It really does. Everything is secondary.
THE DAY
Spent most of the day on the phone, gluing a family member back together. I even got taken on several walks: i.e., the relative went here and there, phone in hand, and talked to me the whole time. That really was the entire, ENTIRE morning and early afternoon.
When someone needs you, they need you.
So, as you can imagine, nothing got done. I didn’t even read much, though I did try (and did some more research/thinking). The one thing that hanging out with this relative was good for: a nice bitch-slap in terms of tired tropes. Forced me to think outside the box. So it all evens out in the wash.
The only other thing that caught my attention today was this point-counterpoint thing in The New York Times on protesters and Trump’s campaign.
While I understand and even sympathize with every point of view here . . . at the end of the day, the attorney is correct. These *are* private events; they *are* Trump’s parties; and, therefore, Trump can control who gets in and who’s booted out. We may not like it, and I would suggest that Blehar’s points are also spot-on. These types of demonstrations don’t help and only serve to make supporters more entrenched because they feel a) threatened and, therefore, b) more protective of and rigid in their POV . . . because no one likes to be wrong.
Demonstrations have a part to play, don’t get me wrong. But they should be a) peaceful and b) outside the venue. Think of scabs walking the very quiet gauntlet of glaring strikers. Sometimes silence can work to your advantage, and your point can still be made.
Really, I wonder what would happen if all these angry, noisy protesters gathered at a venue and stared as supporters walked past. Or maybe that’s pie in the sky optimism because there’s another call making the rounds now for a “Lion’s Guard” to protect Trump from protesters. Here’s the article, and here’s an excerpt that ought to chill you right to your bones:
“We are *defensive*, *protective* of innocents who are being beaten and harassed for their political views.”
Uhm, last time I checked, that was happening to people against Trump, not the people for him. But what is more worrisome: this is no different from the Brown Shirts, the Sturmabteilung, an organization created in the 1920s to provide protection for Nazi rallies. They, too, were formed to keep protesters from disrupting events. They were initially unarmed, just as these Lion’s Guard people say they would be…but the SA quickly became a paramilitary group.
Guys . . . this is no different. It is not. The language is almost identical. Worse, I can see the evolution playing out right in front of me. I kid you not. I can see how this escalates. I’m sitting here waiting for the first time someone gets seriously, seriously hurt and/or killed.
Why people aren’t more concerned is . . . I don’t know what it is. Head-shakingly naïve? Everyone thought it couldn’t happen in Germany. EVERYONE.
It happened. It can happen again. It is happening in the incremental way it did before.
For Christ’s sake, people, wake up. Why are you voting for this fascist demagogue? Why do you tolerate this kind of hatred? This is how you want your children to see and remember you? What in the name of God do you think you are teaching tehm?
WRITING OUT LOUD
DEAD MOUNTAIN (placeholder title)
Day 1: 1500 (outline)
Day 2: 0 (outline)
Blog Post: 650
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What I’m Watching:
This country going down the tubes.
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What I’m Reading:
Sort of this and that in-between gluing body parts back onto my relative. Articles on lesbians in the 19th century, gold mines, wagon trains. Just barely started Halfbreed.
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What I’m Listening to:
Abandon. An okay entertainment but great literature, this isn’t. It isn’t even written all that well. It’s just something to listen to.
