Last week I heard someone use the phrase, ‘It’s amazingly crazy out there,’ and I thought to myself they were absolutely right. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.
I watched a CNN report titled ‘How Republicans can win the election even if they lose.’ It looked shocking easy for that scenario to play out and all of it would be perfectly legal.
The ‘how to’ plan would require the electoral colleges in certain states to vote against the will of the people but it’s always been that group’s power to make the final decision. Only time will tell if we have a legalized coup on our hands.
As the last bits of belief that we live in a democracy drained from my mind, I thought of the recent passing of both John Lewis and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and wondered if it was more than just coincidence that they died at this particular time.
Perhaps veiled within their death was a gift meant to remind us of what it is to fight for something bigger than ourselves.
When RBG and John Lewis passed, the media provided the country an overview of each one’s life, the obstacles they faced as each fought for equality in their own way and the enormous impact they had on this country. It showed their commitment, their perseverance and their service to humanity.
The tributes to both lives are reminders that there will always be some group who wants to keep their knee on someone else’s neck, to have the upper hand and to have the deck stacked in their favor.
RBG and John Lewis devoted their lives to making this country a better place for all of us. They didn’t stop when doors were slammed in their face or when they didn’t win a battle. They didn’t give up. They got up the next day and tried again.
Both spent their lives demanding something better in the face of hardship and injustice. They were in it for the long haul, not just one election. Maybe we can learn something from their sacrifices.
Maybe it’s their way of telling us that as a collective, we too must continue to work for betterment long after this coming election is over.
The political landscape is hard to look at right now and this freak-show is poised to get downright scary until the elections play out and the dust settles.
But the fact remains that no matter who wins, no matter who takes the oath of office in January, it’s still legal to rig the system against the very people it’s sworn to serve. Our rights shouldn’t fluctuate or depend on which party holds the most marbles.
It feels as if most people in this country have outgrown its current system of rule. Relying on elected officials to look out for the little guy doesn’t seem to be working and few faces that fill the seats of Congress reflect the actual people they’re supposed to serve.
No longer can we depend on the government to do the right thing, because it doesn’t legally have to and no one can agree on what the right thing is.
The government has become too busy fighting with itself, vying for power and influence. It’s become a concrete sandbox for two opposing factions playing their version of Game of Thrones. Unresponsive and ineffective to the needs of the people.
Equality and equity for all people is nothing short of a horror story for those who currently get to live above the rules of oppression. They will not give up their throne without a fierce fight.
Those who call out and demand equality and equity must have the drive, the will and the perseverance to pry away all those proverbial cold, bony rich white man’s hands from the halls of our justice system, the bowels of our government and the purse-strings of our nation.
The coming election is going to be a doozy for sure, but it won’t end there. One person cannot save us with an election.
We must join together fiercely and then save ourselves by engaging the system and demanding better, step by step, day by day, just as RBG and John Lewis did.