the canvasser walked up the driveway toward us. “well, there’s no doubt who you are voting for,” she stated and then continued, lifting up the democratic presidential candidate who had inspired her to hit the sidewalks, to knock on doors and talk to people.
“we already voted,” i smiled and told her, so she could breathe for a moment, replenish her energy and move on to the next house, with the hope that she could make a difference in this unparalleled election, an election of utmost importance to our country and its populace. i thanked her as she smiled wearily, turned and walked on.
yes. it is obvious who we voted for. we have zero need for this choice to be secretive.
we exercised our right – to vote – granted by amendments to the constitution of these united states.
we exercised our civic dedication – our duty – to democracy, voting for the most appropriate candidate to be president of these united states, the candidate who will uphold and protect that very democracy.
we exercised our right to vote to protect those rights, our freedoms, the constitution, its amendments, to protect these united states.
yes. we voted for kamala harris and tim walz. with gratitude for them.
because any other vote is a vote to undermine the privileges of freedom we – every single one of us – have in this country, to undermine the compassionate humanity we all share, to undermine the democracy of america.
we are truly – like mika brzezinski said – ” counting down to the election of America’s life.”
if there are no alarm bells going off in your head, you have not been paying attention, you have not read the intentions of the maga party, you have sloughed off the reprehensible words of the maga candidate.
if you are not trembling as you think about the outcome of this election, you have not elicited any part of your good conscience, your moral center, the part of you that cares about this country or its inhabitants. you, instead, have bought into hatred and violence. you have abdicated your character, your integrity to the abhorrent character of this maga leader. and, if i knew you before, i don’t know you now.
if you don’t feel like sobbing thinking about the darkness that could come with the maga intentions of the maga candidate, his cronies, project 2025, every single mean-spirited, depraved, cruel, sadistic undermining of rights, freedoms, opportunity, you have closed off your heart. you clearly don’t care what happens to the people of this country – of which you are one.
i am stunned we are here, at this nightmarish moment in the history of the united states. it feels surreal to even try and wrap my head around the unconscionable, ghoulish possibility that we – free americans – could find ourselves in a fascist regime under the authoritarian rule of this unscrupulous maga candidate and his drooling-for-power contemptible sycophants.
we are there – at the place where we all decide how this country will move forward. forward, not backward. forward to better, hopeful, joyful, united.
and so, in this moment, we could talk about so many pieces of this decision, so many aspects of the candidates, so many policies, so many ramifications.
we could talk about the maga candidate and his historically misogynistic, racist, bigoted views on life.
we could talk about his repulsive imitation of a disabled reporter.
we could talk about the many, many women who have accused him of sexual assault.
we could talk about his silver spoon, his elitist attitude, his entitlement.
we could talk about his lack of compassion, his clear lack of empathy, his lack of regard for the populace of this country – people – some of whom he refers to as “the enemy within”.
we could talk about his corruption.
we could then talk about his incompetence, his hateful vitriol, his obscene handling of the pandemic, his lack of respect for the vulnerable, for people different than himself.
we could talk about his felony convictions, the civil suit jury decision in which he was found guilty of sexual abuse. we could talk about his multiple standing indictments.
we could talk about his ad nauseum lies, his utter nonsense about disproved election fraud, his inciting of a brutal insurrection on this nation’s capitol.
we could talk about his lack of vested and intelligent interest in addressing human-based climate change that will affect this planet and the lives of all those who follow.
we could talk about his depravity, his lack of coherence, his inability to speak to his policies, his deliberate weave off-topic, an avoidance of spilling his actual intentions.
we could talk about the people he surrounds himself with – all with agendas of the most vile nature.
we could talk about how his maga supporters are not hearing – really hearing, really grokking – that he will destroy the affordable care act, decimate healthcare in this country.
we could talk about how project 2025 will slash medicare options – making narrow advantage plans the only option, eliminating supplemental plan choices of care, places of care, medications of care.
we could talk about how his cronies – who will have positions of power – will create hardship for the people of these United States. we could talk about how the present economy – under the present administration – of which other industrialized countries are envious – will be demolished under their selfish thumbs.
we could talk about how maga will run social security into the ground. we could talk about tariffs that will add mountains of cost to our daily bills, about taxes that will serve the super-rich and undermine everyone else. we could talk about how this might affect you and me, regular people.
we could talk about the elimination of women’s rights. we could talk about how this despicable, women-abuser will continue down his already-well-established path eliminating the right of women to choose, the right of women to seek reproductive health care. we could wonder how else this maga candidate wishes to drown the rights of women, what else he wishes to do to push women under, to eliminate their voice. “whether women like it or not.”
we could talk about his appalling intentions against the LGBTQ community, his limitations on who people may love, marry, with whom they may have children, basic rights of every single person regardless of sexual orientation or identification. we could talk about his spreading of lies about transgenders, his repugnant and distorted-from-reality rhetoric.
we could talk about how his extreme nationalist view runs scared of and runs rampant over any race other than his own whiteness. we could talk about his egregious plans for mass deportation of immigrants; we could talk about his zeal for remigration. we could wonder about this kind of loathsome animosity, this kind of sadism.
we could talk about his kowtowing to vicious autocrats. we could talk about his alliances with dictators around the world, his bowing to them, his ego hungry for their strokes. we could wonder about – or do we intuitively know – the tyrannical direction in which he wishes to take this precious country.
we could talk about his unhinged dedication to revenge, to retribution, to perpetuation of the ugliest ugly.
we could talk about his stoking of division, his glee at chaos, his embrace of violence, his utter evil.
but – really – we are merely three days away from this election. and who has frickin’ time for all that?!!!
don’t bother comparing policies now. don’t fool yourself into thinking that policies are the issues.
we are at a place like never in recent years – a choice-point – this very election – that threatens the very tenets of this country.
so now it’s time to cut to the chase.
because it clearly all boils down to one thing, one choice.
do we wish for this country to continue to grow forward as a democracy?
or do we wish for this country to sink into the depths of fascism?
to say i am beside myself would be to minimize this moment in history.
what i can’t understand is that this whole ENTIRE country is not beside itself.
what i can’t understand is that half this country is voting for a candidate who has no intention of furthering democracy, no intention of goodness, every intention of autocratic power, the demolition of human rights, acts seeking revenge and retribution.
what i can’t understand is the explaining-away – the sane-washing – the absolute worship of this incoherent, unworthy, unhinged, unfit maga candidate.
what i can’t understand is the hatred, the hideously ugly maga agenda.
what i can’t understand are members of this populace who are unswerving, unconcerned about fascism, about autocratic governing, about abolishing the constitution of this country.
we are the generation that has this moment in our hands. we are the people.
please consider reality.
stop sloughing off all the warning signs that we are standing on a dangerous political precipice.
stop viewing through rose-colored adoring glasses this candidate who could literally give not one sh*t about you – no matter who you are.
stop sickeningly acting like this maga candidate is the second coming. subscribing to that is an insult to your intelligence, an insult to the universe and to any deity you might believe in.
decide if you want fascism or democracy. and, if you decide fascism, research what that really means – for you, your family, your community, your state, your country. and then ask yourself why you would choose such tyrannical ultranationalist extreme ideology.
vote with conscience and with morality, knowing that one day you will no longer stand on this earth but you will have made a difference for those who came behind you, you will have created the world they will live in.
choose that world with great deliberation, meticulously, very, very carefully.
reverse threading 