Yes it’s tiresome, but we ALL have to stay awake!
I hope I’m just being silly here, but a new CNN poll indicates some of trump’s numbers are rising a little, and his overall approval is at 41%. For me, anyway, anything below the 40% mark is a LOT easier to deal with and WAY preferable. Not to mention more reassuring, that a majority of America is, by sheer numbers, NOT fooled. One would hope that’s how it continues. An upward move (a move, hopefully not a trend) of even a little bit starts making me worry.
Here’s what I’m on guard about, and please let me know if I’m wrong:
I’m starting to notice a trend. There’s a meme spreading about how all the scandals and crimes and suspicions of crimes and dirty dealings and theft and con games have overwhelmed us to such an extreme that we’ve become inured to it. The wounds aren’t fresh anymore. They’ve been healing over, and developing scar tissue and not as hard to ignore and we’re getting used to this.
Seems to me we’ve long ago gotten over any sense of shock about what’s been happening - and has indeed become “the norm.” It’s being normalized. It’s how things have become, and devolved. I hear a LOT about that these days. Until recently, nobody was articulating or identifying this as a problem, or even “a thing”.
Every time Rachel Maddow says “this is where we are”, or other people with a public podium make similar comments, I wince a little. I worry that such a statement can cause or reinforce complacency. You know all the buzz phrases. This is how it is. This is it. It is what it is. This is us. Well, this sure as heck IS us if we don’t at least try to do something about it.
And we all know what that sorry sentiment can lead to:
Inaction! Either because
we’re too exhausted by all this chaos to give a damn anymore, or
we’re frustrated that it seems so never-ending that we figure there’s no use, or
we’re so demoralized and worn down by this constant political water torture that we give up.
And we CANNOT afford to give up. We have to stay strong. We have to be able to continue the resistance against this CONSTANT stream of lies and deceptions and duplicity. That affliction is what makes many Dems and independents stay home on Election Day and not vote. The whole “they’re BOTH/ALL bad!” thing and the “fie on BOTH their houses!” thing.
And the simple truth is - there are more of us than there are of the other side of the aisle when it comes to sheer numbers of voters. All we have to do is make sure that most or all of us SHOW UP and VOTE! Or damn sure mail it in on time!
The other team has more money, more wealthy patrons, and better messaging than we do. What WE have are the numbers. The numbers of voters. If only we can get them out to vote, we win.
The last few times, as I’ve observed, the bad guys won because they cheated. Either by gerrymandering, voter suppression, bullying, rigging the game at the state level, or getting outside help from the Russians. And if you’ll note, those ill gotten gains were all in narrow wins. Somebody on the Dark Side figured out that all it takes is a little bit of win. What was it in 2016? A difference of 20,000 votes in one state? What was it in Bush v Gore? Some 500 votes? Just enough to win the state.
If they have to cheat to win by a few hairs, then all we have to do is get everybody who can - to vote. And WE will have the numbers and WE will have just enough - or likely MORE than enough - to win that state.
We have to get out and vote. Voting is it. Voting is all. Don’t even need the most money or the best messaging - if we all flex our numbers and vote. Size is everything. And ours is bigger.
Aw shit - sorry this is so long.
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