Six Reasons Why This *Flaming Liberal Democrat* is Getting Back to Online Activism.
*Stay tuned for many, many more.
Hello friends, it looks like I’m back to doing the one activity I love most: putting my incorrigibly liberal opinions in writing.
Oh, you’re not surprised? I guess I’m not, either.
So what happened? Everything happened. I thought I’d be out of commission for much longer, given my personal heartbreak and how I thought it would affect my life forever.
It will affect my life forever, but writing is my other life. It gets me through the days and nights, demanding, as it does, so much witnessing, so much concentration, so much guilt if I’m not doing it. It expects me to pay attention and that’s a habit hard to break.
But I can’t pay attention if I’m curled up in a fetal position, sucking my thumb, putting on my sad face. My husband’s death angers the hell out of me. I wanted us to go on forever, but now we can’t. I wanted us to have more time to walk and talk and travel and breathe. I wanted us to fight this battle against our democracy together, even if our war room was our living room and my desk was (is) my grandmother’s oilcloth-covered pantry table.
We were trying to save the commonwealth together and it felt good. He knew I would never quit, and I know now I never will. What changed? Nothing changed. Not outside my door, anyway; not out there in the cold, cruel world. That’s the point.
So as of today I’m back at work and I’ll never again be far away from it. Not as long as I’m aware and breathing. I’m going after those bastards, and I’ll be doing much of it from right here.
I’m here to do serious business (though there might be humor involved) and that requires a community, a crowd, a mob of like-minded liberals and progressives and leftists and anyone else who sees the dangers ahead, who can put their differences aside, and who can keep their eyes on the prize—a country free from totalitarianism, authoritarianism, absolutism, Christo-fascism, despotism, and Republicanism.
I want our voices to be heard. I want us to be a part of whatever it takes to make change and see progress as the earth and its people begin to heal. I want us all to stop hurting. But it won’t happen unless we stop the ones hurting us. There is a clear line drawn—so clear each of us knows which side we’re on.
Now is the time for some real guts. I want us to be on the same side, working together, and the only way it can happen is if we each know where we stand as individuals and as a community.
If there was ever any question, I’ll work to make it clearer: I’m with the Democrats. Through thick and thin, minus the rose-colored glasses, I’m on their side. I’ll do everything I can to get and keep the Democrats running our government. I’m the mama bear, the head cheerleader, the never-wavering ally. Some will fall short, but the rest of them will be working hard. They’re the ones I’ll be cheering on. It’s a matter of morale. I want them to feel their worth.
My dear Democrats have a tendency toward defeatism and a universal inferiority complex. It comes naturally to a party that tries to do everything right, only to watch that other party either take credit or succeed at diminishing their efforts. That has to change.
So as I begin again, these six subjects are weighing on me. Doing battle for and against them—and everything else that knocks us down and impedes our progress—gives me the strength to go on:
Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is laying waste to a beautiful but fragile democracy and the whole world lifts the tiniest of fingers to help, guessing (though not knowing) that Putin might be crazy enough to go nuclear if we civilized souls go too far and actually start a war to defend those innocents. So thousands of innocents are dead now, their cities and towns laid waste as Russia ignores the threat of War Crimes and uses terror tactics to subdue a nation that so far refuses to give in. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine is schooling the civilized countries on how to do battle against fascistic terrorists, and the world, if it has any sense, will sit up and take notice. The leaders and the people of Ukraine are inspirations to us all. This is what bravery looks like. We in this country need to work on that.
Trump Crime Family. The ex-’president’ is still on the loose, still telling colossal lies, still holding rallies as if his celebrity is his claim to fame, and not the blatant, indefensible crimes he committed while holding the highest office in the land. Meanwhile, Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka, and Jerrod are involved in one scandal after another while raking in the millions. I want to be one of those Americans who refuses to move on until the long arm of justice smacks Trump and his family down so low they can’t get up again.
Abortion. Roe v Wade is still the law of the land, though it’s struggling more than usual. The reasons for abortions are singular and private and nobody else’s business, including and especially anyone’s church. Abortion isn’t sinful or shameful or illegal. The fight for women’s choice goes on. (I wrote this in 2018 and revised it for Substack last year. It’s only gotten worse.)
Katanji Brown Jackson. The humiliating, disgusting hoops the Republicans forced her to jump through in order for her to squeak by and become our newest and best qualified Supreme Court justice were enough to keep thousands of us forever on the alert. The GOP can’t be trusted and can’t be ignored. They’ll lie, they’ll cheat, they’ll steal in order to gain power. They still own SCOTUS, having the majority of the votes, but there’s no denying now how ruthless they’ve become. There’s no turning away. We’re going to have to deal with them or they’ll win. It’s going to take all of us.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Jim Jordan, Marsha Blackburn, Ron DeSantis, Madison Cawthorn, Sarah Palin, Herschel Walker, et al. For all of the obvious reasons. We can’t let these bozos run our government. Voting Republican won’t stop them. Voting Independent won’t stop them. Not voting won’t stop them. Voting a Democratic ticket is the only way to stop them. The Democrats must win in November. We all know why that is.
Eric Boehlert. The country lost a brilliant champion for journalistic ethics and for democracy last week. Eric died suddenly in an accident just hours after he published his last post on his essential Substack newsletter, Press Run. I could always count on him to hold the American media’s feet to the fire in a way that resonated and made me want to be a better person—and a better writer. I learned so much from him and I hope I can go on learning. His was a page I never missed and one of the few I paid to subscribe to. My payment for another month automatically went through today and my heart is aching as I write this. If you want to keep his legacy going, you can follow those trying to carry on his tradition here on their new Twitter page.
Please note the blogroll at Constant Commoner’s sidebar. The fighters for our cause are hard at work and need your help in spreading their words. I’ll be adding to the list as I find more, and every one of them will be people I’ve read and trusted . You can trust them, too.
I’m here for the long haul, but I’m going to need your help. I need subscribers, both free and paid. If you can afford a monthly subscription, I would be so grateful. This effort takes time and money. If you can’t, or would prefer to remain on the free list, I completely understand. Please share any of my pieces with those who might want to join this essential community.
Dearest Ramona - I had the same epiphany a few days ago. I passed the first year anniversary and sat down to write about it. Then some idiotic thing on the news made me take an older article about dark money and revisit it. In the four years since I wrote it, it resonated even more strongly. I sat back when finished with the revisions and realized that all through the two years of hospice I wondered what I would do with the rest of my live that was - and is - meaningful. I can't walk away from our world - that would be cowardly, and what if something I do or write or say a actually makes a difference that makes a difference that makes a difference....That's what I want to do. I'm using Two Crones as a jumping off spot, hoping to reach a lot of older women (ourselves...) who want to become as active as possible. So I'm with you - let's exchange articles and build our groups. I'm staying on Medium for the time being, and I think Michelle will be staying on Substack. And I think after 6 months of our writing we should look at the best of what we've done and publish as a set of "liberal" essays to save us all. What say you? Off to analyze Timothy Snyder's take on the genocide policy of Russia. I ma need extra anxiety meds by the end of this one. Love you, dear Woman - I think a retreat in the UP would be wonderful.