" Can Joe Biden and his team sufficiently model bipartisanship, civility, and competent government responsive to the needs of the people in order to win back moderate republicans and tip the scales away from fear mongering and conspiracy theories?"
I would like to share with you this exchange I recently had with John Shearer. See below..
Hi Paul,
Thank you for your note. The situation does present several possible scenarios for consideration after disappointing election results indicating that the political virus seems far more advanced than COVID and much harder, if not impossible, to ameliorate; to put it mildly. What to do?
First, I’m creating figurative firewalls and preparing an exit strategy for what may be an inevitable loss of our democracy and rule of law. The opposition has tasted the gruel of fear driven life and has become addicted to the foul rotting smell and acrid smoke of what to some appears to be freedom. Of course it's all an illusion, but feels real enough, and for the first time in the hearts of the 76 million, they have been seen, or at least appear to have been seen by a cadre of charlatans and sycophants led by the most prolific public liar since perhaps Nero or earlier.
Shocking to say the least, but the numbers don’t lie and good people from every quarter must come to a fateful decision. Are we willing and able to fight to the death to recover the remnants of our beloved system, or are we going to let someone else do some dirty work and get mauled to a slow death.
Eia and I are living in a gated community near New Bern, NC and find we need to move back to the safety of the Raleigh-Durham area asap. We have been treated to weekly rallies and parades featuring 60-80 flagged cars within our community. They will not retreat and will be back hacking away at every turn.
In the meantime, I do think that doing nothing is not the answer. You have helped me to see that love IS the only answer and I intend to live lovingly every day that is granted from here on. So, the questions revolve around where to reside safely with enough resources to keep up the work in hopes that it will go from the embers we tend to the flames necessary for an evolution rather than a revolution.
Peace and Love,
John
Hi John,
Some say what happened to the Weimar republic cannot happen here in the US. I beg to disagree. I think much of the groundwork has already been laid by Trump's hijacking of the Republican party so that there is little pushback against the lies, disinformation, intimidation, unspeakable acts and general betrayal of democratic principles.
The question is whether Joe Biden and his team can sufficiently model bipartisanship, civility, and competent government responsive to the needs of the people in order to win back moderate republicans and tip the scales away from fear mongering and conspiracy theories. I think it will take all of his 4 year term to do so, but I will be cheering him on and doing all I can do to return our country to compassion, tolerance of differences and civil discourse.
If it were up to me I would make it clear that hate speech is not free speech and would be punishable by significant jail time. Disinformation, lies or threats against anyone in any public forum (including social media) would be met with prompt legal action by the Justice Department with stiff penalties against both the perpetrator and the forum in which they are expressed.
We need healthy boundaries restored in our body politic.
Certain lines should not be crossed. Trump, of course, has crossed them all and made it acceptable to lie to his followers and coerce and intimidate those who oppose his policies. Unfortunately, 75% of the republican congress has become his parrots and justifiers, or his silent conspirators.
We must be patient and do all we can to return our country to sanity and to advocate for policies that are inclusive and do not leave anyone behind.
Maybe a move back to the Raleigh-Durham area would provide you with a safer and less stressful environment while you wait out the results of the next four years.
On my end, I would not be inclined to seriously consider leaving the country unless Trump or one of his clones is elected in 2024.
Love,
Paul