📢 I'm not sugarcoating it
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So yesterday, someone emailed me to say that I should not write about being terrified and how it isn’t helpful to the cause.
Sorry, but I refuse to sugarcoat what is happening.
There are a lot of folks scared, and rightly so. Did you know Hitler, after taking power, pretty much dismantled the rule of law and norms in under 6 months?
Excuse me for pointing out that it is okay to be terrified.
It is dangerous to sugarcoat what we are experiencing. If we go full-on pollyanna, we will see folks pull back from donating and volunteering for candidates, and we will see non-voters stay back because they might feel like it is a done deal.
Yes, I am super excited and hopeful that Vice-President Kamala Harris will be our next President.
It’s time we had a super-intelligent, powerful black woman lead this nation.
And if we do the work to elect her and Tim Walz and their backup team in Congress, I will start crying tears of joy because we will see meaningful change happening in our communities with Kamala’s first 100-day agenda:
Restoring Roe v. Wade
Signing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act
Expanding Social Security and Medicare
Ending all medical debt
Raising the minimum wage to a living wage
Passing the PRO Act to enable workers to organize
Banning assault weapons
Leading the world on clean energy
Lowering childhood poverty by restoring the child tax credit
$35 insulin cap for all and lowering prescription drug costs
Building more affordable housing
Investing in child care and elder care
But I have to stress we also need to keep our pedal on the gas and remind friends, family, and community members that our nation is under attack by an authoritarian movement bent on taking away our rights, freedoms, democracy, and the rule of law.
Electing Kamala Harris as Madam President is the first step but we must also remember that she needs a robust House and Senate to do the people’s work.
I was excited for Hillary, who won the popular vote - but she lost the electoral college.
I was excited for Biden, who won both - but then we saw a mob attack our Capitol and attempt an insurrection on our nation.
I believe in you and your power.
Yes it is ok to be nervous, we need it to push us all to do better - and at the same time we can be excited for a future where everyone thrives!
We can do great things as long as we are united in purpose.
Right now, that purpose is to elect leaders who champion people's power and are willing to be held accountable for their actions.
We have to educate and empower everyone in our community so they can vote and thrive. We have to elect leaders at the local, state, and federal level who represent the will of the people. And we have to do the work to hold them accountable.
The day we give up, the day we make excuses, the day we let leaders hide in their offices and cook up ways to fleece hardworking Americans and our families is the day we fall to tyranny.
So, no, I am not going to sugarcoat this.
Suit up. We ride at dawn.
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If your corresponder is reading this, many people in the UK and Europe are also terrified. Those that aren’t terrified don’t take enough interest in politics to understand the risks.
Putin has said many times that he wants all the territory that was the USSR back. That doesn’t just include Ukraine, but all of Eastern Europe. Since most are now in NATO, that will be a full scale war. The USA had turned to its own domestic affairs when WW1 and WW2 broke out in Europe. If Trump is re-elected, WW3 is possible.
Cities and military bases in the UK are close in these small islands; it won’t take many nukes to wipe out the whole country.
Also, Trump is crazy enough to start WW3 by a nuclear strike on Iran. He is fascinated by nukes, and is too stupid to understand the full implications of radioactive fallout. The Christian fundamentalists that support him actually want to bring on Armageddon and the Second Coming.
There is a saying that WW3 will be fought with nuclear weapons, then WW4 fought with bows and arrows.
So terrified is a perfect description.
Is People Power aware of Patti Smith's rousing anthem, "The People Have the Power!"?
Remember this line? “People have the power to redeem the work of fools.”
Can you imagine the power of bringing Patti Smith live to a venue with a few thousand attendees singing the chorus? And with a young pop singer by her side, singing alternate verses?
I can!
How do we make that happen?
\Vince S