Democracy – under attack at home and abroad – is on the line in this mid-term election like never before since World War II.
In 19 states, Trump-inspired traitors conspire to support undeniably proven lies, backing the Big Liar and following his lead, attacking good people, not unlike Hitler’s thugs.
Russia has reactivated trolls and bots to undermine U.S. midterms and U.S. military assistance to Ukraine.
A sage Arizona pal, Les Baxter, sums it up like this: “There are two camps: people fighting for rights and justice, and people fighting for power and domination.
“If you have a cancerous mole and let it grow, it metastasizes.”
When did Utah voters become incapable of telling right from wrong? I made my living as an ethical journalist, and I resent right-wing lies and disinformation. The rise of Trumpism is terrorizing our country and infecting nations around the world.
My friend Mort Rosenblum has covered stories on seven continents for 60 years. His latest Mort Report begins: “Ukraine faces a potentially nuclear winter. Europe again fears fascism. Taiwan girds for assault. People cry freedom from Iran to Myanmar. And a dis-United States may relinquish its shining-city-on-a-hill democracy over $4 a gallon gas. Americans fixate on prices without considering that the previous president is almost entirely responsible, and nearly every other country suffers from them more.”
President Biden cut the deficit by $1.4 trillion, nearly as much as the tax break Republicans gave the rich. Annualized growth is 2.6 percent. Biden’s 3.5 percent unemployment rate is a 50-year low. He is cutting poverty, health care costs, corporate gouging and much else while fortifying America’s long-neglected infrastructure.
“Numbers aside,” Rosenblum notes, “consider what is supposed to matter: character, integrity and decency.”
We all lose when these voters lose.
· Every patriot. Election deniers nationwide plan electoral sabotage. Now more than ever, don’t let them divide us. Covid and Putin’s war have wounded all economies while oil companies take windfall profits.
· First-time voters: Shout out. This is your time. Human rights, including your right to vote, are on the line.
· Retirees: Medicare and Social Security are on the line (158 Republicans have already signed on to a House budget phasing out support). Republicans vow to slash your benefits.
· Minorities: Ask yourself, “Who’s got your backs?” Democrats, Biden and Obama.
· Women: Who trusts women to make ethical decisions about their own health?
· Churchgoers: If you condemn others during the week and expect absolution on Sunday, you’ve been sold a bill of goods. Good Christians don’t vote for bad people. Vote like your soul depends on it.
Jon Meacham, an insightful presidential biographer, no longer likens U.S. politics to the 1930s, when economic and social upheaval led German democracy to Hitler’s Reich. He cites the 1850s when the nation headed for war against itself.
“That resonates loudly in gun-loving states,” Rosenblum notes. A gunman gravely wounded Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, killing six people at an outdoor meet-and-greet in 2011. “A decade later, that is no longer an unthinkable anomaly.”
Come back, America. Stand up and speak out! Silence is tantamount to selling this country outright. It is our civic duty to vote, to come together and expose wrongdoing, to hold our leaders and controlling special interests accountable.
A wise editor, Michael Getler, once said: You can go badly wrong betting against America. But that was long ago. This time, every single vote matters.
Democracy today is beyond fragile, under threat of extinction. Confront Republican fascists now. Vote smart. Vote against extremists and thugs. Vote Blue.
Pepper Provenzano
Pepper Provenzano writes in Utah and Arizona. A news editor at The Salt Lake Tribune for 20 years, he advocates for human rights, environmental justice, and diversity.