In November we think about giving thanks, but there are other important days on the calendar. November is election month. Our local election was on the 7th, and Republicans in Virginia took a trouncing. I will give thanks that our governor, now without any legislative support, will not get to track women’s menstrual cycles. Nor will he get his abortion ban. Democrats now control our legislature, and that is a fine thing. Voters across America realize that this election was between the party that wants to take away our rights and the party who wants all citizens to have the right to control their -own lives without governmental interference. Most Americans know that we, the people, should be in charge of what we do with our bodies and who we love, not politicians. Another - often overshadowed by the others - holiday in the November calendar is Veteran’s Day. It used to be called Armistice Day, to celebrate the end of WWI and pay homage to the many who gave their lives in that war. W
Fall is my favorite season. I love switching to winter foods and sweaters after a hot summer. I love the bright leaves and the pumpkins surrounded by yellow chrysanthemums on porches.
But mostly I love the spooky atmosphere, Halloween, dark gothic movies and little witches trick or treating.
I love being scared by fiction, however, not real life, and in our real life, America has become a place threatened by some terrifying stuff — way worse than vampires and zombies.
America could possibly no longer be a democracy after the November Congressional midterms. If this were a horror movie, this moment would be that moment — you know it — when the group of cute lost teens decide that going into the creepy house in the middle of the woods is actually a good idea.
When the viewer says, “Oh, no! Don’t go in there!”
And of course, they do, and all hell breaks loose. Because the cute teens have walked straight into a terror that they’ll never be free from.
So will the American public if the Republican Party takes over the Senate and the House.
On Oct. 6, The Washington Post reported there are a vast number of election deniers all over the country running for office this year.
An election denier is anyone who believes former President Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, despite no evidence to support their idea.
If Democrats lose the majority in Congress, as well as governorships and state offices, election deniers will be overseeing future elections.
Why is this dangerous? The first thing that comes to mind is no country should be run by folks who cannot tell reality from fiction.
Election deniers in charge of our elections? They will never allow Democrats who win to be seated; they will overturn legitimate elections.
If votes will no longer matter, democracy is lost.
Like the kids in the movie, moving every closer to their doom, we are on the precipice of losing everything we hold dear in America.
The only remedy for this is to make sure election deniers are not allowed to govern. Vote against them at the polls Nov. 8 or go now; early voting has begun.
Make sure our election-denying representative, Ben Cline, is defeated and replaced by Democrat Jennifer Lewis.
Other forces in the U.S. are coming for democracy, including the Republican-ruled Supreme Court, which this year reduced American women to second-class citizens.
Scotus is going to rule on Moore v. Harper this term, a case about independent state legislatures, where Republican North Carolina state officials are seeking unchecked political power over elections.
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of North Carolina state officials, they will be carrying out the wishes of the election-denying candidates — removing the power of voting from the people.
The Framers of the Constitution are clear that democracy comes from the people. They were also (especially Alexander Hamilton, writing in The Federalist Papers) keenly aware that judicial overreach cannot be tolerated, especially when it promotes the views of only one party, and is not neutral.
We need a stronger Democratic Congress — if election-deniers lose in November, we can add more Senators and Representatives who will continue to make lives better for Americans and to protect democracy.
A strong Congress can also do more to check the out-of-control Supreme Court — that must be done. The efforts of the Trump-appointed judges and their allies must be stopped.
America must stop this process to enter the house of fascist authoritarianism.
Comments
Post a Comment