What To Do In Scary Times--

 


What To Do In Scary Times-- 

A poster on Professor HCR's letter this morning remarked how scary it is, in a comment about my post on Tucker Carlson endorsing an armed rebellion of gun owners because the Democratic administration was "illegitimate". I made the observation that this was consistent with how the Nazis beat down their opposition and the moderates over time in Germany with their campaign of strategic violence, propaganda and lies. 

I identified the problem of emotional "numbness," the gradual accommodation to it all, because for most of us, our human emotions are not capable of withstanding a non-stop barrage of murderous malignant insanity. We begin to pick our spots to shut down, or tune out because we can't handle it. This is what will kill us, every bit as much as our adversary. That is how they beat us down.

This was my brief reply, (with a couple of edits for clarity) which really was meant for everyone who reads Heather's letters. What Heather offers in her extraordinary historical knowledge, I can offer in political organizing insight based on four decades of on the ground experience. 

["______ ______the main thing is that we need a unified strategic political organizing focus for what we are doing, otherwise we will continue to flounder in a cycle of turbulent and constantly changing emotional states, from occasional inspiration and enlightenment, to anger, rage, horror, cynicism, and the same feeling of impotence we have when watching someone drown and we don't know how to swim.

I worked with some of the old line civil rights leaders from the 60's, and their advice to me was to never let them make us hate, despair, or resort to violence. That's what people like Carlson want, that is their drug. If our energies are focused on an objective, then we can overcome these things. 

That's why I've pointed to the importance of mobilizing to crush Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania. He is truly the most dangerous of the Trumpians, and that campaign could be our Gettysburg, a singular battle which changes the course of the war, and shows people how to resist.  Are we going to let a dark ages QAnon, fascist, election denying, January 6th attendee take Pennsylvania without a fight? You know his intent is to cancel the 2024 PA Democratic vote as part of the plot to reinstall Trump. I'm not content to leave this in the hands of the PA Democratic Party or Josh Shapiro. We need our movement to be felt and heard. 

Fear is normal in these times. Let's make them fear us with some "People Power."]

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