Judy’s list

 

The red, white, and blue.
May it proudly wave over freedom for ages to come.

I am about to rant, so if you want to skip this post, please feel free. As a graduate and former staff member at TCU, a private university, I was dismayed to read that right-wing sources are attacking the university for a class on the history of drag. Texas has passed a censorship law forbidding such topics in public schools (likely unconstitutional), but extremists want to go beyond that. The issue speaks to me of the culture problems in our society.

In a world that is warming so rapidly scientists are alarmed (and Texans are hot!), in a country that averages more than one mass shooting a day, where women are dying because proper gynecological medical care is denied them, politicians and influencers are focused on banning books and outlawing drag shows, silencing drag queens who do a public service by reading to children, muzzing teachers who might teach CRT (which they don’t and nobody understands). Could we please get our priorities straight?

I don’t think it’s enough to urge people to vote blue. Clearly, candidates like Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump not only a march toward authoritarian rule, where our voices would be silnced, but represent the opposite of the traditional Republican Party. Instead of small government and fiscal conservatism, they are reaching into all areas of our private lives, their intrusion cloaked in the name of morality and justified by distorted references to Christianity (which is NOT the founding religion of our country—sorry Josh Hawley!). Fiscal conservatism has turned into conserving money for the very rich and letting middle- and lower-class families be damned to poverty.

Democracy is a participatory form of government. We are told every voice counts. Conventional wisdom suggests that if eligible Texan voted, we could turn Texas blue and get rid of Greg Abbott, the mean little despot. Or take the Colorado district where Lauren Boebbert won by less than 500 votes and is again being challenged by Adam Frisch—that race proves that each vote counts. So I am more than weary of my friends, educated and liberal, who can’t be bothered with politics. Their excuses include, “I’m not interested,” or “It makes me uncomfortable” or “I have better things to do than keep up.” None of these, to me, hold water.

Here's what you can and should do: 1) Write to your representatives—local, state, and federal. Concerned about the ban on gender medical care? Let officials know, even if you feel like a voice crying in the wilderness. 2) be active in campaigning for candidates you support—walk the block if you are able, man a telephone bank, hold small group meet-ups in your home—be active; 3) attend open meetings, candidate fund raisers (you can attend without giving a hundred dollars), and sessions of the political party of your choice; 4) support candidates financially.

If I were a rich man (hat tip to Tevye), I’d give a thousand dollars right away to several candidates now in the running, mostly for the US Senate. As it is, I send much smaller amounts here and there when a candidate says or does something that catches my eye. I have a list of those I support: Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Jon Tester of Montana, Colin Allred of Texas, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Ruben Gallego of Arizona. I support both Katie Porter and Adam Schiff and am dismayed that they are running against each other—we need both in our national government, because they are experts on widely differing issues.

I could rant on about why I support President Biden and Bidenomics and the many things that are wrong with the fearmongers and moral police of the right, but you can read that daily in the paper and on social media. Later, I may write about my feelings as an author about book censorship or my feelings as a woman and an adoptive  mother about abortion, but today my plea is please, please don’t be passive. Take part in your government, make your voice heard.

Rant over—but probably only temporarily.