In 2001, Grover Norquist (lapdog of the Reagan kleptocracy) made an astoundingly candid and violent declaration of intent:
"I'm not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
This is just one example of why it is so important we believe people (or organizations) when they tell us who they are. The far right has been figuratively (and sometimes literally) shouting their agenda for decades. Currently, democracy seems more and more like an inmate on death row, without a court in the land willing to hear an appeal (thanks, Leonard Leo). Had we simply heeded the verbal intent of the executioner, perhaps things wouldn't be so dire - but here we are.
Democracy is the earth upon which our aspirations as a people are footed. Without it, none of our ideals can germinate, much less flourish. I believe we need to soberly reassess the health of, and restore our "virtual Earth" - democracy - as priority number one. I don't think many, if any of our better tendencies can take root in the current political ecosystem we inhabit. In short, I believe it is all hands on deck to save our democratic republic - and fast.
I remember Thom saying (sometime in the mid-2000's?) "movement politics" were historically the catalyst of change in society. But what if the movement needed is to preserve democracy itself - the ground upon which all other movements are made possible?
G.errymander
O.bstruct
P.unish
In 2001, Grover Norquist (lapdog of the Reagan kleptocracy) made an astoundingly candid and violent declaration of intent:
"I'm not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
This is just one example of why it is so important we believe people (or organizations) when they tell us who they are. The far right has been figuratively (and sometimes literally) shouting their agenda for decades. Currently, democracy seems more and more like an inmate on death row, without a court in the land willing to hear an appeal (thanks, Leonard Leo). Had we simply heeded the verbal intent of the executioner, perhaps things wouldn't be so dire - but here we are.
Democracy is the earth upon which our aspirations as a people are footed. Without it, none of our ideals can germinate, much less flourish. I believe we need to soberly reassess the health of, and restore our "virtual Earth" - democracy - as priority number one. I don't think many, if any of our better tendencies can take root in the current political ecosystem we inhabit. In short, I believe it is all hands on deck to save our democratic republic - and fast.
I remember Thom saying (sometime in the mid-2000's?) "movement politics" were historically the catalyst of change in society. But what if the movement needed is to preserve democracy itself - the ground upon which all other movements are made possible?