“Snap Out of It!,” followed by a slap to the face is one of the most iconic of movie lines and scenes. I often wish Cher could go around the country uttering this famous line and then “smacking” a bunch of people upside the head to, as I heard often while growing up, “to knock some sense into them.”
Her first stop would be with voters. The goal would be to slap the apathy out of the millions of voters who don’t step into the polls ever. She would also need to slap the apathy out of voters who not only don’t vote in mid-term elections, but also who don’t vote for judges, school board members, or other down ballot candidates or in special elections.
After visiting apathetic voters, she’d visit politicians, both Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats need a good smack because they continue to operate as if there hasn’t been a shift in the practice of politics, that the state of democracy itself is status quo. The Republicans need a good smack to shake them from their Trumpism, their hypocritical demeanor, the spreading of the Big Lie, and their way of slow torturing those they think of as the “other.”
Next up would be judges. They need to be smacked back to using common sense, and following stare decisis. Partisanship needs to be taken out of the courts, and they need to stop agreeing to hear nonsense cases that further the Big Lie, suppress voting rights, or overstep the boundaries of judicial oversight.
A quick stop by those who call themselves Christians, but ignore the teachings of Christ. The ones who believe the poor and downtrodden must fend for themselves. The ones who believe little children should be taken from their parents for trying to bring them into a better life. The ones who bring Caesar into the church. The ones who believe it is righteous and good for a Church and/or its leaders to be worth millions of dollars, live in mansions, but do nothing to provide housing, food, and healthcare to the needy.
With a final visit to main stream media. Those who call themselves journalists, and those who peddle opinion, need a good knock of common sense. Those who call more attention to a tennis player who remains a public health menace than to the fact seven groups of people forged documents to help stage a coup. Those who call more attention to a billionaire wasting money going into space than to Republicans who refuse to save democracy by not only focusing on the wrong things, but by not truthfully, and forcefully, naming what it happening, and naming who is causing the fall of democracy.
So, Madame Cher, when might we expect you to begin your next tour to “knock” some sense back into the social fabric of our great nation?
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 