you had one job, America

             November 5th, we, the American people, had a chance to protect the rights and safety of women and our most vulnerable citizens. We failed. As an American citizen in possession of a uterus, humanist values, and a firm democratic socialist worldview, I am qualified to discuss this pervasive sense of disappointment and loss following the Presidential election.

The performance of our civic duty has always been important, but there have been only a handful of times it has been crucial to stand on the correct side of history against fascism.  This brief commentary is the projection of my fear for the future of our teetering democracy. It’s my initial act of resistance. It’s a cry of alarm, asking decent folks, who maybe made their decision in the ballot box out of fear, to finally wake up and ask, “What have we done?”

 

 

You had one job, America

I love to watch classic sitcoms and movies, especially in black and white, where every problem has a reasonable solution, and identifying the good guys from the bad poses no difficulty. I love whistling along as Opie runs barefoot to the fishin’ hole or spending time with Laura and Rob in New Rochelle as they do a little song and dance number for the PTA show. They are familiar and comforting, like hot tea and grandma’s Snickerdoodles. I also wonder if some folks understand that they were prescriptive, a social ideal, and not an example of reality any more than modern situation comedy shows.

Real life is messy and often painful. Binge-watching old shows makes me nostalgic for being home from school, spending the day on the couch with a snuggly blanket, warm soup, and ginger ale. It helps me cope with the madness at my doorstep.  

There is a surplus of madness these days; we’ve been living on the edge of a nightmare for nearly a decade. I would be unsurprised to hear Vic Perrin’s voice: “There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission.” At least it would explain why the former president, now president-elect, talks about inappropriate things on camera, like Arnold Palmer’s penis. The man is indescribably crass and way out of touch with reality, yet half the American public has succumbed to his grifter rhetoric.

The Billionaire Grifter’s club has been running a long con, and we are the mark. They tell us how prosperous we can be under Administration X, but I see that people struggle to survive, and the incoming administration has no tangible plan to alleviate it. I see vacant houses and people who are one lost paycheck away from homelessness. I see 50-year-old single-wide trailers for rent at over $1000 a month, making them unattainable to the working poor. I see people living in vans and campers as the only affordable option. I don’t care what the stock market does because nothing ever trickles down. Unfair tax policies favor America’s wealthiest citizens who hide their money overseas. Why do people keep buying into the lie decade after decade? Bolstering the rich does not serve the public interest; I don’t care what kind of spin you put on it.  I’ve witnessed unscrupulous political maneuvering, but never like this. Never in my lifetime have our basic freedoms and the fundamental tenets of democracy been threatened by fascism, nor has our future been so uncertain. I can’t see a way back that doesn’t involve the catastrophic breakdown of social order.   

Women have fought and bled throughout history for rights that should have been a matter of course. Our foremothers fought just to be considered part of We the People and for the right to vote for their own interest; they fought for the right to own property and for body autonomy; they fought to be given the same basic respect that men are shown automatically. It hasn’t been that long since a woman couldn’t walk into a bank and open an account in her name without her husband’s signature. Not so long ago, men could have their wives committed to an asylum for refusing to remain broodmares, unshod in the kitchen where they “belong.” Our foremothers suffered so women could be equal, but it only went so far.

The men begrudgingly allowed us on the playing field but not in the sense of true equality, rather patronizingly and with the expectation of failure. We didn’t fail; we kept bumping our heads against their glass ceiling, and now they want to take it all back. The patriarchy wants to be in complete control again; they think they can walk it all back by convincing their wives and daughters that the country was better off when women were at home raising kids and keeping house and not meddling in the affairs of men.

 Fundamental Christianity is complicit; it aligns with the ideals of the patriarchy because it teaches women to be subservient to their menfolk, support them, and abide by their decisions whether or not they agree. There are women all across the country who welcome repealing the 19^th Amendment. Women finally have the ability to break free of this subjugation, but too many are waving a white flag high above their red-capped heads because they’ve been convinced that’s what God wants.  

            The patriarchy wants to blame women for the state of disarray in our country. They blame women for trying to be more than property, more than unpaid housekeepers, and it’s working! Every woman who aligns themselves with this fascist regime is signing her own indenture papers. Every last woman who voted against her own interest has slapped our foremothers right across the face, and it threatens to silence our collective voice altogether. We’ll be right back to not worrying our pretty little heads about anything but getting dinner on the table and the kids to church on time.

            They call themselves patriots who want to protect our way of life, but their agenda only protects a tiny percentage of Americans. They wave the flag and spew family values rhetoric from one side of their mouth and fascism from the other. They beat their drums in a call to action, “Save America!” It’s nothing more than emotional manipulation and outright lies. We protest when they say the sky is clear blue because glancing out the window reveals storm clouds. “Fake News!” They say you can’t believe the media; you can’t even believe your own eyes, and everyone on the left side of the aisle can’t be trusted because they’re either mentally ill or just plain evil. Sweetheart, that’s gaslighting. Haven’t we had enough? They want us broke, uneducated, and dependent because that’s the best way to maintain control.

They want our blood, sweat, and tears but not our input. They think folks should pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but they’ve made it so we can’t afford boots. Mark these words: On November 5^th, knowingly or otherwise, too many voted to hand over control of our country to fascists. If you like him because he speaks his mind, then you either agree with his dangerous and disgusting rhetoric or you aren’t paying attention. I find either option unfathomable. You’re essentially saying it’s ok that women’s rights and the rights of every marginalized group in this country—LGBTQ, Persons of Color, Non-Christian faiths, and Atheists—will be stripped. And, to those who think this is just a four-year detour, I hope you’re right. I hope no one in this country truly wants a theocracy or to see an authoritarian regime in power. I hope he proves me wrong, and I’ll gladly eat my words. But everything I see and hear from the president-elect and his camp about their intentions makes me fear we won’t see another democratic election without violence.