Anger and Action

 First, the nice part. Several days ago, Margan and I got back from a 2600-mile road trip that included Grand Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Denver (visiting family for 5 days), and Santa Fe. Tons of photographs to process. I used some of them for prior blog posts. All in all, delightful, and we escaped Covid thanks to masks and excellent planning on Margan’s part.

Now, the not-so-nice part. I am angry as hell with the Republican Party, which has now flagrantly shown itself to be a bunch of crazies. We left Altadena seething with the likely decision of the Supreme Court to end protections for abortion after 50 years. The six conservatives on SCOTUS conspired (yes, they did) to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade decision after they lied at their confirmation hearings in the Senate (yes, they lied). Of course, the anti-abortion crowd is ecstatic because of the nonsensical beliefs that an embryo is the same as a sentient, ambulatory human being and the concurrent idea that a woman’s role is only to be an incubator. States such as Oklahoma have already jumped on the bandwagon declaring life begins at conception and barring abortions completely. The Republicans have come up with such doozies of ideas as reimplanting ectopic pregnancies, punishing women who miscarry (the medical term for a miscarriage is spontaneous abortion but this only shows their deep ignorance), and prohibiting pregnant women from leaving their state to seek an abortion elsewhere (I believe the law would regard the action of detaining a woman for this as kidnapping). 

So the anger was there and then grew as 18-year-old boys took assault weapons and massacred innocent people in Buffalo (mostly elderly Blacks) and in Uvalde (mostly Hispanic children).  The Republican response was lies, propaganda, and offerings of thoughts and prayers. Again, just like hundreds of times in the past. ENOUGH! We have one party that is willing to discuss gun safety and how to attain it and another party that is bought and owned by the National Rifle Association. Republicans like Ted Cruz then went to the NRA convention in Houston (277 miles away) where they proceeded to reaffirm their fealty to the gun fetishists of this country. Cruz’s speech was an atrocity but Trump’s took the cake – he read (and mispronounced) the names of the Uvalde victims, with a bell dramatically rung after each name, then danced a Nazi jig afterwards. There are no words to describe this, nor are their words for those who support Trump or the Republican Party. They all have blood on their hands. 

The support for a variety of policies to improve gun safety is immense among Americans. Yet the minority in Congress, especially the Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell, holds everyone hostage. Of course, they point to the Second Amendment, as flawed a piece of writing as you will find with its bizarre interpretations according to the originalists of SCOTUS. But even Scalia, the arch-originalist, said that the Second Amendment does not guarantee a right to carry any kind of weapon. Over the past week, I have sensed on my Twitter feed a different sense of urgency among people who actually revere life (not just embryos). It is a sense that this time is different. It is an outrage that is shared across all of the United States and abroad that this nation, supposedly the most advanced on the planet, sees fit to allow weapons of war on the streets and in the hands of people who should never have access to them. I have fired the M-16 and on semi-automatic, it is the same as an AR-15. I remember squeezing off multiple shots (20) in 10 seconds on a military firing range. The targets were 100 yards distant. In a schoolroom, church, grocery store, theater, or restaurant the targets are not 100 yards away. I also was taught what the ballistic effects of the round fired were and how to treat them. It is not pretty. 

I urge people to stay angry about these two problems (taking away women’s rights and guns) and to remember that the political party behind these two travesties is the Republican Party. I am working to get Democrats elected at local, state, and federal levels. As I live in Altadena, the candidates on my ballot include people whose political views align with mine. I am writing letters and postcards to voters in other states to urge them to vote for candidates who are not on the MAGA spectrum. Here are some sites for postcards and letters: https://postcardstovoters.org/volunteer/, https://votefwd.org/, https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/. There are also opportunities to volunteer with a phone bank or to text voters (I prefer writing, myself). I have donated to the campaigns of several Senate candidates who will be crucial to gaining a true Senate majority this year. Letters to the editor are great. Call your Congressperson or Senator and make your outrage and views known. Work on social media – we have to blunt the Goebbels-like propaganda machine that props up Republicans with lies and disinformation.

Then there are the other events of the world which continue apace. Ukraine continues to more than hang on for which Americans can be grateful. Their fight for their country will help determine if democracy prevails against the fascism of Vladimir Putin. And Covid-19 has not disappeared although so many Americans act as if it has. There will be more posts about this pandemic and how its effects will linger for years, but for now, I will stop. America cannot go on the path the Republican Party has charted. Vote like your lives and the lives of your children and grandchildren depend on it.