HIV when a group of activists calling themselves ACT-UP would not let the ugly deaths of thousands of young people be swept out of site. I have seen our country slowly wake up to the reality of HIV through activism such as the AIDS Quilt on the National Mall. All of this is to say that our country has been in dark, seemingly hopeless places before. And that the thing that moved us to a better place was large scale, sustained activism. WE CAN DO THIS!
We start by supporting reputable news sources. For me, that’s National Public Radio. We need real journalism, not brainless puppets that simply tolerate Donald’s lies and stroke his ego. I refuse to call anything on Fox “News”. It is the propaganda mouthpiece for inflammatory talking points of Donald and his minions. They think if lies are repeated loud enough and often enough, somehow those lies will magically become the truth. A 50501 protest sign summed it up well.. “Is that the truth OR did you hear it on FOX?” A free press is the indispensable fourth branch of a working democracy and it needs our support now more than ever.
We speak up and we show up. We use the “5 calls” app to repeatedly contact our legislators. We keep attending protests and we bring our friends! We need growing crowds full of energy and creative signs.
We create community. We find opportunities to support those around us, no matter how they voted. We show the power of love, not hate. The divisive right-wing propaganda machine is powerful, but we must counter it through community and conversation. I once heard a wise woman say to someone who was purposefully attempting to rile her up, “So help me God, I will find something to like about you.” And isn’t that the essence of finding common ground?
It was so tempting to give up after the election. And, in all honesty, for a while, I did. But then I remembered a very important lesson I learned as a child from--of all places--a Little House on the Prairie book by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
In the 1800s, on a scorching hot summer day out on the prairie, a swarm of locusts suddenly appears on the horizon. As the family watches in horror, this blanket of locusts descends upon and ruins the crops that were the family’s livelihood. The family is shattered, but the chickens are having a field day at their version of an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. In the midst of this gross and devastating infestation, Ma Ingalls quietly says, “well, at least we won’t have to buy feed for the chickens.” What I took away from that snippet of a story was an important life truth: in the midst of tragedy one can find something good-no matter how seemingly small or insignificant-if one looks hard enough.
Our own blanket of locusts currently surrounds us, feasting on our democracy. But in the midst of the tragedy of Donald’s second term, in the midst of feeling bombarded by his small, weak, weird, locust-like creatures, I have found something good. Something good that is neither small nor insignificant. I’m looking at the something good. It is the growing, grassroots movement of people of all backgrounds coming together to defend this democracy, to defend the greater good, to defend the rights of all people.
The Orange Idiot and his cronies want to exhaust us with this endless game of create-a-new-crisis whack-a-mole. But, we are NOT helpless & this is NOT hopeless! We are the giant that has woken up! We have woken up and we are angry! We have woken up to resist a wannabe dictator and the spineless Republicans who fear him. And if that’s what they want to refer to as “woke”, sign me up, give me the sash and I will wear it with PRIDE!