Disappointed? Yes. Defeated? No!
“It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up.” - Vince Lombardi
“I don’t know what to do with my outrage,” I wrote on The Contrarian Chat shortly after I learned the Big Brutish Bill had passed. I quickly learned I was not alone.
I tried to stay away from the news, but that was nigh unto impossible for this one-time journalist and long-time journalism professor. The congratulatory handshakes, the party-line lies and parroting of “waste, fraud and abuse,” the smiles and smirks on the faces of lawmakers who just had voted to cause so much harm to so many in order to further line the pockets the super-rich were too much to bear.
I was in no mood to celebrate the next day, but the family tradition (adopted by me when I moved to Oshkosh two years ago) of attending the city’s July 4 parade won out. I did wear my “We Will Not Be Silenced” shirt, and when I saw the sidewalk-chalked messages of support for democracy I knew I was not alone.
More than one writer that day compared the grievances against King George III detailed in our Declaration of Independence with the tyranny emanating from the White House today. Here’s one example. More than one writer has reminded us of the importance of not giving in to despair over what The Contrarian’s Jen Rubin has referred to as the “creepy, crawling slime of authortarianism.” Historian Heather Cox Richardson’s advice for her “Politics Chat” audience on Thursday included: Spread reality. Protect the people who are going to be hurt.
And so . . . on July 5 my declaration was this: My outrage will fuel my continued efforts to write and resist. Peacefully. Lawfully. Vigorously.
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Coincidentally, I had been savoring AMAZONS, ABOLITIONISTS, and ACTIVISTS, a graphic history of women’s fight for their rights. Coincidentally, before the parade I read chapter 4, “Suffrage and Suffering: Women Fight for Freedom.” I was horrified to be reminded how the present is repeating past horrors and cruelties. But more than anything, I was inspired. My foremothers reinforced my determination to FIGHT. On the closing pages, the narrator introduces contemporary warriors and concludes:
“The fight for women’s rights continues, and these women are some of many who get up every day and push for equality. It’s a generational marathon, not a sprint, and the good news is that feminism is a team effort, so someone is always able to keep going.”
Our marathon requires the generations to link arms and work together to preserve democracy. I’m all in for as long as I breathe!
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I beg you not to refer to the immigrant-detention camp in Florida as Everglades Alcatraz. Extremists find that name cute. The Hater-in-Chief joked about it: “Snakes are fast but alligators — we’re going to teach [detainees] how to run away from an alligator. Don’t run in a straight line, run like this,” he said as he zig-zagged his hands. “You know what, your chances go up about one percent.”
Let’s stop enabling those who try to sugarcoat cruelty. Journalists can be the first line of defense on this, but too often these days they are not. The least we the people can do is call out the culprits whenever we have the opportunity.
A bonus thought: If you want to learn more about the Everglades — the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States — I suggest you read The Everglades: River of Grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
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It was not because I am a senior L that this online New York Times headline (29 June) caught my attention: “Trump Cuts Threaten L.G.B.T.Q. Senior Centers: ‘This Is About People’.” Readers familiar with my editing background might think the headline stood out because of the Times’ style of capitalizing words or using periods. That was not it. It was the Times using a quote from the story to state the obvious. Aren’t ALL government decisions about people? If we don’t look at them that way, shouldn’t we? Had that happened from the moment details in the Big Brutish Bill emerged, maybe even the Fox minions would have seen the tragic road ahead.
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An Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the grounds of the White House. Really?! I do not know whether to call it tacky or fitting — fitting that the Bully-in- Chief wants to host such an offensive spectacle, which the late Sen. John McCain referred to as “human cockfighting” (1996). Whatever the changes UFC might have made since then, it remains a Yuck!
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Raise a hand if you find it unseemly for the Huckster-in-Chief to be peddling $250 bottles of fragrances. Bottles of “Victory 45-47” feature a golden statuette and of you-know-who and his autograph, according to the New York Times. Then again, the entire inventory of HiC merchandise is unseemly. I guess satisfying the appetite of his cult for throwing money his way is more important than being presidential.
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I know I was not the only one to find it ghoulish that a day after the horrific flooding in central Texas — death toll 82 as I prepare to post — Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene made an announcement that I am certain all her constituents had been eagerly awaiting?
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A headline in the 5 July on-line Guardian jolted me alert. “Revealed: the far-right, antisemitic men’s club network spreading across US.” The subheadline that prompted my internet search, once I read the story, stated that “Old Glory Club has at least 26 chapters with participants including military personnel, lawyer and civil servants.” Here’s a link to Jason Wilson’s well-reported story. Despite my stomach churning with every paragraph, I forced myself to read it to the end. I urge you to do the same.
When I got to the reference to the group’s Substack newsletter, I made a note to check that out. I did. It has the innocuous descriptor “Bringing back unity.” But only paid subscribers can read the posts. That was okay by me.
Next — with fingers crossed that there wouldn’t be — I discovered there is a chapter in Wisconsin. Call me an alarmist, but I found language such as this cleverly coded:
“. . . the Sons of Wisconsin chapter of The Old Glory Club is honored to represent the great white north. We are focused on connecting men from across America’s Dairyland to form community, build skills, and preserve the heritage and cultural traditions of our forefathers.
“We cherish our great State’s venerable history . . . as well as the rich natural heritage . . . and the diverse geographical features carved by glacial drifts and those of the driftless region. From the main streets of her small towns to the bustling boulevards of her major cities, we honor Wisconsin’s culture. . . . our religious, agricultural, maritime, brewing, industrial, and political traditions. . . . We are also proud of our ethnicity - the most Germanic in the nation.”
Following a link to the group’s activities, I was amused to read about its June picnic, where the “wives of our members made several fixings, including delicious pasta salad and brown butter chocolate chip cookies.” I was less amused to read that the group “paid our respects at the grave of the late Senator from Wisconsin, the Honorable Joseph R. McCarthy. This public event involved cleaning the grave site, which had been vandalized. . . .”
You can find a list of all chapters here. Remember, information is power.
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FYI, I hope you are planning to Make Good Trouble on July 17. The next nationwide protests are planned for then in honor of Civil Rights activist and congressman John Lewis, who died on that date in 2020. You can search here for an event near you.
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Listening to a conversation between Joyce Vance (former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama and author of the forthcoming Giving Up Is Unforgiveable) and Katie Phang (lawyer and former MSNBC host) yesterday prompted me to share this: Voter-suppression efforts are real! Keep up to date with what is happening in your state. Make sure your loved ones and friends take any steps necessary to insure they are registered and understand what documents they may be required to present at the polls. VoteRiders is a terrific resource. And if you are looking for a way to get involved, they offer ideas.
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Surely the 3rd District of Wisconsin can do better than Rep. Derrick Van Orden. He was a yes all the way on the Big Brutish Bill, and before the final vote defended his position with this odd statement: “The president of the United States didn’t give us an assignment. We’re not a bunch of little bitches around here, okay? I’m a member of Congress.” That comment, reported by Kenzie Nguyen of Punchbowl News, is offensive on sooo many levels. What I would like to have asked Van Orden is, Are you suggesting the president — or your leadership — is a dog? Followed by, Do you realize you just slurred half your constituency?
My own congressman, Glenn Grothman, also was a yes. And I won’t bother quoting him because it was the same old same old: Biden’s fault . . . waste, fraud, abuse . . . strengthens programs for the worthy.
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Forrest Gump told us, “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” I could say the same about gumball machines, ubiquitous in my youth. I like to think that you say that about my posts; after all, my tag line is “sharing the inane, insane, mundane, arcane and more from my world.”
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Until next time, remember that “the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” [Alice Walker]
They sound like a front for the Klu Klux Klan.
Terrifying -- but as you say -- knowledge is power.
Keep up the good work.