That is the first line of a piece written by John Pavlovitz yesterday. I’ve been thinking about his powerful manifesto since reading it.
Let the record show that I did not consent to this.
Let it show that I did not vote for this man, that he did not represent me, that I did not believe he was deserving of being here, that I grieved his ascension.
Let History record my objection to him, to the ways he humiliated women and vilified Muslims and threatened protestors and disregarded people of color.
Let it record my repulsion at his tremendous cruelty, his lack of compassion, his contempt for dissension, his absence of simple decency.
Let witnesses mark down my disgust at the way he boasted of infidelity, at how he ridiculed a disabled reporter, at the way he attacked female opponents for their appearance, at the way he marginalized immigrants.
Let it be remembered that I did not look the other way when women accused him of assault, when the reality of his Russian alliances came to light, when he refused to share his tax records—though large portions of the American media and its people chose to…...
johnpavlovitz.com/...
For the first time in my over eight years of being a member of Daily Kos I’m sorely tempted to break fair usage rules. Reading his entire post is that powerful and important. It’s above all a moral stance, one that must be shouted to the heavens, so please read and share widely.
Yesterday I also went on record in a different way. A friend had asked if we were struggling with feeling overwhelmed and depressed.
I thought about the question for awhile, trying to examine where I was after the long months of the campaign, the election. Where was I standing as we approached the inauguration of a man so manifestly unfit for the Presidency? Where was my courage to be found in order to face what was coming?
And I remembered who I was. Remembered all that I am. I wasn’t depressed. Grief for our country and for so many of us vulnerable to the immoral cabal Trump has assembled, certainly. Anger at their GOP enablers and the voters who would not, could not, comprehend the threat Trump’s unfitness for even dog catcher posed to them and us all? You bet.
But even more so was a rising determination to not allow any of it make me forget my own courage and what I had already survived.
My growing up was years of desperately trying to protect the people I loved from violence and to survive with some sanity in place. That was followed by my son's long fight for some kind of health. All of it combined left me feeling on the outside of this society and looking in. All of it left me acutely aware of the dangers we face from the forces arrayed against common decency and caring.
What I fundamentally realized in thinking about my friend’s question was that what we are now facing is yet another fight to be waged against those who would do harm. It is another fight to save that which we love. In that sense, it is all too familiar. In that familiarity I found my courage again.
So I told her, "No, I'm not depressed. Unless depressed is tired and grieving these days. More and more I'm determined, or at least trying to be, for that is what is needed most. “
Let the record show that I did not consent to this.
There is no choice in that. Far too many lives are on the line for the luxury of curling up in a little ball. Oh, there have been and will be moments of wanting to do just that. But only for a little while. Above all — we must remember our strength and rise.
Trump and the GOP want us to be afraid and overwhelmed, unable to fight back. And that I will never give them. None of us will.
Never forget that at the heart of Trump, at the heart of the GOP, and the sexist, racist, homophobic, anti knowledge people who support them — is cowardice.
They're afraid. Afraid of anything that threatens their egos, world views and desperate need for certainty. Their lust for power reveals that every time.
We're not like them. Even when we're exhausted, grief stricken, and terrified, we carry on. We fight back. Above all, we stand up for what is right.
We all have more courage than we know.
Never forget that. Ever.
Let the record show that we do not consent to this.