I'm a little late on this reflection post but my hubby and I went on our first cruise to Alaska right after the A to Z ended so this is the first chance I've had to think about it. I missed the "official" reflection sign up but I'm going to do it anyway.
My theme for this year was the A to Z of Democracy and I used as a base the speech given by Representative Hakeem Jeffries at the opening of the 218 Congressional Session in 2021. As I usually do, here is a link to all of the posts for the challenge in case you missed any or want to re-read:
Z - Zealous Representation Over Zero Sum Confrontation
Y - Yes We Can Over You Can't Do It
W - Working Families Over the Well Connected
V - Voting Rights Over Voter Suppression
U - Understanding Over Ugliness
Q - Quality of Life Over QAnon
O - Opportunity Over Obstruction
K - Knowledge Over Kangaroo Court
J - Justice Over Judicial Overreach
G - Governing Over Gaslighting
E - Economic Opportunity Over Extremism
A - American Values Over Autocracy
Throughout the challenge I only had two negative commenters. One I sort of expected because I knew the way her feelings leaned from some of her past posts. The other kind of took me by surprise because she insinuated that I was attacking her specifically. My whole point of this project was not to attack anyone, merely to show the differences in thinking between Democrats and Republicans (some, not all) and to highlight specific goals that realistically we should have in common if we are genuinely concerned with our fellow humans and in keeping our constitution alive. There are times to have policy discussions but these things, to me, come down to whether we will be able to remain the United States of America or whether we will become a country with a name that starts with a "T" since he is so into naming everything after himself. Do I dislike the current administration? Intensely. Would I prefer not to engage in conversation with people who try to defend it? Absolutely. But I never meant to attack any one person for their beliefs. Also, even though I said at the top of each post that I would delete negative comments, I kept both of the ones that were left and replied as best I could.
A to Z is not easy to complete and it is definitely not easy to visit everyone on the challenge but I did my best and am grateful that I had as many followers as I did because knowing that there are others out there who think like me give me hope. Next year, if I do it, will probably be back to a lighter theme, especially if we can have a blue tsunami in November.
Stay tuned for a post about our first cruise!
Hi, Janet!
ReplyDeleteI hope you and Bill had a wonderful time on your cruise and spotted some whales and other wildlife. Welcome back to "Trumptopia."
I admire you for choosing Democracy as your topic for the 2026 A to Z, and for laying it out in the manner you did. For those of us in this ecosystem, the dichotomy couldn't be more clear or distinct. It is baffling, frustrating and frightening that so many people on the right turn defensive, circle the wagons and take a "my team- right or wrong" stance. They close their minds to reason and stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the virtues of what I always thought were our shared beliefs and values as the American people. Perhaps it is too painful for them to admit they made a colossal mistake in granting a slick-talking flim-flam man a second term in office. They are finding out too late that his campaign promises to help make their lives better and more affordable were hollow. By lending support to a greedy, corrupt, power-hungry scam artist, they helped usher in one of the darkest and most dangerous periods in American history. They are like the naive, well intentioned woman in the song "The Snake" who took in the dying snake and nursed him back to health.
But instead of saying thanks, that snake gave her a vicious bite
"I saved you", cried that woman
"And you've bit me even, why?
You know your bite is poisonous and now I'm going to die"
"Oh shut up, silly woman", said the reptile with a grin
"You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in."
Exactly! It is to the historian that I look for comfort and insight as to how we can get out of this mess. As Kamala Harris said in one of her interviews, she knew this was coming but did not expect the total capitulation of the congress. Now, I guess even some of them are realizing that they drank the snake oil. Thanks for stopping by my friend! I'll be posting about our cruise in a day or two. Have a wonderful long weekend.
Delete(I know I commented on this post before... gremlins!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just dropping by to say hello.)
“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” — Fran Lebowitz
J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) @JLenniDorner ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge international blog hop