Bob Dylan’s song, the “Masters of War,” has been in my mind lately, about the “masters” who do nothing but destroy and create unspeakable fears, the worst fear being to bring children to life⎼ or to love.
Since 2011 or so, levels of fear and anxiety have been increasing in this country and most of the world. We know this too well. And lately, it’s been getting worse, and not due just to the pandemic. Remember “Trump anxiety disorder”? Even though DJT is no longer in office, he and his supporters have continued to make the world more frightening. Then add economic strains, the climate emergency, and the war in Ukraine and what we face is increasingly disturbing.
More and more people have been feeling they have no future, or that our political system can no longer handle the problems we face. Especially young people feel political leaders can no longer do anything good for them. Many are furious at Biden for various reasons, for not pushing more for the elimination of the filibuster in the Senate so laws to protect voting and abortion rights, and our right to a world that is not burning up, could be passed. And in the past, for his role in limiting Senate investigation of claims of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas and thus allowing him to be seated in the Supreme Court. Biden actually voted against Thomas’ confirmation.
Biden can in one moment be so competent and caring, such a relief from the GOP who came before him, and in the next can seem to not get it at all. He often distances himself from the progressive wing of his party. He met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman, who is responsible for so many malignant actions including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. So, yes, pressure the President. We need to hold politicians responsible for actions they have actually done. But I fear this anger might lead some people to not vote Democratic.
In the case of meeting with the Crown Prince, Biden was using old fashioned politics when what we needed was courageous leadership. But we have to remember he was responding to those suffering from, and holding him responsible for, high gas prices and inflation. Should we hold those yelling about gas prices responsible for Biden talking with Ben Salman to get more oil?
We must remember that it is the would-be “masters” and the anti-democratic mass of the GOP who are manipulating this fear and it is they who need to be held the responsible.
Their goal is to shock us, get us to turn away from speaking out and political action. The GOP not only try to directly suppress but also control the counting of votes. They are trying to convince us voting does nothing, there’s no power there. Or convince progressives that Democrats and Republicans are the same or convince moderates that Biden Democrats are too progressive.
Or the GOP inoculate their followers against hearing facts by first accusing Democrats of doing what they themselves have done. They basically start a (not always) cold civil war, and then accuse democrats of planning a hot one. Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent discusses the GOP use of political and other violence. They try to steal our rights and freedoms, talk about locking us up, and then tell their supporters that Democrats want to lock them up, take away their rights and guns. Not only DJT but Putin loves this. To believe this is to hand them the world, our money, health, and bodies.
They want us to forget that we live in a nation with a very diverse population of over 330 million people. We know how difficult it can be for just an extended family to agree on anything. Imagine a family of 330 million diverse people.
We can’t forget the DJT GOP’s aim is to turn the U. S. into a white nationalist Christian autocracy. Just imagine, if you can stand to do so, what would happen if they succeed at that. An article by Jonathan Swan in Axios talks about DJT’s plan to purge civil servants throughout the country, replace them with MAGA loyalists, and thus concentrate all power in his hands.
A recent article in the Times Magazine by Charles Homan reveals that the DJT “Stop the Steal” campaign to impose autocracy on our country actually started much earlier than we or at least I thought. The website www.stopthesteal was registered in 2016, possibly by Roger Stone. It was created by DJT’s campaign with the aim of stopping Ted Cruz’s efforts to win the GOP primary.
Homan exposes how the movement to undermine democracy predated even DJT’s candidacy. It goes back to the Tea Party or beyond and was not a traditional GOP ploy but part of a white nationalist movement to secure or “preserve” the imagined past of traditional American, Christian, conservative, male-dominant values and power.
This GOP effort to undermine democracy became even more desperate after the increase in citizen political action and voter turnout in the 2018 and 2020 elections and the Black Lives Matter movement. This increase in political participation threatens the power the GOP “Masters” crave, so they will do anything to stop it, even violently attack Congress, or take actions that make a pandemic worse.
The Black Lives Matter movement made clear the racism in our society and the violence and danger to every one of us caused by hate and posed by White Nationalism. Hate manipulated against one person or group can be turned against any and thus harm all. It de-stabilizes society and undermines justice.
Because so much is at stake and so many people know this⎼ because of the Jan 6 hearings and the direct exposure of DJT’s criminality, the recent history of political action, the anger about the Supreme Court decisions and the development of effective Get Out The Vote methods, we can hold them accountable for their lies and attempts to subvert the constitution and democracy. We can hold off the GOP attack on democracy and defeat their attempt to seize all branches of government.
Plus, it might turn out Democrats might finally have put together an effective effort to pass more legislation that will help all of us. There’s legislation in the Senate this week that will not only improve the climate, invest in clean energy, lower drug prices, and lower inflation, as well as other bills to protect marriage equality, etc.
Yes, we have the opportunity to win a real majority in the Senate that will help improve our quality of life, our communities, our children’s future, and pass legislation that we need⎼ or take steps in that direction.
We must pressure Biden, yes. But vote in November. Instead of losing hope and assisting the white nationalists, all those with a belief in justice and compassion must vote and do what we can to GOTV, by writing postcards, letters, getting on the phone, etc., ⎼ acting. Nothing improves our sense of strength, or expresses better our ability to care and love, than helping others⎼ and helping others speak out and vote.
**For information on GOTV campaigns, click on the GOTV links.
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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