When you take some deep
breaths and reflect -- say, for example, on the dire straits we're in at this
forward edge of American history -- understanding starts to crystallize around a
few long-running strands. The strands are long, inter-winding roots running
back through time to the same original fundament.
That fundament is the one to which our
so-called American patriots nominally pay homage when justifying their
cornered-rat opposition to every step of progress over the last 227 or so years:
the Founding Fathers' design for democracy, with liberty and equal justice under
the law for all. The false patriots fondly remember the glory of revolutionary days, but they want to
erase all the evolutionary dawnings of new days that have brought new
definitions of many terms in that original design, now to include even "fathers". They
want to forget that inherent in that prescient original design was the
expectation of and structure for evolutionary change.
We are about to find out
whether this nation, or any nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to
equality, will survive half the nation acting in staunch opposition to
progress. Every serious commentator agrees that we are now engaged in a
political civil war that threatens to undo everything that took 250+ years
to grow.
Trumpites (and those who
say they'll hold their noses and vote for him) are holding on hysterically to a
time and place wherein white men's lives were the ones that mattered more than
others'. Their own party lied to them for decades about how they'd get their
country back again, and now they're raring to "turn [the government]
upside-down" -- presumably to restore to the top of the heap the rightful owners
and restore the darker people and the "fairer sex" to their rightful place,
underneath.
The willingness of half
the electorate to place their perceived interests as well as their grievances
and prejudices above the very survival of our Constitutional democratic national
union has been breathtaking and continuously mind-boggling. This massively
exploding enmity certainly approaches the state of the disunion that finally
breached the line between politics and treasonous violence at Ft. Sumter in
1860.
These observations aren't
any big insight, I know. I'm just putting into my own words what's in plain
sight. Since that is the common sense of the moment we're in, I believe a
campaign message speaking directly to that shared sense of imminent risk could
move people in these last few days. I wish I had a line into the Clinton
campaign to suggest that they create a TV spot showing Lincoln's memorial, then
zooming in to his chiseled face, then panning up to the words carved into the
wall above him, resting on the last paragraph:
It is rather for us to
be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full
measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and
that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish
from the earth.
This election hinges
entirely on turnout, especially Latino and African-American turnout. That's why
the scum of the earth are talking about intimidation tactics to deter them from
showing up. In fact, though, most
cities are run by Dems, so there is no excuse for any of the demi-nazis to get
away with pulling any intimidation they may try. In Philly I trust Jim Kenney
to have extra cops on call. With clubs and cuffs.
And speaking of Philly,
that's where the nexus of the political universe will be on Monday night,
Election Day eve. Hillary and Bill, Barack and Michelle will be here
together for the climactic GOTV extravaganza.
Yes, getting out the vote
in Southeastern Pennsylvania may be the most consequential determinant of the
fate of the election and the world (not in the least an exaggeration,
btw**). According to the
strategists, pundits and pols, African-American turnout is the key to this
thing. As Obama told Al Sharpton yesterday, now is the time to demand
full participation -- as much as was demanded in '08 and '12.
So the choice of
Philadelphia is strategic, but it's also evocative and symbolic. It's meant to
evoke the exhilaration and inspiration of what happened here in July, 2016. The
DNC lit up the sky and sent Hillary's numbers in the same
direction.
As for symbolism, the city
is the birthplace of what is now in jeopardy. I expect that meaning to be
written large in Monday night's speeches; this turning point will have
a place among all the peak moments.
** Whether one is a
minority member, a millenial, or a Bernie voter, to abstain now or to vote as
if Hillary is as dangerous a choice as the p***y-grabber is to blind oneself to
the consequences. So here are two great links that speak to this monumentally
important distinction. The first features Daveed Diggs speaking primarily to
millenials about the concrete, immediate impact of a Trump presidency compared
to a Clinton presidency. He starts with climate change and Trump's promise to
annul the U.S.'s commitment to the Paris Accords on Day One. In an MTV-ish
high-energy format, Diggs explains for fellow
millenials why voting in this election is the most important thing they may ever
do.
This next one is a "We Are The World" retake called Holy Shit! TV stars and celebs sing to exhort us to get the hell out and vote. They swear so much and so bad that they have to make up new epithets because even the most not-allowed-on-TV curse words fall short of the revulsion to be expressed ("sentient septic tank" is the least filthy). They sing in solidarity with the profound frustration we all feel that words just don't exist to express the disdain and disgust that this utter schmuck (see?) and his devotees fire up in us.
Also it's convulsively funny and downright historically insightful, so just flow with the joyous vulgarity. In 2012 it was "One More Day", in 2016 it's Holy Shit!
And so it goes.
P.s. The Cubs in Game 7 built huge, insurmountable leads, and then the Indians surmounted the lead and drew dead even in the 9th inning. Cleveland had all the momentum. After a rain delay, during which the Cubs decided out loud not to let a little bump in the road keep them from reaching their goal, they came back and scored twice to retake the lead in the 10th. They were the best team, and they won.
That's what I'm
talkin' about!
|
.
Speaking of Abe...
Courtesy of Reader Supported News, which merits financial support from progressives for its much-needed journalistic resources, its integrity and its independence.
Fox:
New Evidence Hillary Killed Lincoln
By Andy Borowitz, The New
Yorker
30 October 16
The article below is
satire. Andy Borowitz is an American comedian and New York Times-bestselling
author who satirizes the news for his column, "The Borowitz Report."
In what may be the most serious allegation ever made against the former Secretary of State, Fox News Channel reported today that Hillary Clinton was involved in the conspiracy to murder President Abraham Lincoln.
The latest charge against
Mrs. Clinton was reported by Fox host Sean Hannity, who said that the evidence
of her role in the Lincoln assassination came mainly in the form of
e-mails.
According to Mr. Hannity,
“If it’s true that Hillary Clinton killed Lincoln, this could have a major
impact on her chances in 2016.”
The accusation against
Mrs. Clinton drew a strong response from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.—S. Carolina):
“There’s been a concerted effort by Hillary Clinton to cover up her role in
President Lincoln’s murder. She has said nothing about it. This is bigger than
Watergate, the Cuban missile crisis, and the Second World War put
together.”
Responding to the
allegation, Mrs. Clinton issued a terse statement indicating that she could not
have participated in Lincoln’s assassination because she was born in
1947.
“That’s what she wants us
to believe,” Sen. Graham said.
