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.
