We've been through an emotional rollercoaster the last few days. Today I return to more positives. We've got wise words, talented artists, and heroes to help us keep the darkness away.
This skit from Saturday Night Live is brilliant, and scary in its accuracy. Satire and Reality are getting harder and harder to distinguish in these Backwards Days. I am thankful for these gifted artists, for letting us laugh at most difficult times.
And amazing that the SNL peeps put that together in two days!
Dan Rather is a journalistic hero. I imagine him as a wise grandpa with a world of knowledge -- which I suppose is the reality -- sitting by the fire speaking in low, measured tones to reassure the family. Though it is sometimes hard to see, we are making progress. Here's the whole of his recent post to Facebook.
More too-close-to-home laffs from The Onion.
And the biggest positive, no matter what the outcome. We have a new American Hero. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has spoken for countless among us who have lost their voice. And she has inspired others to find their voice and share their stories, and call out perpetrators of violence, pain, and fear. She serves as an inspiration to all of us, men and women alike, to examine our society more deeply, to challenge our perceptions, to challenge each other, to stand up for what is right, to be better citizens. She will be remembered for decades. I wish her and her family strength and peace as they navigate this path, knowing that many do not share this attitude about her.
Now, go. Call your Senators. Let them know how you feel. Be the Change. RESIST!
This skit from Saturday Night Live is brilliant, and scary in its accuracy. Satire and Reality are getting harder and harder to distinguish in these Backwards Days. I am thankful for these gifted artists, for letting us laugh at most difficult times.
And amazing that the SNL peeps put that together in two days!
Dan Rather is a journalistic hero. I imagine him as a wise grandpa with a world of knowledge -- which I suppose is the reality -- sitting by the fire speaking in low, measured tones to reassure the family. Though it is sometimes hard to see, we are making progress. Here's the whole of his recent post to Facebook.
Dan Rather, September 28, 2018
Over the course of the last few years, as our ship of state shudders on dangerous and uncharted shoals, I can feel the waves of despair shake the confidence of so many fair and decent Americans. How can this be our country? Where is all that I knew, and trusted, and cherished?
Today, in the wake of yesterday's events on Capitol Hill, I hear these fears pour forth once more. It is understandable and even appropriate. But as someone who has the perspective of a long life and whatever approximation of wisdom that comes with it, I remain unbowed and even optimistic in what I saw.
Yesterday a courageous fellow citizen stood up and told her story. Unlike with Anita Hill, at least half of the senators on the panel treated her with respect. That is progress. Unlike in the past, many of those senators were accomplished women who you could imagine someday being president. That is progress. A culture that in the not-so-distant past had no notion of "date rape" now does. And that is progress. Millions of men as well as women will not stand for it. And that is progress. Across the country a great spirit of righteous political fury is brewing, and it is propelling more women to positions of leadership. And that is progress.
Time and time again, in the course of American history, solitary acts of courage have blossomed into movements for social justice. When Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, any Civil Rights Act seemed a hopeless dream. But she, and the brave men and women who supported and followed her action with actions of their own, knew that the path to justice was not going to be quick or painless but that they were on the right side of history.
The early protesters of the Vietnam War were written off as communists and un-American. So too was Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the other early women suffragists who gathered in Seneca Falls. Labor leaders, children's rights advocates, environmentalists, those who marched at Stonewall and Ferguson, those who have fought for immigrant rights and against religious hatred and now in the #MeToo movement, these are fights for justice that are far from over. But millions of Americans are aware and awake and motivated to action. This can, and should, start at the ballot box.
And to this pantheon of courageous Americans we can now add the name of Christine Blasey Ford. Whatever the tides of history are in the short term I believe that too many of my fellow Americans understand what is right and what is just to not have her voice echo forth with clarity well into a better future.
Steady. #WhatUnitesUs
More too-close-to-home laffs from The Onion.
And the biggest positive, no matter what the outcome. We have a new American Hero. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has spoken for countless among us who have lost their voice. And she has inspired others to find their voice and share their stories, and call out perpetrators of violence, pain, and fear. She serves as an inspiration to all of us, men and women alike, to examine our society more deeply, to challenge our perceptions, to challenge each other, to stand up for what is right, to be better citizens. She will be remembered for decades. I wish her and her family strength and peace as they navigate this path, knowing that many do not share this attitude about her.
Now, go. Call your Senators. Let them know how you feel. Be the Change. RESIST!
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