By Butch Freedman
I’ve been dealing lately with a persistent cold; it’s knocking me on my butt. Bev brought it back from our Mexico trip and kindly passed it on to me. I feel fuzzy headed, unable to concentrate for more than five minutes, and generally unhappy with my current state of being. And it occurs to me, that this state is not far removed from how I’ve been feeling ever since trump got re-elected. But unlike this cold, which I will recover from in a few more days, I don’t know when I will recover from trump sickness; don’t know when the country and the world will recover. I know it’s become a cliché, but it’s an accurate one, saying to each other as we shake our heads in disbelief—”Every day it gets worse.” There’s no point in enumerating all the ways this evil man and his enablers have corrupted our democracy and now taken us into an unjust war. No need to point out the insanity of the mad king’s ramblings, or his deranged mid-night screeds and obscenities. Please tell me someone, how did we let this happen? But more importantly, how do we make it stop?
I’ve been hopeful about the mid-term elections, imagining a landslide that sweeps democrats and independents into the majority of both houses of congress. Now I’m not so sure. The Supremes are doing their best (worst) to upset that dream. (I liked the Supremes way better when they were led by Diana Ross, not so much under John Roberts and his coterie of right-wing stooges.) They’ve gutted the voting rights act, allowing red states to effectively take away any ability for Democrats and minorities to have any hope of fair representation. It’s clear that this court and this administration, realizing they are facing massive defeat in the mid-terms, are pulling out all the stops to rig the elections in their favor. It’s scary.
A “friend” accused me of being kvetchy in my political writings. Maybe she thinks I should only write sweet and positive stories, or better yet, not write at all. I didn’t bother to respond to her, just turned away. I don’t need to answer to such nonsense. Which doesn’t mean the comment didn’t sting. And if I had decided to respond, after taking a deep breath, I would have told her, that this is not a time to be a nice guy or a wimpy writer. Who needs either of those things. Like many of my friends and family I’m fully committed to the struggle to stop this overthrow of our democracy, and if that involves angry screeds, so be it. My cold today is making me cranky, but it’s nowhere near the level of crankiness that I hold against trump, the supremes, and all the sniveling go-along to get-along republican stooges. We have to use every tool available to bring these fools to their knees. My tiny part of that effort is to keep writing about what I see around me. And if that makes me a kvetch, I’m fine with that.
Even through my current cloud of coughing, sneezing, and light-headedness, I continue to stay focused on whatever paths there are to stop the madness. Maybe trump’s stumbling about with Iran, and threats against Cuba, and on and on and on will spell out his own doom. And the sky-rocketing prices for gas and groceries will also have their impact on the voting populace. I hope that’s the case, but hoping is not enough. Supporting good candidates with time and money is required. And supporting those organizations that are defending in the courts the people’s rights to fair elections is vital. Let’s do all we can to reclaim our democracy before it no longer has breath to live. The whole world needs to get over our trump sickness.