That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
--Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg, PA
The Democratic Party I know offends people.
And Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy and Fox News cannot believe their good fortune to be fed, daily, red meat with which to bait their listeners.
Some people call this "woke" but whatever it is, I know, when I sit in a room with hardworking folks from Haverhill or Methuen or Salem, NH, they are appalled by the idea of defunding police, or by the idea of having to say a sentence about a "gender fluid" or "non binary" person not, "She went to Walmart to buy herself some soap," instead "They went to Walmart to buy themselves some soap."
And the idea of "reparations" for the nastiness of slavery and Jim Crow means that someone is proposing to take hard earned money from them in 2021 to pay a fine for something that happened in 1856 or 1956 which they had nothing to do with. They don't know about red lining and they are not aware of advantages they may have had they never asked for; all they know is they are struggling financially right now, living paycheck to paycheck.
These folks can be as horrified as anyone at the photos and videos from the 1960's when Black children were killed in church bombings or spat on for trying to get served at a soda fountain or to attend a public school, or attacked by police dogs, but they are insulted and infuriated to be told that America is a bad place because we have some ugliness in our history and the idea this might be taught to their 10 year old kids as some sort of Critical Race Theory--which of course it is not, but still, that sort of thing is entirely plausible to these villagers who have heard Democrats on TV talk about racial injustice as if everyone is guilty.
And the news that in California they are erasing the name of Abraham Lincoln from elementary schools because ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the Great Emancipator, was not woke enough means these humble villagers want nothing to do with the Democratic party. Sure, tear down the statues of Robert E. Lee, who was a traitor and as vicious a slaver as ever lived, but Lincoln?
Even Jefferson. Now, we all know, those of us who have seen "Hamilton" or maybe even read a few books about Jefferson--my own recent favorite is the "Most Blessed of Patriarchs," by Annette Gordon-Reed--then our judgment of Jefferson might be more complicated.
But here is my point: We need a different message as Democrats.
We need to say the Republicans are all about rejection of the idea of the community. The only place they accept cooperative action is worthwhile is in the military, but Democrats say we had all better hang together or surely, we will all hang separately.
We really do need a new birth of freedom in this country, but that has nothing to do with guns and vigilantes stalking the streets like Kyle Rittenhouse, but a freedom which means that the government which represents us in Washington actually represents the PEOPLE, not sagebrush or the powerful minorities. There is nothing democratic, no democracy in a US Senate which has a Senator from Wyoming representing a few hundred thousand getting the same vote as the Senator from California who represents nearly forty million. And that same Senate, a body devised to restrain and thwart the will of the people, controls the US Supreme Court which is a body designed to say, "This is stuff you cannot vote on. Only we get to vote on this. We are the umpires and only our opinion counts."
So, I would love to see raucous Democrats showing up to protest Gerrymandering at rallies waving yellow flags which have the segmented snake who reminds us "Join or Die," which is perfect because its not about "Don't Tread on Me" because I am the only important one, but it's saying by joining WE are stronger and we depend on each other for survival.
And in New Hampshire, where we are supposed to have one representative for every 3,444 citizens, put that number on the flag.
The Tea Party dimwits dressed up in Revolutionary War costumes, with three pointed hats. I think Gettysburg Democrats ought to wear the blue Kepi hats worn by the Union soldiers of the Civil War--we ought to be saying, "It was the SECOND American revolution we embrace--the one that actually did set people free, all the people, the one that brought a new meaning to all men are created equal, not just white men." And we might add, "Not just men, but women."
And make that yellow the same yellow as the Gadsden flag, just to confuse the opposition, who thought they had coopted that color and flag. People driving by will have to ask: What?
Republicans are always catching the accusations we hurl at them and hurling those grenades back at us: I saw a youtube ad just yesterday saying, "Democrats are trying to take away your Medicare!"
The least we can do is to steal a flag.
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