Everyone knew where the United States stood when JFK was inaugurated, and it wasn’t with the USSR. Look at the shiny new world order the Republicans (and Libertarians with their selfish delusional refusal to pick a side) have brought us now. As a Philadelphian, I can’t help but think back to Rocky IV. Defeating Russian Creed killer Ivan Drago was our entire national personality 40 years ago this year in 1985. Doesn’t anybody remember Sylvester Stallone fighting Clydesdales, forests and sleds on a frozen tundra to avenge our national pride? Times have changed.
This week at Trump’s egomaniacal address to Congress, he blathered on for the longest address in U.S. history. We’ve all seen the Trump reality show before: he’s the greatest President (greater even) than George Washington and Biden was the worst. Boo-hoo, why don’t the Democrats like him, racism right from the time he had House Speaker Johnson toss out elderly black congressman Al Green with a cane (Biden did not toss much worse behaved Marjorie Taylor Greene in three consecutive State of the Union addresses), followed by the usual menu: homophobia, transphobia, ethnocentrism, elitism, autocracy, and so on.
If you “refused to watch,” there’s a great summary of the speech by Under the Desk News and fact checking by Rachel Maddow, NPR … and if you’re curious about how much of what Trump said was just horseshit, scroll through the factcheck.org piece that gathers eight authors for a bold, commendable attempt to answer the question “Do you want the whole list of lies Trump told during the congressional address, or just the top 25?”
One of the things that’s bugged me the most post-speech goes along with the “I just can’t watch the news” reaction, and it’s the “Why aren’t they doing anything” reaction. From Stephen Colbert mocking the black auction-style Democrat signs with his “Try Doing Something” sign to countless pundits and social media gurus, there sure are a lot of armchair Monday morning quarterback politicians around the internet.
I was only a chief elected official in a small town for one my three years in office, but in that time (during which I was historically both the youngest woman and also gave birth) I learned some things about public service. One was not to run for re-election, because when you’re serving the public it’s a 24/7/365 job. I think our stipend was $250 a month. I used to wear sunglasses and a hat and hoodie to go to the grocery store at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning, and it wasn’t to avoid the public I served, but to make a little time to prepare breakfast once a week for my four kids.
I’d never consider walking out of a public meeting, much less not having one. You’re in office to serve the public who elected you. I even added an additional public comment period at the beginning of meetings, so citizens wouldn’t have to sit through boring public works, police and planning reports for an hour and half before we addressed their concerns.
However, hearing people whine that elected Democratic officials aren’t “doing enough” is annoying and doesn’t help the “the resistance.” Democrats on the night of the speech made choices at the level of their ability, comfort or personality. Al Green was more vocal and got censured; even 10 Democrats voted for the censure. Some Democrats boycotted the speech, others walked out, some made little Pinterest signs that said “LIES” and held them up when they were being told. Some protested by bringing fired federal workers to the speech, some spoke out in the media. The ones who don’t do anything won’t be re-elected because their constituents will want answers for their non-action. But you don’t really know what they’re doing behind the scenes. 75-year-old Elizabeth Warren has been protesting outside government buildings in the freezing cold, working around the clock, and still gets bullied by Trump during a congressional address by someone who tweets more than he leads.
Fragmentation of the Democratic Party is exactly what the MAGAverse wants. During the address Trump cracked a joke after his shout out of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., quipping that “with the name Kennedy, you would have thought everybody over here would’ve been cheering.” The Kennedy family denounced RFK Jr.'s bid for president last year and nomination for HHS secretary. Imagine the horror of the Kennedys as Trump once again dishonored them by joking around while their disgraced family member tells people to use Vitamin A to handle the return of a measles outbreak caused by anti-vaxxers like himself.
In times like these it’s the real Kennedy I remember. Ask not what the Democrats are doing for you, armchair politicians. Reposting a funny meme won’t ensure a conservative politician doesn’t get re-elected in the midterms. There are protests in our country every day now. If the severe state of stress and anxiety of our current political state has become a burden, action is the elixir.
