By Mildred Robertson
Our nation has fallen into a spiraling downward cycle since Trump
and his acolytes ascended to leadership in America. It is not hyperbole to
liken our nation’s demise to literary tales like Orwell’s “1984”, Suzanne
Collin’s “Hunger Games”, Hulu’s “The Handmaids Tale” or any other dystopian
saga that may strike your fancy. Trump and a neutered Congress, misled by the
Republican majority, have systematically begun disassembling the “Great
Experiment” that is American democracy.
With horror, many of us have stood by as Trump and a small portion
of this nation’s electorate stole an election, brutalized immigrants, devalued
women, supported police brutality, savaged our educational system, promoted
racism, assaulted healthcare, and stripped away environmental protections.
Daily they chip away at the foundational principles that have set our nation
apart from any other, present or past.
How have we come to this place of ineptitude where we are
embarrassed daily on the world stage as Trump tweets us toward the destruction
of our international relationships, and inches us closer to social, economic
and political default.
The majority of us have taken to wringing our hands and searching
for a savior to come fix our problem. We hang on every word broadcast on MSNBC
or CNN, looking for…hoping for the final shoe to drop. We wait for some
deliverer to appear and summarily usher Trump from the White House, hopefully
in handcuffs, but most assuredly in shame. The names “Mueller”, “Manafort”, and
“Putin” hang on our lips. We even have turned to a porn star and her lawyer to
possibly liberate us from this dangerous, destructive regime.
But that is not how democracy works.
We lay sleeping while a right-wing cult infiltrated and overtook
the Republican Party. We sat silent as they gerrymandered voting districts. We
were detached while they weaponized racism to further divide the delicate
balance of our society. We sat helpless as they engaged full-out war on
immigrants, brutalizing refugees and stealing babies from their parents. We
watched with incredulity as they denied climate change and attempted to
decimate women's rights.
That is not how democracy works.
We are not helpless. We are not hopeless. Each of us is the savior
we seek.
It is my hope that Mueller is as apt as many purport him to be in
pursuing truth in the Russia probe. I hope he metes out justice. I pray that
Congress is somehow stayed from stealing yet another Supreme Court seat
appointed by an illegitimate president. It is my desire that gerrymandering
will be struck down and that “Roe v. Wade” will stand. But hoping, praying
and desiring have little effect on political outcome. The only way my hopes, prayers and desires will be fulfilled is that I DO something.
Democracy is dying; but we should rage against its demise. We
cannot stand idly by while our way of life perishes. If you fear for our
democracy you must become engaged. You must become informed. And you must
act!
Each of us must become Paul Revere, screaming to our fellow
citizens that danger is imminent and that we must take up arms. Today that
means we must register. We must knock on doors. We must march in the streets.
We must show up on the steps of our senators and representatives and demand
that they carry out our desires in the halls of Congress. And if they do not,
we must vote them out.
This November you can help resuscitate democracy. You are its
life blood.
Only you can fix it.
VOTE!
