Five little words I usually never
said as a young, impressionable man when someone uttered a bigoted remark in my
presence. Mistakenly I thought peace meant the absence of conflict. And
conflict was always preceded by vocal disagreement. This would inevitably
escalate into physical violence. So I was a quiet kid. Never objecting to the
insults and lies of crazy old men. Never agreeing with them either.
Older men infecting young me with
hate was not the totality of my life’s experience. When I found myself
surrounded by people who knew better I felt safe and secure. I saw the bigot as
an outcast. A malcontent living on the fringes of society and no real threat. He
based his prejudice and bigotry on no tangible evidence I could corroborate in
my life experience.. A life lived in many worlds with all kinds of different
people.
I was wrong. Silence is not the way
to combat that kind of hate. What I did not understand was that those
individuals spewing vitriol were seeking validation. And that with my silence I
was giving it to them. My silences made me complicit. Now these folks are
talking war.
Violence has erupted and more is
being planned. “You say you want a revolution, well ya know, we all want to
change the world,” John Lennon said. We all want to see change. Change
for the better. “But when you talk about destruction don't you know that you can count me
out.” Destruction is not better. It is not
good. Lies upon lies beget more lies to justify still more lies.The people who won office on the promise they are going to change government now want to destroy it.
Everybody is lying. Nobody telling
the truth.
Rioters and police dying under the Capitol roof.
In the house of democracy,
Insurrectionists made themselves at home.
Blood stained our Constitution under
the Capitol dome.
For a lot of people supporting the
former administration there was a line crossed on January 6th, 2021. It’s a
line we never should have come to in an era of enlightenment. This is what
happens when good people do nothing. When we sit in silence afraid of the
violence which might ensue by calling people out. Shame on me.
Especially shame on those who
continue after January 6th, 2021 to support, endorse, defend or otherwise
encourage this menace. He has gone from ineffective to dangerous.
You can blame his inability to cope
with the enormous complexity and demands of the office on the press, the
Democrat’s, the Republicans, China, illegal immigrants, Iran all you want. The fact remains he
had a full term’s worth of opportunity to effect positive change for all
people, not just those who agree with him or are “loyal” to him. What he chose
to do was cultivate and foment the very worst instincts of humanity in as
combative and authoritarian a way as possible. He could not handle the press or
the negative things said about him by anyone and took each and every criticism
personally. He could not stand the heat or the consequences of ill-conceived or
poorly executed policy. He would not take advice other than that which
conformed to his own narrow world view. His game plan was flawed. He has been
soundly defeated which in turn has let down the millions of people who believed
in him.
And now they are angry and want to
take it out on everyone with violence and hate. And all I can say, because I
won’t be silent any longer, what is wrong with you?
