A singer sings how "this is the moment, the moment in time." It is a moment of great change, of decision, of future success, happiness, survival, whatever is at the crux of a moment in time. Think of the many movies and shows wherein the moment often comes with a crushing charge, a life or death realization and decision.
There are the movies. Should one run towards or away from that encroaching monster? Should one run or towards that political honcho? Should one run back into the house for the last item or bug out NOW! Does one wait or search for one person and endanger the lives of the rest? Should one profess love of another even though a relationship might sour because of it?
There are myriad moments in time, thousands of "the moment" decisions. Now, now we are engaged in a moment that has unsettled the world and we are on the cusp of THAT moment in time that will decide the future for millions, perhaps billions, of people. Will we have the courage and integrity to make the right one, even challenging many in society who think the opposite, or will we all run off the cliff, like stampeding buffalo, or unthinking lemmings, drowning in their own unthinking moment?
Recently I was asked what I thought would happen should Trump - G-d forbid!!!!! - win in 2020. First, there would be a stunned silence, a moment of great disbelief, great angst. There would come a following moment of a shock to the core, despair, among the opponents. And there would be a blood curdling scream of victory and cries for 'let's go!' from the haters who received implicit permission to advance their bloodthirsty plans. Finally, there would be the moment of decision: what actually to do?
My moment of decision would be one word - RUN!!!! I do not believe that my life, the lives of those I hold dear to me, of minorities, of dissenters, of thinkers of society, of the leaders of the opposition, would be worth a plugged nickel at that point. The media would be crushed and hounded until we had only the fake American Pravda, the stooge media of the Russian dictator of the moment.
There are so many signs that tell of this moment. The lies, the ever increasing lies, the denials of those lies, adding more lies - no one can be trusted. The attempts now to destroy opposing press. The hounding of individuals who speak the truth, the demeaning of those who defy corruption, graft, any of the old standbys of political corruption. A mass pardoning of criminals who had Trump's back and the elevation to an art, to a science, to a requirement, of the moral vacuum of the GOP, the encouragement of dastardly deeds and attacks on society. In short, we will become , and are actually well on our way at this point, to becoming just a fractured remnant of our former country, a disappointed and disappointing failure in history. A moment of shame. A moment of grief in the history of mankind. So, yes, run!
There should have been many moments already wherein people should have recognized the truth of the matter. The impeachment and what led up to it. The sniveling, cowardly behavior of the GOP Senators. The insane faces of Graham and Grassley at the hearing re the sexual assailant, Kavanaugh. The appropriation of the integrity of the Department of Justice, ever larger, deeper, culminating in the appointment of a huge liar and stooge of Trump - Barr.
The moments increased in time. The appalling non reaction to the pandemic. The denial of the truth as tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands either sickened and/or died. The moment when bleach and unsafe medical practices were urged on the public by that know nothing, Trump. The moment when we realized that the ill timing of the lockdown, before and after, so mistimed, so dangerous, so horrifying, so disempowering of the sane and realistic people who had no grudge to push, no fantasies of power, and were clothed, as opposed to the nakedness of this would be first American king.
Worse, the moments, the so many moments, of hatred, of violence, of increasing divisiveness of Americans, the growing despair at our increasing isolation among the nations of the world, the throwback ideas and failures of history being replayed before our very eyes. The moments of crudeness, the moments of express dementia, the lack of empathy, the insistence on opening schools in a month while the pandemic still rages on with no vaccine in sight. The moments of appropriation of the intellectual properties of others, using them to boost his campaign even as they sue to stop this practice of his, in disgust, as they diametrically oppose him.
There are so many moments that they have now become hours, days, weeks, months and years. For too long Trump was excused, told that he would 'grow' into his office, was a breath of fresh air, even as they pretended not to smell the reek of the miasmic air of the ever growing swamp of his. There were moments when he shredded our alliances, and professed love for dictators, as he fawned before them, allowed them outrageous demands and gifts of power.
So many moments. So many awful moments. So many moments of willful blindness, of trying to fool oneself. But now the moment, THE moment, is fast upon us. At present we have some hope, but should the worst, the unthinkable, happen - that moment is there. No time to think, to analyze. Only one answer to the moment - RUN! There will be no being well in this sick parody of a nation. There will be no safety - not for anyone - as the practice of being thrown under the bus, being discarded by the roadside, will grow by leaps and bounds. The country will become unlivable, a reflection of the former SSRs of the Soviet Union, a land where violence will rein, and hatred pervade every moment.
One moment to change the situation. That is the moment to VOTE. Be it via mail. Be it via early voting. Be it by standing on long lines in bad weather or fear of the pandemic, get out there and use that moment - vote. Else our future moments will be nothing worth anything. Unless you prefer to RUN!
No comments:
Post a Comment