During the William J. Clinton Impeachment trial in January of 1999, Republicans were fond of using the phrase, “ a man who would cheat on his wife would cheat on his country.” Maybe Democrats should revise that derisive phrase; ‘a man who has cheated on his wife and country would kill you.’ I am using shocking language because America has not been sufficiently stunned enough to take to the streets and demand action. First, let me say I am a proud member of the “ok boomer” generation and with each critique of being part of the “establishment” levied by butt hurt millennials my pride increases at the activism of my generation. If you other OBs out there remember we re-popularized the word antidisestablishmentarianism. The word became a trivia question in the 60s and 70s as one of the longest words in existence. In reality, the usage was adapted from the 19th-century outcry against establishing a national religion. It then became my generation’s rallying cry for fighting [“the Establishment”] millennials accuse Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden of representing now.
I am an over 60 black male and have seen in my lifetime men and women beaten, shot, jailed and in one famous case buried under an earthen-dam for advocating the right to vote. I saw young white men and women lying dead and injured in pools of their own blood on the Kent State campus protesting poor black men being used as cannon fodder in an unjust war in Vietnam. We now have a President tangentially connected to the murder of a journalist; involved on a social basis with a jailed alleged sex offender whose suicide death is being investigated as a murder and now could be part of a scheme to have a United States Ambassador “ go through some things.” I have worked and knocked on doors to get out the vote, made call after call to enlist protestors but the response from young people is sparse and cynical.
Have you given up?
If you think my assertions are far-fetched or are feeling chastised I have eight grandsons moving quickly into a world that will be the remnants of Trump-ism. One of my nephews recently joined the armed forces, so I am anxious and apprehensive about their future survival. Adult film actress and performer Stormy Daniels (nee Stephanie Clifford) made a claim, yet to be unproven, of herself and her child being threatened by what she feels was an emissary of Donald Trump, in a parking lot. In retaliation for the killing of General Qassem Soleimani the Iranians bombed a number of Iraqi/American bases, the President tweeted out all is well and claimed no injuries to allied forces.
Yesterday we found out as many as eleven Americans, were in fact injured. The President, to no one’s surprise, lied to the American public when he said: “no Americans were harmed.” Taking to the streets is not a losing strategy, we saw it in Taiwan, we saw it in Cairo and now we watch Hong Kong. Millennials—now is the time, now is the moment, and to paraphrase what you have heard from right-wing Evangelicals who seek to run, ruin and reduce your quality of life, backing a lawless President, tomorrow is not promised.
Vote in 2020 for Change.