Matters Existential

Note: Numbers in parentheses refer to Notes at bottom

For the past six or so years, those who know me have eye-rolled at my response to the age of trump: I was being hysterical! Melodramatic! My husband, an otherwise rational person, said “oh, honey, nothing’s going to happen. The republic isn’t gonna fall.”(1)

My fear began the moment Hillary Clinton announced her run, I prayed, in my way, for a rational Republican candidate. Because there was no universe in which Hillary, whom I admire, was gonna get elected. None.

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donald trump was my worst. fucking. nightmare.

I’m an historian and I could see that darkness had descended upon us.(2) The nation lay in the hands of a skilled, immoral grifter who gave not a single fuck about the republic, the constitution, governance. All he wanted was access to the goods. Any way he could get them, legal or otherwise.

I was right.

Thanks to the hearings, now we know at least part of “what happened.” (And just think! This is ONLY about January 6! Think of all the other low-hanging fruit the don and his leeches snatched.)

Now to the point:

This upcoming election? The one in November? It matters. If the Republicans take the House and Senate in November, we. are. toast.

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Let me explain.

dt fears indictment, courts. Loss of any kind. Prison? not for don. A sitting president cannot be indicted. it is imperative that he regain office asap.

Here’s the plan:

his people take the House and Senate. They immediately oust Biden/Harris. Either they appoint dt or, more likely, they appoint an avowed loyalist. He/she runs the joint for a year, while setting up a “win” for dt in November 2024.

He wins; he suspends the constitution. Game over. Let the plunder and pillage begin.

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You scoff. You’re rolling your eyes, yeah lady, what drugs are you on?

Best not scoff. These hearings have demonstrated, in searing, factual detail, that he came within hours of stealing the last election. It all came down to a handful of guys in the Justice Department.(3)

They win Congress, and that’s all he needs to regain the throne. They will immediately oust Biden/Harris. They’ll then either install dt (guided, no doubt, by something “original” to the constitution), or an avowed loyalist will hold court until the election of 2024. Meanwhile, he and they cement their ability to rig elections.

Sure, cabinet secretaries will resign. No problem! The senate will approve nominees loyal only to don. People willing to turn, say, the armed forces against Americans. People willing to fuck with vote counts. People willing to obey.

You think saying good-bye to abortion, the right to privacy, Miranda, and the unfettered freedom to own and use guns is bad? You ain’t seen nothing yet.

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The election of 2022 is existential. We must keep republicans from taking congress.

I’m a registered independent.(4) I’ve got zero use for either “party.”

And I care much less about “policy” than I do about the freedom to have policy debates.

For me, freedom is spiritual. Every day I am grateful that I enjoy freedom of thought, action, choice, a vote. It is the most profound part of me. I am who I am because I am free.

Please vote.

Thanks for reading.

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NOTES:

1. I’m an historian. I live with the historian’s curse, which is to be hyper-aware of context, the long view, the big picture. There were plenty of people in Germany making the same kind of noise. People laughed at them, too.

2. Long ago in a different universe, I taught at a small university. History, of course. One time around 1997 or ‘98, I remember saying, in the context of “rights” that I feared we were pushing the individual over the whole. I told the class I wasn’t sure if the center would hold; if the Constitution could accommodate so many competing demands for rights,” almost always at the expense of another group. I said we’d probably know in about 20 years. Sigh.

3: That was the reason for the violence. Late Sunday, January 3, he ran out of options for overturning vote counts. His last option was Wednesday, January 6, when pence would read the electoral results. He had 48 hours. He needed every fucking weapon he could get his hands on. (By the way? It’s now clear, lest you think I am again hysterical: he began lining up the proud boys in December. December.)

4: Except when I change parties to vote in a primary, as I did this month. I live in Iowa and wanted to vote in the D primary for a surprisingly strong candidate running against chuck grassley in Iowa. I’m a lifetime Iowan (5th gen). Michael Franken is the first serious opponent grassley has ever faced. Even moderate Republicans (the handful left) are outraged. Send Franken $5. grassley’s seat can be flipped.

And no, I didn’t proofread this.