sonora2sonoma

It’s hard to imagine that putting a little mark next to someone’s name on a piece of paper has the power to change the course of history, yet the one I just placed on my ballot has the potential to do just that in this, arguably the most important election in the history of elections in our country.

This election will, in a very real way, make the difference for a great many people in whether or not they will ultimately survive the pandemic currently savaging the vulnerable among us.  

This election will also determine beyond doubt whether or not we will be able to take advantage of our last chance to slow the emission of the greenhouse gasses warming our planet. The fate of low-lying cities hangs in the balance, but also the future well-being of millions worldwide.  

This election will determine whether we follow the path of reason going forward or continue along a course where fact and fiction are accorded equal relevance and science and ignorance become mired in disputes lacking any commonly agreed-upon criteria for their resolution, a sheer recipe for disaster beyond contemplation prior to the rise of trumpism.

And it will determine whether we continue as a democracy or devolve into authoritarianism. It will have profound effects on a woman’s right to make decisions about her body free of governmental interference. It will have consequential effects on issues like civil rights, LGBTQ rights, voting rights. It will determine whether we are granted an opportunity to regain our status as a world leader or will instead become designated, by foes and former friends alike, as a pariah on the world stage, a threat to world peace.

The stakes, as I said, couldn’t be higher.  And yet, in this divided nation, where the president gives encouragement to right-wing groups to demonize and threaten elected government officials and his fans cheer him on for doing so, where he interferes in justice department prosecutions at the behest of corrupt foreign leaders without consequence, it seems Crazy is the main dish of the day.  The aberrant is now considered acceptable and indecency is overlooked for the sake of righting counterfeit wrongs concocted from artificially contrived emergencies, fictitious threats and fallacious fearmongering. Heaven help us!

The delusional and paranoid state of affairs embraced by trump and his minions, where matters of conscience are now subject to debate and truth is twisted until it folds over on itself, pretzel-like, its meaning distorted beyond recognition, conjure up images of Pandora’s box.  

Truth is like a roadmap, pointing the way, fixing a location, providing clarity to an otherwise murky situation. When truth itself becomes obscured, it has lost its usefulness. The bounds formerly employed to contain chaos no longer exist. And what then?

We are all diminished to the degree that we condone this kind of behavior. When the unthinkable becomes thinkable and the inexcusable finds excuse, the very soul of our nation is at risk. It’s but few steps further until we are lost. And, when what was once held to be self-evident and fixed becomes debatable, we are no longer headed for trouble—we’ve arrived there.

Since we’re already in trouble anyway, our best course is to make it necessary trouble. As John Lewis reminded us, “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month or a year. It is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

A metaphor for our time, the story of Pandora’s Box is a reminder that, in order to survive, active participation in the struggle against evil is required of everyone.

We must remind ourselves that the forces that made it possible for a person like donald trump to ascend to power did not arise in a vacuum. They have always been around, hiding in the shadows like spiders, waiting for the right set of conditions to occur so they can once again emerge and spin their webs of intrigue, deception and control. It is the duty of each of us who value freedom to remain forever vigilant and aware of the spiders in our midst, mindful that democracy is not a given. Democracy is an anomaly, a treasure, a rare gift, a thing to be prized. It is not to be taken for granted, not a condition to be assumed. It requires maintenance, commitment, constant upkeep, even devotion.

As I was penning these thoughts this morning, my musings were disturbed by a loud thumping sound outside my kitchen window, an indication that someone had just sped past the speed bump placed to discourage people from speeding through our townhome complex. As I turned to look, I spied a newer silver pickup with side boards careening obnoxiously past with an American flag flapping on one side and a trump flag on the other.

How fitting, I thought! How timely. And what a shocking display of misplaced bravado, unfeeling disregard and masculine stupidity!

In addition to being highly offensive, this brazen exhibit of ignorant defiance, mere feet from my window, was a potent reminder of the extent, of the reach, of the real illness, the sickness of mind, currently running rampant in our society.

If and when we manage to somehow incise this presidential tumor from the body politic, its metastasized residuum will remain, deeply rooted in the minds of people who will attribute his defeat, ironically, to the duplicitous dealings of Democrats determined to destroy America. A nation thus divided will be difficult to manage, much less set back on the path to reality.

This coming Tuesday will either cement our fates or give us one last shot at redemption. Vote well!

Tim Konrad

November 1, 2020