Hey Jude/ Revolution

"Take a sad song, and make it better." -- Paul McCartney, 1968.


It would be sad, indeed, if the November election were to serve as democracy's swan song. I'm confident that it isn't going to be. I am not concerned polls or "experts" predicting otherwise. As long as people are getting out the vote, we should win the majority of the contests.

It is a strange day in a strange week in a strange time. The news of Mr. Pelosi being attacked by a thug with a hammer is being reported on the news. I talk with some friends when I pick up tickets for my son and I at at event tomorrow night. A couple say we must win elections to stop the violent maga crime. I respond that it is important to recognize the violence will actually pick up -- at least initially -- if we do win.

The reality is that we are experiencing a dangerous level of a massive shared psychotic disorder. Somewhere near one and three Americans adults believe Trump. It is important to understand the nature of our opposition. Many of these people believe that "God" wants them to engage in a holy war -- and while most of these people are not going to commit violent crimes, there are those in every community, from small towns to large cities, who are on edge.

Much of the media plays sad songs. Kanye West's display of the manic symptoms of bi-polar is substituted for news. Herschel Walker is the republican candidate for Senate in Georgia. The public is frequently exposed to his attempt to tell a story about cows and a fence. And there are actually people who listen to this and think, "That man has my vote! He speaks for me!" I expect Walker to recite Mother Goose's "Hey, diddle, diddle" at some point, for the cow has jumped over the moon. But he doesn't care for children.

A bit later in Paul's classic "Hey Jude," he notes that, "The movement you need is on your shoulders." That's a better image than the weight of the world. It keeps me going when the fatigue of post-covid advocates otherwise. Besides local contests, I've focused on working for Josh Riley's campaign for the House of Representatives. This brief clip from his campaign explains why:

"Following his clerkship, Josh returned to Washington to serve as General Counsel to U.S. Senator Al Franken on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Despite partisan gridlock and division in Congress, Josh successfully ushered two bills through the legislative process from introduction to the President’s desk, where they were signed into law. One of those bills created new rights for survivors of domestic violence to protect them from homelessness. The other bill provided new funding for addiction treatment and mental health programs."

There is more, of course. Because I exist in an upstate New York region where registered republicans, followed by independents, I have focused more attention on reaching those who are independent and to the left of the Democratic Party. For the flip-side of that first Apple 45 release was Lennon's "Revolution," complete with the lyric, "You say you'll change the Constitution, well, you know, we all want to change your head." I ask my progressive leftist friends if they really can't see any difference between Al Franken and Herschel Walker?

As I walk door-to-door, I hear myself thinking, "C.S. Lewis was right! Chesterton was apologetic! His saying we make 'God mad, for all (our) wars are merry, and all (our) songs are sad'. Fucking Chesterton even got the title wrong -- it's "The Ballot for the White House'." We take sad songs and make them better.