General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I am an older white woman, a retired teacher. [View all]calimary
(81,265 posts)My first real activism efforts were in the Student Coalition for Humphrey/Muskie, and the first (unsuccessful) campaign of Tom Bradley for L.A. Mayor. He lost that one, but came back in the next round to win!
LOVE THIS that you wrote, Hekate!
"Nobody should ever try to tell me what journey I've taken or try to co-opt the things I remember. No one should dare to tell me what kind of a Democrat I've been or am. The fact that I admire this President is not a sign of cultish adoration but hard, hard experience of having lived through Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bush the Elder and Bush the Lesser, as well as the trashing of Jimmy Carter and the entirely unwarranted impeachment of Bill Clinton. I know who the bastards in this political system are, and Barack Obama is not one of them.
Solidarity! Solidarity or we all fail."
I wrote something along those lines in another thread celebrating the long-awaited arrival of marriage equality in Wisconsin. Looked at all those very moving photos of loving couples who'd yearned to make their commitment to each other official under the law. It was wonderful to see and to savor. HOWEVER, it was with a little trepidation. If some of those people stay home, or roll over and go back to sleep, or assume the problem is now solved and the coast is clear now and this is settled - just look at any woman you see, who's of childbearing age. OUR rights to have the last word over our own personal bodies are ON THE ROPES!!!! Because we figured that once Roe v Wade was settled, that was that.
Well, I fear for all those couples in Wisconsin. How soon will THEIR rights be rolled back and snatched away from them? How soon will they forget and become complacent and just assume that everything's okay now and the enemy is vanquished? How soon will they not bother, and just shrug it off because their "perfect" candidate isn't running but just a pretty good candidate is? How soon will they give up and figure there's no use? How soon will enough people be railing against our President and calling him awful names and goddamn used car salesman and whatever other crap they come up with - WHICH ONLY DISCOURAGES OTHERS FROM GIVING A DAMN AND TRYING TO STAY INVOLVED AND HELPING TO FURTHER THESE CHANGES WE NEED????? That crap only discourages people from bothering, and encourages them to throw up their hands and just assume there's no use.
If you DO NOT stand for the likely nominee, and the candidate with the D after their names, because it might not be the D you wanted, then you might as well pull the lever for the R. Because that's what YOU will personally guarantee that the rest of us get stuck with.