My theme for this year's A to Z Challenge is the A to Z of Democracy. This is your trigger warning. If you are going to be bothered by my descriptions of what I believe America should look and feel like, please stop reading and come back next year when my topic may go back to music or scrapbooking or interesting tidbits. Please respect my space and DO NOT leave disinformation or inflammatory statements in the comments. It's my blog and I will delete them. Thanks for your cooperation.
| Zealous Representation | Zero Sum Confrontation |
| Working hard to represent the people who elected you. | One side wins, the other loses. Not cooperating even when mutual benefit is a possible outcome. |
Zealous representation is exactly what we need right now and sometimes I don't think we're getting it. I guess it is hard to get over the feeling that we need to "play fair," especially when the other side is so dishonest and unprincipled. I wonder where we would be at this moment if Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice had prosecuted #47 and his cronies for what happened on January 6, 2021. What if congress had done it's job and impeached him at that time? He would not have been able to run for another term.
Instead we have a heads I win, tails you lose situation going on. The congress people can't seem to agree on anything that will benefit anybody other than #47 and his rich friends. How much lower are we as a nation going to sink? How many more rights are we going to lose? We have to take back some control in November.
As always, credit goes to Speaker Hakeem Jeffries who gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the House of Representatives at the beginning of the 218th congress.
And there you have it. Made it through the A to Z Challenge this year. Next year I'll go back to something a little lighter. Thanks for hanging out with me.
Hi, Janet!
ReplyDeleteI agree that zealous representation - working hard and, yes, fighting hard -- to represent constituents, address their needs and concerns and make their lives better, should be job #1 for every elected official. Unfortunately, democrats are the only ones who actually walk their talk. Even more unfortunately, democrats get little or no credit for it, their message inevitably drowned out in the cacophony of the ubiquitous right wing propaganda echo chamber, a well oiled machine that cranks out lies, misinformation and disinformation 24-7. Republicans have proven time and time again that they will say and promise anything to get elected, but once they have suckered people into voting them into positions of power, they consistently demonstrate that they are not interested in doing anything for everyday Americans except screwing them over. Toughness, courage and a fighting spirit are what we need in all defenders of democracy going forward. It is the mindset necessary to turn the tide, defeat Trumpism and restore our democracy. The time for so-called "fair play" has passed. So has the time for strongly worded letters and editorials, the clutching of pearls and weeping into hankies. If our old, tired and timid elected representatives don't have the stomach for this fight, they need to resign and get out of the way, because the people of this country have made it crystal clear that we want fighters in our corner, not go-along to get-along capitulators. As much as we might dislike the uncomfortable position it places us in, it's time to fight fire with fire. At this stage, it's the only way for our republic to survive. We didn't ask for this fight, but we can finish it. We certainly cannot afford to back away from it. You can't beat the playground bully by giving him your lunch money and hoping he will change his behavior. It only emboldens him. We must engage. We must use every tool at our disposal to return to power, vigorously prosecute the members of this cruel and corrupt administration for their many crimes and then set about the task of reversing the damage done and restoring democracy.
This was another bad week for democracy, with the U.S. Supreme Court gutting a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, the federal statute that has been protecting racial minorities' right to vote ever since it was signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson. This week's SCOTUS ruling threatens to disenfranchise people of color all across the country, especially in the South. The blow is is just one more example of a widespread, carefully orchestrated, heavily funded, multi-pronged radical right initiative that has been growing in power for decades. Now, too many good, well-intentioned people who fell asleep at the wheel, people who thought it could never happen here in America, people who believed that good governance alone was enough, are waking up to a five alarm fire. All hands on deck. At this utterly crucial moment in our nation's history, we must not only mount a fierce defense, we must put in place an organized offense to ensure that this horrendous nightmare never happens again.
As I have done in years past, Janet, I congratulate you on the completion of the A to Z Challenge. This year in particular, I thank you for picking a theme that could not be more important, a theme inspired by Congressman Hakeem Jeffries' "ABCs of Democracy" speech and illustrated book espousing American values over autocracy. Thank you for putting yourself out there with this series and exposing yourself to potential criticism. Thank you for standing up, standing proud and doing your part to defend democracy, dear friend Janet!
Thanks dear Shady! Your words mean a lot to me. I don't know that I won any new converts but it made me feel better to get my feelings down. Crossing fingers we can make it to the other side of this mess!
DeleteWell done for making it through this year. I'm being careful with my social media at present - we're travelling to visit our son in Vermont in June - don't want to not be let in.
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