[Last week, I sent this e-mail to a dozen or so progressive friends. The response has been very positive; several of them were forwarding it to other friends. I have scheduled one on one meetings over coffee or lunch with several of them, and others want to meet with me. A few of us have even talked about getting together on a regular basis, though that will have to wait since I have a few medical issues to deal with first, including blood pressure which has been out of control since the election. One suggested I post the e-mail here. So, for what it’s worth, here it is.]
Dear Friends,
A day or two after the election, I posted these questions on Facebook: “Oh, America, what have you done? ‘What rough beast’ have you loosed on the world?” Some of you will recognize the short quoted phrase as coming from Yeats’ poem "The Second Coming,"written in response to the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Several lines from the opening stanza of Yeats’ poem had sprung to my mind shortly after the election:
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Yeats’ poem seemed to me an all-too-accurate portrayal of our most recent election. Its aftermath, as our terrified and sycophantic newscasters insist on normalizing the horrific Trump transition, has made me even less hopeful for the future.
A few days after the election, Sharon and I were in Blairsville having dinner with a couple we often spend our time with when we are there. A guy my friend and I knew from our Trout Unlimited chapter came over to our table and began talking (the guy never stops talking!) racist garbage. He said that native Americans (not his words) had a red mark on their foreheads, a target, and that he had a license to kill them. He then drew out a small piece of paper, which I assumed was an open carry license. Larry called him a “racist pig” while all I could muster was an angry “No, you don’t.” The racist laughed and began bragging about his racism, saying that we should all have “a n______r slave.” My friend led in denouncing him as we all joined him in telling the guy that he had deeply offended us, that he needed to leave the vicinity of our table at once, and that we did not want to see him at our table again. As he left, laughing, he said, “You voted for Clinton, didn’t you?” When we all answered yes, he said, “I feel sorry for you!” and walked off.
Now consider some of the implications of this incident. First, this TU guy clearly suggests that if you are not racist, you must have voted for Clinton. I do not for a minute think all who voted for Trump share his virulent racism. But he clearly thinks so. Second, though his voice was loud enough to carry throughout the restaurant, no one else seemed to pay any attention to the incident; they simply carried on with their conversations, their “polite meaningless words” to quote Yeats again. Union County, where Blairsville is located, is 97-98% white and voted 83% for Trump. Even considering that, the fact that this despicable coward felt comfortable spouting his violently racist nonsense in a public space for all to hear and that no one other than us said a word about it says volumes, I think, about where we are as a nation.
In the first seven days after the election, The Southern Poverty Law Center reported over 700 hate incidents directed against minorities. Among those incidents were a Trump supporter accosting a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, calling her “Terrorist,” elementary school children blocking their school door against Hispanic students, signs saying “Trump Nation—whites only,” and one person on a Delta flight screaming at “Clinton b_____es.” Neo-Nazi and KKK groups exulted that they were closer to real power than they had ever been.
So I fear we shall see a huge increase in hate speech, intimidation, and racist and misogynist violence. But that’s only the beginning. I fear much, much more from Republican dominance of a government led by Trump. Trump’s agenda seems intended to inflict maximum misery. I fear we can expect:
1. Racism, xenophobia, and misogyny likely amounting to far more than random acts of hate from despicable people. Trump has proposed and Republicans appear ready to act on an anti-minority agenda. Trump’s appointment of KKK and neo-Nazi sympathizers like Bannon and Sessions strongly suggests that he intends to follow through with his proposal to round up and deport Muslims and Hispanic immigrants and to institutionalize “stop and frisk” nationwide, leading to enormous increases in our incarceration rate. Never mind that we, “the land of the free,” already imprison more of our people and a larger percentage of our people than any other nation on earth.
2. A massive increase in privatization of federal government functions. This would include schools, prisons, public lands and monuments, roads, navigable waterways, bridges, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. We might also see increased privatization of law enforcement and national security. The result will almost certainly amount to a massive raid on the public treasury—corporate welfare on steroids.
3. Significant rollbacks in regulation of financial institutions. We might expect the end of any limits on payday and other usurious lenders as well as current limits on leveraging of assets on banks. The result might be enormous and risky increases in asset to liability ratios, which in turn might lead to bank bailouts that dwarf those of the 2008 financial crisis.
4. Significant rollback of environmental regulation, including EPA regulations protecting water and air. Republicans plan to make significant cuts to the EPA, perhaps even to kill it.
5. Rollback of all efforts to address climate change. Trump and his advisors are saying they will cut entirely NASA’s budget for studying climate change. Myron Ebell, Trump's nominee for EPA secretary, headed a think tank and lobbying group adamantly opposed to climate change legislation. He is a master of propaganda.
6. An even more aggressive foreign imperialism, both economic and military, in some cases with the specific intent of protecting Trump’s personal overseas interests.
7. Repeated and systemic attacks on the first amendment rights of free speech, free press, and free assembly. Trump has already said he will end net neutrality, and his repeated and vitriolic attacks on the press appear already to have intimidated many. In particular, Trump recently unleashed a particularly vitriolic and unhinged attack on CNN. He has also threatened to weaken the burden of proof for libel, thereby enabling legal attacks on the press.
8. Serious and systemic threats to constitutional democratic governance.
Lest you have doubts about that last point, I want to elaborate on it a bit. I think this election was stolen. I’m not talking about the kind of vote flipping that might be caught in the recounts or about Russian hacking or about Comey’s intervention. I’m talking Republican control of the electoral system in thirty three of the fifty states, Republican control of 31 governorships, Republican control of both houses in 32 states, and Republican trifectas in 25 states. This Republican control at the state level has led to severely gerrymandered districts and widespread voter suppression. The latter has taken the form of rigid voter id laws, greatly reduced numbers of polling places in minority and Democratic communities, and reduced early voting hours.
Perhaps the most devastating form of voter suppression has been Crosscheck, a computer program championed by vile Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach that traces names across multiple states presumably to determine whether a particular voter might be registered in two or more states. The program is designed to use full names and social security numbers. But the Crosscheck lists distributed by Republican secretaries of state have included only first and last names (sometimes even with varying spelling), lacked social security numbers, and included only names sounding particularly Hispanic (e.g. Andrea Hernandez) or African American (e.g. Demarcus Jefferson). These lists may well have eliminated millions of minority voters from the rolls in Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, and Florida. Given Republican dominance at every level of government, this kind of voter suppression is likely to increase, leaving us less hope to elect Democrats. To begin changing this, we Democrats will have to work harder at the local level recruiting and supporting candidates.
The Sunday after the election, my pastor announced in church that God’s will had been done, that whatever we might have thought about the election of Donald Trump, God was in control. The clear implication is that we should not resist, but trust God to take care of us. I consider that nonsense. I do not think God willed the election of Trump any more than he willed the rise of Hitler or Stalin or Mao Tse Tung or Pol Pot. God allowed these events to happen; he did not will them. Those who point to Paul’s admonition in Romans 13:1 to obey authorities ignore its context, Romans 12:21: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
I think God is testing us as his people. We failed the first part of the test by electing Donald Trump. But he is still testing us. Will we resist—resist efforts to oppress our brothers and sisters, resist efforts to destroy the world through war or climate change, resist efforts to normalize a psychopathic agenda that is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ? I think those of us who follow Christ are called to resist Donald Trump and the Republicans in any way we can.
So what can we do? First, we have a Senate seat to win in Louisiana. I just contributed to the senatorial campaign of Democrat Foster Campbell, who has a fighting chance to win, thereby giving Democrats 49 seats in the US Senate. I urge you to support him in any way you can. Second, we may have a new opportunity in North Carolina. A federal court just ruled that North Carolina must redraw its racially gerrymandered districts and hold a special election in 2017. We must do all we can to keep informed about developments in North Carolina and to offer support as we are able.
We must also denounce hate speech and defend vulnerable minorities in any way we can. We can support organizations that fight for minority rights, that educate the public about issues, and that advocate for freedom of speech and the press. One excellent example of such organizations is Equal Justice Initiative led by Bryan Stevenson. I recommend you read Stevenson’s Just Mercy, a powerful and harrowing account of his efforts to get a black Alabama death row inmate released—kind of an updated non-fiction To Kill a Mockingbird. It will open your eyes to the injustices that pervade our criminal justice system. Other worthy organizations include the Southern Poverty Law Center, the NC NAACP, and Common Cause. Then there are the online progressive Christian blogs such as Sojourners, Evanglicals for Social Action, and Patheos progressive Christian blog. We might also choose to support independent, investigative online journalism such as In These Times, The Nation, Common Dreams, and Mother Jones.
Since the election I have probably signed dozens of petitions, forwarded e-mails, tried to call elected officials (never got through), called and left a message with the Justice Department to audit elections, and called TV stations to complain about their coverage. I could only do a little bit of the latter because I got anxious, and my blood pressure went sky high. I doubt that my petitions, e-mails, and calls have done much good. But particularly after the calls, I felt much better because I had done something. I suspect we all need that—to resist even if futile can be therapeutic. So I encourage you to resist even if it might not do any good. Keep in mind, too, that disastrous as this election was, many more Americans voted Democratic than Republican. Hillary Clinton got two million plus more votes than Donald Trump while Democratic candidates for Senate got five million more votes than Republican ones. And we can rejoice that our bureaucracy is extremely complex and very slow to change.
I also hope that we will all stay in touch and regularly commiserate with each other. I’d deeply appreciate responses to this long e-mail, preferably sent “reply all,” to promote dialogue among us. Also feel free to share this e-mail among like-minded people.
I want to end with an encouraging quotation from New York Mayor DeBlazio’s Cooper Union speech last week:
“We New Yorkers will stand together. We’re going to stand up for the needs of working people. We’re going to stand up for the right to organize. We’re going to stand up for our immigrant brothers and sisters. And we know that so many in this city fear being affronted, and we will stand with each and every one.
To all Latinos who heard their culture denigrated - we stand by you.
To all Latinos who heard their culture denigrated - we stand by you.
[Applause]
To all the African Americans who heard their history denied - we stand by you.
[Applause]
To all the women who heard their rights being threatened - we stand by you.
[Applause]
To all the Muslims who have heard their faith belittled - we stand by you.
[Applause]
To all those in the Jewish community who heard a resonance from history that gave them real fear and pause - we stand by you.
[Applause]
To all those in the LGBT community who heard a message of taking us backward - we will never go backward. We stand by you.
[Applause]
To all of you - we will protect you. This is your home.”
Bill
Time for a break.
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