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Aug 15

PASSION RESTORED



A NEW PATH FORWARD TO A BETTER PLACE


The last couple of months seem like a dizzying and often dispiriting political dance with ill-defined demons.  While I expect that way too many people aren’t paying attention, I have tried to do so.  Meanwhile, the self-anointed “mainstream” media is driving a narrative of its own while vanishing into a sea of numbing imbalance.  This has left many like me feeling untethered from even the usual breathless “breaking news” reporting and the profit-driven herd commentary that minimally sustain us.  In the latest media twist, many of those who turned against Joe Biden so easily, have now anointed Kamala Harris as our one true savior, seemingly forgetting that half of them likely teased the notion of replacing her on the Biden ticket a scant few months ago.


Throughout, watching the merciless pummeling of Joe Biden by his foes was hard enough, but when his supposed “friends” joined the chorus, the end became inevitable.  I don’t have any idea what President Biden can’t do anymore, but I know what he has demonstrated that he can do – lead a disinterested and delusional nation through challenging times with vision, dignity, grace, and empathy.  And I also know that Donald Trump can’t do any of that, not one bit of it. 


For the record, I understand that at the age of seventy-eight, I am just too old to play professional baseball.  I still have some pretty good hand-eye coordination, but my reflexes have slowed and the ball moves at speeds that I just can’t catch up to at bat or in the field.  But I still manage to manage my life, to answer tough questions, to seek information from others, to try to do a good deed or two, and to write this commentary.  Sometimes I even forget things that I used to remember and remember things that I thought I had forgotten.   


Joe Biden probably can’t play professional baseball either, but he is very likely still up to the job for which he was chosen nearly four years ago.  It is worth remembering that the job of President of the United States does not require some of the skills necessary to capture that office.  The President’s address to the nation on July 24* was all you needed to see to understand just how different the tasks are.  And to know just how monumentally unqualified Donald Trump is to perform the actual job he is seeking. 


President Biden’s challenge to the nation was, simply put, a clarion call to fight to save what is left of our deeply-flawed political process so that the nation has something left to build upon.  While it remains unclear to me whether Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are up to the tasks of both getting elected and governing, it is now clear that they are the ones who have been chosen to lead this fight, leaving for another day the discussion of how they were chosen and by whom. 


They enter the fray in the midst of an American political experiment that is in deep trouble, approaching an abyss.  Decades of delusion and denigration of governance have yielded a country adrift yet mired in deep internal conflict.  Most importantly, America’s institutions have been so corrupted by right-wing idealogues that it is hard to find a framework for rehabilitating the nation.

 

To illustrate this point, this nation is awash in firearms that now are the leading cause of death for our children and adolescents,** yet a significant cohort or our fellow citizens is more interested in banning books than in banning assault weapons.  Further, and at the risk of taking advantage of the moment to reinforce the point, it actually came to pass in the nation of four hundred million firearms in civilian hands that one of those armed civilians took a pot shot at the former president of the United States.  He got nothing but a little ear, so this particular armed civilian ended up dead having achieved only a sliver of his likely goal.  As collateral damage, the armed civilian left one dead unintended target and two others seriously wounded before ending up getting shot to death by an armed law enforcement officer.  For the record, both gunmen were using assault rifles.  One of them was a better shot.


Then came the worst part.  The usual post-carnage blather about thoughts and prayers was briefly replaced by the blather of “unity.”  I am not the first to note this, but it is worth reiterating.  Those who condemn violence in the political arena should be the first and loudest voices to condemn those who promote that violence.  And most importantly, there should be no space left for thoughts and prayers for those who have promoted violence in our political realm.  Further there should be no talk of unity with those who condone the carnage while ensuring that the most violent of weapons of war remain at the ready for every nut job with a grievance.

 

It is no secret that I am not a fan of the delusional America of today, spawned by decades of doctored history and malignant rhetoric. The nation and its people may finally have to pay the piper, hit rock bottom, and then hope that the next generation has the determination to fight for a better place and a meaningful “American dream.”  To do so, they will have to forgo their individual drive to nowhere and forge a collective conscience.  Then they will have to be willing to risk what they have in order to envision, design, and implement something better.


At its core, President Biden’s underlying message on July 24th was to try to save the good that is left of our political process so there is a foundation upon which to build something better.  This is a message that has resonated in previous trying times.  As but one example, in this one hundredth year since the birth of James Baldwin, it is fitting to add an admonition that he wrote in The Fire Next Time (1963 ) in the context of the struggle for civil rights - that we must “cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.”***


The problem with both Biden and Baldwin is that their zeal too often seems to embrace a spirit of “love” and compassion for those dedicated to undermining the progress and programs each espoused.  I am not so charitable.  It is beyond time to stop fleeing from reality and demand change collectively and cohesively.  We can no longer waste our efforts going high when they go low.  It is past time for us to realize the challenge, assess the perfidy of those we oppose, and be well prepared to go lower when they go low.  Unfortunately, the opposition wallows in a world of mendacity so craven that honesty and integrity and love are losing.


As we enter the final weeks of this presidential election cycle, it would be wise to remember that there are legions of pernicious “conservatives” seeking to replace the diverse and troubled America of today with a White Christian nationalist vision for tomorrow.  These legions are fully staffed and funded by some of the most corrupt and rapacious people among us. 


So now it is time for progressives to join forces with others who have an inclusive, equitable and just vision for tomorrow.  Progressives have to do so without fear that compromising some of our vision for the nation now will forever diminish the power of our ideals.


 

“And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it. For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make America what America must become.”




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