Late night drinking wine, texting/calling, going to bed early, tossing and turning, screaming at the moon, waking up much too early, making a plan and rising up. This is how some of our 2Gal’s friends have described their response after the Senate decision to not accommodate witnesses leading to the final vote and eventually exonerating Trump of wrongdoing. Prior to the Senate Hearings, we were convinced that the evangelicals were going to fulfill their biblical beliefs of Armageddon by taking us all to hell. Now, we are convinced that the Republicans have joined them. Throughout all of this, the 60’s song, “The Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire kept coming up, “Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction” he sang. Well, we do. At least for the Republican Party which we can now call the Trump party.
Following the hearing, our thought was to write an obituary for America and for the death of democracy and of our Constitution. Clearly, the consequence of not allowing witnesses in the trial moved this country towards the rule of a dictatorship and the creation of a “Presidential” Party that is above the law. What Americans risk by this dramatic shift is what we fought relentlessly to win in the Revolutionary War of the 1700’s. Winning that war freed us from a king’s rule, opened the country up to its people, and provided personal freedoms. These freedoms included religious worship, ability to write and say what one believed in, peaceful public meetings, and created the three separate executive branches of our government.
The “shot heard round the world” signaled the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 and it ended with the start of a new nation.The US evolved into a nation that turned away from an oppressive government that was imposed by a King and Parliament. Now we may find ourselves in full reverse mode of what we as a nation fought for and maintained for hundreds of years. We are now experiencing the second shot heard around the world as our allies wonder what our political future will bring. We hope that sensible and honest people will rise up and get out the vote so that we can end this nightmare.
It is time to take a breath, get a good night’s sleep, wake to a day where we continue to fight for what is right and vote for what is right and necessary to keep this great nation free and working toward peace. Free for all men and women and all those in between.
And remember… do not stop swimming because the water is rough. We cannot change the tide but we can work to swim through it!
