The Day After

The battle is lost, yet the war continues. The lull between the action is in two parts: the quiet that occurs until January, when the Republicans unleash their organized attack on everything the administration has done lo these six years, intent to dismantle as much as they can; and, the lull between now and the 2016 campaigns, which varies. Some have already ramped up. For them there is no lull. For them, life is chess, and they are many moves ahead.

We fought a good battle but, in the end, we lost. So, we have to ask ‘Why?’. What did we say that did not resonate? What did we not say that we should have? What did they say that we did not hear?

Was it simply an identity issue, where Republicans vote Republican because they are, at their core, Republicans, however they define it? Can it be that they are so superficial that the banner alone is enough to stir a conditioned response, much like Pavlov’s dogs? Or, can it be that they are serious minded, reflective individuals who, after due consideration of the messages, make conscious choices to vote as they did? Were they duped, misled, or did we misread them and fail to communicate properly, to meet them where they are?

Were people more concerned with meat and potato issues, like jobs, and we were amiss focusing on social issues of fairness and equity and human rights? Did we not connect the dots to create enough AHA! moments? Did they want jobs, any jobs, while we wanted increased minimum wages?

These are rhetorical questions but the answers may give us some insights into the chasm that separated us from them.

What did our opponents say that resonated more, enough so that we lost 2:1? If they misled the masses, why was that and how did they do it? What did the masses ‘get’ that we did not? What did they not get, that we were not able to expose?

Imagine someone saying, “Congress is a mess!”, then voting to keep it so. That’s not exactly true. Some states did make changes. They did create a new Congress. The Reds in Red states stayed their course while the Reds in Blue states overran their opposition. They are now poised overrun the White House, their eyes set upon the presidency in 2016.

Is it something we said, or something we didn’t say?

It is time to reflect. It is time to vacation, to put things aside for a bit, concentrate on our breathing. The battle will resume in due course, Let us repair, each to his or her own lair, then regroup, refreshed. You are no longer privates and first lieutenants, You are sergeants and majors. Your experience has made you wiser and stronger, When next we meet, we’ll do better.

Mary's Army

“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.”

                                                                                    Voltaire

I awoke this morning thinking of you, Mary’s Army, In four days, you will know the outcome of your efforts. There’s anxiety in the air and so much yet to do. The weather has changed. Icy winds of winter have arrived, a metaphor for difficulties in a time of war. Just four more days. Surely, you won’t let the inconveniences of inclement weather stay you from your course, obstruct your mission. You will persevere.

In the grey of this morning, I am reflecting upon you as a force. Only months ago, you were ‘civilians’ caught up in your own lives. What brought you together were ideas and ideals. You rallied around and behind one person, your representative, through whom your united voice would be channeled and, hopefully heard among contrary voices clamoring for the attention of the same tribes.  You fought diligently to give her an audience, among citizens where they live and play, through an oftentimes uncaring media. You marched, held signs, handed out literature and did whatever was necessary to advance the cause. You became a force.

You were a force of one standing on corners or working a crowd. You were a force of many at key events when rallying was the best tactic and many were needed. The next few days will call for your greatest efforts. No time to waste. So much to do.

I found myself asking, “What then?”

You came together behind Mary and for Mary, but there is more. You came together with Mary as a symbol, a meaningful icon, But what brought you together and kept you together were ideas, beliefs. What brought you together were ideals you believe in that are being challenged and, in many cases, threatened.

We are a nation of laws but there are those eager to craft legislation that denies basic human rights. There are those who will codify the ceding of our state’s and our nation’s sovereignty in the guise of ‘job producing’ trade agreements. There are others who will steal away our rights to water that they can then sell back to us; those who will pollute our waters to extract oil and natural gas and sell the products abroad, who will privatize the profits and socialize the costs of reclamation if, indeed, reclamation is still possible; those who will play the ‘jobs’ card to mask the threats to our environment.There are those who will run roughshod over women’s rights to choose and the rights of children for free, high quality education, food for the hungry, shelters for the homeless and access to healthcare for all. There are those who will deny people's rights to vote and, soon, to rally and march for what they believe. You know all this. You rallied behind Mary for the ideals she represents. 

Come Wednesday morning, what then? Will the fate of these ideas have been decided? Will your work be done? Will you soldiers separate and return home, your quest over? Will the memories and war stories comfort you before the open fire?

Nothing will be settled on Tuesday. Not really. The clarion call of these ideas will still sound throughout the district, indeed the nation. The issues will not have been put to rest. If anything, the cries will become louder, more shrill. As opposing forces gather to execute their plans, to carry on their work, where will you be? Will you say you gave it your best and move on with other facets of your lives. Will you say you did your best, that it’s time for others, a new generation perhaps to carry on?

Or, will you agree that the force you have become must remain in tact? Will you regroup to reshape your efforts, craft new strategies and tactics to carry on the fight for the state and the nation you purport to love?

The fight is not over. It hasn’t even reached a peak, What needed doing still needs doing, with even greater urgency.

I leave you with these thoughts. Will you go home, cede the ground you won, and listen to people over the coming years as they ask, fearfully, “What will become of us?”  Or, will you increase your forces and flex your powers and rally people to ask, “What can we become?

You have done so much, with relatively so little. You have sounded the alarms, carried the banners proudly, taken the battle to the streets and stood tall for your fellow citizens. This is no time to stop. The battles have just begun, and you are needed more than ever.

http://themellowjihadi.com/2014/02/15/carry-on-carry-on/