"This Is a Vote To Let Our Democracy Live Another Day" - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
The smoke has cleared from our valley.
Last night the elements had a come-to-Jesus moment and the winds caused clouds to collide eliciting guttural peals of thunder and boisterous claps of lightning and, eventually, a deluge of much-needed rainfall. With the first low rumble my rescue ‘pocket pittie’, Sally, hightailed it for the darkest claustrophobic space in the house. I draped her cow blanket over her as she curled up like a bagel.
In lieu of dinner, I opened a bottle of red wine and lit a candle for RBG. I opened my iPad and came across a video post from the eloquent AOC.
The smoke around our elections, as of last night, got much worse.
Today’s subtitle was a quote from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off her social media feed. Judging by her appearance, she was speaking not very long after learning of the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
She was appealing to everyone to get out and vote for anyone with the letter ‘D’ behind their name. Like me, she is far to the left of the Democratic Party. Like me, she would just as soon break some eggs as make an omelette. Like me, her tolerance for the status quo has reached way beyond the breaking point.
However.
We are staring down the barrel of a full fledged authoritarian government. This is no time for principles. This is no time for casting your vote into the toxic whirlwind.
There is no doubt in my mind that the crime family currently occupying the White House intends to take over our government and treat it as their very own fiefdom.
Those of you who want to vote your morals or your principles or your pie-in-the-sky ideals or - worse yet - abstain from voting, might condemn this country to a generation, possibly more, of an unrelenting fascist hell.
To be fair, y’all - the purists amongst us - did not bring us to this juncture of history. We are all complicit in that. The vast majority of us have not fought hard enough to safeguard our democracy. We made the mistake of believing our opponents were reasonable and honorable. They are not.
The barbarians aren’t just at the gate. They are inside the fences wreaking havoc.
But, only for some. I know the old expression from Nazi-era Germany gets bandied about quite a bit. I’ve used it myself. Even humorously, as in, “they came for the journalists, and I didn’t speak out, because I wasn’t a journalist, and after that, I don’t know what happened because there was no one to tell us what was going on.”
The unrelenting fascist hell will predominantly affect people who do not look like me. Or most of you who are reading this.
We are fighting with our votes for those it will affect.
We are fighting with our votes for the environment.
We are fighting with our votes for a woman’s right to choose.
We are fighting with our votes for everyone with a pre-existing condition.
We are fighting with our votes for the fate of the world as well as our nation.
This is not American exceptionalism thinking. We use the majority of the world’s resources. We contribute more than our fair share of pollution. We consume more than our fair share of products. The world needs us to help turn the Titanic around.
As a nation, we cannot afford to be ‘adrift’ as we are right now.
Putin and Russia along with their accomplices in the GOP are dead set on tearing the world as we know it into shreds. You might scoff at the idea. But no one who is in office at the moment and calls themselves a Republican has stood up to Russia, least of all our president. (If there are current Republican lawmakers speaking out, please let me know.)
No GOP member has chastised the president over the Russian bounties on American soldiers.
They barely made a stink about the withdrawal of troops from Syria.
None of them called him out on his quid pro quo with Ukraine.
A few of them acted shocked at his beta male performance in Helsinki with Putin, but they never followed up.
All of them are apparently copacetic with the president not having anyone else in the room when he courts Vladimir Putin by phone or in person.
No GOP politician has strong-armed the president about what the bipartisan Intelligence Committee knows about Russian interference in our previous election and the upcoming one.
Why? Why are red-blooded, flag-waving, once-a-week-church-going Americans willing to sell out their democracy?
Money and power.
Republicans know their days are numbered politically. Whites will be a minority of the U.S. population in the near future. The “Russia” model is their answer. We already know the majority of Republican voters prefer authoritarianism. They don’t like the messiness democracy brings, especially if they are forced to kowtow to minority women. They will be happy installing members of this crime family into the White House for the remainder of our days. They will be happy to receive reliable checks from oligarchs the world over.
They may honestly believe they are doing it for patriotic reasons. They are saving the country from anarchy. They are saving the citizenry from communism. They are preserving their ability to make a fortune on the backs of cheap labor.
No one - this time around - can afford to throw their vote away.
No one - this time around - can sit this one out.
No one - this time around - can vote their conscience. Save that for dog-catcher.
We must vote to let our democracy live another day. And, after the smoke of the celebrations have cleared, we must continue to be active, engaged and good citizens. Because the fight will only have just begun.
And - this time around - we are taking no prisoners.
For Ruth’s sake.