I wanted to share two videos from Seth Andrews, which speak to the terrible turn this country has taken. Both are insightful and thoughtful. I hope you take the time to listen and ponder what is being said.
Tag: politics Page 1 of 4
When the Supreme Court of the United States leak of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case occurred a year ago, it was devastating for me. I held out a glimmer of hope that Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey wouldn’t be overturned, but I knew the final decision likely wasn’t going to change. It was still a debilitating gut punch when the decision became official. A right I had my entire life, a right I had exercised, was taken away from me. In that moment, half the American population were told they could not be trusted to make medical decisions for themselves.
Since that time, I’ve written many comments online. I’ve been called a murderer more times than I can remember. I’ve had kind internet strangers step in and tell forced birthers to kindly fuck off. I’ve said so myself. However, it is one thing to be called a murderer by internet strangers. It’s another when it comes from someone sitting in your living room.
Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking about a book I read a while back, “They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45.” There is an excerpt I thought I would share.
If you’re not familiar with the book, August Heckscher, the chief writer of editorials of the New York Herald Tribune, wrote the book “suggests how easy it is for human beings in any society to fall prey to a dynamic political movement, provided their lives are sufficiently insecure, frustrated or empty.”
One of the lessons my grandmother taught me was to “put your money where your mouth is.” It’s something I’ve hesitated a few times or couldn’t afford to do at the time. Over the years, I’ve provided financial assistance, protested, wrote letters, and made phone calls for issues that were important to me.
I recently sent the letter pasted below to my state representative, Brian Hardin. The bill, LB626 passed through the committee, on which he sits, and will now go to the floor for debate.
If anyone wants to use what I wrote, please feel free. As readers of this blog know, this is an important subject matter for me, one in which I never thought I’d have to be fighting. It is 2,285 words long. Regardless of whether or not Hardin listens to me, or even reads my letter, I said my peace. I truly hope the bill fails.
My black and blue computer chair is quite comfy. I sit in it each day to read the news. It’s where I write the majority of the things that come tumbling out of my brain. It’s an old comfort, full of tears where cat claws have made their mark. The chair has served me well for nearly a decade.
For the past month, however, I have sat down in my trusty chair, rested my fingers on my keyboard, and…I…just…can’t. There are things in my head that want to come out, but after reading the news, I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. I feel like I did when I was a little girl. A major right was taken away from me on June 24, 2022. Every day since the Dobbs decision, there has been a story of someone who wants to further restrict my rights and all those memories come rushing back. I can’t switch it off. My brain still tries to protect me when something triggers me, even if it’s only a headline.
Today, I’d like to take you through the last 36 hours of my news feed and offer a solution, vote.
I’ve always struggled with the day and what it means for the majority of people who live in the United States. So many have never truly been free. I haven’t celebrated it in more than 20 years.
I’m finding it difficult to find the words to speak right now. Each time I pick myself up and look for a rational way to move on, those who wish to control me push me back down.
A small statue rests in a field in western Nebraska.
I sat behind my computer last Friday waiting for the latest installment of Supreme Court decisions. I do this regularly during each session to see what the court has ruled on.
I opened a tab to the Supreme Court website where decisions are posted, then opened another tab to the SCOTUSblog website, where a live text feed is available when decisions are handed down.
In case you can’t read the embedded link, here’s what it says:
Everything seems to be run by a bunch of 80yo senile assholes, and I don’t know why we’re just ok with all that.
The entire government seems to be made up exclusively by either total racist dipshits or smarmy rat-fuck weasels. Neither group seems capable of actually doing anything except blaming the other group for everything.
At this point, the “republicrats” are really just one stupid broken thing, and I’d like to throw that thing in the fucking dumpster where it belongs.
I’m not sure I can add anything to this comment. We need an entire reset because the American experiment is coming to an end.