In the spirit of Giving A Shit Tuesday.
General:
How Ordinary Citizens Can Get Congress to Actually Listen
Specific:
Time To Call Congress (Medicare Edition)
"We're His Problem Now" Calling Sheet
Local:
Saying a lot of what I've been thinking, better than I've been able to think it:
Taking a step back and surveying the political and civic landscape, it's a staggering sight. It's actually really hard to step back far enough to take in the entire awful picture.
Any single part of it, any one thing, is scary to the point of sounding the alarm and spending four years fighting the good fight against. Scary to the point of standing the meaning of the traditional Passover litany of thanks on its head. Dayenu: It would have been enough.
Nazis, misogynists, white supremacists, homophobes and Islamophobes as supporters. Dayenu.
Nazis, misogynists, white supremacists, homophobes and Islamophobes in the cabinet and White House. Dayenu.
Vain, childish, narcissistic bullying. Dayenu.
Petty, vindictive lashing out at perceived enemies. Dayenu.
Mindless spreading of conspiracy theories and out-and-out falsehoods. Dayenu.
Lying with impunity. Dayenu.
Zero public service experience. Dayenu.
No understanding of how government works. Dayenu.
No understanding of the actual powers of a president. Dayenu.
Terrible business record, in terms of being a good corporate citizen. Dayenu.
Terrible business record, in terms of being a good businessperson. Dayenu.
Conflicts of interest so large they would make carrying out a coherent foreign policy impossible. Dayenu.
The lack of a coherent foreign policy. Dayenu.
The lack of a coherent domestic policy. Dayenu.
Individual policy positions that are terrible. Dayenu.
Tax cuts for the wealthy. Dayenu.
Destroying Obamacare. Dayenu.
Undermining public education. Dayenu.
Limiting access to abortion. Dayenu.
Curbing voting rights based on nonexistent voter fraud. Dayenu.
The end of a commitment to fighting climate change. Dayenu.
Plans to register citizens based on their religion. Dayenu.
Massive immigrant deportations. Dayenu.
The opportunity to nominate at least one Supreme Court justice. Dayenu.
The wall that started it all. Dayenu.
And this is still only a corner of the canvas.
So the open question is, what do we do now? One perfectly logical response is to simply end the heartache: dive under the covers and curl up in a ball for a long, long time. Seriously. This is the most one-sided game of whack-a-mole ever. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, and another, and another. Each one requiring a different kind of response, a different coalition, a different set of tactics, an additional commitment of time, energy and brain cells. It’s all too much.
I mean, really — is it nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? Or should we just take up our remotes and watch Netflix for the next 48 months?
And then I remember why I have the luxury of even asking that semi-rhetorical question. Yep: straight, white male. Economically stable. Have a nice house I’m not going to get kicked out of. Not exposed on a daily basis to direct or indirect assault. Not living in fear for my home, my livelihood, my rights or my life. Surfing along on centuries of privilege for people who look mostly like me. Yes, I have noticed that Nazis are planning to march in North Carolina next week. Which does hit closer to home. But overall the closest I need to get to the front lines is being part of the Political Protest As Intellectual Exercise Brigade.
So it’s easy for me to bitch and moan and try to decide whether to be or not be an active participant in resistance. The realization of which — besides pulling me down off my high horse of political righteousness — is a recurring reminder that I have to do something.
Being Jewish, the Martin Niemöller “First they came” poem is something I’m familiar with, but like most of us I never imagined it could ever be more than an historic artifact. Now, though, it’s not purely theoretical: If first they come for the Muslims, will I speak out? If first they start asking for citizenship papers, will I speak out? If first they deny basic civil rights to people who are gay or transgendered, will I speak out?
The fact that these kinds of questions have real stakes is chilling. I would love to believe this is just hysterical paranoia. That would be so much easier. But I don’t think that’s a chance we can take.
Given what we’re facing, whatever I end up doing can never be enough. Not by a long shot. But that’s never a reason to do nothing at all.
A few pieces about the election and its aftermath that I found interesting. Your mileage may vary.
What just happened, Exhibit A:
Data show that a 'whitelash' did not elect Trump; It was—like always—about the economy
What just happened, Exhibit B:
America's Educational Divide Put Trump in the White House
The Electoral College debate:
The Electoral College Wasn't Meant to Overturn Elections
What to do next, national politics edition:
What to do next, city politics edition:
Cities Vow to Fight Trump on Immigration, Even if They Lose Millions
What to do next, well-meaning white people edition:
Show Up: A White Person’s Guide to Responsible Activism
The importance of a compelling narrative (and not just because I was an English major):
Donald J. Trump is — take your pick — intentionally spreading false information, or thoughtlessly spreading completely unproven and unfounded rumors (as well as torturing the meaning of the word "landslide").
Donald J. Trump is the President-elect of our country.
Added to the long list of all the things we have to do for the next four years is the requirement that we let no falsehood pass unchallenged.
It will be a thankless game of whack-a-mole. It will necessarily require attention that could be better spent elsewhere.
But there are many of us. We must all be on alert. We do not surrender to newspeak. We do not let facts disappear down the memory hole. We do not allow history to be rewritten.
This is our country. And millions more of us voted for her than for him.
• Something that occurred to me while writing the Electoral collage post
As many people have pointed out, the real fault line in this election wasn't strictly between red and blue, but between rural and urban. Which sounds a lot like the agrarian/industrial divide personified by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Much arguing arose. Some compromises were made — that’s how we ended up with a national capital in a swamp. Some battles were won. Like the one Hamilton championed about... having an Electoral College in the first place. He had his reasons.
The point is, it was politics. It’s only over time that argument becomes history becomes orthodoxy. Simplify, petrify, repeat.
Flash forward though, and we get Hamilton.
A cultural bombshell like this can shake the crust off the ossified vision of our founding — the heroic one in which our government was immaculately birthed — and help reclaim the real people and real issues for what they were. And connect the dots to how we got here today.
That’s just one example. We have centuries of history and forgetfulness to chip away at: the treatment of women and immigrants. The financial system (Hamilton again). The labor movement. And on.
And we don’t have to wait for someone else’s bombshell to get started.
• Reminder
Safety pins. Identity politics. Head of the DNC. How to fight back. When to fight back. How to talk to Trump supporters. Whether to talk to Trump supporters.
There are no shortage of questions to answer. A lot of them still (all these weeks later!) revolve around "what the hell just happened?"
I know, it's inevitable: people are desperate to find a reason — the reason — for the election results. We want to try and make sense of the insanity, try and figure out a way to move forward, try and prove once and for all, "I was right the whole time, my way is the best way, your ism sucks and when will you idiots ever learn?!"
Most if not all of the well-reasoned versions of these entrail-reading efforts avoid that level of overtness, and disclaim that of course there is no one cause.... But still. We all have our own viewpoint, perspective, biases, blinders. And no, even those of us who generally agree can't always agree.
All of this is necessary, and for many, therapeutic.
So once again: Be hard on ourselves. Be kind to each other.
• New running joke at our house
She (from the other room): Where are you? Me: In the office. She: Are you working? Me: No, I'm saving the world.
Hilarious, right? That's what I say when I'm enlightening someone on Facebook or getting the demons out of my head on this blog. So in the spirit of the season, I'm thankful to have someplace to work out my thoughts and try to make sense of the new world we're living in. And much more important, thankful to have a partner who puts up with it.