Liberty Weeps

Post election thoughts...

Well, I haven't had any urges to burn things down, break windows or loot. Yet. But I do have plenty running through my head at the moment. Let's back up to the days and months before November 3rd, 2020 and set the stage. Que dream sequence music...

The country is in a weird place. Weird, actually, is an understatement. Nearly every commercial starts with the words, "In these uncertain times" if that tells you anything. We've navigated and continue to navigate a lab-manufactured, global plague that's taken nearly 1.3 million lives to date, learned about murder hornets, had so many hurricanes we've exhausted the naming system twice over, encountered flying snakes, nuclear cannibal ants, wild brushfires, a plague of locusts, zombie cicadas and Chinese mystery seeds, just for starters, and we're not even to December yet. The political climate has been tense and exhausting, and sadly inescapable. Our society is in chaos, as the once marginal rift between schools of thought has now widened into a gaping chasm that seeks to swallow us all. Many don't know what or who to believe anymore, as the lines between truth and fiction are being intentionally blurred by the media as we roll along. 

That should bring everyone up to date, and paint a accurate though somewhat inadequate picture of our current state of affairs. You see, nothing I can say will quite do it justice. In my nearly half century in this earth I've never seen my country so divided. I've always followed politics, and happily cheered my candidate on. Sometimes it ended in victory. Other times it did not. In either case, I never feared for our future as a country, because there has always been the opportunity to vote out those with whom we disagree and frankly there was little difference in platforms regardless of affiliation. Until recently.

Ergo the chasm. The great divide. Brother against brother. Father versus son. Daughter versus mother. 

Over the last decade I've watched the gap widen. Read stories of families rendered in two, torn apart because of differences in beliefs. I don't like the chasm. I don't appreciate its depth, its danger or the despair it inflicts on those it swallows. But I do understand it. Because I stand firmly on one side of it.

Let me explain.

There are certain truths that, no matter the argument against them, exist solely on principle alone. They don't need my approval or yours. They simple are. The value of life, for example. Unless you are a complete nutter, you're no doubt still with me, yes? Ok. Good. No rift yet.

But what exactly constitutes value? And how do you define life? Let the rift begin. Because while the concept of 'the value of life' has merit simply on face value, individual definitions and interpretations of how that looks in real life will differ. More importantly, how people express their feelings on a topic will take drastically different forms. For instance, a statement that 'black lives matter' is a point that all reasonable people should agree. Of course black lives matter. If, however, that statement is used as the mantra of a movement and coupled with chants of "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon!", or "Whaddawe want?! - Dead cops!! When do we want 'em??! Now!!", as an intimidation of the American public to lift their collective fists and join in the chant or pay, and as an excuse to loot, pillage and plunder all in the name of justice, not only has the statement lost its meaning, but it's squandered it's value. What it gained in notoriety is hardly worth what's been lost in translation. 

You see now an ever-widening, irreparable crack in the dirt. And how it got there. And why it keeps getting bigger. Because we can use this same methodology with any basic concept relating to life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness, and quickly slide from united to divided. It's not really an issue of where we started, but where each of us winds up. Whether it's politics, religion, your view on border security, the economy, foreign policy, the sanctity of life or when it begins, or any other such thing, you have an opinion. Your individual construct has been built and molded from your experiences, an influx of information, and the influence of those you hold in high regard. As has mine. And though each of us is unique, it's glaringly obvious that most of us have landed on two very different sides of this divide. It's to be expected, really. Our sources of information and influence are vastly different. 

One side - bent on convincing the masses that they are in danger from the homophobic, misogynistic, racists on the other side - calls for justice and promises to fix it all. 

The other side tilts their heads in confusion, wondering how the hell it has come to this.

Which brings me once again to the present, mid-apocolyptic, plague-infested, politically super-charged day and age in which we all currently reside. "Can't we all just get along?" the people cry. Half the crowd cheers, the other half rages, Liberty weeps. Not likely. 

After five long years of abuse, hatred, false allegations, manufactured charges against a sitting president, chants for death and destruction, assaults on law enforcement, rioting in the streets, fiery protests, looting and lying, name-calling, bullying, intimidation and selective censorship, after ALL of this... the call for "unity" seems just a tad bit disingenuous. In fact, it's strikingly similar to what it must have been like to be a 1940's store owner in downtown Chicago, being promised peace and protection by the Mafia if they just pay up and shut up. Or the battered wife sporting a black eye and broken jaw as her cunning abuser declares, "This is the last time," or "I didn't really mean it," or worse yet, "You shouldn't have pissed me off."

Nope. Not gonna happen. You see, the mobsters have finally taken it too far. They've messed with our freedom. Our vote. And I, for one, will not tolerate it. Neither should you. 

In case you've been vacationing in the jungles of South America or, worse, getting your information from only a few select sources, let me fill you in. There is overwhelming evidence that the November 3rd election was wrought with fraud. Dead votes, late votes, non-citizen votes, conjured votes, all kinds of votes. But as disturbing as that is, it is insignificant compared to the reported use of computer software that uses an algorithm to tabulate and incrementally add the needed votes to actually change the outcome of an election in favor of the chosen one. This program has been used against other countries in the past to select the preferred leadership, and now there is now overwhelming and irrefutable evidence it was used in our very own national election just a few weeks ago. Here. In America. That, friend, is not just fraud, it is TREASON. 

So... No, we cannot "just get along" because, despite the calls for unity, the game these people are playing with our freedom is treacherous, malicious and treasonous. The entire premise of free and fair elections, of what makes America America, all hinges on whether or not our votes actually matter, and right now it appears they do not. This goes beyond an attempted coup, is bigger than any one man - including Donald Trump, and concerns every single citizen of this great Nation, regardless of party affiliation. And... No, we will not "suck it up and accept it" because this is an attempt to overthrow democracy, impose tyranny, and to destroy the United States of America and IT CANNOT BE ALLOWED.