Upon reflection, I am happy to report that my teenage years were spent protesting war, in particular in Vietnam. Only 12, I volunteered for the campaigns of Eugene McCarthy and then Bobby Kennedy who were ready to upend the status quo of the two-party system, 50 years ago this year. My dad supported George Wallace. That was awkward. Neither of us got our preferred candidate, as Nixon won, and Nixon became acceptable to him and many others of the "Silent Majority". He was going to end the war. But he lied, cheated, and conspired to hide it all. Sound familiar? It should. His right-hand legal advisor? Roy Cohn. And who did Roy bring along as his apprentice? Roger Stone. From my high school, FFS! Yeah, he was using political dirty tricks while we were both in school during student government elections. But that's another story.
By 1972, my senior year, I was a McGovern supporter, and my Dad still wanted George Wallace, but he ran as a Democrat (southern Democrats were still a racist thing, as the Republicans were still the party of Lincoln, sort of, while the emerging Goldwater branch of the #GOP answered to the John Birch Society; read Max Boot’s column today for more on this). I decided to apply to become an alternate service conscientious objector. I did not wish to flee to Canada, which was an easy cop-out. My 1-AO status would have allowed me to serve as a medic. I applied for the 1A-O, and then my number came up in the last draft lottery - 20 out of 365. Shit! The war was not yet winding down, but Peace talks had resumed (the ones Nixon's crew sabotaged in 1968). Coast Guard, here I come unless I get picked for a service! When I received my draft notice envelope, my father waited with glee to see which service I’d be reporting to. The county draft board’s letter affirming my request shocked him to his core, and I felt righteous. It also broke our already damaged relationship, which took years to rebuild. I was such a jerk as a teenager in so many ways. Weren't we all, in at least some respects? I was no Brett or Bart or Donald, though.
But the draft ended as the war wound down and I could go to college without a deferment. Things got quiet after Nixon for a while. Then the hawks (in both parties) started exploding the debt & deficit to restart the arms race with the Soviet Union - gotta have a bogeyman if you want to keep the American public afraid. I protested the buildup of the nuclear arsenal as scientists with my entire family (only 3 kids at that time) and #UCS imagined a nuclear winter. Little Corvallis had one of the largest marches in the country.
I protested with Greenpeace against whaling, as we surrounded a Norwegian whaling ship anchored in Portland's Columbia River harbor ... we surrounded it with our canoes. Yeah those strategies were useful.
Some things never change. It is time for action, resistance, integrity to take over the dialog. Movements like #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, #MMIW, and #IBelieveHer are critical. And so often disrespected. By people like me. An old white man. But so not me.
I was the first in my family to get a 4-year degree. I did not want, as the oldest son, to take over the factory that my grandfather built. As an apprentice and journeyman #sheetmetal worker, I learned a lot from my Dad, who had followed in his footsteps. But more from his foreman, an immigrant, who escaped from Nazi Germany after the putsch. And the Portuguese immigrants, and descendants of slaves who commuted from Harlem to their non-union job.
The #MarchForScience was to be transformational. And when I was invited to speak in Eugene, I was proud, not of myself, but of everyone who showed up and have not let the dream die. The movement was inspired by the #GOP War on Science that others have written about, and Trump. Dreams dashed, with only the free press and courts to buffer.
The dreams of Harriet Tubman. Of Gandhi. Of Russell Means. Of David Oppenheimer. Of Martin Luther King, Jr. Of Carl Sagan, Jane Goodall, and Jacques Cousteau. Of Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld, Ban-ki Moon, and Kofi Annan. Of Malala Yousafzai. Of James Hansen. Of Harvey Milk. These are some of my heroes who had dreams, too.
But our dreams have become nightmares. The administration has demonized the press for doing its job, and is using every trick in the book to pack the court with “strict constitutionalists” (except when it comes to #2A, for example). And by making up new rules to ignore a valid Presidential nomination to the Supreme Court, just to wait for 11 months for a “good” one, and then add another, this time one of highly dubious integrity and credibility. And the "silent majority" has returned anew; the same one that resulted in a near Constitutional crisis in the mid-1970s. Another president later would use his stature to create what should have been a #MeToo moment, and a different Supreme Court Justice was chosen and ratified by a Senate that should not have assented. And the Senate will likely still be in GOP control in January 2019, whereas the House will likely move to the Democrats. We can't count on any of this happening.
As an individual I can do stuff. As a manager of a large #science academic unit I am constrained. Somewhat. In some respects I can’t wait until I retire. But I confess to feeling safer knowing that my employer-covered health insurance and #Obamacare still precludes insurance companies from excluding preexisting conditions. I’m luckier than 10s of millions of Americans.
I participated in a fundraising event on Saturday night that rocked me to my core. Over 100,000 in my county alone are food-insecure; 3/8 of our population!. Thousands are not well-sheltered. The economy is roaring, while those who are not in it fail to thrive. Poverty is increasing and our nation, among the #G20 nations, is among the worst in terms of our social contract with its people.
Those of us who can need to up our game. Because a corrupt fringe of one party has enough power now that it can consolidate acceptance across the monied establishment parts of the GOP and Democratic Parties. There are some heroes out there, atheists, Christians, Jews, Muslim, Buddhist, etc., working together. Don't be bound by a narrow social definition who you are.
I don’t know if, for 2018, there is any answer other than not the GOP in the broad scheme of things. I know of some dedicated, committed people who won their GOP primary races, particularly from science and education careers. They are probably really good. Everyone should be engaged in voting and helping others vote. Talk issues. Take action. Demand more of you representatives from the city hall or town/county seat to the US Capitol. Get involved.
/fin
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