I’m horrified as well. As a former history teacher what’s happening in our country scares the hell out of me! In 2016 there were those who dismissed Trump as a buffoon , and “Didn’t like Hillary.” I don’t believe in casting blame but.....
Now we have people who say, “If only we had a younger candidate instead of Biden.”
At this point it’s time to stop wishing for the ideal and to get behind Biden with everything we can muster. Otherwise we will have a country which ceases to exist.
As Sarah Kenzior would say, that apathetic fear is exactly what the kleptocrats are going for. It’s excruciating to watch this slow slide into autocracy. Yikes
Carrie, thank you for writing this. It's horrifying. It's still horrifying. It will always be horrifying, even after these events are relegated to the history books.
And we're still living it with no end in sight.
Sarah Kendzior doesn't get enough credit for the work she does to warn us all with thoughtful, insightful, accurate truths.
I would like to note one thing, and this doesn't take away from anything you've said here in any way: your use of the word 'liberal' as a catch-all for those who should more accurately be called 'progressive' or 'leftist'. We're not the same, as any true liberal will tell you.
I've been a Liberal for more than 60 years and I'm proud of who I am. There's a reason Progressives spun off from us and it has to do with their feeling that we are the wimps of the party while they are the revolutionists--those people who want quicker, more radical change and aren't going to wait around for it to happen. They don't trust government, any more than the right does, but for different reasons.
There's a place for both, I think, but we Liberals see ourselves as the patient doers, the supporters of Big Government as the only means to lasting social and economic progress. When it's done right. Which is our goal: to get Big Government to do it right, not by bashing or undoing but by working with them, by electing true public servants, by fighting the furies that work against our progress For the People.
You might say we're the Pollyannas, the Bleeding Hearts, those people who believe in the good and do the everyday things to get it done. We're not Centrists, we're not Progressives, we're not Leftists, we're not independents. We're Liberals. We don't always get what we want, in fact, we often fail miserably, but we'll keep working at it with the hope that doing something is better than doing nothing.
Truth on so many levels. It might not surprise you to know I struggled over that word precisely for those reasons. But also, progressives aren’t all crazy either. You nailed it - it’s people who don’t trust government. Thank you for making me think about it more. I might change the word again.
I didn't say how much I appreciated your writing and I'm sorry for that. You're doing a great service here. That one little quibble takes nothing away from what you've presented.
Oh, no need for this. I take criticism well - especially when it's good criticism. And you hit something I had thought about, but not enough. Thank you for caring enough to say it.
I’m horrified as well. As a former history teacher what’s happening in our country scares the hell out of me! In 2016 there were those who dismissed Trump as a buffoon , and “Didn’t like Hillary.” I don’t believe in casting blame but.....
Now we have people who say, “If only we had a younger candidate instead of Biden.”
At this point it’s time to stop wishing for the ideal and to get behind Biden with everything we can muster. Otherwise we will have a country which ceases to exist.
As Sarah Kenzior would say, that apathetic fear is exactly what the kleptocrats are going for. It’s excruciating to watch this slow slide into autocracy. Yikes
“... an essay that will surely end up in the Smithsonian.”
This presumes a future in which the Smithsonian is allowed to exist.
Carrie, thank you for writing this. It's horrifying. It's still horrifying. It will always be horrifying, even after these events are relegated to the history books.
And we're still living it with no end in sight.
Sarah Kendzior doesn't get enough credit for the work she does to warn us all with thoughtful, insightful, accurate truths.
I would like to note one thing, and this doesn't take away from anything you've said here in any way: your use of the word 'liberal' as a catch-all for those who should more accurately be called 'progressive' or 'leftist'. We're not the same, as any true liberal will tell you.
I've been a Liberal for more than 60 years and I'm proud of who I am. There's a reason Progressives spun off from us and it has to do with their feeling that we are the wimps of the party while they are the revolutionists--those people who want quicker, more radical change and aren't going to wait around for it to happen. They don't trust government, any more than the right does, but for different reasons.
There's a place for both, I think, but we Liberals see ourselves as the patient doers, the supporters of Big Government as the only means to lasting social and economic progress. When it's done right. Which is our goal: to get Big Government to do it right, not by bashing or undoing but by working with them, by electing true public servants, by fighting the furies that work against our progress For the People.
You might say we're the Pollyannas, the Bleeding Hearts, those people who believe in the good and do the everyday things to get it done. We're not Centrists, we're not Progressives, we're not Leftists, we're not independents. We're Liberals. We don't always get what we want, in fact, we often fail miserably, but we'll keep working at it with the hope that doing something is better than doing nothing.
I wrote about us here: https://constantcommoner.substack.com/p/heres-a-thought-let-the-liberals?utm_source=activity_item
Truth on so many levels. It might not surprise you to know I struggled over that word precisely for those reasons. But also, progressives aren’t all crazy either. You nailed it - it’s people who don’t trust government. Thank you for making me think about it more. I might change the word again.
I didn't say how much I appreciated your writing and I'm sorry for that. You're doing a great service here. That one little quibble takes nothing away from what you've presented.
Thanks.
Oh, no need for this. I take criticism well - especially when it's good criticism. And you hit something I had thought about, but not enough. Thank you for caring enough to say it.
I appreciate that. Truly.