The
first four years of the Orange Cheeto's stay in the White House
should have been enough warning of what he intended to do. Should
have been.
Apparently,
it wasn't.
We've
forgotten history – or chosen to believe it could not happen to us,
here in the good ol' U S of A. We didn't think that an autocrat, a
dictator, an oligarch could get himself elected once into the
presidency, much less twice. Yet, here we are.
Many
warnings were sounded. Too many voters didn't listen. The party that
could possibly have prevented this mess didn't get their shit
straight from the git-go, and offered up a candidate who just didn't
have the energy to get through another election campaign. They
compounded that mistake by offering up a second candidate who
could've gone the distance, but didn't get the groundwork needed and
the time to put it in place before the November election.
Now,
we're seeing the results of that fatal misstep. The avalanche is
falling not just on certain folks, but on all of us. FAFO is in
effect, y'all, and it is ugly and heartbreaking.
The
black folks are sitting back, having their tea and nodding. They
deserve their break. After all, where were the rest of us in the
1960s? The 1970s and later, right up until last year? Sure, some of
us got out and protested, some of us organized, some of us spoke up
and voted for social change. But not enough.
Not
nearly enough.
"It
can't happen heeeeeeeeerrrrrre..." Frank Zappa sang back in the
counter-culture decades. He was being sarcastic. He knew damn well it
could happen here.
So,
what do we as citizens of the US do now?
We
can sit around crying and moaning, sure. That'll change nothing.
It'll only bring the end of the country that much sooner. You wanna
live in a fascist dictatorship? Do nothing and wait around, it'll
happen.
If
you want to retain what's left of your freedom, get off your ass and
get to work. Grabbing the reigns of this runaway carriage and getting
it back on the road of democratic governance per the Constitution is
going to take sustained effort over a long period of time.
INFORM YOURSELF. Gather information from a wide range of sources, not just
mainstream media. Always consider the source. "Independent"
journalism isn't always independent; check who's footing the bill for
the news outlets you read/view.
Call,
email, and write handwritten (or typed) letters or postcards to your
congress-persons at the state and federal levels. Weekly. Yes,
weekly. There's plenty of topics to choose from. A single-page letter
per topic will be easier for the politicians' aides to file. :-) If
you're not much of a writer, simply state what you support or don't
support re: what's going on in Washington.
SECURE
YOUR INCOME, FOOD AND PROPERTY. If you have a good job, and you're
saving money, good. Keep doing that. Try to save a little more each
month. Stock your pantry with non-perishables. If you can afford it,
install a security system (electronic, animal, bells, etc.) over all
the windows and entrances to your home. KEEP YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS
LOCKED AT ALL TIMES. If I had a nickel for every bodycam video I've
seen where people left their front door unlocked and someone just
waltzed in and committed mayhem, I'd have a lot more $$ than I do
right now.
Why
is the preceding paragraph important? Because the Orange Cheeto and
his Meme Monster are coming for ALL of us. Do you really want to just
let them in?
This
is the BARE MINIMUM. Everyone can do these things, or have helpers do
them for you if needed. It may not sound like a lot, but every little
bit does, indeed, help.
For
those who are able to do so, there are other steps to take.
Find
local organizations representing groups affected by the
executive orders issued so far, or contact national
groups like the ACLU, NAACP, etc., and find out how you can volunteer
to help. We aren't all cut out for marching in the streets, and
that's okay. Manning phone banks, writing website content,
creating flyers and signs, holding bake sales and yard sales to raise
money for a bail fund for those protesters who get arrested,
organizing lawyers to represent those arrested folks in court when
needed, and a lot of other roles need filling. Check the
histories of the civil-rights movement for ideas on organizing,
protesting, dealing with getting arrested, what civil disobedience is
and how to practice it, and so much more.
Yes,
the time we are in feels surreal and weird. Because it IS weird. But
it's also real and happening right now, and if we don't grab this
thing by the neck right now, we'll be consumed by it.
Just
because it's never happened to us before, doesn't mean it can never
happen to us. The proof is in front of us every day.
To
paraphrase someone much wiser than I am, retaining freedom requires
eternal vigilance.
