Anyone else feeling that tension between wanting to be informed and wanting to be happy? I sure am. Every day immigrant families are torn apart as armed, masked, goose-stepping goons in unmarked cars kidnap brown, Spanish-speaking people in ICE raids. I watch in horror as our country’s leaders either cheer on the genocide in Gaza or stand idly by as families are bombed and children are starved in an open air concentration camp. Meanwhile, the government is pulling federal funding from institutions—from colleges to hospitals to businesses—who dare to promote or encourage Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. It never ends. Dismantling consumer and worker protections… Blatant acts of corruption… Gutting care for Veterans… Slashing medicaid funding that will lead to the closing of rural hospitals… Installing a conspiratorial, anti-vax moron in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services… Demonizing trans people who just want to live their lives, while criminalizing the medical care for trans youth that keeps them from being a group that is eight times more likely to commit suicide… Attacking higher education. Attacking Women’s Rights. Attacking the press. Attacking the rule of law. Attacking the truth.

That hopelessly overwhelmed, powerless feeling is strategic. Steve Bannon has talked about it many times. He calls it “flooding the zone.” You can read about it HERE. Even this whole 1000+ page “Big Beautiful Bill” bullshit is an example of flooding the zone. It’s filled with so much awfulness that you can’t take it all in… Especially difficult for a population with an attention span incapable of following something that can’t fit on a bumper sticker or a red hat. I mean, do people even REMEMBER tariffs?? Prices are going up because of trump’s stupid tariffs, and WE are paying for those price increases. But just when people are like, “Wait, I don’t like THAT,” we’re flooded with news of Marines being deployed to Los Angeles. And as people start asking, “Wait a sec… You mean to tell me we’re rounding up Spanish-speaking people in a city named LOS-FREAKING-ANGELES?!? HALF OF THE DAMN CITIES IN CALIFORNIA HAVE SPANISH NAMES,” next thing you know, they’re dropping bombs on Iran. And people are like, “What was I saying?”

There’s no doubt about it — Evil is definitely flourishing right now in America. They’re cutting funding to NPR and PBS, for God’s sake. The GOP is so far gone that when they see Sesame Street teach kids to be compassionate, empathetic, and kind, they think that those moral messages are some kind of ‘propaganda” against the Republican Party. What do you think Mr. Rogers would do if he were alive today seeing all this happen? Well, 56 years ago, he sat down in front of a skeptical Senate subcommittee and asked them to financially prioritize & value the good work PBS does with children. Please enjoy this moment of simple goodness and moral clarity brought to the world courtesy of Fred Rogers…

This isn’t the first time that Fred Rogers has reminded me that Not Everything Is Crap. But for today’s Republican Party, the sort of sentimental display of compassion and caring you just watched is painted as somehow anti-American. There’s a significant portion of the American populace that is so addled by cultist loyalty and deceived by media manipulation that as their leader attacks democracy and the rule of law, their response is, “Well, democracy and the rule of law aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.” It will take decades to repair all of the damage that trump and his army of bigoted idiots have done to the institutions that actually made America great. But I think it’s time to forget about being “great” again. It’s time for America to be BRAVE again.

I’ve been thinking a lot about bravery lately. And discomfort. And distraction.

I work at a restaurant. In our kitchen, there are Spanish-speaking people. They’re not criminals… They come into a hot kitchen, work hard, and cook delicious food. They have families. They laugh and tell jokes that I often can’t understand. I sometimes teach them some English, and they sometimes teach me some Spanish. Without being able to fully communicate with them, I know I like them. Just like with everyone else, there are some I like more than others. But because of the ICE raids in the Nashville area, we had to have a protocol for what to do if ICE shows up. And as my soul welled up with righteous anger at the injustice we’re living though, I decided that I think I’ve lived long enough. Not in a “I want to die” sort of way… I don’t. I really enjoy living. There’s a quote by author Tom Robbins that says, “There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, and nothing worth killing for.” But I’ve been thinking about how our grandparents and great-grandparents literally ran toward nazi machine gun fire on the beaches at Normandy. And about people marching in Selma, knowing there was a good chance they would be beaten up and arrested. And I think people are probably going to have to be willing to die for this cause.

We are PERILOUSLY close to losing the right to free and fair elections. Honestly, we might have already lost them. Think about this for a minute: To this day, trump insists that the election he lost to Joe Biden was “rigged.” He is purging federal employees who do not hold this same view. Watch the complete distain that trump appointees show for anyone who questions their authority. Observe the ease with which the lies flow when someone dares to confront them with facts. In this BS bill they’re trying to pass, there is a section (specifically section 70302) that allows them to ignore judicial orders. If that happens, it’s basically game over for the separation of powers. The actions and policies put forth by this corrupt administration are DEEPLY unpopular with the American people. And the lack of concern shown by republicans about losing mid-term elections makes me think that perhaps they are not planning on HAVING mid-term elections. How hard would it be for them to see polls that foretell a loss, declare the elections “rigged,” and take control of the mean & technology for voting? How out of character would that seem?? I suspect that the injustice around us will not go away without conflict, and the power that this group of fascists has acquired will not be given up without a fight.

We cannot be distracted… Not by the flood of misery and awfulness and injustice that makes us feel like we are drowning, and not by the phones in our hands or the screens in front of our eyes. We have to be prepared to be uncomfortable. Think about how many people can’t even WATCH Saving Private Ryan. It’s too uncomfortable for so many of us to even sit through three hours of cinema to see the sorts of sacrifices people made to fight tyranny. We have to be willing to get arrested… To be hit by the stones they are throwing at the most vulnerable people around us… And—if necessary—to put ourselves between them and the guns that are pointed at them. We have to be brave. Generation before us ran toward gunfire. They marched toward the dogs and the firehoses and the batons.

Thank you for reading. If you’re low on hope, perhaps anger will suffice. Look for inspiration in the arts. Read The Hunger Games. Watch some Andor… Or any of the Stars Wars movies, really. Watch those young men run toward the bullets in Saving Private Ryan. Look at the photos of the millions of people who were at the “No Kings” protests. Hell, watch some episodes of Mr. Rogers if that’ll help. Don’t be distracted. Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be brave.

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