John and Mary Farquar stopped the car to find out what the commotion was about. It was like an impromptu theater or some such intervention. People waving signs declaring “The End Times Are Now” and “Count All Votes!” and “Trump Won!”
A burly fellow in camo ware banged on the hood of their car. “Stop the steal” he shouted as more demonstrators poured into the street blocking the way forward. “Kill Nancy Pelosi. Kill Adam Schiff.” Mary was waiting for them to shout “Down with the Republic!” John flashed on Robespierre and Marat draped in the “Tricolore.” The Directorate was drawing up its lists of traitors, and the bloodbath would be commencing soon. That was monarchy falling then, this was …?
Well, ignorance knows no bounds, resentment no satisfaction. Once the demons are released, the captive bottle is swiftly jettisoned and reason, once the province of “agree to disagree,” is drowned in a sea of self-righteous indignation and retaliation for the imaginary wrongs perpetrated by those in power (Democrats here).
Insurrection can take many forms; this one was led by the delusional, imaginary demons let loose on the populace. Accept no apostasy or compromise! The time-worn mechanics, the final morph into fascism goes unchecked.
BLM, Critical Race Theory? These are attacks on white privilege! Time to burn more books. Toni Morrison goes, she’s Black. Kon Tiki’s alright, we “civilized” Hawaii. Now it’s mythological paranoias, resentment soup ingested to satisfy what they were told to eat. Oh the burn of it, the calumny, the removal of personal responsibility. What is worse than an election that was stolen? Storm the ramparts!!
So we jimmy and jigger anything handy. Why not voting? Clamp the arteries of participation. Ignore the federal statutes protecting abortion and pass bogus state laws forbidding it. If there are those out there willing to demonstrate or assist in this heinous apostasy, prosecute them to the fullest. And don’t be caught in the vicinity of a renegade clinic. You’ll get the gallows as well.
Hard to fathom such Draconian impulses let loose. That is unless you’ve already bought into resentment politics as a source of power you’re somehow lacking. Emotional power always outweighs reasoned analysis. The subconscious is running the show. Join the bandwagon. Repeat the chants.
Somehow we’ve been denied justice so to hell with the Constitution. Why should we follow that ancient document? Inconvenient truths should be bypassed and replaced with self- pity. How the framers of the Constitution worried about that.
But the subconscious is driving the car here. It knows only one thing: lies and emotional appeal, and they are intoxicating. The force of a movement, with emotion unbridled from reason, is the primal danger to any state built on constitutional principles. Point of view is ephemeral here. The moment violence ascends and is accepted, only illusions survive, truth is jettisoned. Only destruction satisfies.
Who’s to blame for the collateral incidents that occur like the Kyle Rittenhouse murder of two policemen? Obviously Kyle himself is. But it was a free-for-all and the judge is hostile. He’s mistaking point of view for cause and effect. No innocence here. Being armed, Kyle should have known he had to be ready for a shootout if it came to that and sure enough it did. Viva the Wild West. No one will go to jail, maybe all should. Innocence dies when you pick up a gun.
So what are we supposed to do? First off is tell people like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to stand up to the plate. Second, tell President Biden to stop pretending the Constitution isn’t being shredded on the Senate floor. Third, get on the Democratic legislators and tell them to call out and prosecute their counterparts by name as seditionists. And fourth, go after Trump with every means available.
When Merritt Garland just indicted Steve Bannon, insurrectionist shudders circulated and phones lit up. Time to talk. When the rule of law is shredded by one side, action should be swift from the other. Does restraint have any demonstrable value? Not for Republicans. We know Democrats aren’t about to shred the Constitution, we just want them to act fast to defend it. Imagine! The Constitution that works! That’s a fortress.
Please Dems, just pass the damn Build Back Better bill, kick butt and give climate legislation some real teeth. There’s no time to spare. You’ll find most of the country is cheering and praying. Ignore the tragic farce that is Fox News, so sad.
Alan Harris, formerly of Noble Feast Catering, lives with his wife, Jane in Shelburne Falls and works on publishing his first novel, “The Preposterous Tale of Dan and Lee.