Where do you think this protest is taking place? New York? Los Angeles? Chicago? Miami? Columbus? Indianapolis?
Don’t we wish!
This is a protest, just one day out of month’s long protests in Hong Kong. Their government was trying to take rights away from them and they weren’t having any of it.
We have an authoritarian in the Oval Office, with a Senate, along with a Judiciary, enabling him in thinking he is a king or a dictator with no check on him as our Founding Fathers expected. At a time when we needed the masses to come out and show solidarity in saving our Republic, our Democracy, our Constitution, essentially no one seemed to notice. I’m left wondering how many people didn’t even now there was an Impeachment Trial going on. How many even are aware the Senate voted to acquit the man in the Oval Office of his impeachable offenses.
There were no masses filling our streets during the trial or today for the vote. There were no masses standing together in protest. There were no masses making our voices heard to the powers in Washington, and indirectly our local elected officials. We didn’t stand up saying we won’t tolerate this type of behavior. We stayed home, went about our business, and tweeted and posted memes on social media. By not taking to the streets today, or at anytime during the Trial, we did send a message. A message letting our elected officials know we just can’t be bothered to protect ourselves and our country.
We are apathetic! And in being apathetic, we are losing our freedoms, our country, and our standing as a Beacon of Light for Democracy around the world.
We take easy routes, ones that don’t inconvenience us, without thinking of the infinite game being played. Many people believe our politicians don’t care about us, they only care about the people and institutions giving them big money. How do you think they came to believe this?
Politicians came to believe this because we stay in our comfort zones, don’t make waves, and believe we don’t matter!
We don’t matter because we don’t make them see we matter.
Right now, only people can vote. People who do care about us can’t get elected because we don’t get involved and we don’t vote. By not voting we get what we get. As we’ve heard over and over, elections have consequences. We are living with the consequences of not voting over the past few decades, and most definitely for not voting in November 2016.
People might call their elected officials, or write, or tweet, or post on social media, or even blog. All of these do help, so please don’t stop, but they have minimal effect. What does count is making them see how many of us are paying attention, standing together shoulder-to-shoulder shouting we will be heard, and showing up to each and every protest, and each and every Election Day.
We can either continue to complain nothing is getting better, while not doing anything to make it get better. Or we can continue to complain nothing is getting better, and get off our asses, off our smartphones, and out in the streets and into the ballot box to effect making it get better!
I want you to join me by taking to the streets at the next protest (you might even organize one), and to come to the ballot box with me in November.
Stand up and be counted.
We can do it! We must do it! We must do it together! Starting today!
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 