Being Our Fist
"He's the estranged father who returns on Christmas Eve to murder his wife and children." I didn't need to ask my brother who he was talking about when I read his e-mail. A few moments later -- before I had time to respond, his second message came through: Trump had just fired Mark Esper.
A few hours later, he sent a picture from this summer, of Trump giving Esper a hate stare. "These are the eyes of a man who is not well," he wrote. I responded by saying that on DU about a year ago, in a discussion about Trump's being a sociopath, I had noted that one could see the evil within him from his eyes. I noted that a number of forum members agreed.
An hour later, he wrote that he thinks Trump will try to start a war with Iran in January, declare a national emergency, and refuse to participate in a peaceful transfer of power. I had to disagree, at least in part, with this. It is far more likely, I suggested, that he escalates his war on America, and declare that it is a national emergency requiring him to remain in office. The firing of Esper can be viewed in that context, among others.
I am confident about the eventual outcome. I think that the judicial branch will -- exactly as community members that know have assured us for over a year -- hold strong. That doesn't mean ever decision will go our way, of course, but Joe Biden will take the office on January 20. Thus, the important questions involve how much damage Trump and his cult will do between now and then, and how do we respond to hold them in check.
While it seems obvious to me, it may be worth saying that there is no single correct correct response, but there are incorrect reactions. Individuals and groups that are progressive, liberal, moderate, or conservative Democrats can -- and should -- view different things in very different ways. Yet we cannot afford to allow these differences to divide us in our struggle to repair the damages the republicans have inflicted on our society. No single person or sub-group within our party has a monopoly on being right.
I'm reminded of something that Onondaga Chief Paul Waterman taught years ago. Individuals and even groups are like a single finger that our enemy can easily twist and break. But together, those fingers form a powerful fist, capable of protecting all of us.
Be part of this fist.
H2O Man
= new reply since forum marked as read
battered that year. With PTSD echoes in much of our National Pysche down through the decades.
Sigh.
Part of the fist! 
