By Timothy P Holmberg
Chicken Little would blush with envy, so would the boy who cried “wolf”. And yet, the whole lot of them would be terrified to see how casually we have come to live with American democracy on the perpetual edge.
The flood of daily emails beseeching a contribution of $3 to save our democracy (multiplied by dozens of candidates) are all written with justified melodrama. Never mind most of the politicians doing the begging have no real connection to the consequences they’re pimping for cash. They’ll be fine. We won’t.
To say America’s democracy is again on the ropes isn’t hyperbole. We are facing a concerted attempt to dismantle the most important aspects of our democratic system. Not just from a bonafide insurrectionist at the gates of the White House again, with his mob of the manipulated. We face an array of actors, from the mundane local levels all the way on up, all dedicating themselves to rigging the system.
The last presidential election was ostensibly going to vanquish the dark shadow of fascism taking form in our country (so was the one before it). Granted, that was probably a tall task for any one septuagenarian, no matter how accomplished a cabinet he could assemble. For a brief moment, after COVID began to recede, there was hope. But just as in the hit series Stranger Things, evil evolves. It does not rest, even if we grow weary.
To win against Trump last time, Biden took his earnest entreaties to various groups of disaffected and disenfranchised voters. And it worked. Muslim voters in Wisconsin and Michigan helped pull those states back. Black voters in Georgia delivered a stunning rebuke to Trump and turned the state presidential blue. Even more surprising, Arizona, propelled by a powerful Latino vote, squeaked into Biden’s column. And that same voting block held Nevada back from turning red.
The problem is, those groups of disaffected and disenfranchised voters . . are still (wait for it) disaffected and disenfranchised. Since the 2020 election, those groups have borne the brunt of inflation, the national housing crisis, homelessness and the gruesome sight of 21,000 dead Palestinians from US supplied bombs. There is every reason to doubt that the voters who showed up to help save our democracy will come to its rescue once again.
The only reason they *might*, is because the alternative is (should be) unthinkable to any rational person. So, here we are, again, and possibly again and again. The last barrier to be breached before the barbarian hordes can trample the very things that actually could have made this country great . . for one of the too rare moments in its history.
The real truth of American Greatness is that it has always been the most excluded and marginalized who stepped forward and helped save and advance our nation. Women, blacks, native peoples, LGBT, Jews, socialists, unionists, disabled, immigrants - we all had a reason to step in and save the America that could be. But the problem is, if America never manifests that, then there will no longer be a reason to save it. This country must become its virtues or it will finally fall to its vices . . .
As a gay man, I see the encroachment on my rights, and the building threat to my safety, which never really abated. I get probably 100 emails and texts a day pleading for the scant dollars I have. I can’t even find my own mother’s emails in the ocean of political messages (never mind all the other junk).
I live on a boat in part because it is the only way I could afford to live in San Diego (which has been my home since 1995). I voted for Biden, and supported pretty much any other Democrat who I felt was worth it (not Scott Peters). I have voted in every election since I turned 18, and will until I pass away. But this article reflects my frustration with a broken system. A frustration I’m sure is widely shared.
The one thing I do know, is that retreating is not an option. Neither is simply voting and hoping (what I term vending machine democracy). The answer is not to disengage, but to become more involved, more annoying, and more consistent. We need our hands to be back in control of the levers of our own democracy. Team sports politics won’t do this. Trusting corporations won’t do this. Leaving it to the zealots is outright crazy.
Write your electeds, run for office, talk politics and read . . a lot. And, definitely do vote. That’s how we move through this.
Thanks, Tim! I'm with you on the frustration and the horrendous daily intrusions asking for money . Broken promises, deception, and a system fraught with no intent except to keep moving along on the same sluggish path seems to be the one we currently have. I'll keep phoning, writing, and reading because that's what I do. Hoping there are more of "us" than "them". Happy New Year, my friend.