Hoping won’t stop this. We must resist.

My friend and Moral Monday colleague, Rev. Curtis Gatewood being arrested last week -- again -- in protest of the unjust actions of the NC General Assembly.

My friend and Moral Monday colleague, Rev. Curtis Gatewood being arrested last week — again — in protest of the unjust actions of the NC General Assembly.

Stop pretending that the Electoral College or the Department of Justice will come to our rescue like a prince in shining armor to stop the Orange One from taking office on Jan. 20.

The election was in all likelihood stolen by a combination of Russian interference and a little tampering with the technology by GOP operatives, but we are creatures of habit and we won’t hold a new election, nor will we hand the office to the person who won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.

We have been trained to be lazy and accept what happens — that’s why more than half of us didn’t even bother to vote in the most important election of our lifetimes.

It’s not going to happen, so just get over it.

Blaming voters for the slow-motion coup that has been plotted and executed since Nixon devised the Southern Strategy will not change things, it will only serve to further divide us.

Trying to persuade people who voted for him that they were conned won’t work, either, because they have been brainwashed by the propaganda machine that is Fox News. Arguing with them is a waste of time and energy because they operate in a different reality with different facts. They already believe he won in a landslide.

To continue to concentrate on the sheep who have been led to the slaughter does nothing but divide us, and that weakens us.

I am being realistic here. This man will take office and he will appoint right-wing justices that will change the direction of our nation for decades. He will destroy what little remains of our social safety net and he likely will get us into devastating wars.

My friend and resistance colleague, Rev. Kojo Nantumbe, was arrested last week with more than 50 others.

My friend and resistance colleague, Rev. Kojo Nantambu, was arrested last week with more than 50 others. (Photo by Kevin Smith)

So what do we do?

We resist. We band together and work to defeat this vile creature at every turn, using everything we can.

Look at what we are doing here in North Carolina. We have spent the last four years protesting, educating and putting our bodies on the line.

We have sued to overturn unjust laws, and we have won.

We have been arrested by the thousands and brought national attention to the travesties wrought by these right-wing ideologues.

We still have a veto-proof GOP majority in the legislature, but we have a new governor and attorney general. And the courts have ordered the ridiculously gerrymandered districts to be redrawn and new elections held next year.

We continue to resist. Just last week, we packed the gallery to witness the power grab that was about to take place. Some 60 of our number were arrested for refusing to leave, charged with trespass in a public building while it was open to the public (I have been arrested and charged with that twice and have yet to be convicted).

We write to our legislators, even when we know damn well they won’t listen.

Two years ago, I worked my ass off to defeat my state representative, Tim Moffitt, who was among the worst of them. I knocked on doors, I made phone calls, I registered people to vote and gave them rides to the polls. His opponent, Brian Turner, won (and ran unopposed this last time).

We can resist. We can put our bodies on the line when necessary. We can show up and let them know we see and will resist what they are doing.

So, please stop waiting for the Justice Department or the Electoral College to save us.

We must do the work ourselves, together, in solidarity.

 

 

The GOP baits its hook again

Ok. I have to give it to the greedy, the devoid of conscience, the Soul-less… you have played a masterful game and now that you have what’s left of humanity who still gives a damn about their fellow humans against the ropes, make it quick won’t you? I know, how bleeding heart liberal of me to ask such a thing. Suffering is such a deliciously righteous punishment for the sinner who dares point out the emperor has no clothes.

Is there anyone out there that has yet to make up your mind about which side of the divide you are on? I’m talking about the new chasm on the left, exposed by the news that Obama has come to an agreement with the Republicans that will extend the deficit and the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. This one certainly was a nice gash. I feel what’s left of our shared liberal/progressive lifeblood bleeding out as we speak.

I know it’s taken years of patience, planning and work on the part of those who think paying their fair share for the good of all is only for the poor bastards who can’t seem to take care of themselves in the first place. Congratulations, your twisted logic of using us to build and defend your empire while feeling no responsibility to us whatsoever was apparently a winning hand. How enjoyable it must be for the God’s of power and wealth to watch us prove their point. Now we are fighting amongst ourselves over the scraps. This battle is between the defenders of and those living off of the scraps and those who see those scraps for what they are, just a little more bait. I know, we also paid for the bait, but that does not change the fact that it’s still just bait.

Maybe we deserve this fate. Maybe the Soul-less egos who run this world have been right all along about us Liberals. If all we can do is talk about what’s right and are not willing to fight, suffer, and sincerely give all we can to help our own get off the scraps, why should they care? The uber powerful have always used that message to command an army of people that they really can’t stand just as much as Liberals. I’m sure it’s so much easier to rally the zombies now than in the old days with the advent of cable networks and manufactured terrorism.

While we debate who is at fault here, the spineless Dems, the pragmatic Pres or the heartless GOP we are not really putting the responsibility where it belongs, and that’s squarely with us, the 98% in this country. To our great detriment we let our focus on the big picture go dim, ignoring the people of other places who are exploited for our comfort and convenience and the lessons we should have learned from that.  Attention Middle Classers: There has been a change in the terms of your food chain status… it’s been downgraded.

There have not been many missed opportunities by the Gods of Plutocracy to land a punch and it’s has taken it’s toll.  98% of us grow more desperate every day and now we are turning to fighting each other over the scraps. Again, I dare say the Gods of Plutocracy find it satisfying to say this just “proves them right” about our weak minded “kum ba ya” ideology.

I won’t be going into debating all the points of this proposed “framework” here. It’s all spelled out elsewhere on this site, the for and the against in great detail. I am here to say it’s time to join together and help each other while we take a stand. It’s time to stop pretending the rules of negotiation with the GOP haven’t changed, it’s time to stop mocking taking a stand before it’s too late as “idealism”.  It’s time to stop falling for the scraps and calling it pragmatic compromise. We should not be giving 900 billion in deficit exploding, economy crushing tax cuts to the wealthy while the 98% are getting scraps wrapped around a barbed hook.

Happy Holidays and please consider donating or doing something to help the jobless. Here are some links to get you started.

Five Ways You Can Help the Unemployed

How To Help Jobless Friends & Family

20 Ways You Can Help the Unemployed (job opening, interview, job, pay)