I was deeply moved yesterday by a Slate article by Dahlia Lithwick. The title was What to Make of the Jarring Return to News in 2020 But it was the subtitle -- It’s no longer a question of what’s right, but what’s real — that really summed it up for me.
As Lithwick writes:
This is how the news feels these days. One day we are worried about WWIII breaking out and then the next day it is over. One day we are watching missiles rain down on our base and the next day we are told that it was all a show to end this madness with no intent on harming our citizens.
In a two-hour span, Twitter was proclaiming the advent of World War III, and then that nothing had actually happened Tuesday night.
It is head-spinning. We all worried so much about normalizing the abhorrence of his behavior but what is becoming normalized is the uncertainty of not knowing what really means something and what is just smoke and mirrors.
Lithwick gives more examples:
the flood of hasty lies resurfaced—first that the execution was to stave off an imminent attack that wasn’t; then that this was somehow connected to 9/11, which it wasn’t; then that it was intended to escalate, but also to de-escalate, but also to escalate tensions with Iran. Next came the tweeted threats to cultural sites, which were repudiated, and then the memo about troop withdrawal from Iraq, which was repudiated, and then the White House visit with Saudi Arabian delegates that wasn’t, and the impeachment trial that will proceed without the need for a trial.
and where does this uncertainty leave us?
Pick your poison: You can choose to be constantly dialed up to 12 or to tune it all out as a noisy telenovela—you’d be quite justified in either case.
Right. Either would make sense. As my husband sometimes says “this whole thing would be almost comical if it wasn’t true”
And yet some of it ISN’T true. Some of it DOESN’T mean anything. It is just super hard to tell what is real and something to worry about and what isn’t.
As the seam between what’s real and what’s manufactured becomes ever blurrier, the seam between what matters and what does not is similarly smudged away.
Exactly. What do we worry about when we don’t know which of this will stick or which is even real?
The chaos that surrounds this president, the ineffectual writhing of his incompetent handlers, and his peripatetic and ill-considered impulses are either driving us to the very brink of international collapse, or else they’re all just scenes from a Peter Sellers movie, easily corrected and readily dismissed.
and where does this leave us?
But if this week has revealed anything, it’s that most of us now casually toggle back and forth not between right and wrong, or reality and falsity, but between alarm and stupefaction, between outrage and acceptance, between abject fear that everything is ending to a mute understanding that maybe nothing has even happened.
It’s not whether we are awake or asleep anymore; it’s what to do about the fact that it all feels like a dream.
That is one big reason that we have this space — to help all of us figure out what is real and what is just smoke and mirrors.
Sometimes we try to use this space to remind ourselves that many of the things that seem like catastrophes when we first hear about them end up not being true.
Sometimes we use this space to remind ourselves that even the real catastrophes can often be fought with our collective voices and actions.
Today I want to use this space to remind you that it is totally normal to feel like you are in some surreal dream that never ends (as my friend Michael, who is a diabetic, told me soon after the election of 2016 “I keep thinking I need to check my blood sugar and then I remember that Trump is president.”)
But I am mostly here today to tell you that it doesn’t really matter. Trump will do countless things in the next 10 months that feel like the end of the world and won’t be. Trump will also do countless things that really hurt people. Often, it will be hard, at least at first, to tell one from the other.
Don’t be distracted by any of it.
All that matters is November 3rd. That is it.
Today I am using this space to focus on November 3rd and all the hard work we will have to do in the next 10 months to get us there and how within our reach a victory is if we do that work.
Block out all the noise. Block out all the uncertainty. Block out all the yelling and arguing and worrying and repeat it to yourself like a mantra “November 3rd November 3rd November 3rd November 3rd”
We are living in the moment we have dreamt of for years.
We CAN WIN. And not just the White House.
We can keep the House of Representatives.
And we can even win the Senate. That List of Iffy GOP Senate Incumbents Keeps Growing
When the Cook Political Report led its website in late December with the headline “The Majority is in Play,” those who follow politics closely felt the ground shift. It was the first significant assessment served up by one of Washington’s preeminent political handicappers that Democrats could gain control of the Senate in the November 2020 election.
On that note:
SC Democrat continues record-breaking fundraising against Lindsey Graham with $3.5M
The $3.5 million figure released by Harrison’s campaign Monday continues a remarkable streak for the Democratic challenger as he tries to catch up to one of the best-funded Republican incumbents in the Senate
and we have a good chance at the White House too: Why Democrats are on better footing against Trump in 2020
1.the president raised $46 million in the last quarter of 2019. That was nearly $12 million more than the impressive $34.5 million pulled in by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). But there are 13 other candidates running for the Democratic presidential nomination. According to an NBC News tally Monday, the seven candidates who have already announced their fourth-quarter fundraising numbers raised a combined $137.6 million. That’s three times as much as the president.
2. Bloomberg is also waging an assault against Trump that will benefit the eventual Democratic nominee.
3. As much as Republicans are trying to deny Americans the right to vote, Democrats are fighting back just as aggressively.
More about Bloomberg:
Bloomberg to fund sizable campaign effort through November even if he loses Democratic nomination
The former New York City mayor plans to continue paying hundreds of staffers and funding his digital operation to defeat Trump even if he's not the nominee.
and states and local governments are doing great things to help us win:
New York Senate passes automatic voter registration bill
New York Senate Democrats on Thursday passed legislation that would automatically register people to vote when they interact with certain state government agencies.
The
bill, sponsored by state Sen. Michael Gianaris, would create a system of automatic voter registration when a person submits an application to the Department of Health or the Department of Motor Vehicles.
"At a time in our country when voting rights are under assault, New York must live up to its potential as a progressive leader. Access to the ballot box should be easy and fair, and enacting automatic voter registration would go a long way towards improving our democracy," Gianaris said.
and this:
Sandusky, Ohio, Makes Election Day A Paid Holiday — By Swapping Out Columbus Day
Sandusky, Ohio, is a small city on the shores of Lake Erie. It's best known among Midwesterners as the home of Cedar Point, an amusement park famed for its abundance of roller coasters.
But last week city leaders took steps that could make Sandusky known as a leader of democracy, too: They declared Election Day a paid holiday – by swapping out Columbus Day.
"A lot's happened in the last three years that had us thinking a lot about voter access and democracy, and so we thought it was a really natural switch," Sandusky City Manager Eric Wobser tells NPR
And the killing of Soleimani is not going to help Trump politically:
Trump’s war-mongering with Iran won’t be a political winner
The boost that presidents usually get in times of international crisis likely will not happen for Trump. Fear of all-out war and the public’s low regard for Trump’s honesty and steadiness suggest that war-mongering is no way for Trump to break free of his polling doldrums. (He has yet to reach 50 percent approval.)
And Nancy Pelosi has a steady hand on the wheel to help us get to the election and WIN:
Pelosi has told colleagues she’s had to wear a night guard because the White House makes her grind her teeth in her sleep. But her frustration is born of determination, not unease. In our interview, I asked her if the President’s nickname for her, Nervous Nancy, is accurate. “Pfft,” she says, waving a hand. “He’s nervous. Everything he says, he’s always projecting. He knows the case that can be made against him. That’s why he’s falling apart.”
But you’re not, I ask?
“No,” she says, her voice steady. “I’m emboldened.”
Want to be a part of this amazing movement to save the country, earth, and planet?
Make sure you do at least one thing a week to make us win in November. When you are used to that, make it two. Then three. Do it all until we win.
Here are some ideas of ways to donate your time from the comfort of your own home (click on the links):
- Get involved with Postcards to voters. Postcards to Voters are friendly, handwritten reminders from volunteers to targeted voters giving Democrats a winning edge in close, key races coast to coast.
- register voters in key battleground states. Vote Forward has active campaigns going in 8 key states to encourage under-represented (potential) voters to register. In 6 of them, the packet you send to each potential voter will include the actual voter registration forms and instructions with pre-paid postage for that state. The folks at Vote Forward have collected data on this technique and determined that it does, indeed, appear to increase voter registration.
Here are some ways to get involved outside your house:
- Find volunteer opportunities at Vote Save America Every election matters, even the ones that aren't as sexy as those Iowa caucuses. Rawr. (Too much? Maybe. But get out there and help right now!)
- Get involved with Stacey Abrams Fair Fight which is fighting voter suppression — and already helped us with two huge victories in the south!! Fair Fight is Fighting Back. Fair Fight built and engages a robust network of grassroots activists that works to strengthen democracy at all levels.
- Get involved with your local democratic party
- People who live in or near a state with strict voter ID requirements might wish to help by volunteering with Voteriders. They provide hands-on assistance with getting voter registration and ID, “including obtaining documents (such as birth certificates, change of name records) and arranging rides to and from ID-issuing offices.”
- Sign up to go door to door in your district It’s time we start talking with everybody about the progressive change our country needs. To do this effectively we’ll have to take the time to listen to voters who may not agree with us, but could be persuaded to our cause through civil conversations about what matters most in our lives. #KnockEveryDoor is a volunteer-led organization created in the wake of the disastrous 2016 election.
- Sign up to drive people to the polls Do you have a spare seat to help get somebody to the polls or voter I.D. office? Click the link to let Carpool Vote know when and where you'll be driving, and they will match you with riders!
Here are some ideas for donating:
- Donate to a fund for Democratic candidates that run in the 2020 Senate elections This fund is devoted to the Democratic candidates that run in the 2020 Senate elections against Susan Collins in Maine, Cory Gardner in Colorado, Martha McSally in Arizona, Thom Tillis in North Carolina, Pat Roberts in Kansas, and David Perdue in Georgia.
- Donate to the Unify or Die fund for WHOMEVER our nominee will be 100% of your donation to the Unify or Die Fund will go to the eventual Democratic nominee for President, exactly when they need it most: right after the convention in July 2020, as they enter the general election.
- Donate to Swing Left Swing Left connects you with the most effective actions you can take to help Democrats defeat Trump and the GOP in 2020. Enter your zip code and find out what you can do, right now.
- Donate to the ACLU Donate to the ACLU today to help protect the rights and liberties of people across the country. Right now, they're: Protecting free speech and the right to protest; Defending reproductive freedom; Fighting anti-LGBTQ discrimination; & Safeguarding the rights of refugees and immigrants.
Have more ideas? Put them in the comments and I’ll add them next week.
Finally, this doesn’t fit with my theme today, but I wanted to share it because it is so useful for those of us anxious about our planet:
How to Stop Freaking Out and Tackle Climate Change
Here’s a five-step plan to deal with the stress and become part of the solution
Step 1: Ditch the shame.
The first step is key to all the rest. Yes, our daily lives are undoubtedly contributing to climate change. But that’s because the rich and powerful have constructed systems that make it nearly impossible to live lightly on the earth. … As long as we are competing for the title of “greener than thou,” or are paralyzed by shame, we aren’t fighting the powerful companies and governments that are the real problem. And that’s exactly the way they like it.
Step 2: Focus on systems, not yourself.
the climate crisis is not going to be solved by personal sacrifice. It will be solved by electing the right people, passing the right laws, drafting the right regulations, signing the right treaties — and respecting those treaties already signed, particularly with indigenous nations. It will be solved by holding the companies and people who have made billions off our shared atmosphere to account.
Step 3: Join an effective group.
Some are local and focused on stopping particular fossil-fuel projects, like Rogue Climate in Southern Oregon, with which I am working. Others are national and focused on changing federal policy, like Zero Hour and the Sunrise Movement. Still others, like Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future, are international and focused on putting moral pressure on climate negotiators and governments around the world. Groups like Project Drawdown research the nuts and bolts of decarbonizing the world.
Step 4: Define your role.
instead of trying to become an expert in international regulatory law, global supply chains, atmospheric science and the art of protest, you can offer the skills and resources you already have, and trust that other people with complementary skills are doing what they can do, too.
Step 5: Know what you are fighting for, not just what you are fighting against.
Even though keeping global warming under 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) would absolutely be better than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) of warming, there is no threshold that means that it is “too late” or that we are “doomed.” The lower, the better. It is always worth fighting…. As we fight, it is important for our mental health and motivation to have an image in mind of our goal: a realistically good future.
Only chain that a man can stand
Is that chain o' hand on hand
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Now only thing we did was wrong
Stayin' in the wilderness too long
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
The only thing we did was right
Was the day we started to fight
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
sing us out, Bruce:
So proud and so lucky to be in this with all of you ❤️ ✊ ❤️
You are not alone. ❤️ ✊ ❤️