There is a lot of “bickering” right now. Within. Without. Between us, between them, between us and them.
Who is too angry, who is too old, who is too rich, who is too female?
Who will tell the truth, who will be loyal, who will save themselves or go down with the ship? Who will hold out for a pardon? Who will survive past the end?
Who loves the country more? Who speaks for America? Who cares about America? Who really cares about Americans? Who really cares about all Americans?
It can get a little shaky, even here. Because the “bickering within” is fraught with words that should alarm. This week alone I’ve heard: “He lost my vote...” “I’ll have to hold my nose to vote for her if she’s the nominee...” “I’ll never vote for...” And a few worse comments about our own candidates that include vicious name-calling, if not about the candidate, then about a supporter. Eeeek!
For the record, this diary has nothing to do with my candidate of choice. It is about the future of our country and a reminder of the fundamental choice that lies ahead of us. It is about party unity. It is about winning. It is about hope. It is about remembering who we are and what we are up against.
Democrats are the party of WE.
Republicans are the party of ME.
Make no mistake about it. We are in a deadly serious contest for the heart and soul of our nation. We are living through it right now at this moment in history, whether we like it or not. But we do have many things on our side. We must take heart and remember.
WE do not build walls. Perhaps retaining walls, to hold something up. But WE build bridges. Strong bridges. And roads. WE build ladders, and hold the ladders steady. We do not remove them or make them harder to reach. WE build safety nets. We do not poke holes in them or pull them away. WE build foundations. WE are in the construction business. WE build things to help people and animals and the earth. WE use people to do it. WE attempt to learn from the past. WE prepare for and seek to improve the future. They deny the past, harm the present and sabotage the future.
Last week Meteor Blades wrote a diary about our wins in Virginia and their impact on tRump’s pull-out from the Paris climate pact. There was a little light there. I made a comment to one of his statements:
“Because of that, and for other reasons, Trump’s move should not drive us to despair. “ (Meteor Blades)
Gonna cling to this. And you know, we should not despair. For we are on the side of everyman. Of everywoman. Of everyone. That is the bottom line. We are a party who wants the best outcome for everyone. We want to build a safe future for as many people as possible.
That is not who they are.
It is classic. In the end, life leans to the light.
💥 We are on the right side of this, people. 💥
We are on the side of truth. 💥 We are on the side of justice.
That same afternoon, I took a few minutes to check in with the Daily Kos GNR — I always wonder why I don’t do this more often. The group there just loads me up with the good real progressive things that are actually happening in real time! Of course, news is not all bad, but it seems more than ever it’s soooo bad... and it’s the bad news we mostly hear about. The GNR always has good news. I always feel better after reading it. I made this comment:
Daily Kos Good News Round Up
Another beam for the bridge! Yes! They talk about building walls, and we build bridges. And ladders. And safety nets.
And that is why we WILL WIN!
it’s not us vs them, it’s WE vs ME. Progress vs regress. Building vs destroying. Growth vs denial…
You know, we have everything going for us. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize.
Maybe some extra rules for the primary road?
Some possible suggestions:
DO NOT SAY:
- “I’ll never vote for...” a viable democratic candidate
- “F* him, or her, or anybody at anytime. Except for tRump.” I think we’ve lost some ground here in the age of the orange one, and we’re treading on some pretty thin ice. We just can’t be talking like that about any _____? Any person?
- No third party crap. duh.
- Leave Hillary out of it. ?
- Leave Bernie Bros out of it. ?
- ?
Everyone here has a right to support whoever they want as the Democratic nominee for president until a person is chosen. No one knows who that will be. We know that facts matter. Tone also matters. Never forget that in the end we must all come together and support whoever the nominee is with everything we’ve got. If the polls are correct, more than 60% of us will be disappointed. It’s critical that we are respectful in our debate, because we are, after all, all on the same team, in the same army in the end. In a battle we dare not lose.
Eyes on the prize. It has never mattered so much.