61 days and counting…
“I listened as they called my President a Muslim.
I listened as they called him and his family a pack of monkeys.
I listened as they said he wasn’t born here.
I watched as they blocked every single path to progress that they could.
I saw the pictures of him as Hitler.
I watched them shut down the government and hurt the entire nation twice.
I watched them turn their backs on every opportunity to open worthwhile dialog.
I watched them say that they would not even listen to any choice for Supreme Court no matter who the nominee was.
I listened as they openly said that they will oppose him at every turn.
I watched as they did just that.
I listened.
I watched.
I paid attention.Now, I’m being called on to be tolerant.
To move forward.
To denounce protesters.
To “Get over it.”
To accept this…
I will not.I will do my part to make sure this great American mistake becomes the embarrassing footnote of our history that it deserves to be.
I will do this as quickly as possible every chance I get.
I will do my part to limit the damage that this man can do to my country.
I will watch his every move and point out every single mistake and misdeed in a loud and proud voice.
I will let you know in a loud voice every time this man backs away from a promise he made to them.
Them. The people who voted for him.I will do this so that they never forget.
And they will hear me.
They will see it in my eyes when I look at them.
They will hear it in my voice when I talk to them.
They will know that I know who they are.
They will know that I know what they are.
Do not call for my tolerance. I’ve tolerated all I can.
Now it’s their turn to tolerate ridicule.Be aware, make no mistake about it, every single thing that goes wrong in our country from this day forward is now Trump’s fault, just as much as they thought it was Obama’s.
I find it unreasonable for them to expect from me what they were entirely unwilling to give.”
–Author unknown
#TheResistance
Your reading selection for the day comes from a series of articles that posted not long after the results hit the news. They may have been buried in your newsfeed, or you might not have seen them at all, depending on your echo chamber settings (thanks to FB’s algorithms).
The going conversation sounds polite (“It won’t be that bad. You’re exaggerating.”) or obnoxious (“Suck it up, buttercup.”) but the message is the same either way. It’s all about denying reality.
In the meantime, life goes on, people try to normalize a situation that is far, far removed from normal, and we drift ever closer to the end of life in the US as we’ve known it for our whole lives. The vast numbers of people who served in or grew up during the Great Depression and World War II are either dead or dying.
Many of our heroes are also dying, because of bad genes or poor lifestyle choices, or because they’re just plain old and we haven’t noticed because we still feel the same. Every voice that’s stilled, every change in history that can no longer be confirmed, is another step on the road to erasing the past.
It may already be too late for us. Our history goes in 100 year cycles and we are way overdue for civil or world war in this country. Our politicians protect the interests of the rich. The oligarchy has taken over. We are the Corporate States of Amerika and Revolution is coming.
Will you be prepared to stop the cops or the mob from taking your neighbor? Is free speech important? Do you want a place for your children’s children to grow old? Can you find somewhere that’s safe?
Think about it.
Esquire.com: Great. Here Comes Another Constitutional Crisis. Time for the Democrats to wake up.
Al Jazeera America: Jim Crow returns. Millions of minority voters threatened by electoral purge
The New York Review of Books: Autocracy: Rules for Survival
Statistic Brain: Voting Turnout Statistics (A different set of stats from this year’s election process.)