Happy Election Day!
I’ve no admonitions to vote one way or another or even to vote. Just an observation about our surreal political era. The contrast in visions presented by our parties is stark.
From the party whose initial proposal (HR1) was to nationalize the same mail-in fiasco that lead to Jan 6th, and who also wanted to eliminate the filibuster, stack the court, bring new Senators to life via Puerto Rico, and DC, as well as do away with the electoral college, tells us that democracy itself could die today. Democracy first, then your children - we’ve heard in the last week. Killed on the streets by victorious fascists.
And from Republicans, their vision conjures Portland, Seattle, or California. Those seem alarm enough. Though groceries, gas, heating bills and the economy are easy targets. Never mind, that should they win, these will not be easily influenced without super-majorities or Presidential Veto-overrides.
We in Oklahoma can be thankful we are insulated a bit from the Left Coasts.
But battleground terrains are not forever off in the distance. We have our radicals. Oklahoma City’s own JoBeth Hamon of Ward 6 swore her oath on Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States”, the only American authored U.S.History text allowed in Iran. And yes, her votes, positions and values are everything you’d expect from that factoid. Our Universities suffer the affects and spread the same Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DEI) industrial complex that other Universities spread. At the very least proving the axiom “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket”. But surely we are not yet Portland or Seattle.
So happy election day. If the season has been tough on you, count your blessings, it could have been worse. It could have included a Presidential bid. I’m not sure where you go from the death of democracy or children hunted in the streets but I’m sure a Presidential election would have at least included a vision of a pending meteor or perhaps the antichrist.
I’ve no admonitions to vote one way or another or even to vote. Just an observation about our surreal political era. The contrast in visions presented by our parties is stark.
From the party whose initial proposal (HR1) was to nationalize the same mail-in fiasco that lead to Jan 6th, and who also wanted to eliminate the filibuster, stack the court, bring new Senators to life via Puerto Rico, and DC, as well as do away with the electoral college, tells us that democracy itself could die today. Democracy first, then your children - we’ve heard in the last week. Killed on the streets by victorious fascists.
And from Republicans, their vision conjures Portland, Seattle, or California. Those seem alarm enough. Though groceries, gas, heating bills and the economy are easy targets. Never mind, that should they win, these will not be easily influenced without super-majorities or Presidential Veto-overrides.
We in Oklahoma can be thankful we are insulated a bit from the Left Coasts.
But battleground terrains are not forever off in the distance. We have our radicals. Oklahoma City’s own JoBeth Hamon of Ward 6 swore her oath on Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States”, the only American authored U.S.History text allowed in Iran. And yes, her votes, positions and values are everything you’d expect from that factoid. Our Universities suffer the affects and spread the same Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DEI) industrial complex that other Universities spread. At the very least proving the axiom “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket”. But surely we are not yet Portland or Seattle.
So happy election day. If the season has been tough on you, count your blessings, it could have been worse. It could have included a Presidential bid. I’m not sure where you go from the death of democracy or children hunted in the streets but I’m sure a Presidential election would have at least included a vision of a pending meteor or perhaps the antichrist.
